Author: WyattPitts

What I must do in my note-taking to describe what is going on around me. What makes a good autobiography is when the author describes what is going around him or her with there five senses. The first sense that I will talk about is  sound or hearing. It would be sad to be deaf because you would miss too many wonderful sounds like good music and birds whistling in the morning. The author would write down what he or she heard in their lifetime. Hearing is an important thing to describe otherwise the reader of the autobiography would not fully understand what is happening too well. 

The next sense I would like to talk about is smell. Smells are wonderful! Without them you couldn’t smell flowers or your favorite foods. Smells also trigger memories. Whenever I smell citrus I think of oranges or lemons. Smells are important in life and without them you would be missing a lot. For example when my mom was young  my grandmother or her mom used almond extract to make cookies at Christmas. So whenever my mother smells almond extract she thinks of Christmas. 

The third sense that I want to talk about is the sense of sight. Sight is wonderful and without it you could barely tell where you were and what was happening around you. With sight you can see what is happening around you and you can play things. Sight is helpful in many ways. One is that you can play board games with friends and family. Nature is a beautiful sight. 

The fourth sense that I want to talk about is the sense of taste. Without taste you couldn’t enjoy eating any foods. Taste buds are the reason of why food is amazing. Taste helps you enjoy life. My family may seem weird to other families because we don’t eat at most restaurants and eat healthier. We drink milk strait from a farm too. 

The fifth and final sense is the sense of touch. Without touch you feel dogs hair, warmth, or cold. Describing these five senses in an autobiography is very important. If the author didn’t describe them then the autobiography would be hard to understand.

Has any event in your life had the same impact that learning how to read had on Douglass’s life? If not, why not? His full name was Frederick Douglass. Douglass was a slave. According to Wikipedia “Douglass’s full name was Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, but he dropped two of his names after he escaped slavery. He was ‘an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became a national leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York, becoming famous for his oratory and incisive antislavery writings.” Recently I have read some of his autobiography, but I will finish it very soon.

Douglass’s second master was a kind woman. She taught him how to read and write. In the south teaching slaves to read and write was illegal. This was illegal because the owners of the slaves thought that if their slaves learned to read and write they would no longer be content with being a slave. This may mean that they would get free and try to take the south over. Learning to read and write was the first step that Douglass took to being a free man. He would have never written his autobiography if he didn’t learn to read and write. Learning to read and write was a huge impact on Douglass’s life, but an even greater one I had on my life was when I was baptized.

Has any event in your life had the same impact that learning how to read had on Douglass’s life? If not, why not? Mine was being baptized at church. It showed everyone that I believed in Jesus the Son of God died for me. Before I believed I was scared at night and always asked my parents to pray with me and I was having nightmares, but after I believed I wasn’t scared or had nightmares anymore. Now I only have nightmares when God wants to tell me what I’m doing wrong in my life. It was not too close too what happened in Douglass’s life because learning to read and write isn’t as important as believing in God. 

At the moment I am twelve years old and know how to read and write. Me learning to read and write did not have as much impact on my life than Douglass’s life because he was a slave and it was illegal for him to learn. It must have been very influential for him. 

My 9-month plan to get a part-time job at no less than $20/hour to help a businessman improve his marketing. During month one I would find a job and get it. The next month I would get to know the place and where everything is. On month three I would get to know the people who worked there like where they lived and about their history. Months four and five would be writing down things about the other people that work there and how I can help that business grow. The next three months would be helping the business make more money. If it was a restaurant I would tell neighbor’s, friends, and family about how good the food was there. If it was a store I would get more people to buy the products. And for month nine I would plan out my presentation and graph out my plans the business and when I am finished I would present it. 

As a writer of an autobiography about life in the woods, would you spend more pages describing an ant war or loons? Why? It is written like this because I have been reading Thoreau’s book Walden. I like loons because I like birds and I hate ants, but both are interesting. Here is why. 

According to Google , “Ant Wars are a direct, aggressive interaction between ants of different colonies. Ants are engaged in competition with other ants. For example, if one colony monopolizes the supply of food, this source is unavailable to other ants – that is an indirect form of competition.” An ant war is basically a war between two colony’s of ants because of food problems or territory issues. As it says in Google, “Ants may fight to protect their own nests or food storage from enemies or when they try to take over nests or seize food of not only other ant species, but also other colonies of the same species.” Ants will fight to protect their colony. It would be very interesting to see an ant war.

According to “Wilderness North”, “Loons are water birds like ducks, geese, and grebes, but they are classified separately by scientists. The five species are Red-throated Loon Gavia stellata, Pacific Loon Gavia pacifica, Arctic Loon Gavia arctica, Yellow-billed Loon Gavia adamsii, and Common Loon Gavia immer.” Loons are very beautiful and it would be interesting to find out what they did during the day.

As a writer of an autobiography about life in the woods, would you spend more pages describing an ant war or loons? Why? I would write about an ant war. It would be interesting to watch and write down what happened and the reader would be interested in what happened. 

What local marketing advantages do I now have that I did not have when the week began? One, build a business that makes you comfortable and your customers happy. If I make a business that I have no fun with the business ends, or if my customers don’t like it I have no customers. Two, having a website. If you have no customers you have no business. Without a website people will never find out so you’ll have no customers which means no business. Third, location. Without a location to have your business it cannot grow. My family gets milk and yogurt from a farm. Every Friday night they drive to a location, my family and other families go to that location too, and we get milk and yogurt. These three points are very important to having a business.

How important is it for a person to summarize his philosophy of life in an early chapter of an autobiography? In most autobiography’s the writer does not say what his beliefs are. I think that saying what your beliefs are is very important in an autobiography. If you write one it is about you. Saying your beliefs would help people know what your lifestyle was. 

As the author of your autobiography your in charge of what the book says and how you describe your life. If you keep reminding the readers your beliefs throughout your autobiography then it will help the readers to understand your autobiography better. In Thoreau’s book Walden he tried to do this, but failed. He just made himself look extremely hypocritical and narcissistic.

In some autobiography’s it is important to know the background of the person. In Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden he wanted to connect with nature. His autobiography was about him going to live on Walden Pond and building a shack there to live in. For twenty-six months of his life he did a little experiment. He talked about his life on Walden Pond and his experiment.

I don’t really care if the author of an autobiography does not write his beliefs, but writing there beliefs would make their autobiography better to understand. If I write an autobiography I would no doubt put my beliefs in it. I would also remind the reader of my beliefs.

Procrastination kills. According to Google procrastination is “the action of delaying or postponing something.” You may be wondering why the title is procrastination kills and what it kills. Well to answer both questions according to “Sid Savara”, procrastination kills “productivity, ambition, opportunities, motivation, progress, projects you long for most, dreams, and one minute, one hour, and one day at a time. And every week or month, when you wonder where the time went, if you procrastinated- then procrastination is slowly killing you.” For a moment let’s say that you promised your best friend that you would do something with them, but then something comes up at work. You postpone that until later and you to your friends house. Well the next day it’s too late and you go out of business. I’m not saying that you should not spend time with your friend, I’m saying that your friend will understand more than where you work. As it says in Ephesians 5:15-17 “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. That is a very good on using your time wisely. Here is another good verse on spending your time wisely.” It is Proverbs 6:6-8 “Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.” It is a verse on laziness. These two verses can be very helpful in your life. Listen too them and meditate on them and listen to them. They will help you so be diligent. Get rid of procrastination and laziness. That will help your business grow even bigger. 

Would Walden have been a better book if Thoreau had supplied more background information on his life? Henry David Thoreau was an  American naturalist, essayist, poet, philosopher, and a leading transcendentalist. As a transcendentalist Thoreau believed that the only reality was in the spiritual world and the only way to get rid of peoples problems was the free development of emotions. I know that that was not true. He is mainly known for his autobiography Walden. It is about his life living on Walden Pond. He wrote in his autobiography “I lived alone, in the woods, a mile from any neighbor, in a house which I had built myself, on the shore of Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts, and earned my living by the labor of my hands only. I lived there two years and two months. At present I am a sojourner in civilized life again.” He said that his reason for going there was to get a business with few obstacles because he thought a business would be easy there.

Would Walden have been a better book if Thoreau had supplied more background information on his life? Well my answer is no. His autobiography is named Walden and it tells of his life on Walden Pond. It wouldn’t make sense for Thoreau to write about his whole life if the book was called Walden. Also the book was very confusing. more detail would of made it even more confusing. I have had to read a great deal of autobiography’s and Walden is the most confusing one. These are the reasons of why the answer to this question is no. If you read this book read slowly and do your best to focus on the writing style that Thoreau uses. 

Was Thoreau dependent on the division of labor while he was living on Walden Pond? Thoreau’s full name was Henry David Thoreau. You may already know who he was, but according to Google “Henry David Thoreau was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading transcendentalist, he is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay “Civil Disobedience”, an argument for disobedience to an unjust state.” According to Google “Transcendentalism is a 19th-century movement of writers and philosophers in New England who were loosely bound together by adherence to an idealistic system of thought based on a belief in the essential unity of all creation.” His book Walden tells of his life living on the shore of Walden Pond. In Thoreau’s book he wrote “I lived alone, in the woods, a mile from any neighbor, in a house which I had built myself, on the shore of Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts, and earned my living by the labor of my hands only. I lived there two years and two months. At present I am a sojourner in civilized life again.” He also in his autobiography wrote why he was living on the shore of Walden Pond. “My purpose in going to Walden Pond was not to live cheaply nor to live dearly there, but to transact some private business with the fewest obstacles; to be hindered from accomplishing which for want of a little common sense, a little enterprise and business talent, appeared not so sad as foolish.” He also said that he thought that Walden Pone would be a good place for business. According to Google the division of labor is “the assignment of different parts of a manufacturing process or task to different people in order to improve efficiency”.

Was Thoreau dependent on the division of labor while he was living on Walden Pond? That answer is yes. In the first chapter he wrote how he built his house and how much it would cost. He used division of labor when he bout supplies to build his house and when he bought food. He may have also bought fishing gear. “At night there was never a traveler passed my house, or knocked at my door, more than if I were the first or last man; unless it were in the spring, when at long intervals some came from the village to fish for pouts—they plainly fished much more in the Walden Pond of their own natures, and baited their hooks with darkness—but they soon retreated, usually with light baskets, and left “the world to darkness and to me,” and the black kernel of the night was never profaned by any human neighborhood.” 

How could I adopt Northup’s technique of using contrasts? If you read my last paper “The differences between Northup’s response to separation from his children and Eliza’s response to separation from her children” or read his autobiography “Up From Slavery” you would know who Solomon Northup was. If you haven’t done either do so and here is a brief overview of his life. Northup was a free African-American who was born in New York. He was tricked into slavery and was told not to tell anyone he was a free man or he would be killed. He was greatly valued by his last master. He talked to a white man who did not believe in slavery who sent a note to some of Northup’s friends in New York. Soon enough they came for Northup and he went home to his family. 

I love to read. Solomon Northup’s autobiography up from slavery was well written. He put detail in his book which just made me want to read more of it. Another reason I like this man is because he hated slavery before he witnessed it. In an earlier paper I wrote about why slavery was evil. Northup witnessed  everything that I wrote in that paper. 

And to the question, How could I adopt Northup’s technique of using contrasts? Well I could Watch things closely in my life and write it down or journal it. Contrasts happen everywhere. I just have to know when and where to look for them.