The second portfolio fulfills my American loterature class reequirements. From our presitations in class many discussions aross. These are the stories mentioned in my portfolio.
Coverage: All the literary stories we studied in class.
Depth: are analyzed in more detail
New look at An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
the yellow wall paper
Devilish Dictionary
Interaction: blogs used to interact with peers
New look at An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
Devilish Dictionary
Huck and the river
Discussion: discussions on my blogging
Xenoblogging: comments have been made to other bloggers
Trisha Wehrle
Shanna DeFrances
Shanna DeFrances
I think the legend of John Henry was a true story but over they years was changed to make a point. John Henry was a steal driving man who took on a steel driving machine and won. Even though he has superhuman strength and power, the steam powered steel driver get the best of his because he still pays the price by dieing. The machine wins anyways even though John sacrifices his life for his work and his fellow steel drivers. This is a symbol that technology is powerful and unstoppable for man. Although they help man, they also kill some men too, physically, mentally, and economically.
An American classic, the legend of John Henry could apply to anyone and everyone. This is why the popular continues to be told over and over agin. The story relates to today with the growing abilities of computers and advancing technology. It is true that computers are beginning to take over more and more jobs. The moral of this story is does technology help us in the long run?
Trisha Wehrle make some valid point and I do agree with the idea that the river in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn a symbol of Huck maturing. Huck learns lessons or has to over come some kind of obstacle though out his trip down the river. He has to deal with moral dilemmas and makes the decision to take action. This is testing his ability in enter in manhood. By the end of the trip the river has served it purpose of helping Huck mature.
Huck show he has matured by the end of the story when Tom (Huck friend) is shot and could die. He is very concerned for Tom and is willing to get himself in trouble to say Tom. In the beginning of the story Huck is fascinated with deceiving people, getting away with things, and even faking death. Not only has the river served as a adventure but also as a place to grow and mature into manhood.
I find it very interesting that Robinson writes about such real and horrible things such as suicide. The author most likely has some source or idea of where their writing is stemming from.
The Mill story deals with the miller and his wife both committing suicide. Looking deeper into the poem it can seem as though the miller’s wife was making this up in her head. I personally do think they committed suicide. It just seems that way it is the classic "fake your own death."
Mr. Flood's Party” is a poem about an older gentleman who is an alcoholic. In this poem this is agues because the detail is lacking. This poem displays a man whose only relationship is with himself and a jug of alcohol. After I read this poem I felt the man was outcaste by his friends and had nowhere else to go. Because he looks down at the town he used to belong to, he has turned towards his only friend, the alcohol, in his times of loneliness. He realized he had ruined his life, he quietly calls for help because he could drink him self to death.
I found many Native American readings to be interesting, but some of them were difficult to read. It was hard to be sure if I was reading the story the way it was meant to be heard. I guess that is the point of the stories being told by mouth and not being written down. I think it is interesting that stories get pasted down from generation to generation because many of the best stories are those which are told not read.
Crazy Horse, most likely the most famous Native American was a warrior who was looked up to. Crazy Horse got caught trying to steal another man's wife. This tells me that he may have not been the great leader he was thought as.
Creation of the Whites is very similar to our own Creation story today. It was interesting to see this parallelism. Most would think the Native Americans would make themselves the superior ones who obeyed the "Creator", but they made the White man be the one who obeyed him. I though this was kind off odd. I think this story was told to explain the why the Native Americans lived the way they did. The "Creator" takes away the clothing they already had and they were now responsible for their own means of clothing and food. The Native Americans seem to blame the White man for their downfalls because the white men have temptations.