12ERodriguez

"A Place in this World" - Taylor Swift

I don't know what I want, so don't ask me, 'cause I'm still trying to figure it out. I'm just walking. Trying to see through the rain coming down. Even though I'm not the only one, that feels the way i do.

I'm alone, on my own, and that's all i know. I'll be strong, I'll be wrong, Oh, but life goes on. Oh, I'm just a girl, trying to find a place in this world.

Got the radio on, my old blue jeans, And I'm wearing my heart on my sleeve. Feeling lucky today, got the sunshine. Can you tell me what more do i need? And tomorrow's just a mystery, oh yeah, but that's okay.

I'm alone, on my own, and that's all i know. I'll be strong, I'll be wrong, <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Oh, but life goes on. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Oh, I'm just a girl, trying to find a place in this world.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Maybe I'm just a girl on a mission, <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">but I'm ready to fly.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">I'm alone, on my own, and that's all i know. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Oh, I'll be strong, I'll be wrong. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Oh, but life goes on. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Oh, I'm alone, on my own, <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">and that's all i know. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Oh, I'm just a girl, trying to find a place in this world.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Oh, I'm just a girl. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Oh, I'm just a girl. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Oh, oh. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Oh, I'm just a girl.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">I chose this song because it shows transcendentalism ideas. The two that stuck out to me were Nonconformity and self-reliance. The first line of the song reads, "I don't know what I want, so don't ask me, 'cause I'm still trying to figure it out." This, to me, shows nonconformity. She's saying that she doesn't know what she wants, so don't ask her, or even maybe persuade her, because she's going to take time on her own to figure out exactly what she wants, and she's not going to let anyone else make her decisions for her. In Self-Reliance (pg 194) Emerson states, "...imitation is suicide..." I think that this quote would go with that certain line in the song. I take from that quote, that when you try to act like other groups of people, and make decisions based on what other people do, you're not showing your true self, so it's like "killing" yourself in a way. In the second stanza of the song, it says, " I'm alone, on my own, and that's all i know. I'll be strong, I'll be wrong, Oh, but life goes on." That couple of sentences shows self-reliance. In Self-Reliance (pg 194) Emerson says, "Trust thyself." She is saying that she is strong, and she knows that she can make it down any path that may come. She may be wrong at times, but she will move on from them as lessons learned.

<span style="color: #f0a056; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 290%;">"Unwritten" - Natasha Bedingfield <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">I am unwritten <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Can't read my mind <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">I'm undefined

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">I'm just beginning <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The pen's in my hand <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Ending unplanned

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Staring at the blank page before you <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Open up the dirty window <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Let the sun illuminate the words <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">That you could not find

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Reaching for something in the distance <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">So close you can almost taste it <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Release your inhibitions <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Feel the rain on your skin

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">No one else can feel it for you <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Only you can let it in <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">No one else, no one else <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Can speak the words on your lips

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Drench yourself in words unspoken <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Live your life with arms wide open <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Today is where your book begins <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The rest is still unwritten

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Oh, oh

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">I break tradition <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Sometimes my tries <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Are outside the lines

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">We've been conditioned <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">To not make mistakes <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">But I can't live that way, no

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Staring at the blank page before you <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Open up the dirty window <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Let the sun illuminate the words <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">That you could not find

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Reaching for something in the distance <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">So close you can almost taste it <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Release your inhibitions <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Feel the rain on your skin

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">No one else can feel it for you <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Only you can let it in <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">No one else, no one else <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Can speak the words on your lips

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Drench yourself in words unspoken <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Live your life with arms wide open <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Today is where your book begins <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Feel the rain on your skin

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">No one else can feel it for you <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Only you can let it in <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">No one else, no one else <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Can speak the words on your lips

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Drench yourself in words unspoken <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Live your life with arms wide open <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Today is where your book begins <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The rest is still unwritten

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Staring at the blank page before you <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Open up the dirty window <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Let the sun illuminate the words <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">That you could not find

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Reaching for something in the distance <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">So close you can almost taste it <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Release your inhibitions <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Feel the rain on your skin

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">No one else can feel it for you <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Only you can let it in <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">No one else, no one else <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Can speak the words on your lips

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Drench yourself in words unspoken <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Live your life with arms wide open <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Today is where your book begins <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Feel the rain on your skin

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">No one else can feel it for you <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Only you can let it in <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">No one else, no one else <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Can speak the words on your lips

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Drench yourself in words unspoken <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Live your life with arms wide open <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Today where your book begins <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The rest is still unwritten

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The rest is still unwritten <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The rest is still unwritten

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">I chose this song, it also shows transcendentalism ideas. The first couple lines in the song express nonconformity. The first lines in the song read, "I am unwritten. Can't read my mind, I'm undefined. I'm just beginning. The pen's in my hand, ending unplanned. Staring at the blank page before you.." In Emerson's Self-Reliance, he says, "To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men,--that is genius." That quote from Emerson is encouraging the reader to rely on their own individual thought, rather than looking to other people's decisions to make or influence their own. By Natasha saying that she is unwritten, the pen is her hand ending unplanned, and the blank page, that's implying ideas of nonconformity. She's unwritten is basically saying that she's going to have a fresh start, and ready to make new choices, and define herself, in her way. By saying that the pen is in her hand means that she's the one that going to write her future, no one else. The blank page would also imply that she's going to have a fresh start, and is ready to make new decisions without the influence of others.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 240%;">Nonviolent Protests across West Bank <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">The citizens of the villages of Bil'in, Nil'in and an-Nabi saleh are all together and participating in a non violent protest. They are peacfully protesting against the wall that is being built around them. They actually have been protesting for a while now. All of these citizens that are protesting know this is the best way to get their point across. They do not choose violence, because they know that violence will start more problems. Especially since soldiers have already thrown tear gas at them, and when they are being hit repeatedly with cudgels. This whole situation shows that the protesters have a quality of Transcendentalism in themselves, non violent resistance. Mustafa Barghouti had said that he thinks this is a beginning of a great movement across the West Bank. I think that this demonstrates some of Thoreau's thinking. He said that one person could be the spark of a new movement. And, here we have tons of people protesting, and they believe that they can get their word across. This had been going on for quite a while. Nearly seven years ago, citizens that would voice their opinion across the West Bank, would get put in jail. This reminded me of Thoreu's words in Resistance to civil government.These people went to jail, but it was alright with them because they knew that they were standing up for what they believe in. The people now, do not want to let their previous people down, and say they want to follow in their path. The reason why I chose this as a good example of transcendentalism is for many reason. As these citizens peacfully protest, they have soldiers beating, throwing tear gas at them, and just overall harassing them. Even though this is going on, they still have the strength to keep going. They are non conformists themselves, by not wanting the wall to be built around them. They all together know that non voilent protesting is the best way to get their point across.

PETA <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">PETA is organization that spends its time establishing and defending the rights of animals. PETA shows and demonstrates some of the qualities of transcendentalism. The first quality of transcendentalism is Nonconformity. I would say that PETA shows this very well. How many people do you know that are vegetarians? You many know a lot, or you may know only one. But, you do know, as a whole, that not many people are. Meat is a big market in the US. Most of the meals at fast food places have meat included in them. When you go to the grocery store there is a whole section located to meat. Essentially, meat is everywhere. PETA is working against the eating of meat. They know they are the minority when protesting against this, but they still continue to spread thei ideas and beliefs along. In 2006 the Vegetarian Resource Group took a poll to see exactly how many people didn't eat meat. The percentage of people who claimed to never eat meat was only 6.7%. The percentage that doesn't eat meat is clearly the minority, so this would demonstrate nonconformity. They are not conforming with the bigger majority and eating meat, they are standing for what they believe in. PETA also shows self-reliance. PETA is a nonprofit, charitable orginazation. PETA has been trying to get their word across, on their own, since 1980. They don't use any of the money that they get to benefit their own personal needs. They try their hardest to help the rights of animals with their own resources, and when they 'pick up' believers, then they just get more help. So, I would say that they are self-reliant on themselves to help spread their ideas. Sometimes volunteers at PETA go undercover and intern or work at certain factories that they believe are abusing animals. They go into the factory themselves, and may record the animal abuse at hand. Sometimes they are actually there, video taping for several months. They just want enough proof, and reason, to help launch a campaign against the animals being abused in that factory. This shows that even they are willing to do the hard work themselves, and are self-reliant. PETA also has some well-known people that join in to help their ideas become more well-known, and understood. The quality that PETA expresses the best is respect and importance of nature. The main reason for this organization is to help animals gain rights. Animals everyday are being tortured and PETA is trying it's hardest to help stop it. PETA says that we all can eat better, dress better, and educate ourselves better without any animals suffering. Everyone working at PETA puts a lot of time and effort into helping poor, and defensless animals. They've actually had a couple of victories. Unilever, the maker of Lipton, would inject E. coli into little piglets and cutting their intestiens apart while they were still alive. Due to the more than 40,000 PETA supporters calling in, Unilever agreed to never test on animals again. Another major victory was with the University of Texas at Dallas. UTD was holding a cruel experiment where students would drill holes into rats' skulls and inject them with Parkinson's disease, and then kill them and cut out their brains. PETA tried calling into the school, but the school wouldn't respond, so they launched a campaign that lasted a while, and the school finally got rid of that experiment. These victores prove that they are willing to do all the hard work themselves, to help animals, and spread their beliefs. I would say that Thoreau would be proud of all of PETA's actions.

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__<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 170%;">Works Cited __ <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Krista. "Taylor Swift Lyrics." __AZLyrics.com__ nd 10 Mar. 2011 <http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/taylorswift aplaceinthisworld.html>.

"Taylor Swift Pictures." __Teen Hollywood__ nd 10 Mar. 2001 <http://www.teenidols4you.com/picture.html?g=Actors&pe=taylor_swift&foto=554&act=909&mv=4&pic=333602>

"Unwritten Lyrics." __Metrolyrics__ nd 10 Mar. 2011 <http://www.metrolyrics.com/unwritten-lyrics-natasha-bedingfield.html>

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Emerson, Waldo. "Self-Reliance." __Elements of Literature__. Austin: Holt, Reinhart, and Winston, Inc.: 1989. Print.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Stahler, Charles. " Vegetarian Journal 2006 Issue 4." __The Vegetarian Resource Group__ 20 Dec, 2006 16 Mar. 2001 []

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Sherwin. "PETA" __Daily Contributor__ 31 Mar 2009. 16 Mar 2011. < [] >

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">[]

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">"Army shuts down peacefull rallies across West Bank." __Ma'an News Agency__ 15 Aug. 2010. 16 Mar. 2011. []

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">"The Peaceful Intifada." Newsweek.com. 13 Aug. 2010. np. Web. 16 Mar. 2011. <[]> <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Thoreau, Henry David. "Thoreau's Civil Disobedience" The Thoreau Reader. Richard Lenat. Web.16 Mar. 2011. <[]>