Life’s Journey as Searching for El Dorado

Life is like a journey—long journey that you have to feel it with worth things. They are my dreams. And also, in life we just have two choices: we change the truth become dream or change the dream become true; therefore, I choose the last one. That is what makes me always try to do the best to achieve success (changing the dreams become true).

Many things I want to do in this short life. But, the philosophy in life is how well you make something better for yourself and everybody around you. I’m now having study at the English Department of the State University of Ma-lang. I hope it will help me to achieve what I really wish someday.

In majority, I have four big dreams in life that I want to get. First of all, I want to continue my study abroad. After that, I want to complete this expe-rience as the stepping stone to success in my career—it means I get good jobs. Life is not perfect yet without the presence of a nice family. I’m sure everybody in this planet wishes this. The last, for my biggest dream in life to dedicate my education that I’ve got is founding such kind of social or educational foundation. They become my priorities than the others because all of them connect me my self—and also my family—with somebody around me.

To get those big dreams, I must do the best for everything, although every-body has a right to get the second change. At present, I must study hard and prepare myself with many experiences on organizations, competitions, social activities, and so forth. All those things will support my future in studying and career (seeking jobs) as well. To found such kind of social foundation is how well I’m able to gather support from people who have the same perspective of the importance of social or education awareness.

El Dorado: a Poem of Poe
El Dorado, a poem written by Edgar Allan Poe, is imagining of someone’s (the knight’s) journey of life. In general, it tells the readers about how the knight wished that he would find the Land of El Dorado, an imagi-nary/dreamy place of very great wealth where people would not be able to find it. He started his journey with a very optimistic that he would succeed his wish by having strength. As the time passed, he became older that he looked like despair for he could not find any land as El Dorado is. In the middle of his journey, he even questioned a shadow of pilgrim (unreal thing) about where the El Dorado exists. Even the shadow of the pilgrim just gave an abstract answer of the location of El Dorado. The readers could conclude that the El Dorado is not easy place to get for we have to pass through mountains and hills.

The knight had sacrificed his strength and also his time to do the effort on searching the El Dorado. Even though he had sacrificed them, it was not always worth. But, he might be success to find the El Dorado if he kept doing the best sacrificing his worth things to achieve the better achievement.

This poem consists of four stanzas. Each of them has its special characteris-tics that the rhymes are in pattern that consists six lines, where the first and the second line of each stanza are the same and “emphasized” with the third rhyme. In conclusion, the pattern of the rhyme is: aabccb-ddbeeb-ffbggb-hhbiib. The other special thing is the number of the syllable of each stanza is four and seven syllables. The mood of the poem is inspiring for the knight had hope to search El Dorado said by the shadow.


In that poem, the writer uses imagery of sight and sound. The imagery of sight we can find at the first line “gaily bedight” that the knight did it cheer-fully. The other is at 16th line “he met a pilgrim shadow” that he could see the shadow of a pilgrim. The imagery of sound can be found at the conver-sation between the knight and the shadow (line 16-14).

If I may describe the poem in color, I’ll say that it is grey. The knight had dream of searching El Dorado, it meant he had to color his white life with his effort. His journey was not finish yet. He was just in the middle of his journey to color his life. It would work if he did want to keep riding to search the El Dorado.

Reflection from El Dorado
After doing my activities today to change my dreams come true, I am some-times fail. As I know, it is very difficult to gather people to support my ac-tivities in social aspect. I feel down. Even though I couldn’t say it as a fail-ure, one thing that I have to do is that I have to redo it in the better way. I realize that the goals that I dreams are too hard. It doesn’t mean that i have to be surrender with the reality.

Nowadays, people also have their own El Dorado. What they search is wealth—it doesn’t have to be a place. They keep strugling to earn money or somekind. From all what we face now, people should keep trying to make something better.