Caleb Harris

Dr.Lee

American Lit.

12/4/2015

Main Blog Post 8

The reading that I picked to do the blog post on is Emily Dickinson's poems. The poems themes vary from death to the unknown. Ever from a young age Emily Dickinson was intrigued with death and nature, so a lot of her work deals with death and nature. Dickinson grew up next to the city cemetery so she saw most of the city services. Also, the Civil War was going on at the same time she was writing some of these poems. So death surrounded her, for her whole life.

In the first portion of her collection of poems they deal with nature and life it is not until later where she starts to engulf her writing with death. So the first poem I'm going to talk about is poem 340 on page 1673. The poem starts off with Dickinson saying " I felt a Funeral, in my Brain" (LN 1). I think this means that the writer was depressed and wanted to be left alone. The poem goes on to talk about depression and how it feels. In the second stanza Dickinson said " A Service, like a Drum" (6). This quote leads me to believe that the author had a pounding head ache. The next poem that I'm going to talk about is more upbeat and that poem is 598 on page 1686. This poem has three really descriptive  metaphors that describes the brain. The first metaphor that Dickinson uses in the poem is " The Brain - is wider than the sky" (LN 1). This is talking about how the brain does so much its hard for us to fathom it and the sky is so large its also hard to fathom. The second metaphor is "The Brain is deeper than the sea" (5). The metaphor is talking about how the brain can learn so much its almost endless. The final metaphor is "The Brain is just the weight of God"(9). This means even though the brain is endless with knowledge it still bares the weight of anxiety and worry.

Emily Dickinson is one of Americas best poet because she wrote about stuff that people normally didn't want to talk about. She talked about death, religion, and nature. She is one of the most influential.

  Baym, Nina. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th Ed., New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print.         

Main Blog Post (November 20th)

Isaac Sarmiento

Dr. Lee

Engl&244

November 20, 2015


                                       Blog Assignment: Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Nature" (Pg.214-243)
               Ralph Waldo Emerson is the most influential American writer of his time in the nineteenth century, if it wasn't for Emerson's essays such as self reliance and nonconformity then Henry David Thoreau and Margaret Fuller's career maybe would have went different paths. He was born in 1803 in Boston Massachusetts, and was the son of Ruth Haskins and Rev. William Emerson. Emerson also led the transcendentalist movement in the mid 19th century. He slowly drifted away from his religious beliefs as well as social beliefs. After Harvard, Emerson had helped his brother William in a school for young woman. After a couple years Emerson started to make his living as a schoolmaster. Emerson ended up meeting his wife, Ellen Louisa Tucker on Christmas day in New Hampshire. Later on his wife had died and he started to disagree with the church. He had then inherited a little bit of money after his wife died. He had then returned to live with his Mother in the united states in Massachusetts. With having many great literally stories and inspiring readings, "Nature" is a very great reading in which it sets out an ability to see the universe as how it is presented rather than for what its not.

                He wrote "Nature" a short reading but very interesting and talks about the tendency to accept traditions and knowledge of the past instead of wanting to experience god and nature directly. Its really about how all are questions about the universe or the relationships between god and nature may be answered by our personal experience's with life. In the beginning of the reading Emerson describes true solitude as going out into nature and leaving behind activities as well as the society. He also talks about the poetical approach to nature the perception of the whole made up by many individual components. In order to experience the true aspects of nature, we need to approach it with a well balance between inner and outer senses in order to truly understand it. And all aspects of nature connect somehow to some state of mind. In nature, which also is a part of god, man finds qualities similar to his own. Emerson discusses the ways in which man employs nature ultimately to reach insight into the workings of our universe. He talks about 4 major aspects which are Commodity, Beauty, Language, and Discipline. And in Commodity he uses the most basic uses of nature for heat, food, water, shelter, and transportation. Although he ranks these as being low uses, and also states that they are only applications that many men have for nature, they are perfect and appropriate in their own way. In this reading he also talks about natural beauty and he presents three properties of beauty. First, nature restores and gives pleasure to a man. Nature also pleases even in  its harshest moments. Secondly, Nature works together with a spiritual element inside a man to exceed the nobility of virtuous human actions. Nature itself provides a large and impressive background against which man's higher actions are outlined. Thirdly, Emerson points out the capacity of natural beauty to raise the level of human intellect. Because action follows upon reflection, Nature's beauty is seen in the mind, and expressed through unique action.

       With the big theme building up in this reading it obvious to see Ralph Waldo Emerson wants us to see nature for what it is and learn the true aspects of it in hopes to find answers we seek not only with ourselves but with god. In reading his writing of Nature and understanding many aspects of what he is trying to show in this read it is shown that he was very tactful of what he's trying to present to people only about nature and its beauty and the many great things that could come of it. A great quote from this reading is about the "Transparent Eye-Ball", Emerson states " When we speak of nature in this manner, we have a distinct but most poetical sense in the mind"(R. Emerson 216). Emerson is trying to say that when we speak of nature and its true aspects we get a better understanding of it and acknowledge it more for what it is. This shows a big theme that supports the overall theme of what Ralph tries to set out for us in which that is having a clear mind of what nature truly is; Beauty but only in which you understand it and set out forth to experience it and seek it. And to see only with the eye to gather that information of the true nature of our universe to see how it forms the basis for religion and ethics. This is what Emerson saw and wanted other people to see and understand "Nature".

Bella Martinez

Dr. Lee

ENGL&244

13 November

 

Main Blog Assignment: Lydia Howard Huntley Sigourney, "To the First Slave Ship" (pp. 109-110), "Slavery" (pp. 113-114).

       Lydia Howard Huntley Sigourney as stated in the Norton Anthology Literature: Volume B textbook, was “the most popular woman poet of the early national and ante-bellum period” (106). She was very talented and throughout her years of writing poetry she came to a point where she began to use her writings to try to sway the hearts of man to better respect and treat not only slaves, but the poor as well as the Indians. Among the first, as according to the text, “…she wrote poetry well before abolitionism became a popular reform in New England” (107). And she strongly supported the idea that the nation was losing its way and was forgetting to be “one” and live up to its true ways of republicanism as well as spiritual ideals (107). With that, during the time she wrote a particular poem titled, “To the First Slave Ship” written in 1827, slavery was only getting worse. Times were hard for those in the minority and the poor and so they would become slaves and would have to submit their lives to their “owners” in order to survive in some ways. She wrote this particular poem in response to the happenings of slavery occurring during that time.

        In Sigourney’s poem, “To the First Slave Ship” she expresses an undying sadness and distaste for the happenings with regards to slavery; in particular the transfer of human cargo on “slave ships.” That transfer is quite bothersome in that she emphasizes this particular string of words, “Dire engine! O’er the troubled main” in order to fully communicate that what is being done is wrong and is more than troublesome. In the beginning she is speaking to the boat as if it is alive. This is perfectly shown when she questions, “Hear’st thou their moans whom hope hath fled?—Wild cries in agonizing starts?—Know’st though thy humid sails are spread with ceaseless sigh from broken hearts?—“ (109). She is speaking to the ship directly here, trying to make it clear that it’s not okay that the ship itself is being powered by that of the sails and the ceaseless sighs from broken hearts that “spread” the “humid sails” themselves in fact (107). Although she may be speaking more so to the ship in text, indirectly she also wants us to think about the human in control of the ship and the wrongs they are causing because they really are the only ones who could stop if they wanted. On the same line, she makes it very clear that the nation and humanity are wrong and that humanity is worse than the physical toils the sun has on us. This is mentioned when she says, “The Sun upon thy forehead frown’d” meaning just that and the fact that the Sun in all its glory or God is sad (110). She goes on to talk more specifically to the “slaves” themselves by saying “Poor outcast slave!—Our guilty land should tremble while she drinks thy tears..” (110). This particular sentence serves as a reminder to the nation and even that of a “wake-up call” for them. Sigourney is trying to express that America should feel guilty and for that, as they cause suffering and pain, they should fear and cower as well. They should fear for the likely occurrence of a slave uprising and not only that, but they too should fear God. The “fear God” aspect comes in when she continues in her poem by saying, “…or sees in vengeful silence stand, the beacon of thy shorten’d years;--should shrink to hear her sons proclaim the sacred truth that heaven is just,” (110).

        With regards to the larger themes being developed in our module it’s obvious to see that the hardships of slavery and a continual expression of sadness and disgust for and by it are quite apparent. In reading Harriot Jacobs autobiography especially, “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” so much pain and suffering was expressed because she had experienced it all first-hand; beatings, whippings, sexual abuse, all of it. Although Sigourney didn’t experience slavery first-hand as Jacobs did, they both agree that slavery is wrong and should not be considered “okay” by any means. Both texts function on pathos and in Sigourney’s text especially this is furthermore shown when she questions as mentioned earlier, “Hear’st thou their moans whom hope hath fled?—Wild cries in agonizing starts?—Know’st though thy humid sails are spread with ceaseless sigh from broken hearts?—“ (109). In this particular sentence she is not only using pathos to introduce feelings of sadness, she too is using a sort of personification in that she is speaking to the ship as if its living and that she is saying to it that its “humid sails are spread with ceaseless sighs from broken hearts,” almost as if it’s being kept “alive” so to speak by those things in particular (109).

Baym, Nina. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th Ed., New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print.

Main Blog Post #5

Main Blog Post (November 6, 2015)

Abdirahman Abdi

Dr. Lee

11/4/15

ENGL & 244

Blog Assignment: Letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams, 23 July 1775

Over the course of many years, John Adams and his wife, Abigail, have exchanged many letters. The letters consisted of multiple subjects; mainly their personal lives and politics. The letter I believe to be the most interesting is the “Letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams, 23 July 1775” because it gives an accurate firsthand account on what was happening in America at the time. The letter also gives readers an insight on John Adam’s personality. In the letters, John writes about Benjamin Franklin and the continental congress, he also talks about how he feels certain people and wrote a bit about himself.

While John and Abigail Adams were exchanging these letters, the colonies were in the middle of the revolutionary war. The war was fought in order for the colonies to gain independence from England. The colonists felt as though they needed more freedom, tensions escalated resulting in a war. John Adams writes a bit about Dr. Benjamin Franklin the concept of independence. He notifies Abigail of Franklin’s constant occurrences in the congressional meetings. It is evident John admires Franklin. John wrote “He is however a great and good Man. I wish his Colleagues from this City were All like him”. John admired Dr. Franklin’s unique way of thinking. He wasn’t like the others and was helpful and cooperative. Independence was a recurring theme in these congressional meetings. John wrote more about Franklin’s ideas and how he felt about independence. Afterwards, John mentions several other men and what he notices. Despite not knowing them, he picks up on a lot of their personality traits meaning John is a very intelligent man and calculates every move and is generally a cautious person. Towards the end of the letter, John told Abigail he loved her and their children. The fact that they exchanged letters over the course of many years and him writing “I’m yours” gives readers a firsthand view of John and Abigail’s life and relationship.

John and Abigail Adams were by no means writers. The letters they exchanged were solely personal and were not meant for everyone to see. That being said, the Author of this text, John Adams, had neither implications nor an audience to write for. He wrote these letters for personal reasons. There were no stylistic choices. For the most part, these letters were very straightforwardly and they were easy to understand. However, it seems as though John kept out sensitive information because the “mailing system” was informal and the letters could end up anywhere. He provided Abigail with facts but didn’t go too much into detail. Although there wasn’t anything artistic, these letters are very important because the readers can learn a lot from the time period it was written and it goes well with the other excerpts from the textbook that have been assigned.

 Adams, John. Letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams, 23 July 1775, "You have more than once..." [electronic edition]. Adams Family Papers: An Electronic Archive. Massachusetts Historical Society. http://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/

Baym, Nina. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th Ed., New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print.

Main Blog Post October 23rd

Caleb Harris
Dr.Lee
American Literature
10/23/2015

What is an American? by J. Hector St. John De Crevecoeur

 

 



J. Hector St. John De Crevecoeur was a French born writer who moved around often. The first move that he made was when he was nineteen and sailed into England to live with distant relatives. Will in England he was engaged, but before the ceremony occurred his fiancée died. After that happened he decided to move to Canada in 1755,  while in Canada he joined the Canadian militia. When he was enlisted his job was to be a surveyor and cartographer. In 1759 is when his career in the Canadian militia ended do to a gun shot wounded that he got at the defense of Quebec. After finishing in the military he traveled down to New York where he changed his name to J. Hector St. John De Crevecoeur. The next ten years of his life consisted of trading with the Native Americans and working as a surveyor around the colonies. He bought land in Orange

County, New York and married. He bought the land and got married in 1769 and also at this time he became an American farmer. Being an American fascinated Crevecoeur so much so that most of his writing consisted of  America and Americans.

 

 

In, this text Crevecoeur explains how different Europe is compared to America and also talks about what is an American? In the first part of the text Crevecoeur talks about how in America there is no lords who have all the wealth. Also, "the rich and the poor are not so far removed from each other as they are in Europe"(605). Another difference he gives in the text is how  you won't see a mansion or castle in America rather you will see cabins and cattle. He goes on to talk about what an American is as a person, but also as a belief. An American is a mix of "English, Scotch, Irish, Dutch, Germans and Swedes" he goes on to say "that a race called Americans have arisen"(606). Later in the text he talks about the belief or the idea of an American. An example of this is how if you were poor in England you would be poor your whole life, but if you sailed to America you could make a better life for yourself. Another example he gave was how it would seem weird for people in Europe to marry or converse with someone outside of your religion or other race groups. Crevecoeur used different kind words to describe his point.

 

To prove his point Crevecoeur used different literary techniques. The author would compare humans to plants. An example of this is when talked about transplanting a plant from England and how it would be more fertile in America. Another example of this is when he compared the different inhabitance of each region. The author says " men are like plants; the goodness and flavors of the fruit proceeds from the peculiar soil and exposition in which they grow" so in other words people are different based off of the region they grew up at or live at(608). All in all Crevecoeur used metaphors to get his point across.

 

 

 

 

Baym, Nina. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th Ed., New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print.

    

Main Blog Post (October 16th)

Isaac Sarmiento

Dr. Lee

Engl&244

October 16, 2015


                                       Blog Assignment: "Samuel Sewall & Cotton Mather's"


                              In this reading it talks about Samuel Sewall who went to Salem, and in the meetinghouse the people who were accused of witchcraft had to get examined. And in the time Mrs. Cary who was accused of witchcraft, made her escape out of the Cambridge prison. Meanwhile in Salem Giles Corey was pressed to death just for standing in silence. Cotton Mather's  who was the oldest son of Increase Mather's and also the grandson of Richard Mather's and John Cotton. He was the heir apparent of the congregational hierarchy which had dominated the churches of England for many years. Cotton Mather's had attended Harvard college which was a really good college at the time. And he was only twelve years old when he attended the college. Cotton Mather's was expected to excel, not disappointing anyone. But he had to pay a price for how he got there, he stumbled badly when he was young and so much. He also had nervous disorders that had driven him alternately to ecstasy and dark paths. His enemies were saying that he was really aggressive.

                            Also in this passage of reading of Cotton Mather's found great satisfaction for doing good deeds for others. He as well organized societies to build churches, supported schools, and established funds for indigent clergy. In the passage " From The Wonders of The Invisible World" it talks about Englanders who are a people of good but once they were the devils territory. And the devil was irritated and he had tried many methods to overturn the poor plantation and a lot of the church. Also in this reading they proclaim that the devil made a knot of the witches in the country. In the passage of "A Notable Exploit" it talks about how the savages traveled to the skirts of Haverhill and they had murdered about 39 people there. There was a party of Indians that had shot at him and he had shot back trying to get away unto safety with the children and he had reached a spot of safety about 2 miles away from the house. It was brutal because the Indians had got ahold of the infant and bashed his brains up on a tree as well with several other people that were caught. Some 2 women were caught and token back to the Indians tribe where they would be stripped and killed in the gauntlet in front of all the Indians, but before the break of day the women had killed many Indians while they were sleeping and one of the women had gotten away while the other was killed. Many of her personal friends congratulated her but Colonel Nicholson sent them a very generous token of one of his favors.

                     What this whole passage offers is a more deep understanding of Samuel Sewall and how he was at Salem during the witch trials and he wrote in his diary each day of what had happened. And how hard it was for some of the people in the witch trials who were accused of being witches but were innocent. Also it gives a better understanding of Cotton Mather's and how he came up to be who he was by going to college at the age of twelve and persevering most people of that age. But the only way to get where he was he had to suffer and go through many hardships as a child stumbling upon many things. He had satisfaction for what he done for people doing many great deeds. He describes in these two passages in the reading about how the Indians had gone for them but getting away safely with the children unlike two women who were caught and only one making out of the hands of the Indians. This passages as well as the descriptions of Cotton Mather's show clear imagery of what was going on at the time and how Mather's was able to be what he was at such an age.



Baym, Nina. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th Ed., New York: W.W Norton, 2012. Print.

Main Blog Post (October 9th)

Bella Martinez

Dr. Lee

ENGL&244

8 October 2015

Blog Assignment: “As Weary Pilgrim” by Anne Bradstreet

            Anne Bradstreet was a talented poet. As a young girl, she would write poems to please her father and from then on her talents soared. Her brother-in-law, John Woodbridge, even published a collection of her poems known as The Tenth Muse; the first published volume of poems written by a resident of America (207). As for her journey to the Americas she and her family came over on Winthrop’s fleet in the year 1630. At that time she would have been just 18 years old. With regards to her poem, “As Weary Pilgrim” she is writing from personal experience. Life as a pilgrim, which is what she was, was not easy. Life at sea during that time especially was undeniably hard; no bathrooms, no showers, shortages of food and sickness all make for one horrible trip to endure through. Then one has to also consider the types of stress one faces with regards to finding a means of survival once making it to the Americas as well. She endured and fought hard and even “risked death by childbirth eight times” (207). Although she endured, she looked more forward to escaping it all; the hard life of a pilgrim that is, which is the basis for her poem.

            In her poem, “As Weary Pilgrim” Bradstreet talks about the hard life of a pilgrim and the ultimate way to overcome that. She focuses on death and how death in and of itself is how one can truly escape all the things life has to throw at us. She also continually expresses the idea that through death, pain will be no more as well as all the cares and worries one could muster. Being a pilgrim herself, she knows exactly what it’s like and in her writing one can tell that she wants to be done with it all. This is particularly evident when she says, “Oh, how I long to be at rest and soar on high among the blest” (234). On one hand she sounds as if she is sad and is ungrateful for the life she has had to endure through, but on the other she talks about death with a happiness even saying, “As weary pilgrim, now at rest, hugs with delight his silent nest” (233). By saying these things she makes it clear that she too wants that sense of relief and a means of happiness again and to her death can provide those things. Rather than being afraid of it, she is happily welcoming it. For this reason the tone I feel she is using is one of gratitude and excitement for the next life to meet her Maker. With regards to the purpose of the text’s publication, I feel as if it was published to better reach out and help other pilgrims going through a hard time realize that it’s okay to feel done, but that they aren’t alone. In reading Bradstreet’s poem I feel as if she is trying to communicate that life especially as a pilgrim is hard, but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel; Christ and Heaven where as she puts it “such lasting joys shall there behold” (234).

            What this poem offers is a deeper understanding of the life of a pilgrim. Although Bradstreet doesn’t offer up specific examples of hardships in her poem, one can feel her pain even in describing an excitement to be done with it all. In looking at the larger themes being developed in our module we have read accounts of Bradford’s voyages and occurrences of the ship not being sufficient enough for travel, times of starvation because of food shortages as well as wars breaking out between the Indians and the English (132-4). These particular struggles are in accordance with the fact that being a pilgrim is hard and miserable. Bradstreet’s text functions artistically in that she uses some forms of weather to explain the hardships one goes through as a pilgrim. She states that, “[n]or stormy rains on him shall beat” which offers clear imagery and means that death offers an escape from the hardships of being a pilgrim.

 

Baym, Nina. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th Ed., New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print.

 

                       

           

Main Blog 1

Abdirahman Abdi

ENG & 244

9/30/15

Blog Assignment: Smith (9/29 pp.88-99)

John Smith was an English explorer, soldier, and author. He was one of the first explorers of English descent to reach the Americas. Smith has written quite a bit about his experiences in the “New World”. This particular story takes place around the time England renewed its colonial involvement in America. John Smith is said to have played a significant role in the establishment and creation of the Jamestown Colony. Since he was young, Smith had been captivated by stories of war, colonization and exploration. Along with his interest in exploration, his father’s death propelled him to venture off and explore. John Smith was drawn by stories of wealth, a thirst for action, and to make something of himself.

In the text, Smith wrote about his experiences in America. The beginning of the reading was about how the supplies on the boat perished which lead to the crew having to scavenge for food that was not contaminated. Afterwards, Smith and some of his crew went off to do some trading. However, Smith, who is known for using unnecessary force, fired his gun and created tensions with the Natives. Throughout the text, Smith continued to describe his encounters with the Indians. Toward the end, he expressed his gratitude toward Pocahontas for saving him. There was nothing unique about what Smith has written. It is very similar to the works of other explorers/ Europeans who reached America. It seems as though Smith wrote about his experiences so the people back home could read about them.

John Smith referred to the Natives as savages multiple times. He used derogatory terms and believed he was better than the Natives. This reading is quite similar to the others. All the other writers referred to the Natives as savages as well. In addition, they too had tensions with the Indians and went through famine and other hardships.

Baym, Nina. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th Ed., New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print.