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.