I never actually read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn before this year, so I was rather excited to read it. For some reason i was half expecting it to have a tragic ending like in "An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge.". I actually felt involved and was happy that Jim was freed and Huck was going to have a place to live again.
Something that really bugged me in class was the fact that people saw Tom as a hero. I felt tom was a "brat" as Kelly described him in class. He was just that popular boy that everyone looked up to and wanted to be. Tom was suppose to be this good boy but often had no respect for others. Huck often had clever ideas, but Tom immediately shot them down, because his were better. I hated the way he treated Jim also. Huck obviously respected Jim, but Tom just used him to have fun.
Some people had mentioned in class about Jim acting as a mother/father figure towards Huck, which i actually had posted in one of my replys. At first I had thought he acted like a father figure because he is older and helps Huck realize what is right and wrong, but after reading an article written by Wlliam Wesley, he notes that Jim was more of a moral support but lacked the intellectual guidance that a father offers, rather, Huck offered this intellectual guidance to Jim. So maybe it was more of a partnership and companionship rather than one dominant father in the relationship. Jim and Huck both had positive and negative characteristics which helped and complimented each other. Frienships often form this way when two people have opposite qualities which benefit the other to become a better person.
Since Tom has his story, and Huck has his, I think it would be interesting to see a story , such as the one Huck told, from the point of view of Jim. I think it would be totally different. Does anyone else think it would be interesting? How so?
I found many Native American readings to be interesting, however, some were a bit difficult to read as Amanda pointed out in her blog. The fact that some of these readings were questionable made you wonder if they were at all reliable. I guess that is the point of the stories being told by mouth and not being written down. They capture an esscence of purity because these stories are told for generations and each time they are told they are "tweaked" a bit.
I noticed many of the stories referred to the the Whites. The Native Americans mainly had negative views of the White Man. Crazy Horse, probably the most famous Native American was a great warrior who was looked up to. Crazy Horse had a negative view of the White man , basedon the U.S. Army. This kind of makes me mad because he judges the white man based on incidents with the Army, not EVERY white man out there. People in our society do this all the time and I dont think it is fair. Just because you have a bad incident with one person of a group doesn't mean the whole group is like that. Also as Linda said, Crazy Horse got caught trying to steal another man's wife. Maybe he wasn't the great leader everyone thought him to be.
I found it very interesting the way the white and yellow skinned people were compared in the Creation of the Whites.. This story is very similiar when compared to our own Creation story today. 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. The "Creator" takes away the clothing they alrady had (unlike Adam and Eve who never had clothing to begin with) , and they were now responsible for their own means of clothing and food. I think they may have created this story to account for the way they lived in the wild outdoors in comparison with the civilized White man. The Native Americans seem to blame the White man for their downfalls because they (the white men) have temptations.
I think its interesting how these Native American stories are passed from one another and through the years are slightly changed. When the same story is compared by two different people it is usually a bit different. Even in today's society we have funny stories in our families that through the years may have been embelleshed upon to make them funnier or more interesting. Even though we are a culture that writes everything down ( like blogging!) , many of the best stories are those which are told not read.
In Mark Twain's, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck is basically portrayed as "uncivilized." He doesn't care about religion, school, manners, or following rules. A kid like this wouldn't have good morals right? I think differently. Huck is smarter than he is given credit for and has good moral judgments.
Huck has grown up referring to to african american's as the *N* word. His society has taught him African American's are dumb and illiterate and only good for slavery, nothing else. Huck faces the struggle of following societies view of African Americans and his growing relationship and personal views of Jim.
In chapter 8 when Huck first encounters Jim on the island, he is faced with a societal decision. He could either try to turn Jim in because he is a run away slave and he could get a reward or be a friend and keep his secret. Huck, following his good judgement and disobeying society says, "People would call me a low down Ablitionist and despise me for keeping mum-but that don't make no difference. I ain't agoing to tell, and I ain't agoing back there anyways." I think maybe at first he kept Jims secret to protect his own secret from getting out but he also wanted some company.
Huck's decision and realization that Jim has become his friend and not just a slave occurs in chapter 15. Huck decided to have some "fun" and play a trick on Jim because it was so easy to decieve him. To Huck's surprise however, Jim finally figures it out and is very hurt. Huck realizes he hurt his friend. Huck says,
" It made me feel so mean I could almost kissed his foot to get him to take it back. It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger- but I done it, and I warn't ever sorry for it afterwards, neither." Huck shows us true emotion here. He's not just some bad runaway kid, rather he is a person who cares for his friend.
Even in today's soceity people are always faced with Hucks situation. Society tells us to think a certain way about person's color,race, or religion but deep inside we know how we really think and feel. We have to choose which side we will follor just as Huck chose to follow his true values and be a friend to Jim.
Do you think Huck kept Jim's secret only to secure his own secret, or did Huck see Jim as a potential friend even though he was a slave?
Why do you think Huck kept Jim with him along his Journey?
The Devils Dictionary, doesn't exactly sound thrilling to read, but i was proved wrong. Cynical of course was the first word that came to my mind while reading them, even before i knew that Bierce was origionally forced to call his work Cynics Word Book
As Paul said in his presentation, many of the words were offensive to particular groups of people. I found myself laughing at some words such as the comparision of :
ACADEME, n.
An ancient school where morality and philosophy were taught.
ACADEMY, n.
[from ACADEME] A modern school where football is taught.
But other one's made me think , Why would Bierce write that? such as:
AFRICAN, n.
A nigger that votes our way.
After our discussion in class, I realized that Bierce didn't write these to intentionally be funny or offend people, rather he wrote them to make a point. There are some things in the world that just "are" what they are and we accept them but dont talk about them. Bierce was putting these notions out in the open to make us think. I also think he wanted us to do something about what we thought. If we read one of these definitions and didn't like the way things are, then get up and do something about it; make a change! Its all so easy to say but to really do something is commendable.
I definately don't agree that Bierce was attacking certain groups , such as women. Sure, he targeted them , but that's because that's how society is. Women are still targeted and seen as less then men, but it's something that has just been "accepted". I think Bierce got his point across even if he had to be a bit offensive in doing it.
Since it's Sunday nite and I am stumped about what to write my wildcard about, i thought i would follow in the footsteps of Katie and write a little mini biography because what's easier than talking about myself!
For all of you who don't know, my name is Erin Manko, and I am a sophomore here at SHU. I live on 4th Maura with Tisha, and Alicia Bradley, who are great roomies! :) I am originally from Monongahela, Pennsylvania which is about 45 minutes from SHU.I attended Ringgold high school where i played softball and volleyball, but opted not to play sports in college because I wanted to focus on my studies(I'm a psych major and getting certified in elementry and special education).If you don't see me on the weekends, its because I usually go home to visit my boyfriend, Shaun, who lives near me in Charleroi. We've met while working at our good ol' local Dairy Queen lol, and have been dating for about a year and 2 months. When I am at home i live with both my parents and my older brother, Jonathan (23), who recently graduated from Thiel college. He recently got a job with computers (not sure what) but is still doing that whole live at home thing post college students do. I usually come off as a shy person, but once you get to know me im a really nice person who likes to talk! When I'm not busy with the massive amounts of homework, i work at the SHU kindergarten which is tons of fun (and its work too!). My second passion besides working with kids, is shopping. I must say i have way too many clothes! I also am really creative with scrapbooking , but can't seem to find the time anymore. Well I think thats pretty much me in a nutshell, so hope everyone knows me a little better!
My blogs are mainly educational and informational due to the fact I am required to blog for my American Lit class. This is my first attempt at blogging so bare with my not so comical and rather bland entries. Hopefully with time and practice I will become more natural in blogging. I have created a "Blogging Portfolio" of my best works. I briefly described each entry and hope you enjoy!
A Glimpse of Emily Dickinson, is an analysis of two poems i presented. I present my ideas about the poems, plus it includes and interesting comment from Amanda.
Poetry Praise, is my praise of other students including,Mindy, Amanda, Diana, and Tiffany, and Shanna. Check it out to see more about which poems they presented!
How young is too young? An interesting debate about why didn't Hester tell Perl the truth about the Scarlet A. Sparked an interesting blogging conversation including an opposing view from Lori! Come see and add your opinion!
Compassion for Farquhar, is my feelings while reading An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge. I felt the story mirrored a dream, but some students interpreted it differently.
Thoreau and Civil Disobediance, In response to Puff's question, an interpretation of how we defind our place in society.
Bartleby, the scrivener, a story of Wall-street?, includes humorous findings in the story plus why does Bartleby always say, "I would prefer not to?"
A little about myself, is just a short biography of me!
I blogged a few comments on other sites, some pertaining to my blogs. these "xenoblogs", are found on Lori's blog, Gina's blog, and Trisha's blog.
When i first began reading Melville's, "Bartleby, the Scriviner: A Story of Wall-street,"I , as many of my classmates, thought the story would be about moneymaking, chaotic, high-strung Wall-street. But, it was a rather mellow and calm setting about a scriviner. Even though the title was abit misleading, i found the text to be quite enjoyable to read(once i found out exactly what a scriviner was!) I found some points to be rather humorous while some made me ask why?
I found Melville's writing rather funny in many instances throughout the text.
One rather humorous point i found was the passage where the narrator says, " ... I was not unemployed in my profession by the late John Jacob Astor; a name which, I admit, I love to repeat, for it hath a rounded orbicular sound to it, and rings like unto bullion." This funny little passage instatnly reminded me of a a childhood song we all use to sing called " John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt". Its a song that just gets inside your head for days at a time and you keep singing it over and over and over because you like his name! Another point of humor i found was the names of the narrators employees, which included: Turkey, Nippers, and Ginger Nut. Where did Melville come up with these names? was he eating while doing this? Even though they didnt have "Cheese Nips" back then, (thats what nippers reminds me of!)
When i first heard those infamous words, " I would prefer not to," in refusal to proofread his work, I instantly thought he couldnt read only copy what he saw. This would have been a very logical explanation but it wasn't the case. Bartleby, the strangest of emplyees, refused to do almost everything! But, why did the narrator have such compassion for this man? It was a nice thing to do at first to give him a chance to come around, but in the end he just caused him more and more trouble. Then i thought maybe Bartleby just needed a friend, but the narrator tried this and Bartleby didn't seem to want a friend to talk to. Even after Bartleby was gone and died, it still left me wondering, why did Bartleby, "prefer not to?" Does anyone have any ideas or thoughts why?
I think this often happens with people we meet. The less we know about someone and the less they will share with us, the More we want to know! It bothers us to not know all the facts. By the end of the story, and even now i still wonder why was Bartleby so weird?
I read Thoreau's Civil Disobediance first and actually agreed with some of his teachings. He generally says that the government, even though the backbone of our society, causes people to ingore who they really are. A good question that Puff asked, was " How does (and should) a person define his/her place in society? Most people would try to be politically correct and say by being ourselves. Be the true person inside. Who really does that? Our society is based on MONEY, how we make that money, what we can buy with that money, how much money we have and so on. Our social status is based on not who we are as individuals, but who we are and workers. The highest at the top of society are celebreties who make millions acting in one movie, and politicians who negotioate and lie to make their fortunes. Next we have the "average middle-class" which most americans associate with. We work 9-5 jobs to pay the bills and occasionaly have extra money for fun. then the lowest we have those who struggle with minimum wage jobs to just get by.
We all know we shouldn't care how much money we make or what kind of car we drive, but how is that really possible in a society that encourages us to be the best and have the best. I often find myself wondering , what life would have been like without tv, aol instant messaging, and cell phones. People probably did reveal their true selves and didnt worry about what soceity expeceted of them.
I was rather proud that he refused the pay the tax, and stood up for what he believed. If other people had courgae to do the same maybe it would have made a difference. This situation happens often today. People "say" they don't like something but they never do anything about it and nothing gets accomplished. Instead of complaining , people need to get out there and do somethign about it!
As for Emerson and his essay , Self-Reliance, he said similar things about being yourself, and he also incorporated God and the church into his teachings rather than the Government as Thoreau did. I must be honest and say i couldn't even finish his essay. I read about half and was very bored with his text and style of writing. It just did not capture my attention which made it very difficult to read even though i got the general idea.
That would be me. I am of course sick the week of midterms. With a mile high list of things to do including finish my blogging portfolio, write my lit paper, study for a stats test, finish an instructional technology project and study for a test, and to top it all off im sick:( Thank goodness next week is fall break and i can get some what of a break. Enough procrastination, gotta force myself to do some work without hacking up a lung!
Compassion:Deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it. This is the main emotion i experienced when reading Ambrose Bierce's , " An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge.". Here is this man, Peyton Farquhar, who loves his wife, lives a quaint life as a planter in Alabama, but risks his life for his country. When it was being described how calm he wasbefore being hanged, i couldn't help to wonder why. Did this man have such a wonderful life that he had no regrets or no shame to die? Are there really people in life today who are as calm as Farquhar was before his death?
I became very involved and excited when it had appeared that Farquhar had escaped the neck harness and finally had the chance to escape back to his wife. Bierce did a great job of pulling the reader in and gaining their attention. Although i did not catch the "subtle hints" as i read the story the first time, Bierce does implement clues that Farquhar is just hallucinating before dying. Some of these clues include, " --what magnificecnt, what superhuman strenght!" Also , " The man in the water saw the eye of the man on the bridge gazing into his own through the sights of the rifle" - it's wasn't possible for his eye sight to be this good to be able to see his eye. I think his reference to his acute eye sight could also be takin in a different way. often times if someone has a near death experience, afterwards they see the wold in a new , different, and more detailed way. This i think Bierece used to try to trick the reader into thinking this is what happened, not the fact that he was imagining everything.
This whole story represents a dream. In a typical dream everything goes perfectly, just untill the point of highest satisfaction and it all comes tumbling down. Just as Farquhar reaches his wife he is shot, but in reality he was hung and his dream fades away. While reading it , I often felt like i was watching a movie , you know, when you sit there and yell at the screen telling the character to do this or do that, and get readlly excited when they get away?
Bierce used alot of description in the story. Usually i am not a fan of excessive description because i have a short attention span, but here i think Bierce used it wisely. It described every detail that had u more and more interested, and kept wanting to read. I dont think the story would have been as effective without the detailed description, what do others think about this?
An interesting discussion broke out in class that (I being so quiet didn't comment on) was very interesting. Someone askeda question pertaining to chapter 15 of "The Scarlet Letter", by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Why wouldn't Hester answer Pearl's questions about the Scarlet A and Dimmesdale. A few people , including Lori, suggestede that Perl was too young to know what the A meant and that she would not understand it and keep asking more questions. I'm not sure if any of you remember when you were 7, but 7year olds are pretty intelligent.
I work at the SHU kindergarten, where most of the children are 5 or 6 years old. These kids baffle me sometimes with their knowledge and comprehension of societal concepts. A few of the children come from broken homes with step-mothers , step-fathers, and step-siblings. They understand why their families are the way they are because their parents took the time to sit down with them and explain ,in a way they would understand , the situation. With children the best policy is honesty because if you lie to them, and the truth is revealed its very likely you will lose a sense of trust with them.
I know a kid who had a different dad than his sister, but never knew. His mother did not tell him his father , whom he lived with all his life, was not his real dad. He wasn't told this information untill high school! I cannot even imagine going through my life not knowing that it was not my real father. It caused real problems in the family and he eventually left for the army.
In The Scarlet Letter, Pearl is seven years old and fairly intelligent. She often makes references and conclusions about the fact that Dimmesdale puts his hand over his heart, the same place where Hester wears the Scarlet A, every time he sees Hester and Pearl. Even though kids may not say anything , they pick up and recognize situations you might be trying to hide.
All this discussion about the fact that some peoplet thought Hester should have told Pearl the truth, what do you think would have happened if Hester really did confide the truth in Pearl? Would it have made a difference in the story or how Perl saw her mother and Dimmesdale?
Poetry=boring. Thats what i thought before our Dickenson & Poe Retro Lit Cover Slam in Dr. Jerz's class. I think although i wasn't comfortable presenting the poem in front of the class, i enjoyed everyone else's interpretations. I was greatly surprised how well some people did! The enthusiasm really attracted my attention.
Mindy's interpretations really stood out to me. She was so confortable and had such a strong voice and natural way of presenting. It really looked like she had done this before! She really got everyone's attention when she slammed her hand on the desk , insinuating for the horses to move rapidly in , " Tie the strings," by Emily Dickenson.
Amanda,Diana, and Tiffany did a great job at presenting The Bells., by Edgar Allen Poe. I thought the sound when they each overlapped one another while saying, bells, bells, bells sounded awesome. Could anyone else close their eyes and really hear " the bells"? I can only imagine that it was hard trying to stay up to beat and not lose their place, but it could have been even better if some small movement of some sort could have been incorporated. This poem makes me wonder what these bells represent. were these "bells" that Poe was hearing in his head? The continuous ringing of bells in your head could really make you go crazy, was he?
Shanna's interpretation of Emily Dickinson's " How Happy is the Little Stone," was a job well done. The fact that she had the stone as a visual aid, really made me stop and think how happy a stone is. They don't have to worry about how they look, or how much homework they have to get done! But , rather, they sit in the sun being happy , just being a stone. Haven't you ever wished you were something other than human so you didn't have the responsibilities of life? I'm pretty sure i have.
Even though i was extremely nervous about presenting my poem, I am actually looking forward to the next Poetry Slam (Did I say that?)
This has been a week from hell. I, like most of my friends, have been swamped with exams and projects. I breezed through my freshman year at SHU just like in highschool. Now, here i am in my sophomore year , 18 credits, and panicking. The work load is indescribable, and the ironic part is i have the most work in core classes that don't have any meaning for my major! Why is it that i have the most amount of work in spanish and literature, yet no psychology homework? Most people would probably classify me as a nerd cuz that's all I do is sit in my dungeon of a room on 4th Maura and do homework all day and nite. My roommates and I are lucky if we get to go outside. But hey i guess thats a part of college life right?