The Line

We have all heard the saying there is a fine between genius and insanity. Those who walk on this preverbal line are forever immortalized as the brilliant thinker or as the quack philosopher. The jury still isn’t out on Poe but today we will all come to our own opinion of what Poe really was. Edger Allen Poe was born January 19th of 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts Son of actress Eliza Poe and actor David Poe Jr. His mother Eliza died and his father also died/disappeared. Leaving Poe to be adopted by John and Fanny Allan in. Edgar worked very hard to write. He drank often. And in 1836 He married his cousin, Virginia Clemm. She was 14 years old. Virginia, his young wife, dies Poe gets involved with a few other women, but does not stay sober or successful long enough to please them. Poe’s writing are writing of ominous and gothic storylines. This can be seen as fore shadowing of his life. An example of this is the poem “Ligeia” which can be interpreted as a story of the death of his wife. Themes and symbols of his stories are Love and Hate, Self vs. Alter Ego, The Power of the Dead over the Living, and Eyes serve as window to the soul. To quote William Shakespeare Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. Some people believe Poe to have had greatness thrust upon him. Due to his chronic alcohol addiction critics argue that the under toning themes, motifs, and symbols of Poe's writings are by happenstance more so than Poe coming up with the creative and complex under toning. All in all I believe the man was great because there not enough luck in the world to produce the themes, motifs, and symbols exemplified in Poe’s writings. Now it’s your turn genius or insanity.

Modern Day American

 In present day an American is defined as a citizen of the United States of America. Surly that isn’t what the founding fathers of this nation wanted.

After the oppression of the English government, English settlers set out on a journey in order to find a place where they could create the basic building blocks of a modern day democracy. To the forefathers of this great nation to be an American was to be a person that; had upstanding morals, was wise and stood for liberty and justice for all.

 I believe this definition of American was, still is, and will never be an obtainable goal. Bringing me to the all important question what is a modern day American? I believe it’s a figment of our imagination because no one is completely pure and free of wrong doing. Also moral and wise beliefs are subjective which means no one can definitively say something is right or wrong.  

What do you think dose an American exist at all?

MODERN DAY PURITANS

Puritan is defined as a person who is strict in moral or religious matters, often excessively so. Today I like to think of modern puritans not as a person or a group of people, but as the direct decedent of the puritan ideology… Government. The cornerstone of government is the law, just as the bible severed in the puritan society, “It’s either your saving grace or your eternal damnation”. The two are synonymous there is no middle ground; you’re either innocent or guilty. This exemplifies the term “Simplicity in its rarest form is a beautiful thing”. Perhaps, the biggest similarity is their tendencies to eradicate anything that contradicts their ideology be it the law or the bible.
Do you think that the government is embodying Puritan like behavior?