Emily Dickinson’s poems are often described experimental because in her poems she usually writes about simple everyday facts in a very unique and different way. She is often the observer of the poem and she talks about her experiences and how she sees simple things like a bird eating a worm (poem 328) through her eyes. For example in poem 328, there is a bird eating an Angleworm and she describes it in detail using anthropomorphism. She writes “he drank a Dew from a convenient Grass”, which is like a human drinking from a glass. Also, in poem 465 she is describing her death in a very unique way. She talks about what she sees, what she hears (Fly buzz). She uses many of her senses and I think that in lines 13 and 14 she uses her vision and her hearing talking about the buzz and the color of the buzz being blue, to show two other actions which are the moment of her death and her leaving.

She generally uses a formal soft tone something that one of her great inspirations, John Keats, used. Moreover, their poems have a lot of descriptions about nature and beauty and how the two are connected. Another thing that I thing they have in common is that some of their poems appear hopeless. For example, Keats poem “When I have fears that I may cease to be” and Dickinson’s poem 258, are both poems that the writers sound a bit hopeless. In her poem 258, Dickinson seems to have pain and problems that are internal. In line 9 of the same poem she directly writes “ None may teach it-” which is like saying that no one can help her overcome her problems.

Throughout her poems, we can see that she uses a lot of dashes in different times and places and she also capitalizes words, not only the ones that the line started with, for many different reasons. To start with, the dashes usually served as bridges between sections of her poems to show that they are separated. She might have also used the dashes so that the reader pauses when there is a dash or even as a period. She could also use them as a parenthesis to emphasize what she just wrote. Moreover, dashes could serve to indicate interruption or a shift in her thoughts. She also capitalized words to give more emphasis to these words. Another possible version of her use of capitalization could be the fact that she spoke German, which is a language that typically capitalizes nouns.

Seeing her original handwritten versions doesn’t really change my interpretation of the poems but it definitely brings more emotions. You can see even more and feel her words when she wants to emphasize them because you actually see the original ones capitalized.

Emily Dickinson Archive: http://www.edickinson.org/

Includes manuscript versions of her poems, and a lexicon for definitions from her dictionary. After reading the assigned poems, choose two favorites, and look at the manuscript versions. In lieu of a quiz Monday, you should bring in a 1-2 paragraph response about looking the manuscript versions of the specific poems you chose. Did it change your impression or experience of the poems at all? How so? If not, why?

This NYTimes article sums up some of the controversy surrounding her manuscripts and their digitization: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/23/books/enigmatic-dickinson-revealed-online.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=1&

And finally, Dickinson’s place setting from The Dinner Party (the Judy Chicago project–we looked at Wollstonecraft’s early in the semester):http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/place_settings/emily_dickinson.php

Below are a few upcoming Writing Center workshops that will help you with the skills needed in this course. All workshops take place 12:30-2 in the Feit Seminar Room (NVC 8-190). You can register on the Writing Center website: http://writingcenter.baruch.cuny.edu/our-services/workshops/spring-2015-workshops/

Developing Thesis Statements: Thursday 3/12

Analyzing Texts (this will help with close reading skills): Monday 3/16

Evidence, Analysis, and Claims: Wed. 3/18

Controlling an Argument with Topic Sentences: 3/19

Comparing and Contrasting: Fri. 3/20

Why does she act such a weirdo? What makes her committed suicide? I believe that she’s a woman who wants to be one of human beings, not an ordinary woman. Hedda wants to be independent, to pursuit her desires, to be free from any ritualistic traditions. It, “Hedda Gabler”, instead of Mrs. Tesman, literally, shows that she is far from the ordinary women. She keeps the last name from her father, and believes that’s the way to keep her identity. As this title, it describes many unusual aspects of the protagonist.

At the end of the Act3, Hedda gives a pistol to Lovberg as a souvenir, and says, “Here, you use it now.” “In beauty, Eilert Lovborg. Promise me that”.(P827). It’s definitely not the way of reaction to a person who lost everything: the wife and dream. What does it mean by passing over the gun to this desperate man? Furthermore, when Brack describes about Lovberg’s suicide, Hedda says, “I’m saying that here, in this- there is beauty.”, “Eilert Lovborg has come to terms with himself. He’s had the courage to do what had to be done”.(P833). Guess a man is laughing at someone’s car accident. What would you say to him? Hedda responds as same as the man to the people around. How embarrassing. At last, Hedda committed suicide after she plays a dance melody on the piano. Why did she do that? Hedda places great emphasis on dying beautifully. The dance music is a sort of beautiful prelude to her death.

Through all the extractions above, I can tell that Hedda is a strong egocentric person. And she keeps saying “beauty” repeatedly. I believe this beauty means that making one’s own decisions by one’s thoughts, beliefs, and faiths. Passing over the pistol to Lovberg, describing Lovberg’s suicide as beautiful, and adhering to her values by playing a frenzied dance melody before her death solemnly indicate that Hedda respects courageous conduct of one’s.

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From the first two acts of the play, Hedda Gabbler gets exposed to the reader as her true intentions and manipulative behaviour get revealed.

From the very introduction, Hedda is seen to have very high standards. This can be seen simply from the house George Tesman had bought solely for her pleasure. Ibsen goes in great detail describing each aspect of the house showing the value of what it was worth e.g. “Beyond the glass door, a piano. On both sides of the upstage doorway stand shelves displaying terra cotta and majolica objects” (P 782). This all seems like a very big price to pay for a lower-class scholar like George Tesman. Unfortunately for George, the house basically means nothing to Hedda as her true thoughts surface as the drama progresses.

Hedda’s arrogant mind-set is displayed on numerous occasions as she chooses to stick with her full name Hedda Gabbler to distance herself from those who she believes are beneath her in importance. Aunt Tesman even goes as far as to wear an expensive hat especially for Hedda, but only for Hedda to unintentionally criticise it. This can all be seen as examples of her stubborn relentless personality. In addition, Hedda and George do not have the best relationship. Hedda clearly believes she is of higher class and does not worry about everyday struggles such that of a Tesman’s rival, Eilert, who is back in town and stands between his chance of getting a better job. However, it is fair to say that George does acknowledge her rudeness and would like for her to see his family as her own now they are married.

Furthermore, Hedda’s manipulative behavior can be seen by the way in which she tricks Mrs. Elvsted to speak of her secrets under the impression that she cares about her personal life. However, Hedda is only satisfying her own curiosity to see if she had an affair with Eilert as they both clearly share past experiences with him. By this point, Hedda isn’t even considering the feelings of her own husband as she claims his profession bores her and she plainly views him as a “specialist”, whilst Eilert is very successful with his newly released book. This excites Hedda much more as she uses this knowledge as a gateway to get back in contact with Eilert. This is all revealed in the conversation she has with Brack, which shows a great deal of flirtatious behavior. Hedda even goes as far as to ask Brack if he can convince George to change his profession to something that is more exciting through her eyes. Hedda sates “he’s a very diligent archivist anyway. Someday he might do something interesting with all of it” (P 802), this shows she is desperate to see a change if she is ever going to have genuine feelings for him like the ones she had for Eilert when he was successful. Finally, towards the end, one can see that the woman who Mrs. Elvsted worried would shoot Eilert with a pistol was indeed Hedda. Overall, Hedda enjoys the level of control she has over Eilert, Brack and even Mrs. Elvsted as she keeps their conversations very secretive right in front of their eyes. Hedda is portrayed as a very teasing woman who enjoys company.

The whole drama shows Hedda’s paradoxical marriage, romantic, and life attitudes, these contradictory things finally result in her tragedy ending. At the beginning of Act I, it shows”A large, pleasantly and tastefully furnished drawing room, decorated in somber tones.”(P 782) The room is elegant and the furniture is grace, but the tone is dark and the atmosphere is negative, this is controversial and conveys a depressive feeling. This also indicates that Hedda is not satisfied with her present life. Hedda is an upper-class lady, but she marries to a lower-class scholar. We can realize that she despises Tesman and Aunt Julie’s lifestyle from her words, for instance, Hedda says Aunt Julie’s new hat is old and umseemly, and Hedda even calls her Miss Tesman instead of Aunt Julie, Hedda actually dose not think they are family. Ibsen even use her ante-marital name Hedda Gabler to emphasizes her upper-class status.

Then why Hedda chooses to marry Tesman? When Judge Brack asks her, she says, “Well, he’s a very diligent archivist anyway. Some day he might do something interesting with all of it.”(P 802) Hedda thinks Tesman is a reliable husband, and he has got the PhD degree and may have a bright future. Though she does not love him，she is pusillanimous to against the temporal situation that she need a sumptuous life. Lovborg can not provide this life to her since he is dissipated with bad reputation (before he writes the book). Hedda dose not dare to go on with him, she cares about ohters’ comments. Thus she finally marries to a “diligent archivist”. However, Hedda gets tired to her marriage quickly after the honeymoon. She says Tesman is a specialist who is “not so much fun to travel with. Not for the long run anyway.”(P 802) She falls into the contradictory situation again. On the one hand, she needs the materials, thus she could not leave Tesman,; On the other hand, she desires a man who really understands and inspires her, so she still cares Lovborg.

The paradoxical situation makes her depressive especially after Lovborg writes the book and wins wonderful reputations. When she knows the affairs between Lovborg and Mrs. Elvsted, she gets vicious and takes a series of ridiculous actions. She foments the relationship between them. When Hedda and Lovborg waits for Mrs. Elvsted, she suggests Lovborg that Mrs. Elvsted does not totally trust in him, this makes Lovborg angry and he decides to leave with Tesman and Brack. Hedda may think that she can still affect Lovborg’s mood and she is happy about that. She even images Lovborg with vine leaves in his hair. As far as I am concerned, though Hedda loves Lovborg, the love is somewhat ridiculous. She does not dare to go on with him when he is not successful, but she cannot stand Lovborg betrays her when he becomes successful. Maybe all she cares about are her own feelings and happiness.

In “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave” chapters X through XI, Douglass continues to expose the recurring theme of enslavement through various cruelties and his oppressed state as a slave eagerly yearning freedom.

During the previous chapters of the narrative Douglass describes the experiences of other slaves and gives the reader glimpses of slavery through what he has witnessed. As the narrative progresses, the theme of freedom becomes more cognizant. Douglass for the first time becomes victim of the cruelty brought forth by slavery. The inhumane cruelty and misfortunes of his master caused an oppressed state and transformed him to become a slave. He states “My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, and the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold a man transformed into a brute!”(264). Such behaviors had endangered his inspiration of education, which was one of the greatest aspects to his escape from slavery and pathway to his freedom.

The cruel treatments of slavery however, were the nostalgic drives that eventually caused Douglass to yearn freedom. “This battle with Mr.Covey was the turning point in my career as a slave. It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived with me a sense of my own manhood. It recalled the departed self-conscience, and inspired me again with a determination to be free” (268). After standing up for himself and undergoing the inhumane experiences with Mr. Covey Douglass’ self-knowledge arose again.

Towards the end of the narrative self- knowledge was the main device that allowed Douglass to be conscious of the burdened caused by slavery. Eventually his freedom was obtained physically but his mental state of awareness was the road map to his freedom. Once Douglass becomes free interestingly enough in his narrative he chooses not to disclose entirely how he escapes slavery.  This tactic was so he would still make it possible for other slaves to become free as well with less chances of getting caught.

It is clear that Frederick Douglass was not happy with his life as a slave, meticulously recalling every memory that he had gathered throughout his horrible life. If not for two moments during his time on Covey’s plantation, it is conceivable that this life would be the one he dies with. I believe that one turning point of his life comes after he explains he was made a “brute” (p264) under Mr Covey. After working countless hours on the fields and enduring the harsh weather conditions, and no sympathy from Mr Covey, Douglass conceives that he was broken. This is likely what happened to the majority of slaves, because they were seen nothing more than a workhorse, with nothing else to live for, and no desire to escape the life they live. They would never be able to stray away from the demanding work that they were accustomed to doing. Douglass tells a story of how the house had a view of the Chesapeake Bay (p 264) and how the view of the ships going up and down the waters, known to him as “freedom’s swift-winged angels” (p 265) allowed him to believe that he would not die a slave, and that there would be more to his life.

Shortly after, is the second turning point in his life, in August 1833. While working on a particularly hot day, he collapses from what seems to be heat exhaustion, and upon being found by his Master, instead of being helped, he is of course beaten further for not fulfilling the task at hand. This causes him decide to run back to his old Master and tell him of the tales of Covey in hopes that he would give him protection. After his old Master St Micheal refused, he was sent back to Covey, where not long after, he was going to be beaten for his actions. Then, the battle that was “the turning-point of (his) slave career” (p 268) happened when he decided to fight back.

This was something that was not common at all, especially for a mild mannered slave like Douglass, but he was not going to be violently abused any longer. He knew that he brought his master too much value to be killed, so he struck fear into his heart instead, and thus providing his own protection and keeping himself from being abused, however still carrying on with the work that needed to be done, in order to live a sufficient, although temporary life. These moments in his life allowed him to never give up hope in becoming a free man, after shortly being rendered as a “brute” with no free will. Then the mind to fight back allowed him to know that he was not powerless, as he was made to be under the tutelage of his Masters.