Blog #11

I think that in Mark Twain's Two Views of the River, he refers a lot to nature as well as how his feelings about the river have changed over time. He talks about how he once had a strong desire to be where he is now, but now that he has finally accomplished his goal he wishes he still had the same view of the river as before. Now that he is gotten to where he had alwasy wanted to be, he says that he ignores the beauty of the river that he once could see just as easily as the passengers he carried on his steamboat. It seems that Mark Twain's story here has a theme in it that goes along with society today, because it seems like we always want what we do not have, and then once we finally get it we do not want it anymore.

I think that Mark Twain used a lot of description in this story as well as referring a lot to nature and its beauty. Henry David Thoreau also wrote about nature a lot, so there is one similarity between the two authors. Throughout this story, Mark Twain describes to us how his feelings changed over time as he traveled the Mississippi River. He tells us about how he used to view the river as something beautiful, but as time went on began to shift his views from seeing the beauty of the river to only navigating his steam safely from point a to point b. He describes how at first while he sailed on the river he loved the nature and the beauty of it, but as time went on he slowly stopped noticing how beautiful nature is. I think that this would make me kind of sad to know that something that you once thought was so beautiful is constantly around you and you do not even notice it anymore. Overall I think that this story has a good theme and is similar to the way Thoreau wrote because it includes a lot about nature.

Twain, Mark. "Two Views of the River." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus; McGraw-Hill, 2010. 504-505. Print.

Blog #10

In The Badge of Red Courage, a soldier Henry Fleming is a recent recruit on the Union side (Crane). In this story, Henry is a part of a regiment that does not face too many battles, but when a battle finally comes around, Henry becomes a coward and flees before the fight (Crane). As he was wandering around the forest, he begins to feel guilty for fleeing his regiment and he decides to return (Crane). While he is returning, he stumbles upon a "tattered man" and it freaked him out so he left the man in the forest to die (Crane). Soon after he finds another man who is badly wounded but he decides to try and help him (Crane). Unfortunately, his efforts were not good enough because his friend dies. I think this story is very relate able to Henry David Thoreau's writings because in one of his stories he too runs away. Although Thoreau and Henry run away for different reasons, I think its still a similarity because they both ran away. In Thoreau's story, the main character runs away from society and in The Badge of Red Courage, Henry runs away from the battle because he was scared to lose his life. Another way in which this story is similar to Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson is that all three of these people are strongly against slavery. In this story we know that Henry Fleming is against slavery because it says that he is in a regiment on the Union side, which is the side that was trying to end slavery. I think that this story is one of the stories that I could easily relate to both Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson because it is something that each of them have discussed their opinions on in their previous stories. I actually liked this story because it was kind of easy to read and its topic was not completely boring. The only thing I disliked about this story was its length because it was extremely long.

Crane, Stephen. "Untitled Document." The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. Web. 24 Feb. 2012.

Blog #9

The Story of an Hour by Kate Choplin is about a woman who is told her husband has died and then she goes through phases of grief and joy. She feels sad about the death of her husband, but then she realizes that with her husband gone she now has a new freedom she did not have before. For example, she says "There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself" (Choplin). The setting of this story is back during the time period when women did not have much of a say in anything, so I can see her excitement in now having this new freedom. But even though I can understand her excitement, I think its really mean and rude of her to be happy and joyful because her husband is dead. The main character makes marriage seem as something that is very oppressive and when she finds out the news of her husbands death she is only sad for a little while. Completely different from the main character is this story, Ralph Waldo Emerson reacts much different with the news that his wife had died. Ralph Waldo Emerson was described as being "unstrung, debilitated by grief" and his life was filled with "miserable apathy" (Marriage). In comparison with the wife in this story, I think that Raplh Waldo Emerson was a better spouse considering he actually cared about the death of his wife. The author of this story did mention some of the saddness felt by the wife when she says "She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms" (Choplin). Although I could relate Emerson to this story a little bit, I could not find in ways in which Henry David Thoreau related to this story because he was never married (Henry). Because he was never married, I really have no idea what his reaction would be to a situation like this.

Bibliography

"Henry David Thoreau Biography." About.com Classic Literature. Web. 23 Feb. 2012.

"Marriage Emerson - Living Legacy." Harvard Square Library. Web. 23 Feb. 2012.

Choplin, Kate. ""The Story of an Hour"" Virginia Commonwealth University. Web. 23 Feb. 2012.

Blog #8

A Wagner Matinee was written by Willa Cather. In this story, the narrator recieves a letter from his uncle asking him to pick up his aunt at the station because she has some inheritance she needs to get. From the very beginning of this story, we are shown the relationship between the narrator and his aunt is special to him. For example, at the beginning of the sixth paragraph Clark says "I owed to this woman most of the good that ever came my way in my boyhood, and had a reverential affection for her" (Cather). Clark, the main character, recalls that his aunt used to be a music teacher before she left the city with her husband and then decides to take her to a Wagnerian opera (Cather). The author reveals to us that Clark's aunt lost something that she loved when she says "Don't love it so well, Clark, or it may be taken from you. Oh, dear boy, pray that whatever you sacrafice may be, it be not that" (Cather). It seems like Clark's aunt really misses not being able to play music anymore since she moved away from the city to live on a farm with her husband. Later in the story while they are at the opera, Clark studies his aunt and at the beginning of the show he describes her as "She sat looking about her with eyes as impersonal, almost as stony, as those with which the granite Ramses..." (Cather). This description tells us that Clark's aunt is pretty unemotional and uninterested in what is going on around her, but later in the opera she breaks down and begins to weep. At the very end of the concert, everyone around them begins to leave but Clark's aunt stays seated and then finally says while sobbing and pleading "I don't want to go, Clark, I don't want to go!" (Cather). At this point in the story, we can understand why Clark's aunt was weeping during the concert. She did not want to leave the city and return to her life on the farm. One of the things Emerson valued in his philosophies is education, and at one point in this story the author mentions Clark's aunt's knowledge of music and how it was more than most people of her time (Cather).

Cather, Willa. "A Wagner Matinee." Willa Cather's Short Story:. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.

Blog #7

Ambrose Bierce wrote An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge in three different parts. In the first part of this story, we are introduced to the main character who we soon learn is awaiting to be hung at Owl Creek Bridge. I think that this first part was kind of confusing because we did not know anything about the main character or what happened to get him into this situation. It was all thrown at us at once and without much explanation of how it all happened so it was kind of hard to read, but after reading the second part of this story it all makes more sense. In the second part of this story, we learn that the main character is Peyton Farquhar, who is a successful planter and a supporter of the Southern cause (Bierce). We learn that Farquhar is not able to join the Confederate army, but he is eager to help them out in some way (Bierce). He gets his chance to help out when one day his wife and himself were approached by a solider, who they assumed was part of the Confederate army (Bierce). The solider informed him of the plans of the Northern army and told him how one could easily destroy the North's chance of advanicing (Beirce). At the very end of this section, we learn that this solider that was assumed to be a part of the Southern army was actually a Northern solider in disguise (Bierce). After reading the second part of this story, the first part makes much more sense because we actually know who the main character is and now we know why he is being hung. I thought the third part to this story was very interesting because the ending to the whole story was unexpected. The first part of this story was in the present, then the second was the past, and then in the third part we are back to the present again. In this part of the story, the noose hanging Farquhar breaks and sends him into the stream below (Bierce). He frees himself of the noose, avoids all of the shots being fired at him, and eventually ends up on the bank of the stream, out of sight and range of the soliders (Bierce). He walks through the woods all night long, fighting through the pain all because he wants to see his wife and kids (Bierce). At the very end of this part, Farquhar is walking up to meet his wife when he feels a sharp pain in his neck, and that is when we find out that he is dead. I thought that this part was pretty shocking because it means that the whole third part of this story was not real, and that he had died because he was hung at Owl Creek Bridge.



Bierce, Ambrose. "Fiction." : An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. Web. 20 Feb. 2012.

Blog #6

From what I can remember from past history classes is that Robert E. Lee was the leader of the Confederate Army in the Civil War. When I looked up some of the letters he had written to his wife, I got to picture a different side of him that we never really talked about too much in history class. For example, from what he wrote in one of the letters to his wife it became pretty obvious that he is a very religious man. There are many instances throughout his letter where he mentions God, which also seems to be a common theme throughout all of the poems and speeches we have read recently. Towards the end of his letter to his wife, he says "We must, however, submit to His almighty will, whatever that may be. May God guide and protect us all is my constant prayer." (Lee). I can tell from reading these letters that he is very loyal to his country, but he also knows that whatever happens was God's choice and he has to honor it. I think that Emerson and Thoreau both had philosophies that pertained to religion, so that is one way in which Robert E. Lee is similar to them. For example, one of Ralph Waldo Emerson's most famous quotes reads “Let us be silent, that we may hear the whisper of God.” (Ralph). I think this quote shows that Ralph Waldo Emerson also believed that if God wants something to happen, it is going to happen. Another instance where Robert E. Lee wrote about God is in his letter to his mother. In this letter, he says "I hope God will at last crown our efforts with success" (Recollections). I actually found these letters slighty interesing and I did not mind reading them because I think it is cool to get a better look at someone who is really important to history that we never saw before.

Bibliography



Lee, Robert E. "Recollections and Letters of General Robert E. Lee." Military History Encyclopedia on the Web. Web. 13 Feb. 2012.

"Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes (Author of Self-Reliance and Other Essays)." Share Book Recommendations With Your Friends, Join Book Clubs, Answer Trivia. Web. 13 Feb. 2012.

Lee, Robert E. "Robert E. Lee's Letter to His Wife." Civil War Trust: Saving America's Civil War Battlefields. Web. 13 Feb. 2012.

Blog #5

In Sojourner Truth's speech, Aint I a Woman, she talks about the inequalities between white women and black women. She talks about the differences in how white women are treated and how black women are treated. For example, she says

That man over there say a woman needs to be helped into carriages and lifted
over ditches and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helped me into
carriages or over mud puddles or gives me a best place...(Sojournern1-7).

In this part of her speech, she is saying how people always say that a woman should be treated right, but she has never been treated like that. She was not given the same kind of respect that white women were given because of her skin color. It seems to me like a lot of these poems and speeches we have been reading all seem to have something about slavery or freedom embedded in their themes. I think that just that theme in itself shows similar characteristics to the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson because one of his philosophies is that every person should be free. A famous quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson is "Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it." (Ralph). I think that the meaning of this quote can be applied to this speech because Sojourner Truth is addressing the issue of inequality between women of two different races. In his quote, he says if you do not try, you will not get anywhere. Without people like Sojourner Truth people may not have realized the racism that was taking place throughout society. Throughout her speech, Sojourner Truth compares herself to other women and says that it should not matter what color your skin is, a woman is a woman and they should all be treated with the same respect. She also talks about how some men say that men should have better rights than women because Jesus was a man, but she says that Jesus was born from God and a woman so men should not be superior to women (Sojourner). I think Sojourner Truths speech does a very good job emphasizing the differences between colored women and white women.

Bibliography

"Sojourner Truth's Aint I a Woman Speech!" Women Writers: A Zine. 14 July 1998. Web. 13 Feb. 2012.

"Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes (Author of Self-Reliance and Other Essays)." Share Book Recommendations With Your Friends, Join Book Clubs, Answer Trivia. Web. 13 Feb. 2012.

Blog #4

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot is a song that was sung by slaves in the south while they were working on plantations. Although the author of this song is unknown, the meaning of it is pretty clear by the lyrics of the song. One of the lines that is repeated many times throughout the song is "Swing low, sweet chariot, comin' for to carry me home," (Swing). I think that this line means that they just want to go to heaven because they would rather be up there than be enslaved. I think that every time the word "home" is used in this song it is referring to heaven because of other lines in this song. For example, in line 8 it goes "a band of angels comin' after me" and again in line 12 when it says "Tell all my friends I'm comin' too" (Swing). I think that this song has a very religious meaning. In Go Down Moses I noticed that one of the most repeated lines in this song is "Let my People Go!" which automatically makes me think of slavery (Go Down). As I was reading through the lyrics of this song, I began to realize that this song is also heavily based on religion. For example, it says "God-The Lord said 'Go down, Moses Way down in Egypt land Tell all Pharaoes to Let My People Go!" (Go Down). I think that these few lines mean exactly what it says, that God sent Moses to Egypt to tell the Pharaoes to let his people free. I think that this song and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot are similar in that they are both religious songs. In the song Keep Your Hand on the Plow, it also refers to Jesus and God quite a lot. On of the most repeated verses in this song is "Keep your hands on that plow, hold on" which makes me think that whoever is holding that plow is struggling to keep going (Keep). The writer of this song makes quite a few references to Jesus in this song, for example they say "Peter was so nice and neat Wouldn't let Jesus wash his feet" and "Jesus said, "If I wash them not You'll have no father in this lot."" (Keep). I think that a common theme in all three of these songs is that even if you are struggling to keep going, God is there and will help you through it. Once again I think that all of these songs include quite a bit of religion in them, which is also a philosophy found in the writings of Emerson.



"Keep Your Hands On The Plow - GospelSongLyrics.Org." GospelSongLyrics.org - Lyrics and Music to All Your Favorite Gospel Songs. Web. 09 Feb. 2012.

"Go Down Moses Lyrics - Lyrics." Gospel Music Lyrics. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. "Go Down Moses Lyrics - Lyrics." Gospel Music Lyrics. Web. 09 Feb. 2012.


"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, Lyrics." Scout Songs: Song Lyrics for Boy Scouts Songs, Girl Scouts Songs, and American Patriotic Songs. Web. 09 Feb. 2012.

Blog #3

Walt Whitman was a nurse in the Civil War, and his poem Cavalry Crossing a Ford describes the scenes of a cavalry of troops crossing a ford. First of all, I would like to say that a ford is a stream because if you do not know what a ford is this poem makes no sense. In this poem, he talks about a group of troops that are crossing a ford, winding in and out between islands (Whitman). He talks about how the group of troops marched together at the same rhythm and how they stopped and loitered in the middle of the stream (Whitman). From reading this poem, I thought that Whitman seemed to be very patriotic. For example, at the very end of his poem he says "Scarlet, and blue, and snowy white, The guidon flags flutter gaily in the wind." (Whitman 7-8). I think that both Whitman and Emerson both valued and supported freedom, but they believed in different kinds of freedom. For example, the freedom that Emerson worked for was more of an individual type of freedom and the freedom that Whitman wrote about was freedom for his country. Something that I found interesting about this poem was that Whitman never talked in first person or referred to a single soldier, it was always as a group (Whitman). For example, he says "-- their arms flash in the sun--" and "behold the brown-faced men--each group, each person, a picture--" (Whitman 1-4). I think that this poem can be interpreted in many different ways, but the way I chose to look at it made it seem to be very patriotic. I think that Walt Whitman was very supportive of the Civil War because he was a nurse and because he helped the wounded soldiers. Something that all men had in common is their dislike for slavery. In writings from all of them they discuss freedom, and they did not like slavery because that takes away freedom.

Bibliography

Whitman, Walt. "118. Cavalry Crossing a Ford. Whitman, Walt. 1900. Leaves of Grass."Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. Web. 09 Feb. 2012.

Blog #2

On November 19, 1863 Abraham Lincoln gave what is known today as one of the most famous speeches ever given (Basler). I remember back in eighth grade when we had to memorize parts of this speech, so it seems like it is very important. In this speech, Lincoln talks about the Civil War and about what people have done for our country to have the freedom we have. For example, he says "We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for
those who here gave their lives that that nation might live" and also "The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract" (Basler). I think that both of these quotes from the Gettysburg Address show that Abraham Lincoln feels strongly for freedom. This philosophy is one that is quite similar to a philosophy of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who also felt strongly about freedom. Emerson was a former slave so I think that his reaons are obvious for feeling so strongly about freedom. Abraham Lincoln talks about freedom in his speech when he says " -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- " (Basler). He is talking about how all of the men who gave their lives for this country did not die in vain because the outcome of it all will be freedom(Basler). Although I did notice a similar philosophy shared between Lincoln and Emerson, I believe that Lincoln and Thoreau have different views when it comes to government. In Lincoln's speech, he says " -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not
perish from the earth. " (Basler). I think what he means when he says this is that if the government is ran by the people, then it will not fail. On the other hand, in Thoreau's Civil Disobedience he says "After all, the practical reason why, when the power is once in the hands of the people, a majority are permitted, and for a long period continue, to rule, is not becausse they are most likely to be in the right, nor because this seems fairest to the minority, but because they are physically the strongest" (Lenant). From this passage I gathered that Thoreau felt that if a governemt is ruled by the people, everything is always going to go the way the stronger group wanted it to just simply because they were stronger, not right.

Bibliography

Basler, Roy P. "The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln." NetINS Showcase. Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Web. 08 Feb. 2012.

Lenant, Richard. "Thoreau's Civil Disobedience - 1." The Thoreau Reader. Web.

Blog #1

On July 5, 1852 Fredrick Douglass, who was once enslaved himself, gave a speech about the meaning of the fourth of July to black slaves (Joe). For most people, the fourth of July is a time of celebrating freedom and patriotism, but unfortunately for black slaves they were generally not allowed to celebrate (Joe). Some people believe that the black slaves were not allowed to celebrate the fourth of July because they feared that it would give them ideas of freedom (Joe). In his speech, he talks fondly of the men who were the signers of the Declaration of Independence, but then he begins to tell about the fourth of July from the point of view of black slaves (Joe). For example, he says "What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer, a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim." (Foner 13). This passage is a great example of how the black slaves felt on the fourth of July. I think that Fredrick Douglass and Emerson have quite a few philosophies that are similar. For example, both Douglass and Emerson believed that slavery was bad and they were both against it (Brewton). Both Douglass and Emerson also strongly believed in independence, which goes hand in hand with them being against slavery (Brewton). It seems that both men also have a strong belief that everyone should learn from their own experiences (Brewton). Although I think that both Douglass and Emerson share many of the same philosophies, I do think there is a difference in the writings of them. I think that it seems like Fredrick Douglass' writings are more from a logical point of view and that Emerson's writings are more spiritual. For example, throughout his speech Douglass talks about American Institutions, the slave trade, and American politics. To me it seems like these topics are more logic based than spiritual.

Bibliography

Foner, Philip S. "Africans in America/Part 4/Frederick Douglass Speech." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 07 Feb. 2012

Joe. "Frederick Douglass: On the Meaning of the 4th of July :: Racismreview.com."Racism Review. Racism Review, 4 July 2010. Web. 07 Feb. 2012

Brewton, Vince. "Emerson, Ralph Waldo [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]."Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web. 07 Feb. 2012