Thanatopsis Questions

1. The greek words combined to make up Thanatopsis are Thanatops and Opsis.  The meanings of these words contribute to the meaning of the poem because it is our contemplation of death and nature.  Even after we die, nature will always be around and need to be protected.

2. Shroud- An item used to cover up or protect something.
Pall- A cloth spread over a coffin or a dark cloud.
Narrow House- Coffin or grave.
Sepuchlure- A burial place or grave.
These words impact the meaning of the poem because it shows the authors purpose in the poem which was death.

3. This poem could be about both life and death. It talks and gives examples about death, yet also does the same for life, such as when he talks about nature and how we need to protect it.

4.  In the beginning of the poem the tone is more focused around grief, but later changes to a tone that is more comforting.

5.  An elegy is a poem of serious reflection. A convention of an elegy could be when poem's tone shifts from grief to a more comforting tone.  Thanatopsis has elements that meet the conventions of an elegy, such as when nature and death are deeply described throughout the poem.

6.  The author of the poem describes the view of air and water, this makes the reader feel like they are present in the poem. The landscape that is created is a dark forest with dying plants and trees, but it then shifts towards a nice clear forest that seems to be very comforting and warm.

7.  This poem is a historical poem because it was written in the nineteenth century and it is a very good example of a romantic poem.  It is a romantic poem because the author talks about his feelings and also focuses creating emotion with the readers.

Poetry Webquest

Peyton Durham

Confident

Confident

is what I feel when I'm in the field

what I feel when I'm up to bat

every out I get

every double I receive 

I'm confident.

Pitchers fear me

no matter the count

2-0, or 0-2

no count matters

if he throws it in

I'm hitting a bomb.

They try to steal

I know they won't make it

my team is too good 

we are ballers

everyone knows it

even our enemies

that is why we win

we are ballers

and we are confident.

Salem Witch Trials WebQuest

1.) If I were to be accused of being a witch during this time, fear would be my main feeling.  Fear would overtake my mind because I wouldn't know when, or what the witch hunters would do to me if they found me.  I would also wonder why I was accused, what could I have possibly done to be accused of such a crime.  If I ran away to escape the accusation, my family would possibly be harmed, so I must stay and take my punishment.
2.) Miller was very biased in his writing of the crucible, he chose a side very early, even though there was more evidence provided for both sides that he did not acknowledge.  Miller also changed certain things within the story such as, Abigail's age, and removed characters.  Once Miller had chosen his side and read certain examples, he then took his knowledge and made it "play worthy". The most minor difference is Abigail's age, the witch trials effected all ages, so her age doesn't really matter.
3.) I think her theories are very plausible.  There could be the chance that the entire town of Salem was effected by ergot, which could make them hallucinate.  Her theory could possibly prove the hysteria in Salem.  The grain in Salem was infected by ergot, Rev. Parris was paid in grain, so if he received infected grain than everyone in his household would also be effected.
4.) A similarity between the two is that they both falsely accuse people of being bewitched, they had no evidence to backup these theories, but the people were still found guilty. Miller's description is very disturbing because a lot of the people found guilty weren't bewitched, but innocent.
 5.) The Salem Witch Trials and the Red Scare are similar because the witch trials were to stop the rise of witches and their power, which put fear into the people.  The Red Scare was the fear of the rise of communism, communism at the time scared the people.
6.) All are similar to the Salem Witch Trials because the people in all stories were accused of something, either race, beliefs, or actions.  They are different from the Red Scare since it was a fear of the rise of communism. The witch trials were somewhat similar because the people didn't want the witch population to rise to the point where they ruled everything.
7.) This quote is saying that if we do not learn from our mistakes, then we are going to repeat those same mistakes.  Citizens today still accuse others, which leads to a corrupt world, and until we learn from that it will never get better.  The crucible shows how life was during the witch trials and the process the accused "witches" had to undergo.
8.) When people used sorcery or witchery in early Egypt and Babylonia it played a conspicuous part.  Hammurabi's Code said that if a man put a spell on another man with no justification, he would be taken to the holy river and drowned.
9.) The most interesting thing we learned was how during the trials they actually hunted and killed people strictly based off false accusations.

"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" Questions

Peyton Durham

Nick Loftin

1.) Edwards believes that his congregation has lots of sinners.  He gives this speech to scare them into changing their ways.

2.) If you do God's will and everything right then you will be granted the ability to go to heaven. 

3.)Abate in the paragraph means to obtain God's wrath by making him angry, or to extend his anger.

4.)He is telling them how close they are to messing up just enough to anger God enough to condemn you to hell.

5.) The italicized clause is there to further explain the world of misery that Edwards is talking about.

6.) Once God lets go of you and you fall to hell there is no hope.  You have no chance of making anything better.

7.) Edwards uses semicolons to continue his thoughts.  He repeats "not willingly" because without God nothing would be possible.  God is responsible for all your wrong doing and without him you would not be alive.

8.) He develops the simile by stating it, and what he is comparing God's wrath to.  The power of the imagery is used to put fear into the audience and make it easier to persuade people to better themselves. 

9.) The images describe what is going to happen to the people who are continuing to sin.  The progression of images is ultimately leading to God condemning or giving up on them. 

10.) Edwards is the ethos, he is very credible because he is very spiritually strict.  He is preaching the logos to the people in hope to try to scare them to do the right thing.  The people represent the pathos because they are the audience in which Edwards preaches to. 

11.) Edward's tone is very threatening by telling the people they will go to hell if they do not listen.  Yes, towards the end of the story his tone changes to a very encouraging tone.  He is encouraging the people to be better followers of God so they too can experience the good that God can do.

12.) Texts meant to be heard are usually very threatening, attempting to persuade the audience to do something or better themselves.  Text meant to be heard are supposed to be applied to life in order to better yourself, while text meant to be read doesn't necessarily apply to you, but the audience as a whole.

13.) Edward's text is persuasive by having a very assertive tone and giving very harsh examples of what will happen to his audience if they do not listen. 

14.) The parts in his sermon where Edwards spoke of God condemning the people to hell unless they proved to be better followers.  This most likely made these people emotional by telling them what the outcome of their lives would be if they did not do as God pleased. 

15.) This picture represents God holding his people by what Edwards refers to as their "strings".  If the people do not please God, then he will let go of their string and let them fall to their inevitable fate.

Yellow Wallpaper Symbolism

Peyton Durham

          The Yellow Wallpaper symbolizes the rise of women's rights.  As the story begins, the narrator and her husband travel to a vacation home in the country in hopes to isolate the narrator.  The reason for attempting to isolate the narrator was in hopes to cure her from a mental disorder.  When arriving at the house the narrator receives odd feelings about the home, almost as it was haunted.  While living in this home she was almost completely isolated from the rest of the world by her husband locking her in a room alone to "cure" her.  The narrator also feels uncomfortable in her room due to the wallpaper.  She says she can see a woman who looks like she is trapped behind this wallpaper.

          Early in the story, the author falls under the authority of her husband because during that time men were considered superior.  As the story progressed so did the narrator's condition.  She started to build up a hatred for the wallpaper, she would also see women creeping all around her home during a all hours of the day.  The narrator and her husband would discuss her disorder, but they would do so very rarely.  Her husband, John, would belittle his wife and her opinions towards her condition.  By John isolating his wife, and not acknowledging her opinions he wasn't helping to cure her, but only worsening her condition.  The reader could infer that her condition getting worse by seeing all of the new things to pop up, such as the creeping women.

Towards the end of the story the narrator had almost reached her breaking point. She was almost to the point to where she would be crazy and there would be no cure. One way the reader could see this happening is when John says, "come back to bed little girl". This angers the narrator and makes her wonder if John is actually trying to help her. Once the narrator starts to get these thoughts, she starts to doubt John, yet she still loves him. This is the time where the theme starts to come into play. Since she is starting to doubt John and his authority, she starts to build up her confidence to assert herself. One way you see her confidence is she says to John, "go back to bed little boy" as she was mocking him. By doing this she is showing that he is no longer the superior one, but she now sees herself taking over that roll. Her hatred for the wallpaper starts to become unbearable to the point where she sees it as bars holding in the woman stuck behind it. I feel that the woman behind the wallpaper is just an illusion, she is the narrator and the wallpaper is John holding her captive from the rest of the world. This illusion enrages the narrator so she attempts to rip down all the wallpaper around the room. By this time the couple are about to move back into the city, so the narrator wants to get rid of the wallpaper so nobody else has to go through what she had been through.

John comes to get his wife on moving day, he finds the door to the room where she was staying in locked. When he finally gets the key to unlock the door he finds all the wallpaper that was on the wall gone. Since the narrator viewed the wallpaper as John holding her captive, and now all that wallpaper is gone, she feels that she now is superior and doesn't need John to tell her what to do anymore. Now that she feels she can do what she wants, this means she finally has some rights, which times into the theme.

Introduction Blog

My name is Peyton Durham, I was born in Stevenson, Alabama where I continued to live until the age of 6.  By that time my father's company had closed down, which forced my family to relocate to Conover, North Carolina, since that day I've been proud to call this small little city my home.
I've always played some kind of sport, if it wasn't baseball or golf, it was football or soccer.  Over the years I've moved away from football and soccer to focus on baseball, yet in my spare time I still enjoy playing golf with my father and some friends.  I'm very proud of the achievements I have received while playing baseball.  Over summer break, I was given the opportunity to play baseball with a reopened american legion post.  During the duration of my time with this team we played against college freshman and sophomores around the area.  We were able to play many teams from Gastonia and Charlotte, also being able to play at Wingate University.  Once the season for the post team had ended, we gathered player from the NCHS team to play at Startown Optimist.  With this team, we won the Western North Carolina State Championship and were able to travel to Chantilly, Virginia to play in the Southeast Regional Tournament.  In November we also won the Winter World Series.
My parents are a huge part to my success in everything I do, not only in sports but also in school and the community.  They have always pushed me to challenge myself academically and to strive for further education.  My mother has helped me search for colleges based on my career since sophomore year.  Both my mother and father want for me to receive a good education no matter the cost.  That is why after high school I would like to attend college to obtain a degree in pharmaceutical research, not only because I enjoy research with chemicals, but also to have the opportunity to help my parents just as they have helped me.