Vegetarianinja’s blog

The city is slowly dying and it does not realize it fully. It has never lost before and that has made it ignorant to the signs and the full realization of what this loss will mean to the city. It wont know what hit it until it is too late.

Here are some examples of details used to describe the Canyon:

      -"Besides the elements of form, there are elements of color, for here the colors of the heavens are rivaled by the colors of the rocks." This excerpt describes how vivid and "multifarious" the rocks on the canyon wall are.

      -"the multitudinous beauties of the forest with its traceries of foliage presented by oak and pine and poplar, by beech and linden and hawthorn, by tulip and lily and rose, by fern and moss and lichen." This passage helps the reader to see the large variety of foliage.

     -"Pluck up Mt. Washington by the roots to the level of the sea and drop it headfirst into the Grand Canyon, and the dam will not force its waters over the walls." This shows the reader how vast the canyon is by comparing it to another popular object that most people are familiar with.

1. Foreshadowing is used to give the reader an idea of what may happen later in the story through the use of subtle hints and references. This is done usually by focusing on a certain object or person that seems inconsequential, but is in fact a shadowed glimpse into future events.

2. Mark Twain writes that this story is from a friend who seems to have relayed it to him only to bore him, in which he did succeed in doing. The other example of an approaching comedy is the description of Simon Wheeler. This man is bald, fat, and very monotonous, though sincere. He seems to be a humorous character but Mark Twain realizes that this story is supposed to be serous. This misunderstanding between the characters is very funny.

3. Overstatement is when one strongly emphasizes their opinion to the point of redundancy and fruitlessness.

4. An example of Twain’s humor through exaggeration is his devotion to becoming a boat pilot. He gives the impression that it is the only goal in his life and leaves home to pursue it. But he “meekly” and un-aggressively tries to join on a ship, as if it wasn’t very important to succeed anyways.

Another example is the tranquility in the town before the boat arrives. The reader is lead to believe that the town is basically asleep in the middle of the day and no one is stirring. Then when the boat comes the town explodes into action. This is obviously an exaggeration, because the town must have been fairly busy with people working and running errands. But this makes the boats arrival seem more important, and basically a more exciting read.

This passage shows that the sinners then did not believe in any religion until they were scared that there was a god because of the earthquakes. The earthquakes seemed like a sign of doom or punishment.

“However Tom might have felt disposed to sell himself to the devil, he was determined not to do so to oblige his wife…” This passage shows that he would even sell his soul to the devil to get money, but that would please his wife so he doesn’t do it. Clearly he hates his wife if he has no woes about dealing his life with the devil but would hate to please his wife.

"Let us get hold of the property," said he, consolingly to himself, "and we will endeavor to do without the woman." This clearly shows how money precedes his love for his wife. He was not fazed one bit by his wives body parts wrapped in an apron, but seemed upset that no valuables were in their place.

The author shows that the man is very smart even though he does not have philosophical thoughts. The man is very logical in his thinking; he does not dwell on the spiritual or godly nature of the extreme cold. Rather, he concentrates on surviving the cold and systematically traveling to his destination. When he walks over the thin ice he uses his vast knowledge of the natural world to avoid falling through. These things all require great intellect even thought they are not deep or philosophical thoughts.

The Shark’s in “Moby Dick” symbolize the ever-present possibility of death and doom. The sharks are like ghosts and they don’t directly threaten anyone, but everyone knows that they are waiting below the water’s surface. This ever present danger could also be another reference to the captain's subdued insanity, the lurking madness.

Transcendentalism is the idea that one’s own natural intuition is more spiritual and relevant than an established religion. Basically it was a movement against the cultural and religious norms.

There is some transcendentalism in the minister’s veil or rather the main character shows signs of anti-transcendentalism. This is shown throughout the idea that all people are born with the original sin. This is the opposite of transcendentalist’s beliefs who believe that all people are born pure and good hearted. So this idea that everyone is wearing a “black veil” represents the sin that anti-transcendentalists believe everyone is born with.