Alone With Nature

" The greatest delight which the fields and woods minister, is the suggestion of an occult relation between man and the vegetable. I am not alone and unacknowledged. they nod to me and i to them." This quote from nature by Waldo Emerson reminds me of how I feel when i am alone with nature. Waldo Emerson wrote the essay nature to show how nature can impact our lives for the better. He writes about how he connects with nature and how his mind is free to think when he is around nature. One of Emerson's students Henry David Thoreau also writes about his experience in his essay titled Walden. It is an essay reflecting a period in his life when he spent two years and two moths in the woods. I absolutely agree with Emerson and Thoreau's opinions about nature. From my experiences i think that nature provides inspiration, protection, and encouragement.

Nature gives me inspiration and encourages me to follow my dreams. Thoreau says, " If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."Thoreau writes this in his conclusion to his two year experience with nature. He also mentions that he has learned to advance confidently in the direction of his dreams. He was inspired by nature to follow his dreams. While walking through the woods i could hear the dry leaves crunch under my feet, the scent of pollion filled the air, and the bright sun streamed through the trees. Not only did i see all of these things, but i could feel an unexplainable warmth come over me and was suddenly inspired by all of the beautiful elements of nature that God created. I also had an inspiration to live life to its fullest and not fall into a particular route or make a beaten track for my life.

Nature also gives me protection Emerson says " The greatest delight which the fields and woods minister, is the suggestion of an occult relation between man and the vegetable. i am not alone and unacknowledged. They nod to me and i to them." He also says " there i feel that nothing can befall me in life-no disgrace, no calmity (leaving my eyes), which nature cannot repair." When i read this i could immediately relate to what he said. He talks about how he is not alone and that is exactly how i felt when i had my first experience with nature. While hiking through the woods on a camping trip and wondered off by myself. I saw many beautiful things. I heard the bubbling brooks, saw birds pearched on tree branches, and wathced orange and red leaves falling off of the trees. Even though i was alone the huge oak tree gave me protection. I felt like nothing could hurt or harm me. The birds chirping and the squirrels scurrying the ground reminded me that i was not alone.

While wandering through the woods alone all of my distractions abandoned me. My thoughts began to clear and the storm inside my head faded away. I started imagining all of the things i want in life. I came to the realization that life was surprisingly short and to waste my time on less important things could result in an unfulfilling life. I learned that i should follow my dreams, not to hesitate, and to go where ever God sends me. Thoreau reflects on his experience and says, " I learned this, at least, by my experiment: That if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." After reading this from Thoreau, i knew that he shared some of the same feelings that i did. His experience also encouraged him to follow his dreams.

I have realized many things about life after reading Walden and nature. Emerson and Thoreau share their feelings about nature and how it has impacted their lives. I can relate to them because nature inspires me, protects me, and also encourages me to succeed in life. I did not come to the realization of this until having to read their essays in English. From my experience i have learned to follow my dreams and to live life to its fullest. The solitude of being alone with nature helps get away from all of my distractions. Then i feel like time has stopped and for a moment i can sit and acknowledge all of the beautiful things God has made.

Reflection:

• scarlet letter essay- My essay was about the theme of unconfessed sins killing out ones soul and spirit. I used the characters Dimmesdale, Roger, and Hester to show this. Each one of my body paragraphs was about one of the three characters. I showed how Dimmesdale and Roger were affected by their sins. I also talked about how Hawthore used Hester to show that by confessing your sins you can gain strength and knowlage. One thing that i had to revise in my essay was i had to take out some sentences because they just summerized the story and did not do anything for my essay. Then i added more details. http://http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dhbbnhkq_2dmdvbt&hl=en
• Nature Essay- My essay was about how my experiences related to those of Emerson and Thoreau. I described my experiences and related it to examples from the text. My body paragraphs were about how nature provided inspiration, protection, and encouragement. When revising my essay i noticed that i needed to add more details and i also needed to explain more parts of my essay.http://http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dhbbnhkq_4cz4z2v&hl=en
• I have learned many things about writing in this class. I have leared how to make my introduction paragraphs better. I have also learned how to add brushstrokes to my writing and include more details to make it more interesting. Another thing that i have improved on is my grammer. This class has improved my writing so much since last year.

The Scarlet Letter Essay

No man for any considerable period can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true" (Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, Chapter XX). One of the central themes of The Scarlet letter is that unconfessed sins destroy the soul. Hawthorne has proved this in many ways and through several characters in the novel. Reverend Dimmsdale and Roger Chillingworth provide a great example of Hawthorne's theme. in contrast, Hester Prynne shows how one can gather strength and knowledge from confessing one's sins.

Rodger Chillingworth is determined to find out the identity of Hester's secret love. This plan of revenge consumes him and begins to slowly kill out his soul. Hawthore writes, " All his strength and energy-all his vital and intellectual face-seemed at once to desert him; insomuch the he positicely withered up,shrivelled away and almost vanished from mortal sight, like an uprooted weed that lies wilting in the sun." Hawthorne uses a simile comparing Chillingworth to a dying weed lying in the sun. He provides a perfect illustration of how his only purpose in life was to get revenge and once Dimmsdale died he just shriveled up like an uprooted weed with no purpose in life. I think that anyone who spends all of their time doing negative things will eventully be consumed by the evil aspects of life.

Dimmesdale is also consumed by the sins that he hides. Dimmesdale does not want to ruin his reputation by confessing to everyone what he did. Dimmesdale keeps his affair with Hester a secret. Instead of announcing his sins to the public he privately beats and punishes himself, but this does not satisfy his soul. He becomes consumed by his sin but eventully seeks salvation and forgiveness just before he dies. He says, "Thou hast escaped me! … Thou hast escaped me!” Even though he does confess, he does not have the strength and courage that Hester had.


Hawthorne uses Dimmsdale and Chillingworth to illustrate how sin can destroy your life, but he also uses Hester Prynne to show readers how you can learn from your sins and gain strength in them. Hester suffers embarrassment and was isolated from society. She walks around wearing the scarlet letter "A" being reminded of her sin every moment. Hester is strong and used her punishment to learn and at the end of the novel the meaning of the letter "A" changed from adultery to able. Hawthorne writes,"Many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman's strength." I think that Hester is a reflection of God's amazing grace. Even though she commits and sin; she confesses and eventually gains incredible strength and knowledge from her experience.

Hawthorne uses these three dominate characters to show readers how secret sins can consume you and eventually destroy you. Hester's sin of adultery has been confessed, and she wears the scarlet letter. As a result, the sin does not destroy her inward spirit. She gathers strength and courage and turns the meaning of adultery to able. Opposed to Hester, Dimmesdale does not confess his sin until after it totally destroys him. He hides his adultery and doesn't claim pearl as his daughter. His punishment is guilt and suffering. When Dimmesdale dies Chillingworth realizes that he no longer has a purpose in life because he focused his whole life on revenge. Concluding that They were both defeated by their sins.