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.