About Me

- mimi heald
- I am a sophomore with a nursing major at TCU, as well as a member of Delta Delta Delta.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
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.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
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.
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