Art of Melancholy

 Phillis Wheatley, a poet from West Africa, had a story that transposed into her writing allowing her to become the first African-American woman in London to have a book of poetry published. Her backstory consists of growing up in West Africa and by the age of seven, she had been moved to Boston due to slavery, working for a man of the name of John Wheatley. He was wealthy but soon realized Phillis' capabilities including her wide range of intellect. With this now coming to the surface, education was in Phillis' path of life. At a young age, Wheatley was creative and driven by writing as she found joy in the activity. Her hobby soon became her life and she became a publisher of her own work to share with the world. After publishing, Wheatley became praised and recognized for her work. Her stories, messages, and connections reached more than she could have dreamed, such like George Washington. her poems often related back to her life with one being, On Imagination . It describes...

The novel, Rasselas, by Samuel Johnson draws the reader in by explaining stories of what can be thought of as fantasies while also implying messages to the life we all live. In summary, the novel consists of a prince finding himself very unhappy. To fix this, a quest is sought out to travel the world and find the wonders not only he is feeling but of the world itself. Rasselas encounters many people in many situations all drawing back to stories that are told with underlying messages. It can be assumed that Johnson truly enjoyed writing the novel such that some of the topics or chapter names are far beyond the norm. One being, The Dissertation on the Art of Flying. Ages ago, flying was unheard of and seemed to be a concept only one could dream. The basis of the encounter mixed with endeavors leads to the idea of seeking out dreams of the impossible, essentially. It was thought that flying is dangerous, impractical, and impossible for humans to act upon leading to a doomed failure. As e...

 While traveling, Gulliver finds himself in contact with horses, but not the average group of them. They are extremely intelligent and they have their own language as well as culture. While watching them live, he ponders the differences and behaviors he has previously seen. While reading, I found the horses to be personified as humans instead of just animals who are witty. As a reader I caught my mind and imagination waiting for the next humanistic trait to pop up in the description of the continuous story. I don't want to say it was like a fairytale or fantasy, but the aura had a possibility of being present in this scenario. They are peaceful, virtuous, rational, etc. When Gulliver thinks about the Yahoos, he contrasts them by characteristic thoughts of filth, irrationality, and wildness. Due to many positive versus negative attributes seen in both, a hatred begins to form for the Yahoos in the mind of Gulliver. Comparison is a powerful aspect in life and can allow decisions to b...

 Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady by Alexander Pope stuck me to be one full of emotion in an aspect most of us do not assume while reading. To start the poem with discussion of a ghost is an immediate hook and one that seems to spiral. In later parts of the poem, Pope reveals that what is being written about is nothing other than a person no longer alive. But also, the person is not properly being mourned over. The extensive honor we act upon when a loved one dies is being mocked or critiqued throughout the poem when Pope mentions friends and family not honoring the person who has passed. When we think of honoring a person who is no longer with us, our minds may go to flowers, obituaries, ceremonies, funerals, celebration of life, or things of this nature to remember the person and the life they once lived. For Pope, the poem continues and our normal thoughts of honor are bolstered when flowers will decorate the grave. This is a form of figurative language or imagery to e...

  A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe explains the effects of the bubonic plague in London around the 1600s. This immersive story explains the ins and outs of the plague and the toll it takes on society as a who but also individually. Socially and economically, the city began to crumble due to the plague. People began to act different in many ways ranging all across the spectrum of greed to selflessness and sacrifice for others. While reading the journal, I was reminded of a show I am currently watching, The Last of Us which is based around a society going through a zombie apocalypse focusing on a few characters individually. Nonetheless, both selflessness and greed are exemplified in each piece. I find it so interesting to dive into the 1600s and the resolutions to situations of inhabitants whether it's socially, politically, economically, or even all three. In one portion of the journal, a watchman is heard crying with no one answering. Suddenly, he found out the reaso...

 Astrology is a concept that has been modernized in our lives as we know it today. Many people look into astrology and it's readings or predictions for many different reasons. Some of which consist of entertainment, curiosity, or spirituality beliefs. I find it so interesting that our perspective views on this concept have shifted from the early ages. In the reading, astrology is described as being generalizations for groups of people while in today's day in age, it is personal and individualized. We as a society look at our signs and readings on a personal level aside from the group we associate with in society. The astrology readings based off of your name or birthday are simply about you individually. While pondering the evolution of astrology, I can't help but wonder when this shift occurred. And quite possibly, why? A theory could be from the concept of confirmation bias. The idea of this is we look for information that we either agree with or resonate with while throw...