In the "Border State Patrol" short story, I agreed with a lot of things that Ms. Silko had to say about having to deal with border control, mainly because I have heard of some really awful things happening there, and what she said did not seem to surprise me one bit. It's amazing how just looking a certain way seems suspicious to someone else solely because of their personal biases, which I think is totally unfair and inhumane. When she discusses her encounter with border control and the dog, I had a great depiction of this in my mind and I could feel how bad Silko felt as well as the dog, and I find her information very valuable to people who are traveling across the border. I will say though, she made the statement about borders never working, which I am only in partial agreement to. The quote "borders haven't worked, and they won't work, not now, as the indigenous people of the Americas reassert their kinship and solidarity with one another." is something that I understand, because I agree that things will continue to be a problem if the boarders are run the way they are now. But when she mentions how "The great human migration within the Americas cannot be stopped; human beings are natural forces of the earth, just as rivers and winds are natural forces", I have to disagree. I completely understand what Silko is trying to say, but in today's world populations are settled for the most part, and yes people move, but not like rivers and mountains, they move more methodically and permanently. Without borders, how would the president lead our country? how could a governor or any other authoritative position handle their job if they are not given a specific area to control? I think that we need borders, but we need to improve who is controlling them and how they are going about it. 

Journal Entry #14

If I were a soldier in Jimmy Cross's unit, I would carry a few things. First off I would carry a picture of my family and my 2 dogs because I know that I would constantly be thinking of them, and imagining what they were doing at home, right at that moment. I also would have a small item from my best friends, like a bracelet or something that would remind me of them, because I know they'd constantly be on my mind as well. I'd bring a piece of sentimental jewelry with me, like my ring that my mother gave me, because I know that I would be missing it if I didn't get to have it. I think I would also cut a small square out of my favorite blanket, because I would want to bring something that reminds me of the comforts of home, and my bed. I know I would like to have something with me like that while I lay in a hole in the ground with nothing else. Also, I would keep all of the letters I received and stash them in a plastic bag to keep them looking nice, just like Jimmy Cross and his letters form Martha, and I know that just like him, I would also read and reread them every day. Knowing me, I would probably bring as many small items as I could, in order to make myself as comfortable as possible without weighing myself down. I don't personally own anything that I believe to be good luck, but if I did I would bring that as well. I may also bring a poem book filled with happy and upbeat poems, or something like that to entertain me and bring up my mood. 

Zitkala-Sa's story is one about achieving the American Dream. Yes, she succeeded and was able to go to college and become a successful writer, but in this story we see past the success of the American Dream and instead we see the state of quandary that Zitkala-Sa is left in, as well as the issues she faces regardless. Even with the success of the American Dream, she is still alone in the world of the white man. Her mother resents her for pursing education because it is not in her culture. "Often I wept in secret, wishing I had gone West, to be nourished by my mother's love, instead of remaining among a cold race whose hearts were frozen hard with prejudice". Zitkala remains unhappy after all of her success because though she triumphed and showed America how people in her culture can prevail, she also showed us the bitterness of becoming a member of society which does not belong to either race. She becomes caught between two worlds; and though she is successful, this success is not enough to bring her happiness. The American Dream promises oppurtunity and success, but never promises a life filled with happiness and clarity, and this story allows us to realize that. Zitkala was happy to win an award at the end of the story, but if she could have taken it all back to be happy with her culture and have a true identity there, I think she would. 

After reading several poems written by Claude McKay, and "As the Lord lives, He is One of Our Mother's Children" by Pauline Hopkins, I asked myself if there were any connections or relating views regarding the value of a noble death. In "As the Lord Lives...", we find a fugitive man who is partially African American, and because of that, his punishment was more severe than that of a white man if he were in the same situation. We found out that this fugitive had lied to the Reverand who found him. He tells the reverend that the sole reason for his lying and alias was to avoid the same awful death that he watched and heard when his best friend was savagely lynched by white people. In the story, he claims "'Jones was lynched! God, can I ever forget that hooting, yelling crowd, and the terrible fight to get away!'" which explains how this type of death is among the worst that could happen, and how Jones couldn't bear to hear the awful cheer of the crowd. In "If We Must Die", the narrator describes how if we must die (as in african americans), it should be a dignified, glorified and meek death. In her poem she uses many images such as animals being penned and hunted, and refers to white people as monsters who outnumber them. She also discusses how white people cheer and yell at them when they are about to die and uses the imagery of dogs. "While around us bark the mad hungry dogs". This image specifically parallels with Stone's description of the white people hollering and cheering for his friend's lynching. Clearly, both authors find it disturbing (unsurprsingly) that the lack of manners and respect of the white people make these kinds of deaths brutal, and they find it important that each and every person who does die, should be able to die peacefully and with respect. From both of these texts, we see the importance of having the oppurtunity as an African American to have a calm and peaceful death. In McKay's story, we have proof of this because after Stone gets his second chance from the Reverend, he also gets a second chance with his fate, and even though he dies, he is able to die as a hero who is respectfully viewed as opposed to being lynched. 

Blog Entry #10

My own process of coming to a significant insight mostly came from reading "The Wife of his Youth" by Charles W. Chestnutt, and a little from Frances Harpers "Learning to Read" poem. In "The Wife of his Youth", I was questioning where the story was going to go just after the first section, mainly because it had seemed so random to me. However, I had realized who the old woman was when Mr. Ryder continued to ask her discouraging questions about the man she once knew. His questions were also very reflective of him which led me to believe that he must know the man she was talking about, or he was the man she was talking about. Some of the advice Mr. Ryder gives to Liza Jane (the old woman) seemed like some type of suggestion or foreshadow to the reader  about what really happened to this man. Mr. Ryder tells her "Perhaps he's outgrown you, and climbed up in the world where he wouldn't care to have you find him". This was an example of advice that Mr. Ryder gives Liza, which allowed me to realize he definitely had something to do with her, and must know who she is. This story to me overall was a bit shocking and different from our typical readings, but it definitely shows me the importance of skin color just after the civil war, and the value that Mr. Ryder puts on how light he is. Any association with Liza Jane would be extremely negative for him seeing that she is a dark African American who clearly does not have much money (judging by her clothes) and not nearly the same education as Mr. Ryder (you can tell this by Liza's diction). It's shocking to me how after the Civil War, any lighter skin African American would do anything they could to get closer to obtaining something even the slightest bit like the White man's social status. Mr. Ryder was willing to put someone important into his past in order to get himself ahead, and though he redeems himself by introducing his friends to Liza Jane as the wife of his youth, I still don't think he would have introduced her unless the majority of the society had agreed that he should have in fact, acknowledged her. In Frances Harper's poem, "Learning to Read" seemed mostly like an easy, understandable poem to me, but I liked how in the end she compares herself to being like a queen on her throne, because it shows us how much learning means to her and how much better she feels about herself knowing that she is able to read. "And I felt independent As the queen upon her throne".  Harper see's herself as a woman who is educated and able to read--also, as someone independent who does not need to rely on others in order to make herself happy or go through everyday life. Clearly, Harper places a huge amount of importance on reading which is not surprising seeing as how hard it would have been for her as a child and young adult to attain such an education during slavery. Being able to read gives her power--the power of knowledge. (Queen imagery hints this). This poem made me realize how important we all are in today's world to think that in today's world we don't even think twice about being able to read. Even some children in today's world know how to read as early as age 5. As any American today, we should be greatful and realize the privlleges we have (more than just literacy) compared to other countries. 

Blog Entry #9

After reading the introduction about the time after the Civil War, I noticed a contemporary connection between today and the years 1865-1914. Something that stuck out to me was the new focus on "muckrackers" in this time period and it immediately made me think of us in today's world. "Muckrackers" were articles written by journalists that referred to getting the dirt on companies or politics in order to uncover corruptions. This same idea of getting the dirt on someone or something and writing about it is something very prevalent in today's world as well. For example, any type of magazine, newspaper or news channel today will give the community any type of muckracking information if there is any. It is mainly because something important like corrupt politicians, factories with terrible work conditions, or even restaurants with salmonella outbreaks are a concern for us, and even if information isn't what we want to hear, any information is good information. However in today's world, we have taken this muckracking style and have placed it in many other forms of literature as well as on the internet. We also have begun to use it for not just general information, but for a source of entertainment.  For example The Enquirer is a magazine specifically written in order to get the dirt on celebrities or any well-known person in the news (such as Brittney Spears or  Casey Anthony). In this magazine, they even exaggerate stories in order for people to be more entertained. We also have gossiping websites like the one created by Perez Hilton, where his job is to get the dirt on celebrities and their downfalls. Documentaries like "Supersize me" are examples of other types of media used in order to "muckrack" certain franchises.  In the late 1800's and early 1900's, people didn't necessarily get the dirt on people for entertainment, but no matter what purpose we read it for, we still love to read it and even if it is about something that is dangerous or corrupt, as humans we still have this fascination with "muckracking" and finding flaws in the system. 

Sarah Piatt and Mary Boykin Chestnut both came from very similar backgrounds, though as they grew up and married, they both went in very separate directions. Both were born into slaveholding families in the south, but Sarah moved north with him to Washington D.C., where her ideas on slavery took a turn; she began to support the northerners. However as Mary Chestnut grew older she stayed in the south, and had a plantation and a life filled with slavery and confederate ideology. As the Civil War went into full swing, this obviously allowed them to have very different opinions about the war and their views on slavery and politics. An example of this is their views on General Lee. Mary Chestnut wrote a Diary called "A Diary from Dixie", where she describes the scene in her life when she, her friends, and confederate soldiers have just found news of General Lee's death. "I saw it reflected in Mary Darby's face before I heard him speak. She staggered to the table, sat down, and wept allowed. Mr. Clay's eyes were not dry. Quite beside herself Mary shrieked 'Now we belong to negroes and Yankees!....How different from ours of them is their estimate of us. How contradictory is their attitude toward us'". Clearly Mary and her friends are startled by the news of General Lee, and as we see Mary's thoughts unfold we notice her anxiety; she is scared of what will become of them, and she can't bare to handle the fact that one of the biggest and best leaders of the south was dead. Mr. Clay's tearing eyes show us the importance of General Lee in the south and how much they depended on him--this is much different than it was in the north, and only a southerner would relate emotionally to that scene. Sarah Piatt had opposite views of General Lee and actually blames him for all the lives taken and destruction that occured during the war. This is not surprising for someone who believes in the north; but very interesting to see the difference of opinion between these two women. In "Arlington Heights", she describes the war and gives many depictions of dead men in fields, moving masses of men covered in blood, and at the end describes one single person "And there is one who comes alone and stands at his dim fireless hearth--chill'd and opprest by something he has summon'd to his lands, while the weird pallor of its many hands points at his rusted sword in his own breast" Here she is describing all the dead men blaming General Lee for their death by describing pale and deathly hands pointing at the sword worn by a man. She also describes in the stanza before how at night there are cries coming from mothers and daughters to the dead, while he stands alone. There are many northerners who would relate with Sarah on that as opposed to Mary. These two women had different opinions of General Lee obviously because of the war but there is more to see than just that. These women wanted different things out of their life; it shows us that they both had different dreams in America and were looking for something different. Mary wanted the dream for herself and her family, but Sarah wanted the dream for all of America, slaves and freemen alike. From today's standpoint, Sarah's is much more convincing and I think that even southerners today would agree with Sarah Piatt more solely because slavery is no longer a value in this country and hasn't been for quite some time.

The Imagery in Frances Harper's "The Slave mother" is extremely vivid, and the reader is able to easily see this because in every short stanza Harper makes sure that there is an image of something relating to an nonbiological slave mother and her son. For example, Harper describes a mother trying to hide her son under her dress because he is trembling in terror clinging to her for safety. "Her boy clings to her side, And in her kirlte vainly tries, His trembling form to hide". Harper uses this stanza to describe a scared child because everyone can relate to that kind of fear, and has felt it not only as a child but in their adult lives as well. As an abolitionist writer who is trying to persuade the audience, she makes a smart choice to use this imagery because it allows the audience to grasp how fearful the child is, which obviously has something to do with him being a slave. Also, at the beginning of the poem there is a stanza in which Harper describes the slave mother in grief who is praying "Saw you those hands so sadly clasped-- The bowed and feeble head-- The shuddering of that fragile form-- That look of grief and dread?" Harper uses this imagery well and it allows the reader to feel the sadness of a poor mother praying for her child. This is good imagery as well because all mothers (black or white) are always concerned about their children and it is natural that a white mother who is reading this would be able to relate to a slave mother who feels sadness and love for their children. This hopefully was able to give a strong impact on white mothers during the time of publishing because it allowed white women to realize the pain and dread that so many slave mothers went through during slavery--even children that weren't biologically related! Also, Harper's explanation of this slaves love for her child also show all whites the aspect that slaves WERE human and were capable of having feelings of love and sorrow and all other emotions. 

Blog Entry #6

In "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl", Harriet Jacobs describes the events of her life as a female slave. At her time in society, being both female and a slave put her in the very bottom of the lowest possible social class. This factor was something that defined the choices she made in her life and sadly for Harriet lead her to what became "failures". An example of this is when she is taken advantage of by her Master, Mr. Flint, and has his child. Since she is his property, Flint is able to do whatever he wants with her, more specifically he is allowed to rape her and take advantage of her as he pleases. Since Harriet wanted to get married to a freed black man and was not allowed to by Mr. Flint's choice (also a failure), my guess is that this made things worse for her because of Flint's jealousy. Unsurprisingly, Harriet becomes pregnant with a child of Flint's, and poor Harriet struggles with this fact "I shuddered to think of being a mother of children that should be owned by my old tyrant" (778). This is something that Harriet obviously did not want to happen in her life, but because of her position in society and being a woman, she had no choice. "I wanted to confess to her that I was no longer worthy of her love; but I could not utter the dreaded words" (778). We know that Harriet feels like this is a failure in her life because despite her close relationship with her grandmother, she is too ashamed to give word to her, and is so uneasy about her dignity and reputation. "My relatives would hear of it, I felt wretched...My self respect was gone!...And now, how humiliated I felt!" (778). Harriet's choices were effected negatively in society because as a slave girl, she didn't even have choices. This lack of respect, freedom and self-ownership takes everything out of her hands and puts them into her owners, which in the end leads to failures because she had no control over her life or what might happen to it. 

Blog Entry #4

In the story "The Tenth of January", the author Elizabeth Phelps tells us a story of a young woman named Aseneth--Sene for short. Sene works in a factory with several other women and is much different from the other girls due to her physical disabilities. "her neck and shoulders were closely muffled... she wore a faded scarlet hood which heightened the pallor of what must at best have been a pallid face. It was a sickly face, shaded...it [her mouth] would have been a womanly, pleasant mouth, had it not been crossed by a white scar, which attracted more of one’s attention than either the womanliness or pleasantness". Many of the girls in the factory know that Sene is not like them and therefore do not treat her with the same respect as they treat other coworkers and people in their town. "Del shook back her curls; 'who do you suppose would ever marry you?'" Not only do the girls treat Sene with disrespect, but so do the younger children in her town and many of the older people don't pay attention to her because of her deformities. "She remembered stealing out at last, after many days, to the grocery round the corner for a pound of coffee. 'Humpback! humpback!' cried the children,—the very children who could leap and laugh." Elizabeth Phelps makes a point about society and how they treat people based on their differences. We can pair this contextual evidence along with the gloomy, dark setting of the story, seeing Sene struggle for the love and attention from her secret love, and think about the tragic ending of her death to see that Phelps has created a strong theme of discrimination and social injustice during this story, which unsurprisingly matches up with this time in society.

Blog Entry #3

In Irving's sweet, short story "The Wife", he allows us to see a few things regarding American values at this point in society. The values of marriage, women, and economics are all presented here, and I will say it was interesting to see how some values are the same, and how some have changed. Regarding women, times have definitely changed. In the story, the narrator first describes a man's position in marriage, and describes women as being helpless and dependent (unsurprisingly). It is interesting to see this because now days there are countless families where the women are the only one's in the marriage with a job, or both man and women work together for their family. Women in today's world are no longer helpless by any means. Leslie the husband is nervous what his wife's reaction will be when she finds out that they are going to be living in a more poverty-stricken lifestyle. To his surprise, his wife is always there for him and is supportive of what has happened to them and never complains once, which was the exact opposite of how he thought she would react. This is a marriage value that I appreciate, and I think that this is a good example of a strong marriage; one that is bound by support, love and a deep companionship that lasts even when lifestyles have to be changed, especially for the worse. His wife never made one complaint about their lifestyle and was supportive of her husband during their rough times. In terms of economics values, those have not changed either; in today's world each and every one of us has to admit that how much money we make is a big factor in our satisfaction of life--we are so easily confused with money and happiness. There was still a value on living a lavish lifestyle and being able to attain every tangible object, but despite Mary and Leslie's economic issue, they were able to still live a happy life and still found many joys in living in a less lavish home with a more simple interior. 

Blog Entry 2

In 1939, Paula Gunn Allen wrote a poem entitled "Pocahontas to Her English Husband, John Rolfe", which speaks in first person as Pocahontas, writing to her husband about their lives together and how he was a deceitful and tactless man. The story of Pocahontas in today's culture is seen much differently than what really happened and I find it really interesting reading this poem and realizing how much Pocahontas had done for Rolfe, how smart and competent she was as both a wife and companion--despite the europeans views of her people and their lifestyle (which were negative obviously). This poem shows us that despite the cultures view at the time of how "helpless" the indians were, Pocahontas was the one to teach Rolfe the ways of the land, she made him successful and was there for him to take care of him and aid to him when he was left behind. He wouldn't have been successful ever if it wasn't for her. Rolfe without Pocahontas, was nothing. Pocahontas adopted to the culture of Europe, was baptized and even had a child with Rolfe, but these things were not something she wanted to do necessarily. Many see the relationship between her and Rolfe as if she was being held captive. This was something really interesting to me and was very eye opening. I loved this poem a lot because it was different from what the audience would normally expect--I loved seeing that she was the one who was brave, smart and a true hero to Rolfe, and he was just a helpless man.

Blog Entry 1

My ideas of American identity have definitely been challenged by the ideas of other people, writers and american figures who have presented their own ideas to society that have seemed different from mine. This is because there are countless people who have made points about the definition of being American that have opened my eyes and allowed me to realize other ideas as well as my own. I will admit that many people's ideas of being an american have definitely impacted my personal ideas because there are many people in history who have made me realize that the definition of an American can be different because many people's ideas are based off of their own situation (in terms of social standing, ethnicity, culture, etc.) For example, Langston Hughes poems about how America is "free" opened my eyes and allowed me to realize that the definition of free itself is not as simple as one would think. American's are "free", but there are still so many other factors that hinder a person's freedom or oppurtunities which makes freedom much harder in today's world as well as in the past as it seems. Also, seeing how Creveocoeur's definition of an American made me realize how each and everyone of us is a mixture of cultures, ethnicities, religious backgrounds and class that have all melted together and whether or not we have realized it, there are so many different factors that have shaped us into unique individuals. For the most part, I think that my ideas of being an American have changed but more in the way that I have been exposed to so many more ideas and views which have expanded mine and allowed me to further understand the meaning of being an American.