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.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
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.
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 ..
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 .
Thursday, February 10, 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.
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 8, 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).
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).
Monday, January 31, 2011
Naturalism
"The term literary naturalism is used to describe a body of literature that emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The central concerns of naturalism are the forces that shape and move humanity and our inability to control them. naturalism has its origins in the work of the French writer Emile Zola, who saw the naturalist as a scientist describing human behavior as a product of the forces that conditioned it, and of Charles Robert Darwin, whose On the Origin of Species (1859) postulated that humans evolved from lower animals and were therefore controlled by the same basic instincts. Darwin's theories led to the survival-of-the-fittest concept of human social evolution" (Werlock).
Basically Naturalism is a writing style that describes the world around us. It tells how things are, and it does not make up things to make someone's life sound better. Naturalism shows how nature can shape humanity, and it shows how humans cannot control it.
Some modern examples of Naturalism include TV acting. Many TV series are about families and their everyday life. They characters go about their day in a very life like way. In some sitcoms, the characters do things that everyday people normally do not do, but other sitcoms could be a completely reflection of how your day went that day. Some TV shows over amplify the struggles of everyday life, but those that do not, portray Naturalism.
Another example of Naturalism would be Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight. Ledger completely becomes his character to make his performance very believable.
"American literary naturalism was strongly influenced by the French writer Emile Zola and the nineteenth-century emergence of Darwinian science. Determinism, the concept that individuals are controlled by impersonal internal and/or external forces, is the philosophical basis of naturalism. From its American origins in the turn-of-the-century fiction of Frank Norris, Stephen Crane, and Theodore Dreiser, naturalism has been devoted to documenting, with apparent objectivity, the extreme experiences of characters existing on the margins of society. Like the so-called realists, naturalists are committed to documenting the surfaces of American life and to probing its concealed depths, but unlike realists, who most often treated recognizable middle-class lives, naturalists usually focused on the desperate existence of characters trapped in slums or in other oppressed settings" (Giles).
Works Cited:
Giles, James R. "naturalism." In Anderson, George P., Judith S. Baughman, Matthew J. Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson, eds. Encyclopedia of American Literature, Revised Edition: Into the Modern: 1896–1945, Volume 3. 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= EAmL1255&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 4, 2011).
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).
Basically Naturalism is a writing style that describes the world around us. It tells how things are, and it does not make up things to make someone's life sound better. Naturalism shows how nature can shape humanity, and it shows how humans cannot control it.
Some modern examples of Naturalism include TV acting. Many TV series are about families and their everyday life. They characters go about their day in a very life like way. In some sitcoms, the characters do things that everyday people normally do not do, but other sitcoms could be a completely reflection of how your day went that day. Some TV shows over amplify the struggles of everyday life, but those that do not, portray Naturalism.
Another example of Naturalism would be Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight. Ledger completely becomes his character to make his performance very believable.
"American literary naturalism was strongly influenced by the French writer Emile Zola and the nineteenth-century emergence of Darwinian science. Determinism, the concept that individuals are controlled by impersonal internal and/or external forces, is the philosophical basis of naturalism. From its American origins in the turn-of-the-century fiction of Frank Norris, Stephen Crane, and Theodore Dreiser, naturalism has been devoted to documenting, with apparent objectivity, the extreme experiences of characters existing on the margins of society. Like the so-called realists, naturalists are committed to documenting the surfaces of American life and to probing its concealed depths, but unlike realists, who most often treated recognizable middle-class lives, naturalists usually focused on the desperate existence of characters trapped in slums or in other oppressed settings" (Giles).
Works Cited:
Giles, James R. "naturalism." In Anderson, George P., Judith S. Baughman, Matthew J. Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson, eds. Encyclopedia of American Literature, Revised Edition: Into the Modern: 1896–1945, Volume 3. 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= EAmL1255&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 4, 2011).
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).
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