Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Chapter 1-9

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Frederick Douglass identifies his life events to emphasize the cruelty and immorality of slavery in two perspectives. As a participant, Douglass uses his personal experience to reflect typical slaves’ experiences in his first chapter of the Narrative. For example, Douglass has no right to know his birthday, and he is denied of his mother’s love and care. Douglass analyzes his shortage to show that slaveholders desperately keep their slaves “ignorant” in order to gain power and control over their slaves. Slaveholders can achieve this purpose by taking away information about slaves’ identity and separating children from their mothers at a very early age” (256). As an observer, Douglass witnesses the brutality of overseers and experiences bloody scenes of beating slaves to death. Douglass also reflects on the songs that slaves sing exultingly which he, as a slave, does not understand “the deep meanings of those rude and apparent incoherent songs’ (242). He now understands that the singing is  expression of slaves’ cries.

Douglass focuses on his master’s plantation and overseers in chapter 3 and 4 to pinpoint the wrongness and effects of punishments. Moreover, he wants to seek sympathy for murdering slaves that slaveholders are not hold responsible for. For example, Colonel Lloyd punishes a slave for speaking ill of himself. The slave is being punished for speaking the truth which indicates that there is no justice for slavery. As a result, slaves “suppress the truth rather than take the consequences of telling it” (244). Slaveholders act as animals to treat their slaves as animals too. Douglass uses an ironic tone when he describes Mr. Gore, the overseer, as a “First-rate overseer. He was just the man for such a place, and it was just the place for such a man” (245). Douglass criticizes the imbalance power between the powerful and the powerless. In addition, Douglass reveals that “killing a slave, or any colored person in Talbot county, Maryland, is not treated as a crime, either by the courts or the community” (246). He also gives multiple examples as evidences to support this lack of justice to move his readers.

It is a major turning point for Douglass to learn the alphabet from Mrs. Auld, who is very kind to Douglass in the beginning. Mr. Auld’s opposition to teach Douglass how to read is very significant to know that slaveholders purposely implement schemes to gain power and control over their slaves by depriving them of education. Slaveholders can easily reap all the benefits for themselves and to oppress slaves who don’t have the knowledge to rebel. As Douglass points out, the side effect of slavery is the changing of the human nature of slaveholders to live with deceptions. Mrs. Auld changes from being benevolent to judgmental and harsh to Douglass after Mr. Auld’s guidance. Thus, slaves are treated as properties to slaveholders instead of human beings who have reason and emotions. Douglass shows his contempt when all slaves are ranked for valuation and division (256). The first part of the Narrative shows that slavery not only affects slaves but also slaveholders, and it corrupts the ideal of what really mean and matter to be a human being.

Cao Xueqin’s idea on illusion

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SORRY THIS IS SO LATE my blog finally started working
I found this whole “book” (I guess we can call it that) super confusing. It seems to be a bunch of chapters that have little connection to each other. As you read you think “okay now we’re talking about the guy from the other stories daughter” and just wonder how this could be out together as one story. When I read it, I got a little lost. I won’t be able to talk about the whole story as a whole, but there was one part that really stuck out to me.
In Chapter 1 on page 528 it says “Truth becomes fiction when the fiction’s true; Real becomes not-real when the unreal’s real.” Shiyun had the stone and the monk snatched it away from him in front of an archway reading “the Land of Illusion.” That scene seems to mark a transition to the next part of the story.
Earlier on in the story, the Stone said something about romantic stories all being set mainly in two dynasties, giving it the feeling that they could have an aspect of fiction to them. The Stone doesn’t have a time frame because the romance could take place at any given point in history. One should not believe that it cannot happen in the current time. Giving them a time would limit the relatability (yeah I know that’s not a word but I don’t know what to use there) of the stories. The truth would become fiction.
Truth is not easy to understand, but when it is understood there is a “click” that makes you realize how important it is. So even a fictional story can make a connection and “click” with you, suddenly making it real. Little things like emotions and simple moments of understanding could change everything about a story. If the is none of that, even a true story can seem fake. You have to give life to it on your own. The author did his/her job and now it is time for you to meet him halfway; take what he has given you and make it real for yourself.
–Ariella

Inside the mind of a woman

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Rosalia De Castro poems were recognized after her death for their simple verse. In most of her poems she writes about one of the themes in romantic poetry which is respect for the natural world when she expresses her love for nature in “Some say plants don’t speak” line 14-15 ‘Stars and fountains and flowers, don’t murmur against my dream; could I delight in you without them, without them, could I live? ‘Basically, she is asking herself will she be able to go on with life when other people and the world telling her that nature don’t have a soul that and they can’t communicate with her, and It is all in her imagination.
In most of her poem, especially in “As I composed this little book” she focuses in one of the themes found in romantic poetry which is individualism, it looks like she is having a conversation with the readers and she is giving an argument to prove her points. She also in that same poem talk about the importance her individualism, her need for self-expression and why she expresses herself the way she does line 9-11 ‘And time and distance and the destroying flame for passion. That is why my songs are brief and simple,-though they may not bring me fame.’ Her main goal is to get her opinion out in a very simple way and she especially doesn’t care if it doesn’t bring her fame.
In “As the clouds” and “I well know there is nothing” she uses the metaphor of the natural world to represent the good, but mostly hopeless mind line 1-11 ‘As the clouds borne by the wind now darken, now brighten the immense spaces of the sky just so the mad ideas I have,…… the abysmal depths of my mind.’ In this poem the author gives us a glimpse into her mind and her life which she compares with good and bad weather.
Concerning repetition in her poems she uses the same sentence or sometimes words in the middle from the beginning and the middle from the end, I think she uses this method to remind the readers of the points she was making and to make sure we receive her message.

The World Is Too Much with Us

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The very first sentence that Wordsworth writes is “The World Is Too Much with Us.” It is also the name of the poem and the first thing that jumps out to the reader. The sentence sounds a little odd – almost like there is an emphasis on US, the people, rather than the world. It can be interpreted as saying that the natural world is extra; it’s not necessary. There is not enough room for us and nature.
In the poem, Wordsworth shows his disappointment of how the world has become, how people don’t value nature or what is around them enough. He says that people are “getting and spending” (line 2). The second that people get something they immediately spend it, not even thinking about what it is or what it means for them.  Right after that, he says “little do we see in Nature that is ours” (line 3). The word ours can mean either ours – as something that is part of us, or it can mean something that belongs to us. When something belongs to a person, he/she is more likely to “spend” it rather than if it were a part of them. If nature were to be more a part of humans, than maybe people would appreciate it more. For example, a person who values nature more as a part of themselves would be less likely to cut down a forest to build a shopping center. Nature would have more meaning to us than unnecessary materialistic luxuries.
Wordsworth goes on to talk about how nature is tied together, one thing to another – “the sea that bares her bosom to the moon” (line 5). He mentions the wind and then the flowers, but says that to all this “we are out of tune” (line 8). When a singer is “in tune”, he is in harmony with the music. He is in sync with the music. As we are not connected to our nature, we are not in tune with it.  We are out of sync with what surrounds us.
In following with the same theme, if one were to imagine Wordsworth’s poem as music, the beginning would sound like loud, drastic music, and then it would become harmonious at the end. When reading the beginning of the poem, the reader notices that it has words that have dual meanings and contrasts – “sordid boon” (line 4), but the poem ends very peacefully, with Wordsworth illustrating how he would like the world to be for him.  There is a strong contrast of time at the beginning of the poem and at the end. In the first line, he uses words such as  “late and soon” that imply that people were (are?) not using their time efficiently, they were(are?) either too late or too soon to do things. This contrasts with the end of the poem where he talks about myths and gods – the “sight of Proteus rising from the sea” and Trinton blowing his horn where there is no presence of time. This shows further contrasts between the beginning of the poem, which is scattered, and the end, which concludes quite peacefully. Wordsworth is ending his poem with the hopes of the world being a better place. He writes about what would be a better place for him.  He does this to show that change starts from within a person, and to change the world one should start with him/her self.

Enlightenment and Gender Roles in The Story of the Stone

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According to Kant’s excerpt from “What is Enlightenment?,” we learned that in order for people to become enlightened they must be able to break free of the control of their “guardians”. These guardians would ward us off from making choices that go against the social norm of society such as not taking certain risks because they can lead to failure. Wollstonecraft weaves her ideas of feminism into the concept of enlightenment which we stills use today. This idea that it’s okay for men and women to not strictly adhere to or completely surrender to society’s gender roles has become much more accepted in today’s society than ever before. However these ideas have a connection within the three chapters we covered in Cao Xueqin’s “The Story of the Stone.”
The jade stone that was created by the goddess Nu-Wa when she was repairing the sky seems to represent a enlightenment because the child Bayou is born with a jade stone in his mouth in the story. I would assume that children born with this stone in their mouths are destined to be extraordinary but not always in the way the families might like. When Yuccan was traveling he came across a child he tutored who was very difficult to teach in the accustomed way Yuccan was used to teaching. Eventually Yuccan resigns and says,”A boy like that will never be able to keep up the family traditions or listen to the advice of his teachers and friends.”(page 539) This is an example of the old generations groups of “guardians” trying to force the same way of thinking upon the child. However since the child has not given into this way of thinking he will be able to carve his own path by his own means not by the means of tradition.
The child that is born, Bayou, also seems to hold significance because shown different items to select or play with he singles out items that are deemed to be for women such as a bracelet. Instead of acknowledging that his child will be different especially after having the jade stone in his mouth when he is born the father just shrugs his own child off because he’s not different for the reasons he wants. Along with this the child that Yuccan tutors cries out for girls whenever he is in pain he seems to find peace when girls are around because he also claims he cannot study without them there. However once when he cried out one of the girls said, “Why do you always call to us when you are hurt? I suppose you think we shall come and plead for you to be let off. You ought to be ashamed of yourself!”(page 539) He is being looked down upon for crying which even today is seen as something that boys should not do and even again the girl speaks lowly of herself because she seems to think that she can only plead for someone to be let off as if she herself is incapable of anything else. After hearing all this Yuccan even laughs at him for it.
I think both these boys are an ideal example of what we learned from Kant and Wollstonecraft because even though they’re ideas and tendencies are frowned on by their families and teachers they do not care. The fact that they don’t care means they have no guardian to hold their ideas back or limit them, therefore they are great examples of enlightened thinkers.

More on Wollstonecraft & The Dinner Party

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If you’re interested in reading more of Wollstonecraft’s “Vindication of the Rights of Woman,” the full text is available (in a variety of formats) here: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3420

Today in class we looked at Mary Wollstonecraft’s place setting from Judy Chicago’s “The Dinner Party.”

Judy Chicago: The Dinner Party – Detail Mary Wollstonecraft Placesetting

I highly recommend checking out “The Dinner Party” in person if you get a chance–its pretty awesome to see in person, and its on permanent display at the Brooklyn Museum (admission is suggested donation, so pay-what-you-can).

You can read more about the whole project here: http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/home.php

Browse the various place settings (a few of the other writers we’ll read this semester have place settings too): http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/place_settings/browse.php

“Crafting the Dinner Party”: https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/schlesinger-library/blog/crafting-dinner-party

Dinner Party

Welcome to Great Works of Literature!

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Hello and welcome to Great Works of Literature II, ENG 2850 HTRC.

We’ll be using this course blog to enrich our classroom experience by sharing responses to the readings, announcements, and links to outside material. In addition to your required blog posts, you should feel free to post anything that seems relevant to our class–a video you watched, something you took a picture of, an article you read, etc. I’m looking forward to getting started!

If you’re interested, here are a few more readings on the canon, the debate surrounding it, and how we define literature, to follow up on our discussion today:
“Revisiting the Canon Wars”
“The Use and Abuse of Literature” (excerpt)

What’s your take?

Comment here to let me know you’ve successfully joined the blog: re-introduce yourself to the group, add an idea about today’s discussion, or share a thought about your expectations for the class.