The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right. True or False?

'Civil Disobedience,' by Henry Thoreau is a critical document that heavily criticizes unjust government. Thoreau believed that if a government was unjust, the people were allowed to openly oppose the law, and distance themselves from the government completely. Therefore, Thoreau's ideas lead me to believe that government is truly run by the people of the nation. The most compelling idea Thoreau presented to me was in the line, 'The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right.' Is this statement true? Well, what I think is right might not be right in the eyes of everyone. But if i think it's right then why should I care what anyone else thinks? This is where government becomes tricky, because no one rule can please everybody.However, I believe that this statement is true when referring to government; if you feel as if the government is mistreating or abusing you, you have the right to stand up for what you believe is right. It is astonishing the way Thoreau binds these arguments together to form one compelling document.

MLK: The Reason

Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'Letter from a Birmingham jail,' is a very insightful and well-written document. He vividly expresses his opinions while adequately answering his critics questions. The introduction 'My Dear Fellow Clergymen,' is very important because it tells everyone that he is referring to the religious philosophers of this time. King eludes to many religious themes in this document, For example, 'Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns.' I think that this use of religion is very clever, because it shows that what he is doing, was done before. Therefore, he should not be penalized for doing something that was originally done in the Bible. I believe the most important paragraph in this essay is when he was answering the question, 'why direct action?' King explicitly explained why he would have to enforce direct action, e.g. "you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society." All in all, this is a very moving and inspiring piece of work, that surely changed the mindsets of many racist folks of this time.

Benjamin Franklin's Remarks Conering The Savages of North America

This passage from Benjamin Franklin is about the social and cultural nature of the native Americans in which Franklin had experience. The line, "Savages we call them, because their Manners differ from ours, which we think the Perfection of Civility," intrigues me because this is true for all humans. It gave me the realization that we are quick to judge others that have a different mind set than we do.

A main theme in this passage is the relationship between men and women. Franklin states that woman are ordained to prepare food, nurse children and other hospitable jobs. Meanwhile, men hold the most influential positions in the community. Such as, hold councils and hunt for prey. I think that this view of the community is wrong. Woman have just as much ability to lead as men do. I believe this form of thinking is no more today, and this is why we have succeeded throughout the years.

October 14, 2009

My class today was centered around the famous writer J. Hector St. John De Crevecour. We thoroughly reviewed letter III from, 'Letters from an American Farmer.' He extensively talks about what is an American, from his point of view. I agree with him in the sense that he says the American population is derived from European countries.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog. I made this page for an English class, but maybe I will alsp start to post blogs about my own interests and views.