A little Laughter from Mark

For this last blog I debated what I was going to write because this class introduced me to a lot of ideas that I did not necessarily consider in life before this class. Then I did our reading and changed my mind because I absolutely loved the “Diary of Adam and Eve” by Mark Twain that we read for class. Not only did Twain accomplish creating a piece that was easily relatable, it was funny, easy to follow and stay intrigued by, and also a little sentimental. The first thing that hit me about this story was its relation to Genesis, and how it turned many of the ideas upside down of sorts. He did not accept the story as the ultimate truth it seemed and his interpretation made me laugh constantly. It was so funny to me because it was so true. Relating it to today, Mark Twain’s interpretation of men and women are almost entirely true, even the parts that are stereotypical are still things that we turn to, to define a person or activity. The idea of Eve always talking and the idea of Adam being so reckless with his activities is completely stereotypical but how Mark writes about these tributes completely makes the story as funny as it is. Furthermore, the way he made the ending sentimental was so important to the story as well, and I really appreciated that he was being uncharacteristic of himself. I believe he described true love and how it goes through so many changes.

One thing that interested me about the story was how confused Adam was of his child. He was unsure of what it was and seemed to feel a level of jealousy. In some ways it reminded me of some relationships today between parent and child because some parents are confused by their children and sometimes men do not always feel quite the attachment to their child because they are maybe unsure if it is theirs or because they did not get the 9 months of growth for a bonding period. I am not sure but I wonder if Mark Twain was trying to hint towards that idea in society?

Precis

Nagel, Gwen L. Critical Essays on Sarah Orne Jewett. Massachusetts: G.K. Hall & Co, 1984.
Pryse, Marjorie. “Women ‘at sea’: Feminist Realism in Sarah Orne Jewett’s “The Foreigner”’” Nagel 89 – 98.

According to Marjorie Pryse Sarah Orne Jewett is an author of the feminist’s world. She argues that Sarah Jewett’s pieces have often been overlooked in the literary world and it is not until today that her works are seen in the anthologies of American Literature. Pryse argues that this is not enough because even today one of Jewett’s best pieces, “The Foreigner” is often neglected. As Pryse makes her way through her argument she switches to a close analysis of the piece itself, citing major parts that she believes represent the greatness and realism of Sarah Jewett. In fact she claims that Jewett interpreted and translated the lives of her characters through her settings and subtle details, and occasionally through conversation. Because Jewett developed her stories this way Pryse makes the claim that she uses the “realist’s intention” (92). Pryse suggests that Jewett uses nature to not only create setting, which is a major part of this argument, but also uses nature to represent emotions. On page 91 Pryse claims, “the storm evokes fear which may appear initially unrelated to her actual story…” which relates not only to the nature of a storm but also the nature of a person fighting the storm. Towards the end of this essay, Pryse transitions to the idea of joining worlds, “and live in one but for the other” which is also a quote from “The Foreigner” (94). Pryse is arguing further, that a woman’s emotions run deep and until that woman can understand herself they cannot understand the world around them. She is also arguing that Jewett wrote this in an intentional fashion, understanding the ins-and-outs of each scene, character and idea, and this is why she is not only a feminist but also an author to be studied not singularly but as a whole. Pryse is trying to argue that critics who have disregarded Jewett and her works are overlooking a great contributor of the American literary world. To prove her point on a larger scale she has done a close analysis of “The Foreigner” assuming that critics and editors who decide what to study and what to put into anthologies have not given the proper attention to this piece.
Overall, Pryse’s argument was strong. She backed up her opinion that Sarah Orne Jewett deserves to have more of her works studied through giving a close analysis and comparing her writing to other famous writer’s like Emily Dickinson. Starting the essay with a disagreement about not studying Sarah Jewett in the literary world and then taking a piece that she believes to be overshadowed by “Country of Pointed Firs” and analyzing it, while comparing it to the great traits of other writers of the time is the strongest part of her argument. However, it would have been beneficial to have a stronger, organized line of thought. There is a loss of understanding between the author disagreeing with scholars not studying Sarah Jewett and between analyzing a piece she believes needs more attention. It would also be helpful to add in the beginning of her argument or in her thesis her belief that the title “The Foreigner” meant more to the story than just simply a title. With that in mind, Marjorie Pryse was able to bring together a piece that could be used in a larger sense, not only because it argues a position that Sarah Jewett should be studied more but it also gives a close reading of one of Sarah Orne Jewett’s pieces. That close reading could be used for multiple purposes as well, which makes the essay a significant piece of criticism. Furthermore, the analysis of the piece gives the reader of the essay an understanding of “The Foreigner” without being forced to read it which helps to seal the argument because the reader can follow the author’s reasoning.

One must consider their instincts

Jack London’s piece To Build a Fire says a lot about the fight for life and what some people will go through in order to live. This idea also pertains to animals and their instincts to survive no matter the situation, but also their loyalty to their provider through thick and thin. I wonder if, at the time London wrote this piece, if he was trying to prove a point to his countrymen that independence is not always the answer. That sometimes we all need the help of another and using our heads in a purposeful manner is what will save our lives. I ask this mainly because he depicts the young traveler as someone who has no imagination, who has no true intelligence, but when times get tough he does in some respect think intelligently. He knows that the ice will crack beneath him if he is not careful, and when the dog falls in that he must help his companion. So it makes me wonder if London was trying to make a point or if he wrote this story for the pure pleasure of writing?

Often I am used to writers using their words to make a point so I enjoy reading a piece that can go either way. This story made me feel several emotions throughout because I felt like I was a ghost watching this man on his journey. Jack London’s words and descriptions can really swallow you in. I was interested that in those multitudes of words he often chose to repeat the “it was not fifty below” and “that if it was a person should not travel alone.” Was there something the reader was supposed to get from this beyond the surface level, the man was an idiot for not listening to people or truly following some of his good instincts? I am curious as to why a person in general would go out in weather so severe however I also wonder why a person would not listen more to their instincts, and I think this piece does a great job at making the reader question their choices, especially if they put themselves in the situation of this cold traveler.

The Irish and Catholics in The Damnation of Theron Ware

The Damnation of Theron Ware or Illumination as it was also called brings up a lot of interesting points, but the one that interested me the most was the idea of Catholicism. As a person who has grown up in the Catholic Church I found the depictions rather interesting, especially because I did not think they were too far fetched from what people who are not active members within the church tend to believe. Often the Catholic Church is seen as a lifetime membership that even if you are not there all the time you are still welcome. However, there are also many people within the church, much like other organized religions, that expect its members to be active within the congregation and follow the “laws.” I also found it interesting how much the story portrayed a Priest that took his place in the Church more as a job then a calling, and from what I learned growing up this was definitely frowned upon if ever it was revealed, so to have a book that points out that idea in somewhat hidden language is very interesting. But I also feel like this mentality fits the time period and the fact that people feared and did not approve of people from the Catholic Church. This was often, as we even talked about, because the members had to answer to the Pope and it forced people of the nation to question their loyalty.
What was more interesting to me about this book is that I am doing my report on anti-Catholic and anti-Irish prejudices which I think were definitely representative in this book. Theron was blatant in his prejudices towards not only the Catholic ways but also anyone who is Irish. He often assumed people were Irish and made decisions about who they are based on those prejudices. I cannot wait to learn more about what the Irish and Catholic presence meant to this nation and how the prejudices developed. I do wonder however if the author believed in some of the prejudices himself?

To be a Classic or not to be a Classic...Who decides?

At first I was going to write on the readings we have done in class, but today’s discussion on what makes a classic really perked an interest in me. In fact I believe it would be a great research project for students in a high school especially but a middle school as well because it offers the students an inside look at what makes a book a classic and may give them insight to why others liked a book and it lasted through history when they did not enjoy the novel. This may also help defend reading certain texts to students because if they understand why it became such a strong fixture in the literary world then they may be more willing to explore the ideas in the novels. It can also help to teach students how to question what they are reading and research the arguments or critiques that were made on a piece.
However, I really question how much cultural ideas and society influence what becomes considered a literary classic. I also wonder who in the Norton Anthology world makes the decision to put certain pieces by one author in the volumes but they omit others. This then leads to my curiosity about what certain aspects do they look for in different pieces of writing that help to make such major decisions, especially when one book may be more stylistically valued to one person but the content is poor and another book contains both but the poorer of the two is considered a classic.
In class I liked that we delved into this topic rather deeply because I was fascinated by the wide range of opinions and ideas about what makes a classic. I believe deeming something a classic in the literary world is a very difficult task, with all the various pieces available, and admire the patients it must take to read through so many different works. However, I think it would be nice to know a little more from these people who make these decisions what influenced their choices. I am excited to learn more about this, for myself, but also for my students in the future.

The Veiled Woman

I was really interested in “The Vine Leaf” after we discussed it in class. When I first read the piece I was neither, completely excited about it nor did I hate it so I was excited when we analyzed it in class and discussed how it really developed. What interested me even more about the piece was how in depth it was. The author did a great job not only making it a mystery to the reader why the masked woman wanted to keep her identity a secret but he also is creating an almost completely different story with the surgeon whom claims he will keep secrets but ends up telling a secret in order to gain is patients trust; something has been lost in that train of thought.
More on the veiled woman, I really believe that she had not told her fiancé that she had posed nude and knew that if he did know it was she, he would not approve. So, in order to preserve her future life and her reputation she results in killing the artist and getting her birthmark removed to mask, in itself, the truth about the murder and who she is. However, no matter what I believe happened it is truly one of those great stories that allows the reader to make the decision from himself/herself; although that could drive some people crazy. I think the best situation would be if I could meet the author and ask him what he thinking when he wrote the piece and what he would say the reason was if he chose to write it into the story.
Also, I thought it was great how we discussed the different stories and how unique that really is in most writing. There are not many pieces that I am aware of that really make these types of intertwined stories of very different characters and how their paths end up crossing one another. I am interested in reading more pieces like these because they force the reader to think which I do not feel many authors successfully accomplish.

Two Different Cultures, One Similar Love

Sui Sin Far’s piece Mrs. Spring Fragrance was one of my favorite readings on Tuesday. The author did a great job at showing the importance of culture as well as learning how to adapt to a new culture. In her piece, the reader is brought into the lives of a young Chinese couple and the expectations of the culture even though they are living in America. I was fascinated by this piece because it discussed wide spread ideas such as love, but the differences they have within different cultural groups. Unlike many pieces that I have read that are similar to this one is that, Sui Sin Far does not make the differences seem awful. It does not put one idea above another and it shows a real struggle between differing cultures trying to understand one another.
More specifically I was interested in how the seemingly young Mrs. Fragrance became Americanized when her husband had not. Furthermore, I was surprised that even though she was Americanized she still believed in some very important traditions, such as honoring one’s husband through taking care of him, and asking for his permission. She was a very dynamic woman and her sense of love was crossing many boundaries. More specifically, she quotes Tennyson by saying “ ‘Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.” This quote transcends cultures because it can be true for people of all ages, around the world and still be difficult to truly define and understand. Love means many things to many people and Sui Sin Far does a great job expressing those differences and similarities within varying circles. It makes me wonder however, if Sui Sin Far was trying to make a statement through this piece as well. If she was trying to show that even though there are several differences between people we all function under the same basic principles. I think this piece is important in how it connects two very different cultures.

Thoughts thus far

Thus far in the semester I have been really excited about our readings. Before I began this class I had not read many pieces by American writers let alone many of the writers themselves. Now having read a variety of authors I found that I really enjoy Mark Twain on an entirely different level, and that Walt Whitman provided this world with some great pieces. What I also found that I enjoy is the humor of many of these authors and how the realist authors describe romanticism. Before I read much American literature I did not know if I preferred romanticism to realism or the gothic side of literature because I never really understood the differences. I enjoyed some pieces from all the classes I took and never really analyzed the background of the writing. Then I read a lot of Mark Twain’s work and found that his humor and how he blatantly expresses his opinion is refreshing. Although I do not always agree with him, and believe it would be hard to hate basically every writer of his time, I find that how he goes about developing a piece is so unique. It makes me wonder a little more about his history with writing before he became an accomplished writer. Did people criticize his works publicly? Did he attend a school where writing was a focus? Did he read a lot growing up? My questions I find could be endless simply because I am curious at how he was able to develop such a specific humor and gain the confidence that people knew what he was talking about when he mentioned a name or used a piece from another author. I actually envy having the confidence to write pieces without fear of criticism or writing incorrectly. I am further interested in reading the other authors and seeing how they influenced the history of writing and how our generation is impacted by the pieces they provided. I believe it is important to understand how literature has grown, not just in a person’s own country but also in the world, and how it has affected cultures and ideas, and people from generation to generation. It must have been an interesting time to be an author of a major literary movement.

You are silly Good Little Boy

I could not get through The Good Little Boy without laughing. Not only did the little boy say some of the most absurd things some of it makes sense in the regard that according to many church ideas, a person should do their best not to sin. The good little boy was just trying to follow the teachings.

One of my favorite parts was when the little boy wanted to be put into a picture book like the other good little boys and he describes himself as “standing on the doorstep giving a penny to a poor beggar-woman with six children, and telling her to spend it freely, but not to be extravagant, because extravagance is a sin…” This makes me laugh because he does not think about what he is saying it seems like. Give a penny, although I am sure a penny was worth a little more than it is now, to a beggar-woman and after telling her to spend it freely reminds her that extravagance is a sin! He is first of all expecting that a penny will buy something extravagant, which it cannot, and secondly that the beggar-woman is even considering using it in such a way. Comments like these however, are made through the entire story and it makes the situations that much more funny.

Twain did a great job parodying these situations. It is actually one of the first pieces by Twain that I really enjoyed. I think he was trying to make a point that a person should not meddle in another person’s life because it will in turn harm yourself and not the other person. I could really see myself getting deeper into pieces like this, especially if they make me laugh. I do wonder however, if Mark Twain had a specific reason for making such a story or if he just went to church thought of a good little boy and decided to make a statement on that? Either way, he got me to really think about the situation and what he was saying about society.

What was James thinking?

This week I didn’t think I would have much to talk about because reading James’ first work The Art of Fiction bored me unlike anything I am used to. However, I really enjoyed the second piece we read, Daisy Miller: A Study. This piece made me laugh at first because I kept thinking how ridiculous is this girl? Then as I continued I realized it was saying a lot of how Americans were perceived and I was actually offended. I felt like James was trying to say that American people have no concept of how they are supposed to present themselves or how they are supposed to act with “civilized” society. In particular on page 473 when she begins to divulge her situation in Europe and how her brother doesn’t have a teacher while they travel. He seems to be taken aback by her abruptness as well as her ability to not be flustered by his advances. On page 475 he seems to be increasingly shocked when she does not take surprise to going to a monument with him and he reacts as though this is not proper. I believe she makes these responses because she does not feel like her life should be a secret and she is more concerned about being able to go to the castle than whether or not she is being proper. Especially because she was not able to go due to her brother’s need to do what he wants not what others want. As the story continued I was also a little shocked that James made it sound like American women are not proper enough to engage in European society.
Then we discussed in class how James made a statement that he tried to portray Daisy as innocent and that he was not trying to say anything about American people especially young American women. However, I feel like how can he honestly justify himself and whole heartedly say he didn’t mean it the way people interpreted it. Without that knowledge from class I still would have been a little shocked that he made a piece this way. I still question if James was trying to make a point on America or if the point he was trying to make was really towards Europeans? It would make sense to me that maybe he is assuming that European people are much too uptight and that they should find a happy medium with the American ways.

Interesting Mark Twain

I was really intrigued by Mark Twain’s speech at the dinner. I cannot believe he thought that it would not offend anyone, especially because the group he was talking with does not seem like the type of men that would be used to what we consider a ‘roast.’ It is even more interesting to me that he used pieces of these author’s works to make these statements and to make what would be considered a ‘below the belt’ blow in many circles. He was basically making fun of what these people had done and how they became successful through these works. I question whether or not Twain ever had anyone read or listen to him practice his speeches before he gave them and if they thought it was funny? I do however think he may have felt very uncomfortable to be in the presence of many of these men whom had been acclaimed literary artists for years. It would be rather intimidating to stand up in front of many of these people and give a speech when the world has not quite given you the same acclaim that the men in your presence have ascertained.
In the beginning of the speech in fact he mentions how he does not want to be seen as a literary in their standard, by making fun of them all coming together. Mark Twain was from a different background, was from a different area of the nation and in fact could not really relate to these men in all of the same ways in my opinion. Which then makes me wonder why he went and agreed to make the speech? I can understand why he would go, because it is in honor of Mr. Whittier however if he felt detached from these men and their backgrounds would you want to talk in front of them? I do not think I would however, I think Mark Twain took this as an opportunity but at the same time did not realize the impact his words would have. I am very intrigued by the man that used humor to get through much of his career and how the people around him could take him so seriously in the end.

Appreciation and a few Questions about Gettysburg

After discussing The Gettysburg Address I had a new appreciation for what Lincoln was trying to convey and how significant the speech really became; especially since he wasn’t the main speaker. To have such heart and strength in a speech discussing a government “of the people, by the people and for the people” when the governments identity seemed to have been lost, I believe he restored faith in the many men and women that had watched the fight in their backyards. I think it is important that he emphasized bringing the people together and explains that the nation needed to come together to finish the fight that so many men had died trying to win. I also appreciate how he mentions that the world would not remember what was said however this speech has become a major moment in history reminding the nation of what our father’s fought for. He is also reminding the men and women that we are not a nation that should be compared to another but a nation that has an identity of its own which instills a pride in people.
However, I am curious if he intentionally made pauses throughout the speech in order to reiterate his thoughts and allow these thoughts to sink in or if he was such a strong writer that these techniques came easily for him? I also wonder what he thought when this speech made such an impact with the people in the nation? I do not think he could have even understood how important this speech was going to be for so many people even today; this is a speech that history teachers around the nation discuss as a major part of the war. Finally, I would like to know what inspirations he drew from in order to help give the people a passion in themselves that seemed to have been lost throughout the war, especially since the war continued even after the speech was given.