Journal 25 - Fear

Fear is something that everyone possesses. Without fear there will be nothing to overcome and the need to better oneself will be gone. Fear is terrifying and when someone overcomes their fear they feel accomplished and proud of themselves. There are no physical objectives/ inanimate objects that I am afraid of at this age. When I was younger I was afraid of snakes, but then I petted a snake at the zoo in Arizona when I was visiting my grandparents. Because I faced my fear of snakes I am not afraid of snakes. Although I declined to watch Snakes on a Plane just to be on the safe side. When I was about 6 years old I watched the Disney live action movie The Swiss Family Robinson. That movie made me afraid of my basement for months. In the movie there was a jungle scene when the dad got attacked by a panther or some sort of animal. While the dad was gathering wood or hunting or something then got attacked by the animal, the mom and sister got attacked by a huge snake! I think that is what made my afraid of snakes. I was afraid that in my basement there would be a giant snake or a leopard or a panther who would jump out at me and eat me. It was very terrifying. But then I realized that my basement was not a jungle and was able to go down there and not be consumed be a jungle animal. That was really the only thing that I was afraid of when I was little. Now I am afraid of mental and emotional things. I am subconsciously terrified of not doing well. But I try my hardest in everything so I guess I have not faced my fear as I have not failed in anything. At some point I will have to deal with that, but I am content on waiting until the time comes when I do really bad at something and have to face the fear of failing.

"The Pit and the Pendulum"

"The Pit and the Pendulum" is a very well written suspense story. Personally I am not a fan of the ending, as I expected something more dramatic to happen, but I like how it is unexpected. Edgar Allan Poe's short story can definitely be classified as Dark Romanticism. The poem has supernatural happenings, which is a characteristic of Dark Romanticism writing ("What is"). The narrator is imprisoned in Toledo by the Spanish Inquisition and sees angels and judges that morph from candles and sounds (Poe 263-264). The supernatural visions that the narrator (he needs a name, the reader becomes very invested in the emotions and thoughts of this man, but lack the personal connection of a name) envisions follow the Dark Romanticism model. In this short story the narrator vividly imagines how he will die in the prison. He goes through many different types of death including buried alive, falling into a deep pit, being burned alive in an autos-da-fé ceremony, or later being chopped up (Poe 263-266). The unnamed narrator builds up the suspense of the story by vividly describing the scenarios. The great detail of the scenarios is another characteristic of Dark Romanticism. The constant loom of death also is a classic Dark Romanticism trait ("What is"). The narrator is consumed with different ways the Inquisition can kill him, and by the end of the story, ways that he can thwart their plans. The weirdly, very uncharacteristic, Poe short story ending is happy, unexpected, but happy. The unnamed narrator is saved by General Lasalle, the "enemy of the Inquisition", who pulls him away from the deep pit as the narrator was about to fall in (Poe 273). Hats off to General Lasalle for having amazing timing entering this particular dungeon with a man about to fall to his death, saving him in the nick of time. That takes some skill. But as this is a work of fiction, I know there is a high probability that General Lasalle did not grab a falling man over a pit of death. The happy ending is a Romanticism writing quality that is rarely used by the master of horror stories, Edgar Allan Poe ("What is").

Psychologically, the unnamed narrator is in a hallucination state where he does not know what is real and what is not (Poe 263-267). That psychological state is an unstable one, which explains why the narrator keeps having mirage like visions and is sometimes unable to distinguish what actually happening (Sova). "Days passed - it might have been that many days passed" when the pendulum was swinging above the unnamed prisoner narrator (Poe 269). He also had a "full memory of the trial, of the judges, of the sable draperies, of the sentence, of the sickness, of the swoon" after he 'saw' judges and angels in the shadow of imaginary candles (Poe 265). Then the next thought that the narrator has is "then entire forgetfulness of all that followed; ... have enabled me vaguely to recall" (Poe 265). The unnamed narrator can't differentiate between reality and the nightmare that he could possibly be having. The fear of being in the Toledo prison could have triggered some sort of subconscious response that the narrator used by creating false realities and to not be able to tell what is real (Sova). Poe did a good job portraying the narrator in a suspenseful way that has the reader guessing if what the narrator claims as true is truly what happened.


Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Pit and the Pendulum." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 263-273. Print.

Sova, Dawn B. "'The Pit and the Pendulum'." Critical Companion to Edgar Allan Poe: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 19 Jan. 2012.

"What Is Dark Romanticism?" Obscure Wonders. 18 Aug. 2008. Web. 19 Jan. 2012.

Journal 24 - Spooky

I was trying to think of the last time that I was spooked and realized that I can not remember a time when I was spooked except for many years ago when I was home alone. I had just watched a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode when Data takes off his "skin" on his arm and expose the circuitry to fix something or other. For whatever reason that freaked me out. I turned off the TV and made myself a snack to get my mind off the creepy image. I think I was having a flashback to Star Trek Nemesis where a similar thing happened to Data, but the skin was organic and burned off. I saw that movie in theaters and it creeped me out. As I was eating my snack I kept hearing noises. The typical branch against a window, a possible intruder on the porch looking in the window, etc., etc. I was spooked and as I was home alone, of course I became even more scared. I decided that the safe thing to do was to just go to bed. I left the lights on downstairs though not only because my parents were coming home later, but because then it looked like I was still up to burglars or people who would want to break into my house. I tried to fall asleep, but I kept hearing noises! I did not have a cell phone at that time (back in the day before everyone had texting and individual cellular devices) to contact my parents and did not want to call them on the home phone as I wanted to show that I was responsible enough to handle being by myself at night at home. Finally I fell asleep, a restless sleep, but I was able to ignore the noise. Until my parents came home and when the garage door opened I jolted up in my bed, fully awake. Of course I did not want to admit that I was scared and stayed in my room pretending to be asleep, until my mother came in to check on me and I pretended that she woke me up and I pretended that I was fine. In reality I was fine now that other people were in the house.

"Eldorado" Edgar Allan Poe

El Dorado is a mystical lost city of gold that Spanish conquistadors, pirates, and later men across the world have been in search for to no avail. The ideals of El Dorado is what the similarly titled poem, "Eldorado" by Edgar Allan Poe, is about. In the first stanza, the "gallant knight" was joyfully searching for Eldorado (Poe 2). At this point in the poem, the reader only knows that Eldorado is something that is worth questing for. In the next stanza the reader learns that the knight has been searching for Eldorado for many years, but without success as the "knight grew old" (Poe 7). Also in this stanza the reader learns that Eldorado is some sort of geographical location as the knight could not find a "spot of ground" that looked like Eldorado (Poe 11). The third stanza helps the reader better understand what Eldorado is. By calling Eldorado a "land" that he can not find, the reader knows that Eldorado is the city that the knight is questing for. The third stanza also informs the reader that the knight is near death as his strength was falling him (Poe 14). Then he meets the pilgrim shadow, which literally represents fading image of explorers of the past who tries to aid the knight (Huff). "Eldorado" was written by Poe in the midst of the Gold Rush in 1849, so the pilgrim shadow also represents the American dream of becoming rich and well off. The pilgrim ghost was going to show the knight the way to riches and help the gallant fellow to a better life (Poe 19 - 24). The last stanza is the pilgrim shadow telling the knight where to find Eldorado (Poe 19). The description the pilgrim shadow gives leads the reader to believe that Eldorado is a fictional place, and can not be reached in life. "The Mountain over the Moon" is possible to get to in today's times as man as walked on the moon, but in 1849 the thought of ever going to the moon was ludicrous (Poe 19-20). When the pilgrim shadow tells the knight that he can only reach Eldorado by "boldly riding", the pilgrim shadow tells the aging knight that he can reach Eldorado in the next life, in the "Valley of the Shadow" (Poe 21-22).

If the pilgrim rider represented the American dream, then Eldorado represented the excess of greed that comes with wanting too much and not being happy with what one has (Huff). That aspect of the poem is what makes "Eldorado" a Dark Romanticism poem ("What is"). There was no happy ending where the hero accomplished his task with great moral character and everyone ends up happy. The gallant knight of "Eldorado" unsuccessfully searched for Eldorado until he grew old and his strength left him. That was not a happy ending. The knight was "bold" and "gay" with a joyful exuberance, but that did not help him accomplish his task (Poe 1, 8). The poem also deals with death, a common Poe Romanticism feature. The knight is on death's doorstep when the pilgrim shadow comes to him and basically tells him that his task was useless as he was not going to be able to get to Eldorado. The hero not finishing his quest, instead knowing that he won't be able to finish it in this life, is a quality of Dark Romanticism writing ("What is").


Huff, Randall. "'Eldorado'." The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry, vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 17 Jan. 2012.

Poe, Edgar Allan. "Eldorado." PoeStories.com. Web. 17 Jan. 2012.

"What Is Dark Romanticism?" Obscure Wonders. 18 Aug. 2008. Web. 17 Jan. 2012.

Journal 23 - Scary Stories

Well the scariest movie that I have ever seen was Pet Sematary. I think that it was so scary because I have a dog and because Denise Crosby was in it and she was Tasha Yar in Star Trek The Next Generation. Because I had the personal connection with the actors it made the story more real and scary, as opposed to dismissing the story as a fake and unreal. That "realness" of the movie was the effective technique for making the film more scary. Other films use scare tactics. The jump aspect of some films makes the story full with suspense. Some movies over do it and keep the audiences tense and rigid for two hours. While that state of fear is great for those two hours, after the movie when the audience members can not move, it is not as appreciated. Another technique that is used for scary movies is the use of gore and blood. I do not mind this technique, but do find it annoying when it is over used. 300 is a good example of how to properly use blood and gore for a positive effect. Even though it is a war movie, the amount of blood and gore is not so horrendous that it is unwatchable or unenjoyable. It is done in a tasteful way, which is why the movie is not a true horror movie.

The last truly scary book that I have read was The Shining by Stephen King. It was not that the book itself contained scary actions or bloody murders, but the creepy use of "REDRUM" in the mirror. I kept looking at mirrors waiting for writing in lipstick with words spelled backwards to appear. Luckily no words have ever appeared. The creative aspect of The Shining is what makes it such a great book (and thoroughly creepy movie with the help of Jack Nicholson). Creative and originality are my favorite techniques for scary stories and movies because seeing or reading new things is what makes it scary, as it is unexpected. That is why Paranormal Activity was a successful movie. The way that the movie was filmed and the content was new to Hollywood and was a box office hit.

Journal 22 - Sled Poem

The snow is falling from the cloudy sky
Wind is whipping the cold ice through the street
I gaze inside where it is warm and dry
But sledding is so much fun and sweet!
I can't wait to sled, so I yell Goodbye!

Running up the hill, I stumble a bit
Getting a face full of snow makes me stop
I wipe my face with my scarf and my mitts
I reach the top, place my sled, down I plop
I look both ways so I do not get hit

Pushing off the ground, I let out a yell
With a whoosh of air my sled slides quickly
Down the hill, while jamming to my Adele
"Fix your hat, the snow is falling thickly"
Yells a mom, concerned about her Danielle

As the bottom draws closer and closer
My purple sled slowly comes to a halt
Wow Adele is such a great composer
I turn off my tunes and look at the salt
Poured on the road by a disposer

I guess it is time to pack up and go
I gather my things and head to my car
As the trucks were melting the falling snow
This cold day was great and gets a gold star

Journal 21 - Snow

The frost on the windowpane slopes gracefully downward as the icicles drop down from the rooftop. As I gaze at the falling white snow and realize that my mailbox is no longer visible, my phone rings. I answer it, and to my delight, school has been canceled. I take one more glance out of the window at the white wonderland then go upstairs to turn my sister's alarm off. A snow day! All of the sudden I hear a branch break under the pressure of the heavy snow and crash against the fence. I return to the window to check if there is any damage. The branch fell into a big drift pile of snow after bouncing off of the fence, and is no longer visible. The snow is continuing to fall and is at least a foot deep. After putting on many layers of clothes I grab my sled from the basement, find two matching boots of my size, and run outside into the winter wonderland. The snowflakes stick to my stocking cap as I try to catch a piece of the frozen rain on my tongue. As the wind blows the snow around many snowflakes land on my mouth. I think to myself of the odds of the snow being acidic or some solidified version of acid rain. As I live in Springfield and the last time I checked there is not any nuclear power plants extremely close by, I figured the snow was not to toxic. I gazed out across the untouched snow then set my sled down on the top of the hill my house sits upon, looked for any oncoming cars, backed up then ran and jumped onto the sled. Using forward momentum to further increase my speed, I sped down the hill on my childhood sled and let out a yell of excitement. My parents taught me well, as all of the momentum that I gathered propelled me down the hill, across the street, and into my neighbor's lawn. Looking for cars before sledding down the hill was on afterthought, a very intelligent thing to do. I turn and look at the snow covered hill that now has a two foot wide indent running down the front. The perfect winter wonder land that was once smooth with freshly fallen snow shows signs of the loving care only a kid can give to such an innocent and soft landscape.