Journal #15

I commented on Cody Leppla's Journal #14

Journal 14

If I were a soldier trudging my through the horrers of Vietnam and I could carry things that meant something to me and charish those things I could think of two things. I would bring a toothbrush because I hate the feeling of dirty teath and that would just be something that I would like the power to manage with my hygene. One thing that I would carry and would mean mire to me than the simple toothbrush eould be a letter from my significant other accompanied with a picture. I suffer from a similar being that jimmy cross experiences in his obsession with Martha, mine only being different in that my Matthew loves me back. But I sympothise with jimmy cross in how he tells if how he can. Never get het out of his mind. I never stop thinking about Matthew even for a second and I feel that that feeling would only increase in a situation when I was in Vietnam and feltso far from my loved one.

Journal #13

From someone viewing Zitkalas life from a far, it would seem as if she did receive the American dream as in the end she learned english and was able to attend college and was ultimately a successful individual. She did receive an education and was very successful in proving the "white man" wrong when they discriminated against her as she was a very successful in the oratorical contests. But I would not exactly say that Zatkala believed she received the American dream. Ever since she was torn from her mother she felt scrutinized an even at times "lost her spirit" like she described when her long Indian hair was "shingled". I feel that the best proof that Zatkala never did feel at ease about her decisions and about here success was how she expressed herself in the very end of the story in saying: "The little taste of victory did not satisfy the hunger in my heart". Even through all the success she has endured by receiving a college education and in winning these oratorical contests in the "white mans" world. She never felt at peace because essentially she had to change herself and rid herself of the Indian she once held so dear (being her past self) in order to obtain the person who she was today. She simply could not be granted the best of both worlds.

Favorite Sentence

My favorite sentence was indeed in the last portion Chapter of Hawai`i's Story by Hawai`i's Queen, when the queen quoted Shakespear in saying "It is excellent to have a giant's strength, but it is tyrannous to use it like a giant." This was my favorite sentence because I felt that the metaphor left alot of room for a reader to thing, as she was speaking about how the press is a giant and has immense and huge power in America. America was beating Hawaii over the head their their press at this time, even going as far as to tell lies about how Hawaii wanted this annexation. In this case they were acting like a giant or a bully in other words.

From past to future

The most apparent parallel that I observed was actually referenced from the exact author that I myself did my presentation on. William Cullen Bryant made the observation that people had lost an appreciation for poetry and aspired towards new found things such as the popular dime novels like "Little Women". I would agree that this mentality of being bored with the old and aspiring to have the new, whether it is actually of better quality or not , is ingrained in us as consumers. A good example of this occurring in present time would be the constant need that people have to own the newest i-phone. Often it is proven that the first release of a product such as the i-phone is not the best because all the bugs have not always been worked out of such a device but that never stops people from flooding the Apple stores to get their hands on the item.

Another thing that I wanted to point out was that the shift in literature at this time has held true throughout history all the way up to present day. People for the most part still prefer to read novels over poetry, they have just been deemed more pleasurable or an "easy read", where as poetry takes more thought, and passion regarding the piece.

Journal #8

I have chosen to compare the poem The Death of Lincoln by William Cullen Bryant and A diary from Dixie by Mary Chestnut. I believe these two pieces show the different views of Lincolns death and the entire slavery abolitionist movement during the 19th century. The Northerners were very rough and brutal towards the South as this time as they were predominantly supportive of Lincoln in his movement to abolish slavery. I am going to speak from a Northern perspective as I analyze what I would think of both the pieces listed above.

I was very passionate and saddened as I was reading of Lincolns death. "pure was thy life" of the man who devoted his life to the saving of others. He will always be remembered as we northerners will continue his legacy by coming down hard on the south to stop their inhumane ways of torturing people on their plantations. "he bear thee to an honored grave" as he is buried and we feel sorrow.

Now I am going to analyze A Diary From Dixie in the Northern perspective.

I was offended how this woman was speaking about the northerners. How we were "Hanging over [over] us like a sword of Damocles". I am outraged in how this woman speaks about Lincoln and how "He will not be the last President put to death in the capital" What kind of thing is that to say. Is that her way of threatening our Presidents?

Journal #7

I have chosen to use the element of imagery to analyze the poem the slave mother by Frances Harper. The beginning of the poem begins with describing how the child "shrieked" and then goes on to describe a "broken heart". Even though the author is describing something as simple as a child being taken away from its mother she uses the words shrieking and broken heart to almost inflict the appearances that actual physical damage is being done to the individual. Later towards the middle of the poem she describes how the "boy clings to her side" this is something that could also be interpreted with two meanings. Although reading this may initially be a simple meaning of a baby being held as they usually cling to the mothers side, it is so much more than that. This also described how the baby is holding on to its mom as for fear of being taken and how a slave baby might hold on to the memory or their mother for their entire life. The last aspect of this poem I am going to bring up is how she describes that "he is not hers, although she bore For him a mothers pains; He is not hers, although her blood Is coursing through her veins!" The choice of wording she used in describing how her son is her biological property was words like "blood" and "pain". This is also symbolic of the pain and the sheer negative emotion a slave mother feels as her child is being ripped from her arms.