Modernism Project

Eudora Welty- A Worn Path

Welty, Eudora. "A Worn Path" Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 888-896. Print.

Journal #31 Job Shadowing Experience

Yesterday, I had a really good experience job shadowing in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Memorial Hospital. The lady that I job shadowed was an  intensive care RN. She was a very nice lady and she was really  good about answering all of the questions that I had. At times, Trisha sent me off with other nurses so that I could see that other cool things while my lady was logging charts on the computer. She was really goo about having me and explaining everything that she sees everyday. I would say that she was really good at having someone job shadowing because she was good about explaining things before i had a chance to ask her any questions. In the surgical intensive care unit, there were many different types of patients. Some of the patients were in there because they were trauma patients. Memorial and St. Johns switch off every year on who is going to have the trauma center, and this year it is Memorial. They had all of the trauma patients from Sangamon County. In the unit that I shadowed in, there were many people that had been involved in a car accident. These people were in such bad shape that they had to be placed in the intensive care unit because they needed more attention from the nurses and physicians. Even the patients were really nice to me. They were all in really poor shape, but it was good to see their faces light up because a young girl showed up in their room. I am sure that the patients probably get tired of having the same nurses in their rooms everyday, so it was exciting to them to have me in their rooms. My nurse had two patients that were in the ICU. The two patients were all really nice and they were all happy to have me in their rooms.

I do think that the position that I shadowed is a possibility for my future career. I liked the fact that these nurses were not seeing the same things everyday. They were all seeing different patients and all of the patients had problems that are totally different. I think that I like the adventurous nature behind the job was really good.

Journal #30: Favorite Whitman Poem

My favorite poem out of the ones that I read from Leaves of Grass was I Dream'd in a Dream. I think that this poem is my favorite because it talks about a perfect life. I think that it would be great to have a Utopian city like the one mentioned in this poem. Whitman says in the poem that the city he dreamed of was the city of friends. This leads me to believe that Walt Whitman truly valued the friendships he had because friendships appeared in his dreams. I agree with Walt Whitman in this case because it would be really nice to have a city in which everyone loved one another. This would mean that everyone in the society would get along. This poem is inspiring. It makes me wonder what it would truly be like if there was such a city. Walt Whitman also says that there is nothing greater than the power of love in the city of his dreams. Whitman must have also valued love because he included that in the description of the city of his dreams. I think that the city of my dreams would be somewhat similar to the city of Walt Whitman’s dreams. In my city of dreams I would also include the importance of friendships and family bonding time. I think that a person is only successful in life if they live a happy life. This poem reminds me of that story about the little boy in school. The teacher asked him what he wanted to be when he grows up, and the little boy responded by saying he wants to be happy. That makes my heart melt a little inside. The little boy is thinking of the future of his dreams and all he wants is to be happy. I wish that everyone could live the lives of their dreams and be happy. There has to be an ideal city or town for everyone in the world, but unfortunately not everyone will ever find the city of their dreams. 

Reflection: Chanting The Square Deific

In this poem, God is seen as a quaternity (Oliver). This means that God is seen as having four parts. Instead of the traditional belief of God being a trinity, having the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Whitman's view of this poem show God as having four parts. The four parts that Whitman talks about in this poem are: God, Christ, Satan, and the soul or "Santa Spirita" (Oliver). These four parts are each described in their own stanza in the poem.

The first stanza describes the side of the square of God. He is not just talking about the Christian God, but Brahm, Jehova, Saturnius, and also Father Time. These five Gods are the top of the tree in their certain religion. Just like in the Christian religion, God is at the top of the holy trinity. Brahm, Jehova, and Saturnius seem to also be the top dog from their religion. These Gods come from the religions of Buddhists, Hebrew, and Mythology respectively. This first side of the square is talking about giving no mercy and accepting no remorse(Whitman). The power of this deity is compared to the strength of the Earth's gravitational pull and the changing of the seasons (Whitman).

The second side of the square is describing the son of God, or the figure of Christ. This side of the square is described as being as strong as Hercules. With this simile, Whitman was illustrating that this deity is also very powerful. Comparing the square from this poem and the Trinity of the Christian faith, this side of the square is comparable to Christ in the Trinity and the top being God. This is very similar to the simile referring to Hermes and Zeus. The equivalent to Zeus would be God; the equivalent of Hermes would be Christ, the son of God. This side of the square is younger and more enthusiastic. This side is described as being more influential and exuberant. This side is know as the "cheer bringing God" (Whitman). This is known as the "Consolator" and the comforter (Oliver).

Satan is the third side of the Square Deific.  He is the opposite of the two sides that have been mentioned so far. The side of Satan is described as being "dissatisfied ans plotting revolt" (Oliver). He is not there to help others, he is there to simply torment and persuade people into doing things that should not ever be done. Unfortunately, Satan is like God and Christ in the fact that he is also strong. His strength is not used for the better, in fact, Satan uses his strengths to do people harm. He is the "comrade of criminals," (Whitman) meaning that he is the striving force and the organizer of the wrong doings. This side would be the opposite of the force of God because Satan is the opposing force of God. While God id trying to lead people to do the right things, Satan is luring people into doing the wrong things.

The fourth side of the square is "Santa Spirita," or self. This side joins the other three sides together to make a completed shape. The "self" side is opposite the side of Christ is the most "solid" (Whitman). The side of the soul or self is the most solid because it includes parts of the other three sides. This makes it the "strongest" because it has the best resources and help on it's side. The word choice in the last stanza suggests that the speaker is believing that he makes up the side of "Santa Spirita" (Oliver). He is the most materialized and mortal.

"Chanting the Square Deific" is illustrating the idea of the certain square deity of the speaker. This deity includes four main components: God, Christ, Satan, and Self. The speaker believes that all four of these make up a powerful deity. Whitman's poetry is centered around self, and in this particular poem, it is really easy to see. Whitman related the speaker with the side of self because Whitman really valued the ideals of being individual and developing inside of yourself.


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. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCWW082&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 4, 2012).

Whitman, Walt. "The Walt Whitman Archive." Chanting the Square Deific. Web. 03 Apr. 2012.

Journal #29: SELF

Self. There are three main components of my transcendental self. Part number one includes the spiritual self. My spiritual self involves the Christian faith. Because I attend a Christian Church with my family, I have grown up going to church and learning about the Christian religion. I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, and he is my Lord and Savior. I think that this is a really big part of myself because I try to do everything that God would want me to do. The second part of self is my personality. My personality is rather outgoing and cheerful. I try to make the best out of ever situation despite the sadness it might bring along. I perceive myself as being a very nice individual and helping others as much as possible. I try to always be positive in all situations and I think that allows me to be good at my job. I work at PASSAGE, the after school daycare program at elementary  school. I think that I am good at this job because there is a certain quality you need. I love children and I am really good at dealing with all of the crap they come up with. The real me is just what you see when you talk to me. I have not completely figured out why I am here or who I really am. I think that as of right now I am here on the Earth to be a good person, a follower of God, and eventually go into medicine so I can help others. I feel like my "real self" includes just the qualities that make me up. With me, what you see is what you get. I think that some people try to hied their real self and be somebody they really are not. This is a very common thing in High School I think because they want to be popular and fit in. Even if I do not fit it as well as I would like, I really try to be myself in everything I do. 

Emily Dickinson Poem Analysis

The poem "Nature, the Gentlest Mother" is a poem by Emily Dickinson. This poem is a discription of mother earth and how she takes care of all of her children and her household (Dickinson). Nature is "impatient of no child" which is a symbol of how Mother Earth takes care of all of her children and people on the planet even when her own children harm her. When she means harm her, she means things like pollution and global warming and things of that sort. Mother Nature however will never turn her back on her children, she will always be there for them. Nature is an aid to her children. She is there in the hills and forests in a way to aid the travelers of these lands. This could mean lots of things. A reader could take these noises as wind or as aninmals in the forest or as a number of different things. They are all signs and beings of nature.

In the third stanza of this poem, there is a use of personification. Emily Dickinson is describing all of the flora and fauna, and she describes all of the critters that are on the Mother Nature's planet. They are known as natures household and assembly (Dickinson). The Mother Earth takes care of her children with days from summer by providing nice weather to the critters and the trees. This is the time of the year when agriculture flourishes in comparison to winter where it does not. Mother Nature could make a harsh winter year round, but she does not because she is taking care of her household.

Emily Dickinson says that nature, or mother nature, has an effect on every creature that is on her planet. Dickinson says that it is the smallest cricket or the most unworthy flower still gets taken care of by mother nature. She uses a lot of personification in this poem because she gives human like traits to all of nature and its beings. None of these things actually have human like traits. There is also a lot of imagry in this poem because it is very descriptive. All of her descriptions are very animated and life like and strong. She creates all kinds of images, such as children sleeping, a very small cricket, and an unworthy flower otherwise known as an ugly flower. She presents rhyme in her final stanza, but only with two different lines, the second and the fourth. The rhyme scheme is not constant, but the rhythm is. Her poems are pretty different from other poets because there is not common rhyme schemes in them. She uses a simple beat to match what she was familiar with.

Emily Dickinson has a good way of capturing her readers with many poetic devices. The most common devices used are personification, imagry, and occasionaly a simile or metaphor thrown in the mix. Emily Dickinson captures her readers with out being confusing and using too many poetic devices. She is a very smart and good poet.

Dickinson, Emily . "Nature, the Gentlest Mother." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online. Web. 29 Mar. 2012.

Journal #28: Emily Dickinson I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died

Emily Dickinson's poem, I Heard a Fly Buzz when I Died, is a very interesting poem. Out of all of the things that were going through her head before she died, she was thinking about a fly. She could have been thinking about all of the things that all ordinary people usually think about before they die. She could have been worried about giving away all of her possessions or worried about her finances, but she was worried about her keepsakes. She said that she "willed my keepsakes, signed away what portion of me I could make assignable" (Dickinson). This means that she had already gone through the process of giving away her material goods that she could. Emily Dickinson's poetry can be read differently every time that you read the poem. She could have been talking her being able to see the light like the light in heaven at the end, but we really did not know. The fly was interrupting her because she was on her way to death and the fly got between her and the light. The very first sense to go when you die is your sight. As soon as she looses her sight, she immediately switches her focus over to her hearing. After her sight is gone, she was only there to focus on the things that she can hear. She was preparing herself for death and she was already to the point where she could not see, so she was peacefully on her way to death and she was interrupted by this really annoying buzzing sound in her ears. I would have been really mad if I was about to be dead and there was a really annoying buzzing in my ear. I hope that when I die, there are not any flies around. Because if I heard that stupid little fly when I was about to die, I would probably freak out and come back to life just to kill that little fly!