The Parable of the Reckless Kid

Parable of the Reckless Kid

1. And the wind howled as the cold front moved into Eastern Montana.

2. And as Johnny was getting ready to leave for the night, the mercury dropped to -40 degrees.

3. And his father warned him to stay home, but Johnny wouldn’t listen.

4. And when Johnny’s pickup wouldn’t start, he felt like it was portending something worse.

And Johnny’s nervous feelings grew stronger as he drove farther from the safety of his warm house.

And he realized that the road was getting slick, but he didn’t want to use his four-wheel drive.

And the wind kept blowing loose snow across the road.

And the paucity of snowdrifts was gone when he decided he needed to engage his front wheels.

And Johnny looked down to find the four-wheel drive stick.

And when Johnny did this, his front wheels were caught by a snowdrift and his pickup was suddenly jerked into the ditch.

After the violent wreck, Johnny crawled out unharmed.

And he was left with no choice but to walk home in the cold.

And as he was walking, the moisture from the snow melting on him saturated his clothes and froze them.

And after a short time, all the feeling in Johnny’s body was gone.

Just as he was about to give up, he saw headlights coming down the road.

And when he saw the vehicle stop to help, he realized he was saved.

And when Johnny arrived home, he was ashamed for not listening to his dad.

And Johnny could tell by his dad’s expression that he was worried about his son.

And at first he was concerned but after Johnny warmed up, the lecturing began.

And this time, and every other time after, Johnny listened and obeyed his dad.

The accident never left Johnny’s memory and from that point on, he respected those that were more experienced.

 

                                      

Sonnet for my pickup

Your over-sized military tires,
Underneath your risky eight-inch lift
And even your occasional misfires
Make you one of my favorite gifts.
Together, we've never been stuck in any snowdrifts,
Except the time we were upside down in the ditch.
This little accident left us with a rift.
It cost us many months of time, and now I am far from rich.
If we make it through the winter without needing a hitch,
I will soon forgive you.
I can tolerate a small problem or glitch,
But please don't break down whatever you do.
You will always be my first.
I just hope I don't remember you as the worst.

The Knight's Journal

It has been two weeks since our group left for Canterbury. We have all gotten to know each other now, but I'm not sure I like what I see in some of these people. There are some good people such as the Parson. Others are not so good. The Summoner I find to be one of the worst in our group. Just the other day I caught him in a lie about stealing money from my squire and yet he still denied it. I have honored chivalry my whole life, but this man is testing my patients. I know I must refrain from punishing him for that is God's decision. I will continue to pray for patience and I will endure through this journey.
Another problem I have noticed with some of my traveling companions is that they have no care for other people's needs. Just the other day we met a poor man on the road. He had no food, water, or money. There were some people in our group that wanted to leave him, but I stuck to my morals and gave the man enough to get him to the next village. This pilgrimage is going to be a test for all of us. We will have more disagreements, and I will always defend my honor and stick to my ways of chivalry.

The Venerable Bede

The venerable Bede's life revolved around knowledge and religion. He became a deacon when he was 19. Later on, he was ordained as a priest at age 30. He lived in a monastic community named Jarrow. He spent most of his life there, but still managed to be one of the most educated men in Europe. Bede spoke in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew which made it easier for him to learn from other countries.





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Cross, Barbara. "The Venerable Bede." Britannia.com. Britannia Biographies, n.d. Web. 23 Sep 2013. <http://www.britannia.com/bios/bede.html>.

Entertainment and Music of the 1930's

Music and entertainment were very important to people during the Great Depression. Music was the only free entertainment that the people had to keep their spirits up. There were times when people were on the edge of insanity and just had to get away from the world at least for a little while. For some folks, music was a way to let out all the frustration they had stored up. They needed money but when they sold everything, they would keep their instruments. " The fiddle squeaks and the guitar bongs. Mouth organ man is red in the face. Texas boy and Cherokee girl, pantin' like dogs an' a-beatin' the groun'. Ol' folks stan' a-pattin' their hands'. Smilin' a little, tappin' their feet." Page 329
The entertainment of the time included movies, television, dances, telling stories, and games like monopoly. The movies and television could only be seen by those who could afford it. This was a very small percent of Americans during that time. The people could barley afford to eat but they would still sometimes take a show over a piece of meat just to feel normal again. "And perhaps a man balanced twenty cents between food and pleasure, and he went to a movie in Marysville or Tulare, in Ceres Mountain View. And he came back to the ditch camp with his memory corwded. And he told how it was." Page 326




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSq8mnDH_1o

http://www.countrymusictube.com/tradcountry.html

http://library.thinkquest.org/J0111064/30entertain.htm

The Fall of the House of Usher blog

Poe wrote mainly about death and his writing showed his feelingss on the subject. The characters in Poe's works often die or lose someone they care about. There are many displays of strong emotion throughout Poe's stories. He brought death into Romanticism and wrote about what people go through when death visits them. Romanticism shaped Poe by making him famous during this time period.
In "The Fall of the House of Ushers", emotion is shown by the character of Roderick Usher and the narrator. Roderick is very depressed because he knows he and his sister are both going to die soon. "I gazed upon him with a feeling of half pity, half awe" said the narrator about Roderick Usher. This quote shows some of the emotions that the narrator goes through in the story. Fear or terror is also a common emotion in this story. "It was no wonder that his conditoin terrified-that it infected me. I felt it creeping upon me, by slow yet certain degrees, the wild influences of his own fantastic yet impressive superstitions." This quote shows that Roderick's fear of his supposedly dead sister spread into our narrator's mind. Toward the end of the story fear is felt again by the narrator and Roderick as Madeline Usher, who is beleived to be dead, comes up from the basement. Roderick's fear is so great that it kills him. Our narrator manages to escape from the house unharmed. When the house collapses, though the narrator is safe, he is deeply saddened by the loss of his friend.
Poe wrote about a subject that wasn't very popular in that time. He showed the emotions that revolced around death and made this subject popular. Without Romanticism, Poe's works would have been more factual and less about fictional stories about death. Poe and Romanicism go hand in hand.



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William Cullen Bryant

William Cullen Bryant was born in Cummington Mass. on November 3, 1794. He went to Williams College at 16 years old but left after only one year to study law. He wrote the first draft of his famous poem "Thanatopsis" at 17 years old. In 1826, he started working at a New York newspaper, " New York Evening Post". He was move to editor and chief in 1829 and kept this job for 50 years. Cullen is most known for his poems. He said "The most beautiful poetry is that which takes the strongest hold of the feelings…. Important, therefore, as may be the office of the imagination [and of understanding, as well] in poetry, the great spring of poetry is emotion." Many poets still use this theory today to help them write.

http://biography.yourdictionary.com/william-cullen-bryant

Thomas Jefferson Biography

Thomas Jefferson was a man of many accomplishments. He is most known for writing the Declaration of Independence and, as president, he bought the Louisiana Purchasse from France. He was a very well educated man and took education very seriously as a child and into adulthood. Once he bagan working for the government, he took his job just as seriously. He had many occupations in government. They included being Govenor of Virgina, secretary of state, vice president, and also the thrid president in American history. Although he was not know for being a a good public speaker, he helped convince colonial Americans to fight the British. "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to ramain silent." (Jefferson). He used this quote to inpire people to rebel against British rule. Thomas Jefferson is a very important person to American history.

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