Love Song Confusion

This poem alone made little sense to me during class. Without someone skilled in the poetry or literature fields I do not understand how anyone could make sense out of the various allusions. In class you said that the main task of the poet is to get their message across to the reader, but because of the difficulty most normal people would have in comprehending I can see that the poet's reader demographic has to be very select and upper class. I wonder how the poet can sit and write something so complex and expect his readers to regard it well when it takes so much analysis and time to get a small jest past the poem's surface.

Sources Sources Sources

The past two classes me and Nina have been collecting sources that we have found to contain Twain's thoughts on imperialism. Our sources so far range from autobiographies, books, and interviews from various newspaper articles. I admit that I did not do a blog for the previous day because we only found a few sources and had little to report back, but now I am confident that with the materials that we are gathering that we will soon be able to create a much more defined area to research and our questions to guide us to our thesis.

Mark Twain and his views on imperialism

During class today I really dove into Twain's views on imperialism and conquest. Twain calls himself an anti-imperialist, and at various times I found defends his views. I think that this topic would be something good to, like you said in your previous comment, look deeper into. I also found a very nice and organized website with a large collection of authoritative sources on and by Twain himself including his autobiography. I think that finding this website really will make our project much easier because it pulls a vast majority of the sources that we will most likely use together. The website is also very well respected because it has been labeled authoritative by MLA.

The seed has been planted and begun to grow into a real research project

Right now our project has began to take shape and begin to move on towards progress. Last night Nina and I made the basics to our calender and decided that our research will center on Mark Twain and his works. As of right now we are not sure yet where we would like to take our project, but I am hoping to take it to a topic relating to something satirical in his works. I would like to analyze various aspects of how Twain address various social situations of his time such as people's struggle to survive financially and even his views on slavery. I hope this project is one that does not just burden us, but lets us explore something that we are interested in.

Research Project

At the moment, my group is not exactly sure who they would like to focus on because our group fractured. Right now I am searching for people to focus on, and I think I would like to research on Mark Twain because his name his a common household name for a writer, but I do not know much about him or his works. I am open to any change that we do now since our deadline for a calender is fast approaching, so I am sure that our topic will change depending on what we talk about in class if we have group time. I think that this project will be easily be handled if everyone gets working on it within the next few days.

Diigo can Go

Diigo is pretty useful when it comes to taking and sharing notes on web pages. I haven't perfected Diigo yet, but im sure that when the entire class makes all their annotations public and everyone links their research and ideas together about a common topic it will further our knowledge. About Diigo itself, I do think that the best and most efficient way to use it is to download the toolbar.

Hidden Women, Protective Husbands, and Maddening Yellow Wallpaper

This story has to be one of the best examples of someone slowly losing their grip on reality while everyone around her keeps their distance and attempts to diagnose her. The main character spends the vast majority of her narration describing her hatred and awe over the yellow wallpaper that torments her mind with its varying design.
I will go ahead and jump to the end and say that I am extremely confused because of how vague it is; I thought that she was going to actually hang herself with the rope or something, but then realized that that couldn't work because nobody would be telling the story. In the end it says the husband past out, but why would he pass out if she just tore down the wall paper, unless she is somehow part of it? I am not sure at all. But the extra bit about her writing this after she went through something explains how she was able to create such a realistic situation of a lady losing her mind while the people around her are constantly wondering about her mental health.

MLK Jr.

While reading MLK's letter from jail, the two main quotes I found that stood out to me in relation to the previous material we studied were actually very short. “A few signs, briefly removed, returned; the others remained” and “Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, ‘Wait’” both caught my eye. The first one is talking about how throughout the history of African Americans, blacks will have obtained some ground toward total equality in comparison to whites, but that ground is always shaken and broken down to what was there before. The second quote, in my opinion is very important because it brings the concept of fighting for civil rights to a more relate-able view, showing people how it easy it can be for the people not being afflicted to hold the rights from others. If one person has an ample amount of money, but one person does not, the wealthy man will have a much easier time denying the other man money because he has no experience being the one in need. The concept of not having the experience the blacks have, to me seems like a very good point, but does not really carry much weight in the argument for civil rights; although its true, it can not be used as evidence for support.

Frederick Douglas's House of Civil Pain

Douglas, Washington, and Dubois all have varying ideas about suffrage and civil rights; Washington wanted to compromise and give up the fight for civil equality in order to get the black man into the work force. Dubois takes Washington's proposed compromise and claims that any race or civilization that things in that manner has no pride, and does not deserve to grow and evolve in the world. The concept of the wealthy class keeping and promoting racial tension to me does not seem entirely correct because yes the upper class placed racial tension in their society, but that tension was so deeply rooted in the society that all sides of the racial and economic spectrum felt the same way. So in reality, the average white person was the one who promoted the most tension between the races.

The Lesson of the Hour

Frederick Douglas gives this speech criticism of how the blacks are being treated now, and gives a major focus on the lynchings happening in the south, which is obviously the most horrific even to focus on. Honestly I cannot remember the speech as well as I would have hoped, but one thing I do remember sticking out in my mind was how vast and extensive the vocab was in his speech for a black man who educated himself, especially in this time period. But I think for me to honestly get the full effect of this speech I need to read it all so I can subtract the over done aspect from the movie we watched.

A Triple Paradox

Mr. W.E.B. Dubois shows to his readers the mistakes made by Mr Washington in his "Atlanta Compromise". Dubois basically says that the things that Washington asks for in turn for giving up on black civil rights contradict with the good for the black race. Asking for normal and job related schooling for blacks, in the mind of Dubois, means regressing and putting the black youth in a unproductive environment for their future, and also says that their scholarly society needs higher education to further advance, so to ask for lower education angers Dubois. Washington also says that in the compromise, that blacks will stop the fight for equal rights for the opportunity to be workers and land owners, but Bubois says that there is no way, without enfranchisement, that blacks can protect the little rights the want or have. The final point Washington talks about, is having blacks accept a view of social inferiority, but Dubois declares that a race that gives up their pride, deserves no rights at all, and should not be civilized at all.

Up From Slavery

This story so far is slightly bland to me, and it seems to take forever to get from page to page. The syntax and dictation make it an easy read, but also make it seem like I am reading a text book instead of an story. Although at first glance it seems boring at first, B.T Washington makes observations and tells us small instances that make me think about the view of the master from the slave's perspective; I would think most people keep in mind the mindset that all slaves hated their masters in a fiery show of angst, but Washington gives us a complete opposite view that shows us how slaves would lay down their lives in service to their masters needs. I also liked how he laid out the setting and environment that the slaves live in every day; their houses were poorly built with holes and missing parts, and he even described how poorly every meal seemed in comparison to his white masters in the "big house".

Naturalism

Naturalism has plagued our class these last two weeks, and has managed to turn our brains inside out and upside down in an effort to comprehend such an abstract topic. Although I have yet to present anything to the class, everything I have looked up for Naturalism has made my understanding of the topic less and less clear in comparison to my previous "comprehension". I do not like to say that anyone in our class, besides you of course, has a clear understanding of Naturalism because it seems that the more we learn our previously bullet proof ideologies are instantly questioned and torn apart. It seems that Naturalism is not only a branch of Realism, but a concept that has been around since the Greek times, who in science and in mostly in their mythology have very similar styles like the Naturalism we are looking at. Right now my understanding, if you must say, is very varied, and needs to worked on because it seems that almost every day it changes when introduced to new ideas and new information.

Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

I thought the movie was well made and from the very start created a dark and solemn atmosphere. But in comparison to the text, the movie seems to try to make a over done eerie feeling for the tv show it was on. I liked how the story really did not need diolouge to get the tones across, and stress the point of view opposite the author's.

If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking: Emily Dickinson

I like this poem because it is different from her other works; her other poems seem extremely depressing or sorrowful, but this one doesn't exactly have a flamboyant and uplifting tone, but it has a positive message. This poem also gives us a little insight into her personality which at first I thought was almost self destructive, but this shows that she has a caring and sensitive nature about her, and that she wishes to help those around her. Even though the message or substance of the poem is different from her others, it follows the similar style of writing, choice of wording, and length of the others. This poem also makes me think that she must have gone through some sort of major heart break or some very bad times to want to protect others so much.

Class Disucssion on Rappichini and Industrialization

Rappichini tried to play God through his science, and the concept of having no metaphysical presence in the world, and that the world is solely based on science, is thought to be bad by many, such as our founding fathers. Im confused about we talked about in class yesterday, I understand the concept of the "Watch Maker", but I don't understand how industrialization ties into the story. I understand what industrialization was, but in relation to the story im totally lost. I understand what we talked about but im not sure what to write about here. I think that im missing the connection between the concept of Hubris we talked about and Industrialization.

Another View on Hester

Ch 13 does not go far into the story line to say, but takes time to give the reader prospective on Hester and what is going through her brain. Hester sees Dimmesdale in a state that makes her feel guilty, but she isn't sure whether or not to help him. Hester knows that Chillingworth is not healing his "friend", and she knows that he is gaining his trust so he can execute his revenge causing the most damage to him. We also are told that Chillingworth has sunk down morally to execute his revenge on Dimmesdale, while Hester supposedly has risen up after her sinful action. Discussion wise, we didn't get to talk long, but I did find the section talking about Hester's A important; comparing her A to the cross of a nun in my opinion is a bold statement. As Hester is portrayed helping the poor and needy, I kind of get the feeling that it is almost not sincere, like her thinking is not all there, and that her sanity is a tiny bit shaken.

Hester's new persona

From the chapter we read in class today, we got to see that as 7 years have passed since Hester stood on that pedestal holding her "sin" in her arms, the community that cast her out and take all normalcy out of her life, has come to forgive her. To the community, Hester's scarlet "A" is not clear, its seen as a sign that she is indeed different from others, but it is seen in a positive way, compared to the cross around the neck of a nun. Hester is a symbol of almost saintly status from what I got from the text, of course she sinned in the eyes of her people, but in comparison to the average person, her deeds towards the poor, sick, and afflicted place her on a higher moral standard in my eyes. I am no where sure of this, but while reading this, I felt that Hawthorne was pressing his transcendentalist ideologies because the concept of being accepted by God after a sin without going directly through the church is tradition of the Catholic and Puritan sects of Christianity, but her good deeds and love for her child seem to make me think Hawthorne is leaning towards the forgiveness from God that is preached in new Christian sects. I think the point of this chapter was to show that Hester is not looked down upon in her community, but is seen as a person who cares and tends to the people that need it, not a sinful woman deserving isolation.

Scarlet Letter Drawings Project

To my disadvantage, I have little skill at drawing and I also had no computer in class, so I was locked into reading off others. In class I reread chapters so I could help paint a better image of the settings and story for Nina and Eunji to actually draw on our paper. That night I also read chapters 8 and 11 and wrote out summaries for Nina to draw out today. Chapters 8 and 11 were not exactly clear to me, the reappearing rose bush in the courtyard just confused me, I can't understand what it means or symbolizes yet. I also wasn't sure if the Governor's  wife was the "Black Man" that was holding that witch like stuff was indeed Chillingworth because that is the same thing Pearl called him. Also I noticed that Dimmesdale, when Hester made him stand up in her defense, said that Pearl was a blessing and a burdening reminder, but when they walked out the house, Hester stayed away from the offer that was given to her, that would have most likely seemed sinful, because she had to tend to Pearl, so Pearl saved Hester from sin. Also, we found out that Dimmesdale has  "something" on his chest that seems to drive Chillingworth into absolute revenge mode/insanity.