Passage Identification and Explication - Essay Example

?Full Passage Identification and Explication In “Civil Disobedience”, David Thoreau’s line, ‘Unjust laws exist, shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?’ cries the naked truth about the existence of laws that were made to protect the people but somehow are abused in whatever means man can think about, making the laws ineffective and unjust. The theme of Thoreau’s essay is about fighting for what is right and being honored for what one believes in, in accordance to conscience and not what the laws or humans suggest. This has been inspired by his imprisonment because of his refusal to pay his tax for six years, believing that the state has to support itself as he supports himself. Men have to live as naturally as they can, giving the acorn and chestnut falling side by side as examples which would not give way to another for one to flourish but that they will live separately until one is overcome by the other. Thoreau presented his ideas strongly first, by getting the attention of his audience through questions just as he did in the verse that was extracted from his controversial essay, founded from a fact that is equally or even more controversial. Though all forms of government one way or another prove to have unjust laws, the essayist particularly spoke about the democratic United States of America which presented to him the absurdity of human laws. Through his questions, he thus then encourages his audiences to think about how they should react, whether they obey the laws, change them or violate them all at once because if the laws were right, why then was Christ crucified, Copernicus and Luther excommunicated and Washington and Franklin considered rebels, men of honor and integrity fighting for what they believed were right. These questions, though rude they may appear to an individual, should be reconsidered as to how one should react. In the “Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin”, the statesman echoed his thoughts about virtues in his line, ““It may be well my posterity should be informed that to this little artifice, with the blessing of God, their ancestor ow'd the constant felicity of his life, down to his 79th year, in which this is written. What reverses may attend the remainder is in the hand of Providence; but, if they arrive, the reflection on past happiness enjoy'd ought to help his bearing them with more resignation. To Temperance he ascribes his long-continued health, and what is still left to him of a good constitution; to Industry and Frugality, the early easiness of his circumstances and acquisition of his fortune, with all that knowledge that enabled him to be a useful citizen, and obtained for him some degree of reputation among the learned; to Sincerity and Justice, the confidence of his country, and the honorable employs it conferred upon him; and to the joint influence of the whole mass of the virtues, even in the imperfect state he was able to acquire them, all that evenness of temper, and that cheerfulness in conversation, which makes his company still sought for, and agreeable even to his younger acquaintance.” Telling the story of his life, Franklin desired to share the precious lessons he gained in his journey from being a hard-working man to the simplicity of his life amidst his many achievements. Being one among the founding fathers of the United States, Franklin influenced the nation which until this time reflects the virtues he taught his countrymen, loving the luxuries of freedom, being able to improve oneself in proportion to an individual’s efforts and determination. Writing his autobiography was not merely telling his achievements but was directed to the learning of his biological son as well as his American sons from the virtues he himself learned from other people as he dealt with them, disciplining himself to embrace what he considers are virtuous, becoming an example to his people. As to virtue, this could be a word many people loved to talk about and try to exalt themselves through such however, to Franklin they are disciplines which he made a list of and enslaved himself to commitment. That he acknowledges his shortcomings nevertheless does not end there but starts from there to his success in overcoming any such virtues like pride, the one he said in his book, he was still working on. To the Americans, the forthright philosophies of Franklin could be an inheritance that generally pictures them throughout generations, making him an acquaintance sought for his wisdom and cheerfulness even to the younger generations. “A Model of Christian Charity”, by John Winthrop as the title suggests, speaks about how Christians should live and deal with each other; with his words, “For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world. We shall open the mouths of enemies to speak evil of the ways of God, and all professors for God's sake. We shall shame the faces of many of God's worthy servants, and cause their prayers to be turned into curses upon us till we be consumed out of the good land whither we are going”, serving as the very objective of every man’s actions. The author widely uses the Bible as his reference for the composition of his thesis and juxtaposes his verses with the realities of life in contemporary terms. He extends the immortality of Biblical truths in trying to encourage his audience to live what is taught from the Bible which are logical, not just made for some anointed few but is open to everyone who seeks to please their God. As Winthrop said in the aforementioned text, Christians must consider they are like a city on a hill, visible to everyone so that they should work as one, truly united in the body of Christ for by this, men will see that they are of one body, having one mind which is in Jesus. Practicing Christian living needs a model so that the author tries to give a good picture by presenting some generally asked questions regarding Christian living and gives his answers based from the texts in the Bible and expounds more on how one has to deal with another, being careful in one’s actions and not considering who is in the wrong or who is right but individually critiquing himself and adjusting to live in peace with his fellow men, showing the characters of Jesus in someone’s life. In the text , he also reminds Christians the responsibility they have to God, who is their first and foremost model in the person of Jesus, that if they do not present themselves as good followers of Jesus, they would be bringing shame and contempt to His body. When people speak against a Christian because of his actions, he is causing them to talk against Jesus, their model including the teachers of the laws of God and all others who are clinging to the discipline of Christianity. Essayists like Winthrop have instilled in the hearts of the Americans strong Christian disciplines which have survived to this day, serving as guidelines to the modern Americans. David Thoreau said, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion” in his essay Walden. As a naturalist, he was inclined to employ experiments on himself and apply his observations about the lives of plants and animals to himself to prove his perception that man must live in accordance to the law of nature and not their own. It was not his intention to withdraw from civilization when he went to Walden to live a simplified life, living in harmony with the world, away from the busyness of the urban places as it rather hastens the activities of men and disregard what could have naturally occurred. Thoreau sought the meaning of life in this adventure he imposed upon himself, fearing to die and find out that he never lived but that he wanted all of what life could offer, enjoy them all and in the end, say to himself, he lived life to the fullest. In his presentation of such philosophy, he expressed he found out that ‘Olympus is but outside the earth of everywhere’. He considered himself a god in his own Olympus that he found in Walden Pond, able to reign in his small world and not dictated by other people, their laws and other influences that could hinder the life he considers effectual. This personality of the philosopher reflects the freedom one enjoys in the land of the free, enabling a person to live as he desires as long as he is not going against any law and endanger others in the process. “In better dress to trim thee was my mind,  But nought save home-spun cloth, i' th' house I find.  In this array, 'mongst vulgars may'st thou roam.  In critic's hands, beware thou dost not come,  And take thy way where yet thou art not known.  If for thy father askt, say, thou hadst none;  And for thy mother, she alas is poor,  Which caused her thus to send thee out of door.”  The last eight lines of Anne Bradstreet’s poem entitled “Author to Her Book” portrays the author’s attempts to perfect her literary work, editing and correcting what needs to be put to right as she aims to make the best she could in her work, as a mother would like the best in her children. The poem is metaphoric in nature, treating her writing and her literary piece like a human being. The poet claims her initial work was taken by friends who published it abroad without her knowledge, irking her but not to the end of her writing but to the realization that she needs to improve her work. She then attempts to improve her work but then in a few lines before the aforementioned lines, she realizes that her efforts are in vain because the more she tries to correct her work, the more she finds mistakes or matters to be corrected or changed. Thus this matter brings to her the fear that her work will go into the hands of critiques who would rather misinterpret what she meant to say than meditate on it through her eyes and understanding. To the perfection of her work, Bradstreet admits her failure by mentioning the absence of a father of her work and the poverty of its mother, forcing her to publish her work. Success in this poem could be illustrated as a far reached matter in every endeavor for no matter how one would like a perfect thing, there can never be found one in this imperfect world.  “At length, a fresh difference arising between my brother and me, I took upon me to assert my freedom, presuming that he would not venture to produce the new indentures. It was not fair in me to take this advantage, and this I therefore reckon one of the first errata of my life; but the unfairness of it weighed little with me, when under the impressions of resentment for the blows his passion too often urged him to bestow upon me, though he was otherwise not an ill-natur'd man: perhaps I was too saucy and provoking”, are the words of Benjamin Franklin in His autobiography which narrates his relationship with his brother and his considerations of their attitudes and perceptions of each other. This, he mentions after the imprisonment of his brother for a published essay Benjamin wrote anonymously for the paper of his brother and after the council planned to continue publishing but under the name of Benjamin. However, he considered this a witty plan for his brother to escape whatever future indictments the printed page will bring again. This then urged him to run away from his house and find his place and his own identity, separate from the success of his brother or any member of his family. This perception would most probably be the first step for the statesman, towards his success because knowing that the paper he worked for will be under his name, he did not dream of ownership but rather drove him to seek his freedom. He did not rely on what could be offered him but he knew that he would be able to survive the demands of life without family support if only he would be given the chance to work with equal rights to succeed in accordance to whatever efforts he exerts in addition to the gift that he possesses. He sought fairness in his own home where he decided to be most fair to those around him if he were gone as he had been encouraging the thoughts of the weight of his brother’s considerations of him, treating him in equality with an apprentice rather than a brother. Thus the first big decision he might have ever done was birthed and was realized through the help of an acquaintance, moving him to New York. Though his success was not defined at this moment for it became difficult for him to find a job due to the mediation of his brother to prospective employers, influencing them not to hire Benjamin yet, it was at this point that the young man was able to see the obstacles to the success of his life. This then points out one of the greatest things an individual should consider when yearning to succeed, knowing one’s enemies, not for him to fight with them but to know how to pass through them in meekness. “GOD ALMIGHTY in His most holy and wise providence, hath so disposed of the condition of mankind, as in all times some must be rich, some poor, some high and eminent in power and dignity; others mean and in submission”, goes the opening lines of John Winthrop in the revealing of his wisdom in his essay entitled “A Model of Christian Charity”. In this understanding, white cannot be called white if black does not exist at all for one defines the other. In like manner, a successful man cannot be considered successful if all were successful, giving away no difference in status or even appearance. Thus, as the governor acknowledged, God created men in unequal state fro them to define each other. To some, they may be successful financially but not in family affairs or other social relationships while others may not be financially successful but are fulfilled because of their beliefs and doctrines they employ in their lives. In this thesis, Winthrop presented questions which he answered himself based from the Word of God so his opening line would most probably be an answer to the widely asked question about why God created bad people, that if He were Omnipotent, then He could reduce them from the face of the earth and include poverty, pain and diseases not only to reduction but to their destruction. The differences in men’s status, Winthrop said, had three reasons he pointed out. First is to hold conformity with the rest of His world, showing that His wisdom is not contained to that which man understand through simple thinking but in meditation and observation, would be able to appreciate the complicated matters of life. Secondly, he says for God to display how He works in different men, restraint to the wicked, mercy and love through the follower of Christ, determination and hope to the poor and humility in the rich. Lastly, that every individual would realize his need of the other for what would one need his brother for if he is complete in himself, able to do everything for himself, knowing not if he is successful or a failure. For as it is said, ‘no man is an island’, truly each one needs his fellow men. Being a Black American, Frederick Douglass voiced the cry of his people in his speech delivered at Rochester in 1852 on Independence Day about how they perceive the 4th of July with the title in a question form, “What to the Slave is the 4th of July?” and starts with an apology saying, “Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? And am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us?” during this time, the Blacks did not yet have the freedom the white Americans enjoyed in their country. Taking the chance to speak out for his people, Douglass failed not, to express his grief in the facts of slavery amidst the joyous celebration of American independence. He encouraged them to look at the issue around the world and come back home and compare what kind of slavery America employs. Without fear and second thoughts, Douglass expressed what were in his heart, echoed the cries of his people who were to him, the usual victims of slavery, even in such a time as the celebration of Independence Day. In the middle of such a wonderful celebration, Douglass claimed that independence was not fully attained because of the continued grievances committed against the Blacks, that to them, their celebration marks the extreme considerations of both parties. To the white Americans, their freedom is all that they have longed for but in contrast to the Blacks, it is but a sham, because they do not recognize how they were in their slavery so that they should be considerate to those they enslave. As he mentioned in an earlier paragraph, mirroring the Zionists crying by the river of Babylon, they were unable to sing songs of joy when they remember Zion. Read More