The Voyage Letters

I find Columbus’s Letters to be extremely interesting. I love reading about how happy he seems on his first journey. How he is experiencing all these new things for the first time when he reaches a new island. About how detailed he goes in his letters about the birds, trees, and the types of soils that he encounters. It seems to me that he was very respectful when venturing on to a new land. He would send a few men out off the ship to explore for about three day to see if there were any forms of government that he could come in contact with. He talks about briefly about all the things that he has acquired from his travels. He seems to be doing what he loves. He is at peace with himself and at peace with the world. But over just a few short years he goes from being hopeful and joyful to becoming extremely fearful. He talks about in his fourth voyage letter about how he and his men are held captive and have nothing left. That the people who are holding them captive have took everything from them even their clothes. He briefly talks about how death is approaching him and his men. He in a sense begs the Highness for freedom and thinks that maybe she has something to do with being captured.

The reason I wanted to give a brief summary about the two letters is because it is amazing to me how much detail went into just a single letter. Then I quickly realized that it must have been really difficult for a letter to reach all the way back to his homeland. Because if this he needed to be extremely detailed so the people back home could paint a picture of exactly what there was out there to offer.

Amazing Abe

One of the people that I look up to the most is Mr. Abraham Lincoln. I believe if it wasn’t for this man us as a Nation would be much different. From his amazing speeches at Gettysburg and also at his second inaugural he proves to be a kind hearted man with a firm reliance in God. I believe he was a great man of faith even though sometimes he may not seem as though. I believe that we as Americans have a lot to learn from Abraham Lincoln. I believe that if we hold true to what is right and hold strong with God we can continue to be the greatest nation on the earth.

Enjoyably Confused!

I never thought being confused would be enjoyable to anyone including me. But I was quickly proven wrong after diving into a few of Edgar Allan Poe’s writings. I normally have to read his poems three or four times to just to start to grasp a concept of one of his poems. But even though I don’t fully understand exactly what he is talking about, like for example in “The Raven” I enjoy putting my own imagination to use in trying to figure out what he is talking about. I think that in a way that’s what he intended when he originally wrote his poems. I believe that he knew of course exactly what they meant but also understood how difficult it may be for the reader and so he left it up to their imagination to kind of run with it. Not all of Poe’s writings are like this however. Like in his Tall Tale Heart story It is pretty easy to follow, but with Poe, at least in my opinion this is a rare occurrence.

What makes a great speaker?

I often hear people say, “wow that was a great speaker” or “man that was an amazing speech.” But what really makes a good speaker and what really makes a great speech? I have recently asked myself this question and tried to figure it out myself. I believe what makes a great speaker is tone and diction along with a good appearance, although I don’t believe appearance always determines a great speaker and I’ll explain later. As far as a great speech goes I believe it needs to be one that pertains primarily to what is suppose to be discussed. Like for example with Martin Luther King Jr. Speech “I have a dream” it was based solely on overcoming a prejudice society. He didn’t switch between subjects. He kept the message simple but delivered it with a stark tone. He captured the heart and minds with his speech. I believe that you can have great words jotted on a piece of paper and it still is a lousy speech. It takes the right person to rely those words in order to make it a memorable one. Another great speaker that comes to my mind is Ronald Reagan. Even though he was very soft spoken he had a way of making words powerful and his appearance always seemed to be spot on. This brings me back however to the point I made earlier about how appearance isn’t necessarily everything. I remember going to a high school commencement speech about three years ago. The speaker was a well known neurosurgeon who graduated from Harvard medical. The first thing that came to my mind before even seeing him was, “I bet this guy looks rich.” But once he got up on stage that was far from the truth. He was wearing extremely faded blue jeans and a sweater that looked like it was from the seventies. He had a really long beard and very long uncombed hair. I thought to myself this can be the same person who is in the program. But it was. The grubby old looking man was actually a brain surgeon. I kept thinking to myself in a sarcastic way, “wow this is going to be good.” But very shortly after he began speaking I was instantly intrigued. The speech he delivered ended up being one of the best speeches I have ever heard. I just goes to show that it takes all different types of people with different types of words to make a truly amazing and good speech.

What exactly is an Oxford Comma?

Many people aren't exactly sure what an Oxford Comma is, even though they use it in 85% of their writings. It is something that just comes somewhat naturally in wirting. The Oxford Comma is also known as the "Serial Comma." Even when one calls it a serial comma people still rarely know what that is. Well I'm hear to clear up what eactly an Oxford Comma is. Everybody noramlly has a choice to use an Oxford Comma or not in their wirtings depending on the use of it or if instructed to do so. An Oxford comma is mostly used in a series of events. For example if one was to write in a paper; "I've been to France, Germany, and Spain the Oxford Comma is present. If someone were to write; "I've been to France, Germany and Spain the Oxford Comma is not present. Both are correct but one is slightly different. The series listed in the first one has a comma after Germany and before the and. This is the "Oxford Comma" or the "Serial Comma." It is not required in most wirting but it is something that the writer can add to add even more of a brief pause in between the list of the series.

If figured I would take some time in my first blog to explain what exactly the title of my Blog was about. It is something that has really fasinated me in writings and also when reading literature. They say everyone learns something new every day so maybe this is something new that you learned today.