Journal #38 As I Watch'd the Ploughman Ploughing

As I Watch’d the Ploughman Ploughing

AS I watch’d the ploughman ploughing,
Or the sower sowing in the fields—or the harvester harvesting,
I saw there too, O life and death, your analogies:
(Life, life is the tillage, and Death is the harvest according.)

"As I Watch'd the Ploughman Ploughing" is about people going about their every day lives. This shows the "everyman" that Walt Whitman usually writes about. The ploughman in the field, the sowers in the field, and harvesters are all going about their every day lives in this poem. They are performing their every day tasks, and they are doing it well.

All of these men could be made into one man who could be thought of as God. They could be thought of as God because God created the earth and made everything how it is. This farmer is acting like a god to his farm.

The seperate farmers could be seen as the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit. The ploughman could be the Father because God created the earth (he plowed the fields for everything to be made or in the ploughman's view, planted). The sower is the Son because he told everyone to follow God and do holy things. The harvester could be the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit takes you up to heaven when you die.

These poem could also be taken another way. The farmers could be seen as actual farmers. They all have very simple jobs and everything. This poem portrays the time period because most people had very simple jobs, and they led a very simple life. This poem could be said that the men lead their simple and happy lives, and if they do well and plant things and help them to grow, they will die a nice and happy death, and they will go up to heaven and be happy.

This portrays the everyman because the everyman lives a very simple life, and he hopes to go up to heaven and be happy.

Life and death is like a harvest. Each life is a season and the death is the end of the season. Every new harvest is a new life and every end of the harvest is a death.

Walt Whitman's "Self"

Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819, in Long Island, New York (Biography). His mother was barely literate. Whitman’s father never read any of his poetry. He was a carpenter, and he built a lot of houses. He was too busy trying to provide for all of his children. Whitman was one of nine children, and four of his brothers and sisters were handicapped. When Whitman was young he was pulled out of school, and he became an apprentice of a printer. He then began to love writing. Whitman mainly taught himself, and he soon became familiar with a lot of well known authors and books (Biography).
Most of Whitman’s poems are about finding one’s “self”. A lot of his poems are about the character being lost and not being able to know who they really are, or they could be about how someone feels after loosing someone they love. In Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain!” Whitman writes about how he feels when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated (Whitman, “O Captain!”). Whitman describes a mighty vessel, a ship, in his poem which represents the entire American nation. The captain, Lincoln, was killed in the poem which represents his assassination. In the poem, the captain does die, but his ship makes it safely to shore. This represents all the good that Lincoln did, like guiding the nation through the Civil War and abolishing slavery. The ship still makes it to shore because after Lincoln was assassinated, the United States became one Union again, and slavery was abolished (Whitman, “O Captain!”)
In this poem Whitman is finding his “self” because he is describing how he feels when someone he loves has died, but he describes how good of a man he was and how much people loved him. “For you bouquets of ribbon’d wreaths – for you the shores a-crowding; For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning…” (Whitman, “O Captain!”) This poem could also be related to Whitman's spiritual "self" because Lincoln could be seen as Jesus who sacrifices himself for his people.
In Whitman’s “Myself and Mine” Whitman describes himself. Whitman gives many examples of things he finds important in life (Whitman, “Myself”). Whitman says, “I give nothing as duties; What others give as duties, I give as living impulses; (Shall I give the heart’s action as a duty?) Let others dispose of questions – I dispose of nothing – I arouse unanswerable questions; Who are they I see and touch, and what about them? What about theses likes of myself, that draw me so close by tender directions and indirections?” (Whitman, “Myself”). Whitman describes how he is and what he feels in this small excerpt from the poem. He is finding and describing his “self” in it because he is talking about what he personally believes in.
Song factors into “self” because songs are a lot like poems, and they describe how someone is feeling. Most songs tell a story about someone’s life or what is going on in their life right then. A lot of songs are also about finding out who that person wants to be, or what they should do in a given situation. That is how song relates to “self”.
Whitman is yet another poet/writer from a small background. He has grown, like many other writers, into a famous and terrific author. Whitman writes a lot about finding one’s “self” which is what “O Captain! My Captain!” and “Myself and Mine” are about. Finding one’s “self” can be literally finding out who a person is, or it could be finding out what a person should do in a given situation, like when a loved one is lost. Whitman does a great job in describing what finding one’s “self” is like in many of his poems. He is a terrific writer, and his works are always a pleasurable read.


Works Cited:
“Biography of Walt Whitman”. American Poems…Your Poetry Site. Gunnar Bengtsson:
2000-2011. Accessed 23 Feb 2011. http://www.americanpoems.com
/poets/waltwhitman.
Whitman, Walt. “Myself and Mine”. Leaves of Grass. 1900. Print.
Whitman, Walt. “O Captain! My Captain!”. Leaves of Grass. 1900. Print.

Journal #36: Foooooooooooooooood : )

I have a lot of favorite foods. I really like pizza and sometimes Mexican foods, but my favorite food is chicken parmeson!!!!!! It is so yummy. I love it a lot.

Chicken parmeson is very delicious. It is my favorite food because I like chicken, and I like Italian food. Chicken parmeson tastes absolutely amazing. Chicken parmeson is chicken, breaded or grilled, (but the breaded is sooooooooooo much better)and it has spaghetti sauce, parmeson cheese, and sometimes pepperoni on it. Sometimes it also has Italian herbs on it.

Chicken parmeson smells really good. It smells very Italian. Italian food smells delicious. I have had chicken parmeson from a whole bunch of different restaurants. Whenever my family and I travel and we go out to eat and there is chicken parmeson on the menu, I get it. My favorite place to have chicken parmeson is from a little restaurant in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. Its on The Hill which is a street full of Italian family restaurants. You can either get regular chicken parmeson there, or you can get chicken parmeson with pepperonis on it too. It is sooooo delicious! It come's with salad and your choice of spaghetti or a baked potato. I really do not like spaghetti, so I get a baked potato instead. Their salad and baked potatoes are equally as delicious as the chicken parmeson. Their chicken parmeson is a very large portion, so I usually eat about a fourth to a half of it, and I never finish my salad and potato. It is not healthy to eat all that food. You should not eat until your full, you should eat until you are comfortable and not hungry anymore because when you are physically full, a lot of that food turns into fat.

The chicken parmeson at my favorite restaurant is two whole breaded chicken breasts covered with spaghetti sauce, parmeson cheese, some herbs, and sometimes pepperoni. It is so good, but the restaurant is very expensive.

Journal #35: War

To be a reporter reporting a war while standing right in the middle of the war is plain stupid. Why would you ever in a million years want to report a war while laying in a trench? You could die. This is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. If I were a reporter (and believe me, I will never be a reporter) I would not go to the center of a war and write little notes about it. That is so dumb. If you are going to go report something right where it is taking place, go write your report at like a chocolate factory or a parade...something fun and not harmful...not in the middle of a war.

Anyways, if I absolutely positively had to go be a reporter in the trenches in the middle of a war, I guess I would most likely write about the war...that is the logical thing to do. I mean I guess I could say how scared I am, or maybe I should try and interview someone while they are right in the middle of fighting someone. That is a terrific idea.

Okay, being serious now...it would be so very scary to be a reporter covering a war with the troops in the trenches. I suppose I could have a gun or something, but only for self defense, I mean, I am not there to actually fight, only to cover a story. It would be a good experience though, and it would be a great story. I could actually write about what it feels, smells, and looks like. Those are all great elements for a story. The sense are what makes a story real and awesome, and I would be able to cover all the senses if I was actually laying right in the middle of my story. I could also write about how all the men are acting and reacting to things, and I could describe what they look like and what they (and I) fear.

Jack London — "To Build a Fire"

Jack London was born in San Francisco (Wilhelm). He lived with a family friend because his mother was very unstable and his father did not want to claim him. London got jobs to earn money for his family at a very young age. He soon trained to be a sailor and signed up to work on a ship going to Siberia. Later, London worked on freight trains and traveled the western United States. While on those trains, London saw how terrible some people's lives were out west, so he decided he wanted to educate himself rather than try and get odd jobs due to his strength. London soon finished high school and college, and then he rushed to the Klondike. He did not find any gold, but from his experiences London wrote "The Call of the Wild" and made big bucks from that novel. He then became a million dollar writer, but he usually spent more money than he was making (Wilhelm).

Jack London's "To Build a Fire" is a great depiction of Naturalism. Naturalism is a subset of Realism that focuses on nature and a human's approach to it (Werlock). Jack London's short story is about a man who tries to survive in Alaska in the winter with his Huskie (London). It is obviously very cold because it is Alaska, and it is in the winter. London's "To Build a Fire" resembles Naturalism a lot because the main character has to battle the elements to stay alive (London). The main character has to make many decisions to keep himself and his dog alive, and, as the title says, he builds a fire, which is a very important thing to have in the Alaskan territory in the middle of winter (London). This short story resembles Naturalism because it deals completely with nature and man's interactions within it which is basically what Naturalism is.

At the beginning of the short story the main character and his dog go out in search of gold in the Alaskan territory which is a lot like what London actually did during his early years (London). The main character does not find any gold, and he soon becomes engulfed in the wilderness. The man starts to become like another animal who is only concerned with surviving (London). This short story has a lot to do with man vs. nature and Darwin's survival of the fittest ideas (Welock). This story definitely illustrates the survival of the fittest idea, but the main character is not competing against any specific person but against himself and nature. The protagonist must fight against his own will and the elements of nature to survive which is a lot of what Naturalism is about.

Nature is a definite main focus of this short story. The main character and his dog are both caught in nature, and they have to try to overcome it to survive (London). Psychology is also present in "To Build a Fire" because the main character has to overcome his own will to survive and to keep going (London). The American Dream is also a part of this short story because the protagonist is in Alaska in search of gold which is most likely a part of the Klondike rush which is definitely a part of the American Dream because a lot of people were moving out west to find gold, and they eventually went to Alaska for gold also.



Works Cited:

London, Jack. From "To Build a Fire." Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. . Print.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "naturalism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= Gamshrtsty0501&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 8, 2011).

Wilhelm, Jeffrey. "Meet Jack London." Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 601. Print.

Edwin Arlington Robinson – "Richard Cory" and "Miniver Cheevy"

Edwin Arlington Robinson's "Richard Cory" is a great portrayal of Realism. The poem is about a man who seems to have everything he needs (Robinson, "Richard"). All of his neighbors are jealous of him and he dresses and carries himself, but in the end of the poem, Richard Cory kills himself (Robinson, "Richard"). "He was a gentleman from sole to crown, clean favored, and imperially slim. And he was rich-yes, richer than a king- and admirably schooled in every grace: in fine, we thought that he was everything to make us wish that we were in his place. So on we worked, and waited for the light, and went without the meat, and cursed the bread; and Richard Cory, one calm summer night, went home and put a bullet through his head" (Robinson, "Richard"). This exert from the poem is a definite description of Realism because it tells what really happens, and it describes life as it really is. All of Richard Cory's neighbors thought that he was the best person ever (Robinson, "Richard"). They practically thought he was a god, but there was obviously something wrong with him because he killed himself (Robinson, "Richard"). This represents Realism because it is real and it is what really happened.

Another poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson called "Miniver Cheevy" is about a man who loves all kinds of things and scorns others, but he is really just a drunk who is prtty much crazy (Robinson, "Miniver"). "Miniver Cheevy, child of scorn, grew lean while he assailed the seasons; He wept that he was ever born, and he had reasons...Miniver loved the days of old when swords were bright and steeds were prancing; the vision of a warrior bold would set him dancing...Miniver Cheevy. born too late, scratched his head and kept on thinking; Miniver coughed, and called it fate, and kept on drinking" (Robinson, "Miniver"). This poem represents Realism because it tells what Miniver Cheevy is thinking and what his life is really like. The poem could be taken two ways. Either Miniver Cheevy is drinking because he is upset that he was not born in Meideval times, or because of his drinking, he somehow feels that he should be a night in shining army. Either way that it is taken, this poem represents Realism because it tells the reader what is really going on in Minivel Cheevy's head.

Religion, government, the American Dream, the Hero, figurative language, and nature do not really have an important part in either of these two poems, but human nature and psychology both have a pretty large role in them. Psychology and human nature is used in "Richard Cory" because everyone is jealous of Richard Cory- jealousy being a part of human nature- but something was going on in Richard Cory's life which made him want to kill himself (Robinson, "Richard"). "Miniver Cheevy" has psychology in it because Miniver Cheevy is kind of a crazy man, and he somehow believes that he should be living in Medieval times (Robinson, "Miniver"). Neither of the poems really reflect their time period either. "Richard Cory" somewhat reflects society because all of Richard Cory's neighbors are extremely jealous of him and everything that he has (Robinson, "Richard").

Works Cited:

Robinson, Edwin Arlington. "Miniver Cheevy." Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 576. Print.

Robinson, Edwin Arlington. "Richard Cory." Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 575. Print.

Paul Laurence Dunbar – "Douglass" and "We Wear the Mask"

In Paul Laurence Dunbar's "Douglass" he writes about Frederick Douglass, a former slave who escaped and became a speaker and leader against slavery (Dunbar, "Douglass"). Dunbar tells how Douglass' voice and speeches have helped the slaves get through their tough times. In Dunbar's poem, slavery is represented by a giant storm. The slaves are a ship that ride against the storm, and Douglass' voice leads them through the way to safety (Dunbar, "Douglass").

This poem represents Realism because it talks about the things that happen to the slaves. It may not talk about those things directly, but Dunbar uses figurative language and symbolism to get his point across. "We ride amid a tempest of dispraise...now, when the waves of swift dissension swarm...Oh, for thy voice high-sounding o'er the storm, for thy strong arm to guide the shivering bark, the blast-defying power of thy form, to give us comfort through the lonely dark" (Dunbar, "Douglass"). As said before, the boat is a symbol of the slaves, the storm is a symbol of slavery, and Douglass' voice helps the boat (slaves) get through the storm (slavery) (Dunbar, "Douglass"). Realism is present here because the underlying message of the poem is that the slaves are being tossed around by their slave owners, and they need someone to help them through the tough times. This is Realism because Realism because of what is real and what is true, and the way the slaves are feeling is real and true.

Dunbar's next poem, "We Wear The Mask", is about people who wear a mask around others who only see them for who they are when they wear "the mask" (Dunbar, "We"). In reading this poem one can come to the conclusion that the people wearing the mask are slaves, and the people who see them for who they are only when the wear the mask are the white people. "Why should the world be overwise, in counting all our tears and sighs? Nay, let them only see us, while we wear the mask" (Dunbar, "We"). The slaves wear a mask while working in the fields and on the plantations so that they white people cannot see what they are really feeling. They wear a mask through every aspect of their lives so that the white people cannot get any satisfaction from beating them or treating them unfairly. This is why the poem says, "Nay, let them only see us, while we wear the mask" (Dunbar, "We").

This poem represents Realism because the speaker talks about how he and his people are treated unfairly, but that they wear a mask so that people cannot see how they really feel. This is a representation of Realism because the poem tells the reader what is really going on, and why they protagonists are acting the way they are.

Both of these poems reflect society during their time period because they are about slaves. The poems are about how slaves are mistreated, and they speak of the quiet way they express their feelings towards the way they are being treated. These poems do not really talk about the American Dream, the Hero, government, or psychology. The first poem talks about nature because it describes slaves and slavery as a ship and a storm on the sea. The second poem only talks about religion in one sentence, "We Smile, but, O great Christ, our cries to thee from tortured souls arise" (Dunbar, "We"). This line does tell the reader though that they narrator of the poem is religious.


Works Cited:

Dunbar, Paul Laurence. "Douglass." Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 570. Print.

Dunbar, Paul Laurence. "We Wear the Mask." Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 571. Print.

Chief Joseph – "I Will Fight No More Forever"

Chief Joseph of a chief of the Nez Perce Indians located in Northwest Oregon in Wallowa Valley (McCloskey). In 1877 the Nez Perce were ordered to live in a reservation, but they refused. Instead of going to the reservation, Chief Joseph attempted to lead his people to Canada. They crossed Idaho and Montana, and they fought the United States army the whole way. Chief Joseph's people were trapped about forty miles outside of Canada, and they then had a five day fight. All of the Indians who remained after that fight were beaten. Chief Joseph then made his speech on October 5, 1877 at the Bear Paw's battleground in Montana (McCloskey).

Chief Joseph's speech says:

"I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed. Looking Glass is dead. Toohulhulsote is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led the young men is dead. It is cold and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are--perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children and see how many I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever" (McCloskey).

This speech depicts Realism because Chief Joseph was very real with the men he was talking to. He finally kind of gave up and said, "look, this is how things are for us right now, I need time to find my people and make sure they are okay." This is an example of Realism because Chief Joseph told the people what he was feeling and thinking, and he was very real about it. This speech could be an example of Naturalism because the listener to the speech is put in Chief Joseph's place when they listen to this speech. They hear the chief's troubles, and the chief pretty much asks them to put themselves in his shoes by saying that he needs to find his people (in which case he is actually asking to find his people, which is why he is asking the listener to put themselves in his shoes because they would want to find their people too if they were Chief Joseph at that time).

Chief Joseph concludes with, "Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever" (McCloskey). This is another example of Realism because Chief Joseph is being real when he says that he is very tired of fighting. Chief Joseph, and other Indian chiefs, had to fight for their people for a long time during the American expansion period. They had to fight for their land, their food, and even just their culture and way of living. Not only was Chief Joseph sick of fighting for that, but he was literally sick of fighting in combat (McCloskey).

Chief Joseph's speech reflects his society during his time period for the reasons stated above. A lot of Indian tribes were being forced out of their land given to them by the government and into small reservations. The government ties into his speech because they were forcing the Indians to move onto reservation which is what Chief Joseph did not want to do. The typical "Hero" we talk about in literature does not make an appearance in Chief Joseph's speech, but I think Chief Joseph is a hero for trying to save his people and take them to a better part of the continent where they could live peacefully. I also think he is a hero because he stopped fighting because his people were getting very hurt, and they were sick, cold, hungry, and tired which is what a true leader should do. They should always be looking after their people which is what Chief Joseph was doing.

Works Cited:

McCloskey, Mary Lou. "Surrender Speech of Chief Joseph". obtained 15 Feb 2011. http://www2.gsu.edu/~eslmlm/chiefjoseph.html.

Mark Twain – "Two Views of the River"

Samuel Langhorne, whose pen name is Mark Twain, lived in Missouri during his childhood (Wilhelm). He lived in Hannibal. Twain fell in love with the Mississippi River at a very young age, and he had always wanted to be a riverboat pilot. His father died when he was very young causing him to find a job as a printer's apprentice. After several years though, Twain managed to have his dream job. Later in life Twain moved to Nevada. From his experiences in Nevada, Twain wrote his short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County". Twain later wrote "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" from his experiences he had as a riverboat pilot. These two novels made him a very well known and iconic writer. Twain also wrote, "Two Views of the River" from his river boating experiences (Wilhelm).

Mark Twains, "Two Views of the River" is about his life as a riverboat pilot. Twain has wanted to be a riverboat pilot all his life (Wilhelm). Once he finally becomes a riverboat pilot and is one for a very long time, he finds that something is missing that used to be there (Twain). Twain soon finds that a river that he once loved very much has no interest to him anymore, and it is very sad.

This story portrays Realism in that it shows a lot about an American Hero chasing after his American Dream. Twain grew up without a father, so he did not have a lot of money (Wilhelm). He had to get a job at a very early age, so his dream of being a riverboat pilot was far from attainable. Somehow, Twain was able to obtain his American Dream, though, going from "rags to riches", (riches being his dream of being a riverboat pilot) and he soon was living a pretty good life (Wilhelm). Unfortunately though, in Twain's "Two Views of the River" the reader of Mark Twain's novels finds out that his extreme love for the Mississippi River and passion for river boating have come to an end (Twain). Twain finds that something is missing in what he used to love, which is a very sad thing for one to read about because that same thing happens to a lot of people. It is extremely sad to here it happen to one's favorite author though.

Nature is also present in Twain's "Two Views of the River" because Twain is talking about a river which is definitely in nature. Twain always describes how beautiful and peaceful the river is and how he always looks at it in awe (Twain). This is a trait of Realism because nature is a main element in telling a story how it really happens. Nature tends to have a huge impact on a story especially in Realism.

Human nature is somewhat a part of "Two Views of the River" because Twain tries to get his reader to think about what they really want (Twain). He describes how his love for the river and being a riverboat pilot of died, and he asks the reader to think about what they really want which brings out the human nature in all of the readers (Twain).

Works Cited:

Twain, Mark. From "Two Views of the River." Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 504-505. Print.

Mark Twain – "The Celebrated Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County"

Samuel Langhorne, or Mark Twain (his pen name), lived in Missouri during his childhood (Wilhelm). His father died when he was very young causing him to find a job as a printer's apprentice. After several years though, Twain managed to have his dream job: a riverboat pilot. During the Civil War, Twain moved out to Nevada and met another author who lectured him. From his experiences in Nevada, Twain wrote his short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County". Twain later wrote "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" from his experiences he had as a riverboat pilot. These two novels made him a very well known and iconic writer (Wilhelm).

Twain's novels resemble Realism, and more specifically, Regionalism very well. Twain's short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County" takes place down south, and this is very noticeable due to how the characters in the short story talk. An example is, "And Smiley says, sorter indifferent like, 'It might be a parrot, or it might be a canary, may be, but it ain't - it's only just a frog.' And the feller took it, and looked at it careful, and turned it round this way and that, and says, 'H'm - so 'tis. Well, what's he good for?'" (Twain). The reader can tell the short story takes place in a certain region because of the accents of the characters. Most of Twain's novels are a form of Regionalism. "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" both portray Regionalism very well because they both take place in small towns and along the Mississippi River. They show the reader one specific area and the people in that area which is what Regionalism does. The same thing is done in Twain's "The Celebrated Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County".

Society is pretty important in Twain's "The Celebrated Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County". All of the characters in "The Celebrated Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County" try very hard to keep a steady income and to support their families (Twain). Most of the characters accomplish this just barely, and Smiley, one of the main characters, makes his income by gambling (Twain). According to Smiley though, he has practiced so much at gambling, that he usually wins most of the time, so his hard work really pays off in the end (Twain). Obviously Smiley is just playing with fate and luck, but he does not realize this, and he thinks he is a terrific gambler and that he can make his whole living off of gambling. Not a good idea. One of Smiley's friends says that is good at horse racing, dog fights, cat fights, cock fights, bird fights, and even bug fights (Twain). Along with society, religion is somewhat mentioned in Twain's "The Celebrated Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County". Smiley tries to make bets against God which is why religion is mentioned (Twain). That is pretty much the only time religion is mentioned though. The American Dream is important in this short story though because Smiley tries to go from "rags to riches" by gambling and doing what he knows how to do (Twain).

Works Cited:


Twain, Mark. "The Celebrated Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County." Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 498-502. Print.

Wilhelm, Jeffrey. "Meet Mark Twain". Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 496. Print.

Edgar Lee Masters – Spoon River Anthology (or excerpts from)

Edgar Lee Masters' "Spoon River Anthology" was published in 1915 (Wilhelm). It is a collection of free-verse first-person monologues by people from a Midwestern town. Although many people questioned Masters' work, they were soon to say how wonderful it was. His collection of the monologues was pretty different from the romantic and sentimental poetry that was popular during this specific time period. Despite these facts, his book sold thousand of copies and it has been made into plays (Wilhelm).

Masters grew up in Petersburg and Lewistown, Illinois (Wilhelm). Masters wanted to become a writer, but his father wanted him to go into law. Masters became a very successful attorney, and he even got to argue some cases in the U.S. Supreme Court. Masters wrote several books, but his "Spoon Rivers Anthology" is the most well known and only literary success (Wilhelm).

Exerts from Masters' "Spoon River Anthology" portray Realism because they tell the everyday lives of everyday people. From one poem called "Lucinda Matlock", which is obviously about a woman named Lucinda Matlock, she says, "I went to the dances at Chandlerville, and played snap-out at Winchester. One time we changed partners, driving home in the moonlight of middle June, and then I found Davis. We were married and lived together for seventy years, enjoying, working, raising the twelve children, eight of whom we lost ere I had reached the age of sixty. I spun, I wove, I kept the house, i nursed the sick, I made the garden, and for holiday rambled over the fields where sang and larks, and by Spoon River gathering many a shell, and many a flower and medicinal weed- shouting to the wooded hills, singing to the green valleys. At ninety-six I had lived enough, that is all, and passed to a sweet repose. What is this I hear of sorrow and weariness, anger, discontent and drooping hopes? Degenerate sons and daughters, life is too strong for you- it takes life to love Life" (Masters).

This short poem from "Spoon River Anthology" portrays Realism because it tells the everyday life of a woman named Lucinda Matlock. Realism deals with real things that really happen in everyday life. This poem is a great example of Realism because it tells us what Lucinda did for most of her life. The poem is very real because the reader can picture a woman taking care of children and working in a garden and nursing people back to health.

Masters' "Spoon River Anthology" not only portrays Realism, but it also depicts Regionalism. All of the short little poems are from a small town in the Midwestern United States. This is a version of Regionalism because the stories are from a specific region of the world, or United States in this case.

From reading one exert from "Spoon River Anthology" I can tell that it reflects the time period because it takes place during the early 1900's which is when people are starting to really live their lives in the Midwestern United States. People's lives were very folk like, and, like Lucinda Matlock, a lot of women would take care of large families, gardens, and just be a house mother. The short poems can somewhat resemble the American Dream because the American Dream was to move west and make a living, and it seems like these people have already done that.

Works Cited:

Masters, Edgar Lee. "Lucinda Matlock." Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print.

Wilhelm, Jeffrey. "Meet Edgar Lee Masters." Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print.

Stephen Crane – from The Red Badge of Courage

Stephen Crane's novel The Red Badge of Courage is about a young soldier in the Civil War. The soldier, Henry Fleming is an average soldier who later has to overcome a lot of obstacles and decisions in the meaning of life and death (Crane). Fleming, seeing one of his fellow soldiers fall to his death, takes his place in the very front of the front line which is a very brave and bold move (Crane).

This exert from The Red Badge of Courage shows the main character, Henry Fleming, during battle, and it speaks of his thoughts and fears. "He was at a talks. He was like a carpenter who has made many boxes, making still another box, only there was furious haste in his movements. He, in his thoughts, was careering off in other places, even as the carpenter who as he works whistles and thinks of his friend or his enemy, his home or a saloon. And these jolted dreams were never perfect to him afterward, but remained a mass of blurred shapes" (Crane).

This exert from The Red Badge of Courage portrays a certain subsection of Realism called Naturalism. In this exert the reader can put themselves in the main characters place, and it feels like the reader is the main character. The descriptions in this exert are very good because the author writes an analogy for what the soldier is feeling while in battle. He writes of an analogy that any person can relate to. The analogy is the feeling of doing a monotonous chore or task while thinking about other things like one's family, friends, enemies, classes, schoolwork, or anything else that may come to mind.

This exert from The Red Badge of Courage also depicts Realism because it shows what the soldiers life is like at that given time, and it tells the reader what is really going on in his head. "Presently he began to feel the effects of the war atmosphere - a blistering sweat, a sensation that his eyeballs were about to crack like hot stones. A burning roar filled his ears" (Crane). This passage from the exert of The Red Badge of Courage is an example of Realism because the reader can see and feel what the main character is feeling at that time. It all seems very real.

This exert from The Red Badge of Courage reflects it's time period very well. Obviously, the time period of this exert is from the Civil War. The main character is fighting in a battle which shows what happened in the Civil War pretty well. The exert does not really say how society was affected from the Civil War, but one can guess that society was affected pretty badly from the Civil War. From what the reader has learned in a history class, they should know that the Civil War was pretty harsh on the economy, government, and just every day social and friendship statuses. This exert does not really show any sign of religion in it, and government is not exactly seen in it either. The only reason government could be a part of this is because most of the time the government has something to do with the war. Human nature plays a pretty big part in this exert from The Red Badge of Courage because the reader can read what the main character is thinking. The American Dream and the Hero is not exactly mentioned in this passage either.



Works Cited:

Crane, Stephen. "from The Red Badge of Courage." Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 493. Print.

Kate Chopin — from The Awakening and "The Story of an Hour"

Kate Chopin was an early American woman writer (Wilhelm). Chopin wrote about women and their struggles and despairs of being house wives. Many people did not like what she wrote about, but that was because a lot of the readers were men who did not like their wives complaining about being at home all the time. Chopin's novel The Awakening describes the women who "awaken" from their confinements and find out that they can do other things in the world (Wilhelm).

This particular exert from Kate Chopin's The Awakening is about a woman, a house wife, who is crying (Chopin). She is crying in the middle of the night, and she does not really know why she is crying; she is just having a good cry (Chopin). "An indescribable oppression, which seemed to generate in some unfamiliar part of her consciousness, filled her whole being with a vague anguish. It was like a shadow, like a mist passing across her soul's summer day. It was strange and unfamiliar; it was a mood. She did not sit there inwardly upbraiding her husband, lamenting at Fate, which had directed her footsteps to the path which they had taken. She was just having a good cry all to herself" (Chopin). This woman, the main character, was most likely crying because she was unhappy with being a house wife. Like stated above, Chopin wrote about women who started to realize that they had other things they could do besides being house wives all their lives (Wilhelm).

This exert from The Awakening portrays Realism very well. It has a lot of descriptions of the surroundings- "It was then past midnight. The cottages were all dark. A single faint light gleamed out from the hallway of the house. There was no sound abroad except the hooting of an old owl in the top of a water-oak, and the everlasting voice of the sea, that was not uplifted at that soft hour. It broke like a mournful lullaby upon the night" (Chopin)- and everything seems very real. The underlying message in this exert is also very real. The woman in this particular part of the story is sad because she is unhappy with her life (Chopin). It is unknown why she is unhappy with her life, but the reader can predict that, from the given information of what Chopin writes about, she is unhappy being a house wife.


Another one of Chopin's short stories, "The Story of an Hour", is about a woman who finds out that her husband has died in a terrible train crash (Chopin). After crying for a little while, the woman starts to feel very joyous and extremely excited that he is dead. The woman starts to think of all the things she can now do as a widow, and she cannot wait for her life to begin again. At the end of the short story, the woman goes downstairs with her sister, the front door opens, and her "dead" husband walks in. The woman shrieks and dies of heart disease (Chopin). Although this short story is pretty comical and full of irony, it represents Realism very well. The story is a very "real" one because the woman is happy that her husband is dead (Chopin). The whole situation is very real and logical because at the beginning of the story Chopin says that the woman's sister has to break the news of her dead husband to her very gently because she suffers from a weak heart (Chopin). The woman then becomes very excited that her husband is gone, but when he shows up at her house, she freaks out in astonishment and ends up dying because of it (Chopin). This represents Realism because Realism is all about telling what really happened and what is real.

Both of these literary works represent society during their time periods because woman were finally starting to realize that they did not have to be house wives all the time. Women were starting to become unhappy with their husbands, with being married, and with their lives working in the house all day. These literary works somewhat have to do with psychology because, like in "The Story of an Hour", the main character becomes very excited that her husband is gone, but when he shows up she seems to go a little crazy and dies from a heart attack (Chopin).


Works Cited:

Chopin, Kate. "from The Awakening." Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 491. Print.

Chopin, Kate. "The Story of an Hour." Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 554-555. Print.

Wilhelm, Jeffrey. Kate Chopin and Women". Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 490. Print.

Anonymous – "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," "Go Down, Moses," "Keep Your Hand on the Plow"

"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", "Go Down, Moses", and "Keep Your Hand on the Plow" are all songs sang by slaves while they would work in the fields or on the plantations. All of these songs were kind of like a hope for the slaves to keep moving and to keep faith in being free.

"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" says,

"Refrain:

Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home,
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home.

I looked over Jordan, and what did I see?
Coming for to carry me home,
A band of angels coming after me,
Coming for to carry me home.

If you get there before I do,
Coming for to carry me home,
Tell all my friends I’m coming, too.
Coming for to carry me home.

I’m sometimes up and sometimes down,
Coming for to carry me home,
But still my soul feels heavenly bound,
Coming for to carry me home.

The brightest day that I can say,
Coming for to carry me home,
When Jesus washed my sins away,
Coming for to carry me home" ("Swing").

This song resembles Realism because the slaves use the song to resemble their lives by using religion and emotions. The slaves had long terrible days working in the fields and on the plantations, so they needed something to keep them going, and to keep their eyes set on the horizon.

"Go Down, Moses" says,

"When Israel was in Egypt's Land,
Let my people go,
Opressed so hard they could not stand,
Let my people go.

Chorus
Go down, Moses,
Way down in Egypt's Land.
Tell ol' Pharoah,
Let my people go.

Thus saith the Lord, bold Moses said,
Let my people go,
If not, I'll smite your first-born dead,
Let my people go.

No more shall they in bondage toil,
Let my people go,
Let them come out with Egypt's spoil,
Let my people go.

The Lord told Moses what to do,
Let my people go,
To lead the Hebrew children through,
Let my people go.

O come along Moses, you'll not get lost,
Let my people go,
Stretch out your rod and come across,
Let my people go.

As Israel stood by the waterside,
Let my people go,
At God's command it did divide,
Let my people go.

When they reached the other shore,
Let my people go,
They sang a song of triumph o'er,
Let my people go.

Pharaoh said he'd go across,
Let my people go,
But Pharaoh and his host were lost,
Let my people go.

Jordan shall stand up like a wall,
Let my people go,
And the walls of Jericho shall fall,
Let my people go.

Your foes shall not before you stand,
Let my people go,
And you'll possess fair Canaan's land,
Let my people go.

O let us all from bondage flee,
Let my people go,
And let us all in Christ be free,
Let my people go.

We need not always weep and mourn,
Let my people go,
And wear these slavery chains forlorn,
Let my people go" ("Go").

"Go Down, Moses" also helped the slaves to get through tough times. The song talks about the biblical figure, Moses, who leads his people from slavery in Egypt to across the water and to freedom. There are a lot of obstacles that Moses and his followers have to go through like killing a lamb and putting the blood of it on their door so that the Holy Spirit does not come in and kill their first born son. This song resembles the slaves' lives because the slaves also have to go through a lot every day, and they hopefully make their way towards freedom.

"Keep Your Hands on the Plow" says,

"Got my hands on the gospel plow
Wouldn't take nothin' for my journey now
Keep your hands on that plow, hold on.

Refrain:
Hold on, hold on
Keep your hands on that plow, hold on.

Took Paul and Silas, put 'em in the jail
Had no one to go their bail
Keep your hands on that plow, hold on.

Refrain

Paul and Silas, they begin to shout
Jail doors opened and they walked out
Keep your hands on the plow, hold on.

Refrain

Peter was so nice and neat
Wouldn't let Jesus wash his feet
Keep your hands on that plow, hold on.

Refrain

Jesus said, "If I wash them not
You'll have no father in this lot."
Keep your hands on that plow, hold on.

Refrain

Peter got anxious and he said
Wash my feet my hands and head."
Keep your hands on that plow, hold on.

Refrain

Mary had three links of chain
Ev'ry link had Jesus' name
Keep your hands on that plow, hold on.

Refrain" ("Keep").

"Keep Your Hands on the Plow", like the other two songs, resembles the slaves lives because they had to keep moving on no matter what happened. In all of these songs, the slaves are resembled by biblical figures who have to go through obstacles to obtain their goals. These songs reflect religion a lot because they are all religious songs, and they talk about Jesus and Moses and other biblical figures. These songs represent society during the time period that they were sung because they were sung by the slaves who worked in the fields and on the plantations all day. The slaves sang the songs to make them feel better, comfortable, not scared, and to help them get through whatever grinding task they had to perform. These songs kind of have a psychological part to them because the slaves sang them to help them get their minds off of what they were really doing.

These songs resemble Realism because the slaves sang them like they were their real lives. They put themselves in the positions of the main characters of the songs, which makes the songs seem like they are real which is what Realism basically is.




Works Cited:

"Go Down, Moses." Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 346. Print.

"Keep Your Hand on the Plow." Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 347. Print.

"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 348. Print.

Robert E. Lee – "Letter to his Family"

Robert E. Lee was a general in the Confederate Army (Wilhelm). He fought in the Battle of Gettysburg against General Ulysses S. Grant. Lee had been winning many battles, but he lost in one of the bloodiest battles of American history: the Battle of Gettysburg. The Battle of Gettysburg was a turning point in the Civil War that turned the tables from the Confederate army to the Union army. Robert E. Lee is mostly known for his great leadership skills and for his brave and daring war tactics (Wilhelm).

Robert E. Lee's "Letter to his Family" describes a different side of him from the above appearance. In history, most people look back and see Lee as a great military man who loves to fight and loves war and has very powerful and bloody war tactics, but according to Lee's "Letter to his Family" he is just the opposite. In Lee's letter he expresses the guilt and sadness he feels for his country (Lee). Lee does not want to be leading men to fight against their brothers, sons, and friends (Lee). Lee says, "I shall mourn for my country and for the welfare and progress of mankind. If the Union is dissolved, and the government disrupted, I shall return to my native state and share the miseries of my people; and, save in defense, will draw my sword on none" (Lee). Basically Lee is saying that if the Confederacy wins the war, he will be sad and feel terrible, but he feels that he has done what he had to do (Lee). A soldier can do nothing but fight until the war is somehow miraculously resolved, and Lee, as a general, has to stay strong and lead his men to victory, no matter how he really wants the outcome to be.

Robert E. Lee's, "Letter to his Family", depicts Realism in quite a few ways. "Letter to his Family" portrays Realism in that he tells how Lee truly feels about the war. Lee wants to be a good and strong general, but he feels sad and sorry for his country and for what he is fighting for. He does not believe in what the Confederacy is fighting for. Lee says, "The framers of our Constitution never exhausted so much labor, wisdom, and forbearance in its formation, and surrounded it with so many guards and securities, if it was intended to be broken by every member of the Confederacy at will...Still, a Union that can only be maintained by swords and bayonets, and in which strife and civil war are to take the place of brotherly love and kindness, has no charm for me" (Lee). Here Lee is saying that he does not believe in the cause of the Confederacy. He does not think it is right for the Confederacy to think that they are able to form their own union. Lee believes that the founders of our country should be honored by us keeping the country one whole country.

Lee's "Letter to his Family" reflects it's time period because he writes his letter about the Civil War which is taking place at that time. Government is seen in his letter because he speaks of how the "framers of our Constitution" (Lee) should not have had to go through all the work they did for them (the Confederacy) to toss it all aside to decide to make their own country. If a hero had to be described from this letter I would say that Lee is a definite hero. Lee is fighting for his country and for his men even though he does not believe in what they are fighting for. Lee remains a brave leader straight to the end.

Works Cited:

Lee, Robert E. "Letter to his Son." Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 385. Print.

Wilhelm, Jeffrey. "Meet Robert E. Lee (1807-1870)." Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 382. Print.

Willa Cather – "O Pioneers!" and "A Wagner Matinée"

Willa Cather moved with her family at a young age to Nebraska. They lived on the open prairie. This move was a huge impact on Cather's life. A lot of her stories come from life on the prairie like "O Pioneers" and "My Antonia". Cather's works demonstrate Regionalism which is a subset of Realism because her stories focus on one family in a specific region of the United States, which is usually on the prairie (Wilhelm).

Willa Cather's "O Pioneers!" portrays Realism very well. Realism is like saying something for what it really is. It is like saying what really happened and what is real in life. "O Pioneers!" describes part of the life and hardships of people living on the prairie. "...three years of drought and failure, the last struggle of a wild soil against the encroaching plowshare. The first of these fruitless summers the Bergson boys bore courageously. The failure of the corn crop made labor cheap. Lou and Oscar hired two men and put in bigger crops than ever before. They lost everything they spend. The whole country was discouraged. Farmers who were already in debt had to give up their land. A few foreclosures demoralized the country. The settlers sat about on the wooden sidewalks in the little town and told each other that the country was never meant for men to live in; the thing to do was to get back to Iowa, to Illinois, to any pace that had been proved habitable...A pioneer should have imagination, should be able to enjoy the idea of things more than the things themselves" (Cather, "O"). This quote portrays Realism because it tells of the hardships and things the pioneers, specifically two pioneer boys, had to deal with. They went through droughts, failure in growing crops, foreclosures, and many other things. All of these things are very real which is why this exert is described as Realism.

Cather's "A Wagner Matinee" is about a boy whose aunt comes to his town (Cather, "A Wagner"). The boy remembers many things from his childhood about his aunt. He remembers all the great things she taught him, and in appreciation to those wonderful things he was taught, he takes his aunt to see an Orchestra play (Cather, "A Wagner"). This short story portrays Realism because it talks about how the boy remembers his aunt, and it all seems very real. The boy remembers how his aunt taught him Latin, gave him many books to read including Shakespeare, and taught him how to play the organ.

Both of these short stories depict Regionalism because they both take place in a small town and with a few people. "O Pioneers!" takes place on the prairie, a small region of the United States, and it reflects the hardships that the pioneers had during their lifetime (Cather, "O"). "A Wagner Matinee" takes place in a small city or town and depicts an afternoon that a young man has with his aunt whom he has many found memories of (Cather, "A Wagner").

Neither of these stories have a lot to do with religion or nature. They do not really talk about the American Hero or government either. "O Pioneers!" can be said to show a little bit of the American Dream because part of the American Dream was to move out west and make a living for oneself which is exactly what the pioneers are trying to do. These stories both reflect their time period because they take place when America is really trying to expand itself. The pioneers are a great example of people expanding, and the aunt in "A Wagner Matinee" comes back to her hometown after moving out west to the country (Cather, "A Wagner").



Works Cited:

Cather, Willa. "from O Pioneers!" Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 489. Print.

Cather, Willa. "from 'A Wagner Matinée." Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 521-526. Print.

Wilhelm, Jeffrey. "Willa Cather's Great Plains." Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 488. Print.

Sojourner Truth – "And Ain‘t I a Woman?"

"And Ain't I a Woman?" is a speech by Sojourner Truth made at The Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio (Truth). Sojourner Truth, whose real name is Isabella Baumfree, was born in Ulster County, New York (Women). Isabella was a slave in her early life, and her owner, Mr. Neely, used to whip her very fiercely. Isabella soon took up religion, and she began to pray when she was scared or hurting. Isabella fell in a love with a slave from a different owner, and she had a child with him. Her lover's owner forbade their relationship, so he beat her lover who never returned to see Isabella. She was then forced to marry an older slave and they had four children together. Once Isabella was freed, she did not have very many possessions, so she became a traveling preacher. On June 1, 1843 Isabella changed her name to Sojourner Truth. Truth is known for preaching against slave and women's rights and for inspiring many people to do what they feel is right (Women).

Sojourner Truth's speech, "And Ain't I a Women?" is, as one would guess it, directed towards women. The speech talks about the hardships of women and what they have to deal with from men. Truth makes quite a few points saying "Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him" (Truth).

Truth speaks of how men say they treat women right by helping them into carriages and over ditches and by giving them the best place everywhere, but Truth says that has never been done for her before (Truth). Truth concludes her speech with, "Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain't got nothing more to say" (Truth) which I feel is a very inspirational ending to a very powerful speech. I think this is an inspirational ending because Truth has said everything that she wanted to say. Now she is saying that she is done, and she is going to sit back and let people think what they want about her thoughts which is a very courageous thing for a speech giver to do because usually speech givers try to convince their audience until every single person is completely convinced that what they are saying is right.

Truth's speech, "And Ain't I a Woman?", portrays Realism in that it defines how life really is for a woman. This speech can somewhat be a representative of Naturalism because it focuses on a specific group of people - women. Truth's speech depicts it's time period very well. During the time that Truth made this speech there were not a lot of rights for women or African Americans. Truth is a true inspiration for being a freed slave and a woman, and, on top of those two monumental things, she preaches to people about the wrongs and rights in their society. In my eyes, Truth is a definite hero of her time period. She is a model figure for women and African Americans. She spoke for what she believed was right, and she did it with style.

Truth incorporated religion into her speech and life by praying to the Lord to keep her safe when she was scared or hurting, and by using His teachings to help her get across to her followers; she was a preacher. Truth's speech somewhat resembles government in that the government has not given many rights to women or African Americans for whom she is fighting for. Truth uses psychology in her speech to get inside the heads of her listeners to get them to believe her and to do what she thinks is right. This is a technique that all speech makers use. Truth's speech resembles the American Dream because it portrays what women want and what they should have during this particular time period.

Works Cited:

Truth, Sojourner. "And Ain't I a Woman?" Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 370. Print.

"Women in History". Sojourner Truth biography. Last Updated: 14 Feb 2011. Lakewood Public Library. Date accessed 14 Feb 2011 . .

The "Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865" and "The Gettysburg Address"

The "Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865" and "The Gettysburg Address" are both by Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the United States, and he fought for the freedom of slaves (Abraham). Lincoln was a president during the Civil War which aged him very much. Lincoln was assassinated in Ford's Theater by John Wilkes Booth (Abraham).

As the president, Abraham Lincoln inspired many people from his many and various speeches. Lincoln was a strong voice in a terrible time of need which was during and after the Civil War. Although Lincoln was a man full of sorrow from the death of his children, his dying nation, and the slowly dying of himself, he portrayed courage, compassion, and faith in God in his speeches. His his Second Inaugural Address on March 4, 1865, Lincoln said that all of the troubles in American, including slavery and the war, are from God, and that only God and resolves those problems (Lincoln, "Second"). Although Lincoln says God will make everything better again, the people are still all caught up in their every day lives, so they are too blind to see the big picture. The South is concerned about slavery because they want to keep the slaves so their economy does not crash, and the North wants to abolish slavery because they think it is a terrible thing. In Lincoln's address, he also says that the country has many chances to heal itself, but they must make their own decisions to do so. They cannot lay it all in God's hands (Lincoln, "Second").

This thought from Lincoln portrays Realism because Realism is like telling people how things are. It is like saying that you have to do something, even if it is a bad, it must be done. Which is pretty much what Lincoln was telling the United States of America. He was saying that the nation is in a pit right now, so they all need to work together to pick things back up and become a real nation again.

In Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, he was very inspirational. Lincoln said that they (the country) could not do anything more than what the soldiers on the battlefield had already done (Lincoln, "Gettysburg"). The Battle of Gettysburg was one of the bloodiest and most terrible battles in American history. It is a battle that truly defines the Civil War and the fight of brother versus brother, father versus son. Lincoln realized in his speech that the greatest sacrifice was death, and that there was nothing the living could do to add to that sacrifice (Lincoln, "Gettysburg").

This speech portrays Realism because Lincoln talks about the sacrifices that the soldiers made, and he tells it how it happened. He was very "real" about what happened on the battlefield, and he tried to inspire the nation from the sacrifices that the young men made.

Both of these speeches reflect the time period because they both took place during the Civil War. The speeches have a little bit of religion in them because Lincoln talks about how part of the redevelopment of their nation is in the hands of God. These speeches have government in them only in that Lincoln was president when he made these speeches, so that obviously has something to do with government. These speeches kind of talk about the American Dream because the slaves wanted to be freed, so it was the American Dream for the slaves. These speeches kind of have a little bit of psychology in them because Lincoln tried to inspire the nation.

Works Cited:

Lincoln, Abraham. "The Gettysburg Address." American Literature. Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 402. Print.

"Abraham Lincoln". The History Place. 1996. The History Place. 14 Feb 2011. http://www.historyplace.com/lincoln/.

Lincoln, Abraham. "Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865." American Literature. Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 339. Print.

The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro

The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro by Frederick Douglass portrays how Douglass feels about the Fourth of July. Douglass basically says that for African Americans, they cannot really celebrate the Fourth of July. Douglass says, "The Fourth July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn..." (Douglass).

Douglass says he must mourn the Fourth of July because it reminds him and every other African American of how they are always the victim of the white man's wrath. They are always blamed for everything bad that happens, and they are stomped upon day in and day out. Douglass says,

"What, to the American slave, is your fourth of July? I answer, a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year,the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to him mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour" (Douglass).

In this passage Douglass is describing how the whites in the United States are pretty much hypocrites for celebrating the fourth of July and America's "freedom" when not everyone in America is free. Douglass says the whites fight for liberty and equality, yet they own slaves and treat them like dogs.

In the South, Whites usually did not like to let their slaves celebrate the fourth of July because they were afraid their slaves would get ideas about freedom, not like they already did not have ideas of freedom (Joe). In the North, blacks were discouraged from attending the fourth of July and other festivities as well (Joe).

Douglass' speech, The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro, depicts Realism because it describes how the fourth of July actually is for an African American. For Douglass and his fellow slaves, the fourth of July is a reminder of how horribly they are treated every day. Douglass describes the white man as being ignorant and hypocritical in how they view slaves. Whites do not understand that slaves want their freedom and want to be real citizens of the United States. They celebrate the fourth of July and America's freedom, but there are still men and women in America who are not free. Not until years later do African Americans become truly free men.

In Douglass' speech, I feel that the African American is the "hero". Slaves have to work very hard all day, and they do not complain much because if they do, they will get whipped or hurt very badly in other ways. The slaves were like the backbone of the South because if it was not for them, the South's economy would be pretty much nothing. White people took slaves for granted, and they treated them like they were property, not human beings. The slaves had to suffer through a lot of terrible things and hypocritical people.



Works Cited

Douglass, Frederick. “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro.” In American Literature. Willhelm, Jeffory, comp. McGraw Hill. Columbus, 2009. Print.

Joe. "Frederick Douglass: The 1852 Speech on the Meaning of the Fourth of July". Racism Review. 2011. http://www.racismreview.com/blog/2009/07/04/frederick-douglass-the-1852-speech-on-the-meaning-of-the-fourth-of-july/. Accessed 3 Feb 2011.

Regionalism

Regionalism is basically the same thing as Realism. The only difference between Regionalism and Realism is that Regionalism focuses on a specific region like a town.

Regionalism is:

"A literary subgenre that emphasizes the setting, history, speech, dialect, and customs of a particular geographical locale or area, not only for local color, but also for development of universal themes through the use of the local and particular. Willa Cather, William Faulkner, Ellen Glasgow, and Robert Penn Warren are notable examples of American writers who used regionalism" (Werlock).

"Some American writers are associated with certain regions of the country because their work provides detailed and dramatic portraits that draw on characteristic speech and manners. Sherwood Anderson, for example, is associated with the Midwest, which inspired some of his greatest fiction, especially Winesburg, Ohio (1919). Edgar Lee Masters, Carl Sandburg, and Willa Cather were also associated with the Midwest—small-town, urban, and farming settings, respectively.

To Anderson, the more specific a writer was about the setting of his story, the more believable he could make his characters; for him, the particular led to the universal. William Faulkner—who writes about Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, in most of his novels and stories—was fond of quoting Anderson's advice and chose to create fiction out of his "little postage stamp of native soil." Like Faulkner, many writers have explored particular locales within regions: John Steinbeck's Salinas Valley, California; Thomas Wolfe's Altamont (the fictional name for his native Asheville, North Carolina); John O'Hara's Gibbsville (based on Pottsville, Pennsylvania); Marjorie Kinnan Rawling's Cross Creek, Florida" (Anderson).

A good example of Regionalism is a Western. Westerns focus on a specific region, the west, and goes into a lot of detail about the west.

More examples, including westerns, are as followed:

"Writers who write about real or made-up locales make use of the history or ideas associated with particular regions. Cather's Scandinavian immigrants, for example, suggest the difficult yet durable quality of American pioneers. The American West embodies the American myth of the self-made man, the loner, and the adventurer heading out for new territory and exploring the frontier. The novels of Owen Wister and Zane Grey made the cowboy a staple of the American mythos. The South, with its legacy of the Civil War that left it the only part of the United States to have been invaded and to have lost a war, has inspired the work of Faulkner as well as later writers such as Robert Penn Warren, Carson McCullers and Eudora Welty. New England, with its importance to the nation's history and its developing character, has inspired writers such as E. A. Robinson, Robert Frost, Eugene O'Neill, and George Santayana. Although the term regionalist is sometimes used to describe an author whose work has limited appeal, many of the best American writers write about specific communities that have an intrinsic interest for them—so much so that author and place cannot be conceived of apart. In this sense, the term regionalist is descriptive and not limiting" (Anderson).

Works Cited

Anderson, George P., Judith S. Baughman, Matthew J. Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson, eds."regionalism." Encyclopedia of American Literature: Into the Modern: 1896–1945, vol. 3, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL1330&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 8, 2011).

Werlock, Abby H. P. "regionalism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= Gamshrtsty0581&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 8, 2011).