Journal #15

After reading this short essay, I disagreed about most of her views. I believe we need an adequate border protection in order to keep our country safe. She is also very sympathetic for immigrants, but she neglects the major drug trafficking that comes with sneaking across the border. This is a major aspect of the whole immigration issue and it bothered me that she neglected that because of all the violence the drug trade brings and the innocent death toll that comes with it. But on the other hand, I'm a major advocate of our constitutional rights and our protections from federal police agencies. When I read about stories of police brutality, it sickens and scares me. I hate it because it is a complete abuse of power and I feel like there is nothing we can really do to protect ourselves from them. I think it is alarming when she describes our police state because it is everything we stand against. We love our personal freedom and I saw that she did too, but then her perspectives turned sour as she played down the importance of borders. Her essay is interesting and does make you think about our current issues with borders and police.

Journal 14

 To think what I would carry if I were a typical grunt in the Vietnam war is an overwhelming thought. O'Brien constantly reiterated the weight the items described and all i could think was to carry as little as possible. But one thing I couldn't image going off to war without is my necklace with a cross on it. It's more than just a symbol of my faith, it has protected me since I have worn it. When I was younger, I got in a car accident and landed upside down landing in between a tree and a electrical box. Thank god it was literally  no more than 500 feet from a fire station and the first one on the scene mentioned my necklace as it was hanging out of my shirt, and since then I knew it was my guardian angel. Taking that will be like another bullet proof vest for me, offering that layer of protection, mostly for mind and soul. As that seems to be the biggest enemy of the soldier, they begin to lose their minds in a sense as they are dragged through this war and they each had something to hold to in order to keep their sanity. So my necklace would be my token of hope and my little piece of home if I were to be sent off to Vietnam.

Journal #13

I have noticed a reoccurring theme of this uphill battle minorities must fight in America. They are in a constant fight to gain there liberties, freedoms, and equality. The short story “The School Days of An Indian Girl”, by Zitkala, shows this struggle in her short story. In essence, she is fighting for the American Dream. She is continually fighting the setbacks of the education system she is in, for example, at the end of the second chapter she says “…shaking my head all the while until I felt the cold blades of the scissors against my neck, and heard them gnaw off one of my thick braids. Then I lost my spirit.” Indians valued there long hair, and as they chopped it off, she relates to losing her spirit. When one loses there spirit, you would get the impression they would give up and throw in the towel, but she does just the opposite and continues to fight. She is fighting for the American Dream of equal opportunity and freedom of liberty. This story represent the battle minorities had to endure throughout American history, and also gives hope to the continual struggle minorities still face even today. 

Blog 12

"While I had been no more than an interested observer, quietly awaiting the course of justice, and conscious of the strength derived from truth and right on my side, their commissioners, with such influences as their indomitable assurance could command, had been working very had to get the present rule in Hawaii out of its political and financial difficulties, by passing over to the United States a country whose hospitality they have betrayed, a land which they do not and never can own."


This sentence here, found in the chapter My Literary Occupation, I would say to be favorite because it is mocking the United States saying how they can never own us, and  she chooses words such as justice and truth. Words that we would coincide with themes of the United States. So I like how the Queen is standing up to the US despite its overwhelming strength and power. It is almost like a role reversal, going back to the colonies and Britain, and how the US is trying to annex Hawaii in this situation. 

Blog 11

After reading the moving poem "The Lynching" by Claude McKay, one particular line stuck with me. Starting at line 10, it says "The ghastly body swaying in the sun/ The women thronged to look, but never a one Showed sorrow in her eyes of steely blue". I don't understand how can women and children be numb to such a site. It continues to say "And little lads, lynchers that were to be" as the kids are expected to grow up around such violence and racism. They left a man hanging burnt in front of women and children to prove what point? A man of any circumstances should have the dignity to not expose their family to such brutal acts. How can a "true woman" not feel sorrow for such acts, to not be moved at the sight of a burnt hanging body. Where is the humanity? These lynches were justified by exaggerating or flat out lying about crimes they did not commit and it was out of pure blood lust. Are they any more human than the African -Americans they treated as sub par humans. It seems the roles have changed and now these mobs are the barbaric, inferior race who cannot solve a problem with out spilled blood and an African-American to blame. McKay's poetry really brings light in these wrong doings and are very influential there meanings.

Journal #10

Reading The Wife of his Youth, by Chesnutt, ended very surprisingly. It is such an incredible moment of fate for that to happen. As I was reading the story, I started becoming a little confused on where it was going. It just had random segments of introduction about Mr. Ryder's current life and his relations with Ms. Dixon. The story continue's to lead to a love tale to Ms. Dixon by Mr. Ryder as he emphasizes her perfections. Then ironically the little old woman, Liza, comes in to the story, portrayed the quite opposite of Ms. Dixon, and by then I am confused about this whole story, wondering where this going and what not. And the dialogue of Liza was near impossible to fully understand so that didn't help the situation. Then as I continued to read through the end to learn that he was the man Liza has been searching for along. I had no clue that would be coming and I reread that last segment another time and I came to understand. He is today because of whom he was in the past, and that no one can escape their past. But he embraced it and welcomed his past and he did so in such a fashionable manner. I was taken by surprise about how he handled the manner. He did such an honorable act by embracing the wife of his youth and his past. The wife of his past helped drive him to the status he holds, all those events come together, and it was destiny that finally brought them back together.

Journal #9

After reading about the aftermath of the civil war and the chaos the nation was in at the time reminds me of the turmoil our country is in today. We are over 13 trillion dollars in debt and we are in a political stand still. We have a lack of leadership on the part of the president and we have no idea what direction our country is going in. Just like right after the Civil War. Their leader Lincoln was just assassinated and the ripples of his death could be felt through out the country. Their was also a lot of tension between the south and the north. Everyone wanted to take the country in their own direction and no one could agree on anything. There were accounts of dispute between the president Andrew Johnson and congress. He vetoed the 14th amendment and many other reconstruction laws passed by congress. He was soon impeached but saved by a vote. Which sounds a lot like our politics today. We couldn't even agree on whether to raise the debt ceiling until the very last minute and it's all just political warfare and party lines. No one wanted to look past themselves and ask the question what does America really need? So after reading about the confused and perilous times and I couldn't help but to relate to the times we are in now. We have a lack of leadership, direction, and unity in our nation just like the reconstruction era.

Journal #8

Two texts that I found conversing with each other was Henry Garnet's speech made before Congress and Mary Chesnut's diary entry. Although the two are provided in a different context, their meaning's walk along the same path. They both argue their ideal way of wife and their speculations on the matter, but their beliefs drive opposite ways. In Garnet's memorial, he preaches an equal opportunity for African-Americans, he states "... and all men holding allegiance to the government shall enjoy every right of American citizenship." Readers in that time can relate to the ideals of the American dream of which this nation was founded upon, the pursuit of liberty and happiness. That black men have every right to make a life of their own as does a white man. In times of such political turmoil and where a part of the American identity emerges, the meanings of the government are on everyone's mind. On the other hand in this situation, Chesnut's diary explores the deep roots of the Southern mind set. She talks about how she has nothing and the "Yankee's" will have nothing to take, but at the end of the diary she learns about Abe Lincolns assassination. She writes "The death of Lincoln I call a warning to tyrants. He will not be the last President put to death in the capital, though he is the first." They see him as a tyrant, that is their mindset. Their belief is their pursuit of liberty and happiness and they are entitled to that as much as any other American. She doesn't talk about her regret or a bad conscious, she just continues life with her mindset. And it all comes down to perspective, The North discontinued slavery and adapted to that way of life, which is the complete opposite of those in the South. It's all about one's way of life and perspective. But the lack of insight and appeal in the diary doesn't compare to Grant's memorial in terms of persuasive power.

Journal #7

Frances E.W. Harper's poem, "The Slave Mother", vividly projects the images of a mother's child being stripped away from her. The use of imagery in the poem and the vision it projects ignites a call of action in the reader. A mother losing a child is easily the toughest thing a mother can go through. This poem describes the disparity of a slave mother as she can't protect her child from the slave masters or the law. Saying in lines 11 and 12 "As if a storm of agony/ were sweeping through the brain." Harper's imagery gives the audience witness of the emotional struggles of slavery. One of the most crushing obstacles for slaves was that the law was not on their side, and the law said that a mother's status determines the child's status. She has no control over the fact she birthed a child into hell. Harper portrays this in the fifth stanza, saying "He is not hers, although she bore/ For him a mother's pains; He is not hers, although her blood/ Is coursing through his veins!". The image brought forth from this stanza depicts the crushing defeat of bringing this child into such a cruel world and having no power over it. Nothing you can do to stop it. The imagery described brings forth the cruelty of slavery and appealing to the audience to help. Harper's word play such an emotional effect on the heart of the reader.

Journal 6

One's social class controls their actions and beliefs. A slave will have the heart of a slave and know no freedom but their masters wish. And on the other hand the free white male feel as if they can do as they please, as they are above control because they have control. Linda was a slave but didn't believe she was a slave. Her heart was free and didn't want to be constricted to the bindings of the classes. When she became finally free she rejoiced proclaiming "'The bill of sale!' Those words struck me like a blow". It made me think that a simple document simply can't make you free. It is what the heart tells you. I learned from previous studies that many slaves after they were freed stayed on their old masters plantation to continue to work. Many did because there wasn't any other work, but was that truly the case? Or was it they didn't know what to do? There lives have been based on their masters wishes. On the other hand, the free white slave owners had no control and free to do as they please. In the beginning of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, the masters wife was loaned jewelry by Linda. Which is such a caring thing to do under the circumstances, but the wife never returned them. By no means she didn't have to, but it is a matter of principle and character. Showing how her status and class gives her that power and mindset. It's amazing how far we have come in society, moving on from such ignorant ideals.

Journal #5

 An obvious and common theme across the two readings is the exploitation of Native Americans. Both condemn Americans as the blood of the Indians is on their hands. William Apess points out how America stands for a nation of principle and honor, a nation of good Christians who follow the teachings of the lord. But the teachings of the lord say to love your neighbor as you love yourself, so how can you justify the actions taken against Native Americans. Apess makes the point that their principle is only skin deep but how can principle be applied on the basis of one's own skin, furthering the idea of hypocrisy in America. Lydia Sigourney, another American poet, condemns the actions taken against the Indians. In her poem "Indian Names" she says "But their name is on your waters, Ye may not wash it out".  She is saying that this evil brought upon the Indians is a scar that America's past will forever have to embrace. The readings casted a light on a dark subject and brought forth a new perspective I have not seen. We are a nation of all talk, but we don’t lead by example. Our country is built on immigrants escaping tyranny and unethical rule of the people, and now we escape to create our just society by crumbling the one before. It’s a vicious cycle like a parent who neglected and abused their child, that child doesn’t know another way to raise their own child. So they act in the way they only know how. All they wanted was to live in peace and all we did was bring hell to their doorstep.

Journal Blog 3

After reading Irving's story "The Wife" and how the wife in the story is completely financially dependent on the man, i began comparing relations from then and now. In today's society, woman are more financially independent, and if came to be, they are more willing to leave their husband because of that security. The value of marriage back then came with a duty. The man's duty was to provide for the family while the wife offered her support. When a man hit rock bottom the wife was there next to him, but now a days divorce is common and the wife could leave with half of what you have. The value of marriage has tremendously depreciated since then.

Journal Blog 2

What is the value of literature? It promotes intellect and creativity. It fuels wisdom and morals. Literature in early America was a critical driving force behind the blossoming nation. Our readings provided us insight in the minds of early Americans like Webster, who proclaimed his pride in his nation explaining how they valued morals and literature. Now fast forward 200 years and ask a typical 16 year what was the last classical novel he read, or any book what so ever. The fabric of our nation is changing and new generations are emerging, but what does our future hold? We once valued literacy and intellect but that seems to have vanished in this new generation. I’m not one to preach reading and I when I was raised my parents didn’t shove books down my throat, but rather I grew up in an environment that emphasized technology, as that was what becoming dominate in a household. In the past, books and newspapers were a dominate part of everyone’s life and it was like their internet. We learn history so we aren’t doomed to repeat it. But history comes from books of literature, to give us insight to the society at that particular point in time. All that we can do is hope that our generation isn’t doomed to repeat history and disprove the statement that all nations rise and fall. 

Journal Blog 1

America’s identity, as I always believed, portrayed liberty and the truth, as well as personal responsibility and hard work. As a nation we have always proved the world wrong, beaten impossible odds. America is resilient, or so it seemed. The world now mocks us as we are no longer the invincible powerhouse that we once were. Our population is stereotyped as ignorant, and unfortunately I believe that as well. I see our nation dumbed down by entertainment and pointless gossip; a complete loss of values and priorities. When the President of the United States appeared on television to address the nation about a current budget crisis, Facebook exploded with comments explaining how annoyed and pissed they were about him interrupting “The Bachelor”. Our nation is on thin ice and that is what they care about? Disregard party affiliation, I still have enough respect for the office to listen to what he has to say. Our nation was built upon immigrants, but ones who were looking for hope not handouts. We lost our work ethic, we are losing our patriotism, and we simply don’t care. I feel as if America is losing its identity as the land of the free and the home of the brave.