#21 Emily Dickinson - Poems I

Bila Lee
English 48B
March 19, 2009
Journal #21 Emily Dickinson I

Quote
“I felt a funeral, in my Brain,
And Mourners to and fro
Kept treading – treading – till it seemed
That Sense was breaking through - … (Dickinson 84).

Summary
It is excerpted from poem No. 340 found in “The Poems of Emily Dickinson: Reading Edition (1999).” Unlike our previous assigned poet, Walt Whitman, Dickinson is more like a traditional poet in the sense that her poems are rather short in length, have a focusing theme and retain some poetry features like rhymes and structure. It is observed that Dickinson often pessimistically expresses her sadness and desperate in her poems – like in No. 340 she uses dictions such as “funeral” and “Mourners” which implies her thought of death – yet since none of her poems has a proper title, thus it is difficult for critics to literarily analyze them in depth.

Responses
Emily Dickinson had suffered a period of emotional crisis. As shown in Answers.com, “Between 1858 and 1866 Dickinson wrote more than 1100 poems, full of aphorisms, paradoxes, off rhymes, and eccentric grammar. Few are more than 16 lines long, composed in meters based on English hymnology. The major subjects are love and separation, death, nature, and God - but especially love” (Answers). It is believed that this emotional crisis changes both the social life and literary life of Emily Dickinson. On one hand, she shuts herself in her bedroom for many years and does not expose to the reality, and hence her perspectives are narrow and subjectively negative; on the other hand, as already suggested in my outside source, the themes of her poems surround love and separation, so I further believe her prolonged depressed is driven by a failure in romantic relationship.

It is significant to note that her best friend Susan Gilbert married to her brother Austin in 1856, just two years before her literary turning point. Some scholars argue the sudden psychological change of Emily Dickinson is due to the marriage between her best friend and her brother, in which Emily is literally a homosexual who is hurt of losing her love. In fact, Dickinson expresses her depression, sadness and hatred in most of her poems, and most dictions she uses are extremely negative like “pain” in No. 225, “lost” in No. 39 and the entire poem I pick for this journal serves to express her grief. In the first stanza, she tells “I felt like a Funeral, in my Brain” (Dickinson 84) which implies she is not motivated to live, to socialize and to expose herself to the external world – she just wants to passively terminate her brain activity from thinking too much – we can obviously realize her miserable life from her word choices.

In fact, most artists express their emotional fluctuations in their artwork. Painters may paint some abstract pictures when they feel blue; musicians may compose plain songs to express their sadness or compose some energetic songs when they feel great; photographers may take dark pictures to express their pessimist. And for poets, take Emily Dickinson as an example, we can address her darkness and emotional crisis from her poems, and honestly I feel sorrow for her when I read her poems 150 years after her work.

#20 Walt Whitman - Song of Myself

Bila Lee
English 48B
March 13, 2009
Journal #20 Song of Myself

Quote
“I am the poet of the Body and I am the poet of the Soul,

The pleasures of heaven are with me and the pains of hell are with me,

The first I graft and increase upon myself, the latter I translate into a new tongue …” (Whitman 44).

Summary
It is excerpted from section 21 of “Song of Myself.” The poem does not have a specific subject but it diversely touches various issues – some may interpret the poem as how Walt Whitman interacts with the Nature whereas some may interpret it as how Whitman expresses his sexuality. I believe that both interpretations are correct to some extents because free verse, as displayed in this very poem, is Whitman’s literary signature, and I can observe separated connection in between each section. As suggested by its title, “Song of Myself,” I preferably think the poetry is indeed a personal diary of Walt Whitman that he used it to jot down his feelings – and, interestingly, the selected quote reflects how he considers himself as a poet and how he expresses his internal emotions.

Responses
The title of the poem is known as “Song of Myself,” in which I think it intentionally serves as a tribute to the poet himself. Yet, as stated in Spark Note and footnote in our text, it is found that the title has been changed from “Poem of Walt Whitman, an American” in the first edition to “Walt Whitman” and eventually to “Song of Myself” in the final edition. Spark Note critically believes the shift “suggests something of what Whitman was about in this piece” that he “melts from a specific individual to an abstract myself” (Spark Note). Not only does the title bring confusion to the poem but its first sentence, “I celebrate myself, and sing myself,/ And what I assume you shall assume,/ …” (Whitman 30) also confuses me – is Whitman speaking for himself or speaking for everyone? Nevertheless, I think he only speaks for himself when I read the quoted line.

Though Whitman states in the very beginning, “Creeds and schools in abeyance,” (Whitman 30) seems like the poetry has nothing related to philosophy, it fails to deceive me who is currently taking an introductory course to Philosophy. Even more precisely, his poetry concerns something really similar to Descartes. In section 20, Whitman mentions “I exist as I am” (Whitman 44) which I immediately think the famous philosophical saying, “I think therefore I am.” In addition, the excerpted quote works similar to Descartes’ renowned study, the Body-Mind question. (Note: we discuss the Body-Mind question in Philosophy4 for half of the quarter!) Some philosophers are monist who think either Body or Soul (Mind) exist, but not both; whereas some philosophers like Descartes are dualist who think Body and Mind can co-exist – and Walt Whitman is a dualist in the sense that he is both a poet of the Body and a poet of the Soul. I guess his expression of the twenty-eight young men and twenty-nine bathers in section 11 is a great example of “poet of the Body,” as he openly illustrates as male sexuality and hence we may think he is a homosexual person; his open-mindedness to accept black people and think Negro are beautiful is a great example of “poet of the Soul,” because he jumps beyond the social norm to express what his soul feels right. In both controversial examples, Walt Whitman demonstrates his out-spoken characteristic, in which I think is the key to his literary success.

#19 Walt Whitman - Crossing Brooklyn Ferry

Bila Lee
English 48B
March 12, 2009
Journal #19 Crossing Brooklyn Ferry

Quote
“It avails not, time nor space – distance avails not,

I am with you, you men and women of a generation, or ever so many generations hence,

Just as you feel when you look on the river and sky, so I felt …” (Whitman 22).

Summary
It is excerpted from stanza 3 of the poem, “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.” Walt Whitman, or it should better refer to the anonymous narrator in the poem, travels across time and space to pass his message to us, to our next generation and generations thereafter. As stated in Spark Notes, the poetry “seeks to determine the relationship of human beings to one another across time and space. Whitman wonders what he means to the crowds of strangers he sees every day” (Spark). Set in Brooklyn and Manhattan, the poetry instantly gives me an impression of a fast-paced and crowded community. People, including the narrator who has to travel between two districts by ferry every day, meet many familiar faces but with a lack of interaction; and hence inspires Whitman to compose this excellent poem to speak to some unknown persons.

Responses
Walt Whitman is a significant and influential poet in the sense he promotes free verse. Free verse, according to Wikipedia and our class discussion, refers to poetry without “a strict pattern of rhyming” (Wikipedia) and no regular meter, line length and stanza pattern. Around the same period, Chinese Literature also promotes a new poetry writing style which is very like free verse that poets are freer in composing poems, and it is called the New Culture Movement. In my opinion, speaking to both Chinese and English poetry, it is ambivalent for a Literature beginner (like me!) to appreciate a free verse poem: on one hand, it somehow works like a short story or a free writing which comes with less literary implication from stanza to stanza; on the other hand, it does not provide a focusing central idea for me to follow and, honestly, Spark Note helps me a lot in digesting this assigned reading.

Whitman explores the relationship between persons across time and space, thus everyone is possibly his target audience despite the fact that everything changes a lot. Last winter break, I travelled to the East Coast with my friends and I had been to Brooklyn and Manhattan, and I did also take a sightseeing water taxi in New York City (whoops, I forgot the name of that place) and another one in Boston. Refreshing the remarkable trip after reading “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry,” I gain a fresh insight when I was looking “on the river and the sky.” In our lifetime, we come across with various people, is it a random accident or a designated fate? Does it mean anything when I met the tour guide in the East Coast, I meet my friends here at Foothill College or I meet some strangers in McDonald’s? “In the day among crowds of people sometimes they came upon me” (Whitman 23), I guess a couple persons in the crowd may either positively or negatively influence us in a certain way – for instance, I am inspired when I meet some polite and educated people and I feel bad when I deal with some impolite and disgusting people. Though I have got no acquaintance with these strangers, I believe our interactions mean something to my life. As of myself, I was accepted by Foothill College and De Anza College two years ago and I finally chose Foothill – I know my host family, my instructors and my friends here, and hence I got a sweet memory of travelling to the East Coast; yet who knows what would happen to me if I chose De Anza College at that time? So I decide to enjoy and celebrate what I possess now, and play “the same old role, the role that is what we make it, as great as we like.” Seize the day!

#18 Kate Chopin - The Awakening (II)

Bila Lee
English 48B
March 6, 2009
Journal #18 The Awakening (II)

Quote:
“'Who gave it to you?’ she laughed.

‘I bought it. I suppose I’m getting reckless; I bought a whole box.’ She was determined not to be personal again and make her comfortable” (Chopin 618).

Summary:
The quote is excerpted from Chapter 37 of the novel, and it is chosen chiefly because it continues the Marxist criticism. It is an interesting conversation between Robert and Edna when they meet each other again, and Edna challenges how Robert gets the cigar. Our group finds that cigar plays a decisive role in the story that it symbolizes a higher class. For instance, in the first half of “The Awakening,” Robert once saves the cigar but not immediately smokes and it is interpreted that he rarely possesses a luxurious cigar; on the contrary, he has a big box of cigar when he returns from Mexico – even Edna does not believe his change in social class. Does Robert literally upgrade into a higher class person? What is the motivator for this change?

Responses:
To a certain extent, I believe Edna and Leonce are two rationales for the explicit change of Robert. As shown in our handout, “Mademoiselle Reisz draws out Edna’s deep appreciation for music and encourages her flirtation with Robert – who, suddenly and nervously, leaves for Mexico” (Toth 210). I attempt to connect his sudden and nervous departure to the Marxist question that Robert leaves because he is ashamed of his social class difference between Leonce Pontellier and him, and consequently Robert does not dare to express his love to Edna, hence he chooses to leave to Mexico. In fact, his change in attitude towards cigar somehow signifies his entering into an upper class because cigar is always considered as a luxury that only wealthy people have the privilege to consume it whereas others, like Robert in the first half, can only smoke cigarette. Alternatively, I also interpret his act as an attempt to resemble Leonce Pontellier, and to directly tell Edna his significant change after the trip to Mexico.

Basically, I would categorize Robert and Edna into the same group – both are young (especially when compared to the successful Leonce) and are ambitious to enter the upper class. In addition to the interesting cigar issue, Robert seems to have more self-confident in flirting with Edna in the second half of the story; likewise, Edna also puts efforts in upgrading herself: she watches horse-racing in the Jockey Club which is often regarded as a superior entertainment; she spends a lot of money on luxurious goods and building the pigeon house…apparently she succeeds, but she finally chooses to commit suicide because she is mentally not prepared to this artificial dual life.

It is always difficult to wear two separate masks to deal with different types of people. In fact, I share a similar experience here at Foothill College - most International students come from an affluent family whereas, honestly, I come from a middle-class one. Last year, I sometimes felt depressed when I was standing foolishly at the bus stop, watching others driving their cars; yet, I could neither ask my mum to buy one for me nor express my jealousy. This Marxist feeling is one of my motivators which encourage me to study harder, such that I could get a great university degree, a rewarding career and finally I am able to buy cars for my parents and myself!

#17 Kate Chopin - The Awakening (I)

Bila Lee
English 48B
March 5, 2009
Journal #17 The Awakening (I)

Quote:
“'I hardly think we need new fixtures, Leonce. Don’t let us get anything new; you are too extravagant. I don’t believe you ever think of saving or putting by.'”
“'The way to become rich is to make money, my dear Edna, not to save it,’ he said” (Chopin 576).

Summary:
The quote is excerpted from a conversation between Edna and her rich husband, and it is picked because I would like to continue the discussion on Marxism. The story is set in Grand Isle, a vacational resort popular with wealth people in New Orleans; Edna and her children are spending their summer holiday there. Edna perhaps comes from a middle class that “her marriage to Leonce Pontellier was purely an accident,” (Chopin 548) in which she is neither supposed nor expected to marry a Creole. In fact, she meets Robert and enjoys the moment with him in Grand Isle; she almost establishes a romantic relationship with Robert before he leaves to Mexico. Robert is young, far less affluent as the Pontelliers and has a lower social status; yet his emergence makes Edna happier and raises the Marxism question – which social class does Edna literally connect to?

Responses:
Marxist criticism serves to disclose the existence of social class difference, and consequently a sense of alienation is developed because of the class difference. In her novella, “The Awakening,” Kate Chopin faintly creates different social statuses to each fictional character. For instance, Leonce Pontellier represents the Creoles because he is rich and successful, hence he can marry an attractive woman and rewrite her life; Edna is likely raised in a middle class family as she “lived her own small life all within herself,” (Chopin 544) and she is not fully adapted to becoming rich; last but not least, Robert is young yet possesses the passion to fit himself into a higher social class. As stated in Wikipedia, not only had the literary work challenged the social class difference but it also challenged “moral as well as literary standards” (Wikipedia) in the sense that it violated some social mores. Some critics criticize the novella as if it was encouraging open marriage, which was absolutely unacceptable in the conformist society; and hence the story was restricted for decades.

To a certain extent, Edna finds it easier to get along with Robert because she is not used to a rich living style. She is not the type of mother-woman (Chopin 538) whereas intensive maternal love is a common quality shared by upper class women (as their husbands are usually busy with their business and cannot devote themselves to the children.) Similarly, Robert is not used to the Creoles lifestyle as he saves cigars rather than consume cigars, when Edna is told that “the way to become rich is to make money, not to save it.” Thereby it sounds like Edna is connected to Robert, to the middle class which attempts to get into a higher class.

In reality, some people may explicitly demonstrate their high social status by wearing branded clothing and accessories, driving splendid car, eating luxuriously so on and so forth; they consider these extravagant spending as an investment to enter the upper class. But they usually fail because one’s mind instead of one’s body is the most important component to connect to a social class.

#16 Mark Twain - Letters from the Earth

Bila Lee
English 48B
February 27, 2009
Journal #16 Letters from the Earth

Quote
“He saved out Noah and his family, and arranged to exterminate the rest. He planned an Ark, and Noah built it. Neither of them had ever built an Ark before, nor knew anything about Arks; and so something out of the common was to be expected” (Twain 314).

Summary
Honestly, the above quote is arbitrary excerpted (actually not that arbitrary, but “the Ark” recalls my high school memory which I will further explain in the “Responses” section) because I feel this piece of literary work is hilariously interesting, in which I wish to include at least twenty inspiring quotes in the journal. In short, it requires both bravery and encourages, rather than any talented writing skills, for Mark Twain to publish the “Letters from the Earth.” Twain risks himself from exasperating Christians and challenging the mighty religious doctrine. He employs Satan, and archangels Gabriel and Michael, to demonstrate his disappointment of humans, and hence their creator, the God. Twain discloses how ugly, selfish the nature of human beings is by listing examples aplenty.

Responses
Mark Twain is undoubtedly one of the most influential writers in human history, yet some of his work is incredibly controversial (at least I think both assigned readings are controversial). Suggested in Wikipedia, Mark Twain was facing a hard time when he decided to write “Letters from the Earth” that “he was deep in debt and had lost his wife and one of his daughters” (Wikipedia). So I guess the obstacles he was facing were the rationales for Twain to write this piece of writing.

Prior to making any comment on the compilation of letters, it is better for me to state my religious view and background. I am not a Christian but my life is tightly tied to Christianity. I have attended Christian schools for thirteen years, my ex-girlfriend is a pious Christian and I have been occasionally participating in church functions. In other words, I am flooded with the positive perspectives of Christianity. The quote reminds me one of the sweetest moments in high school when I played in the musical “The Ark” (though I forgot which role I was starring), and yes, everyone tells me that Jesus Christ sacrifices himself for all mankind and so we should resemble his well-doing to love each other. In fact, I am never skeptical to the holy and pure Christian; yet I do really understand some of Mark Twain’s standpoints and truly appreciate his bravery to point out something that not everyone dares to say.

Twain tactically employs Satan to address his central idea. On one hand, it displays his imaginative and skillful writing techniques; on the other hand, it helps neutralizing the tension between himself and Christians, as he might argue Satan holds the contradictory values. Anyhow, I especially like he mocks humans’ immorality – the interesting ideas really encourage and motivate me to think deeper, and perhaps have to think beyond any religious beliefs. Sometimes I am tired to discuss discrimination in my assignment, but nearly all of my classes required critical thinking touch this issue because unfairness is undeniably real in our society. Not only does discrimination reflect unfairness but natural disasters, income gap between developed and developing countries, or simply personal traits also are signs of unfairness. Today it is frustrating to compare my returns to yours, and perhaps tomorrow it is heartbreaking for you to compare your situation to mine. Is this fate or the God’s intention? If it is the God’s intention, Mark Twain is somehow justified to conclude the God does not treat everyone equally.

#15 Mark Twain - Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offences

Bila Lee
English 48B
February 26, 2009
Journal #15 Mark Twain

Quote
“If Cooper had been an observer, his inventive faculty would have worked better, not more interestingly, but more rationally, more plausibly. Cooper’s proudest creations in the way of ‘situations’ suffer noticeably from the absence of the observer’s protecting gift. Cooper’s eye was splendidly inaccurate. Cooper seldom saw anything correctly. He saw nearly all things as through a glass eye” (Twain 297).

Summary
As its title, “Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offences,” has already suggested, its writer Mark Twain relentlessly criticizes James Fenimore Cooper and denies his contribution in Literature. Twain picks “The Pathfinder” and “The Deerslayer,” in which both literary works are regarded as Cooper’s famous masterpiece, to illustrate how Cooper violates eighteen literary rules and “has scored 114 offences against literary art out of a possible 115” (Twain 295). With an eye to the given statistics, as well as the comments and examples provided by the legendary Mark Twain, it has every strong reason to believe Fenimore Cooper is the most horrible writer ever. Yet, is it the truth?

Responses
Wow. I always suppose we should show our greatest respect to others, even though we think either that person is bizarre or his work is ridiculous, or both. Wow, I could never imagine a literary writer criticizes another writer in such a relentless manner. It does really broaden my horizons to a very large extent. Yet, it is subjective to judge and evaluate others’ work, like some think Fenimore Cooper is brilliant whereas Mark Twain thinks in an opposite way; similarly, some may agree Twain’s criticism and think his analysis helps the contemporary Literature world; while some may disagree with Twain’s perspectives.

I conducted a research via answers.com, and I found an extremely accurate point to the issue:

“Hilarious though Twain's essay is, it is valid only within its own narrow and sometimes misapplied criteria. Whether Twain is attacking Cooper's diction or Hawkeye's tracking feats, his strategy is to charge Cooper with one small inaccuracy, reconstruct the surrounding narrative or sentence around it, and then produce the whole as evidence that Cooper's kind of English would prevent anyone from seeing reality” (http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/HNS/Indians/critic.html)

Diction is perhaps the soul of all literary work. However, the preference of using one particular vocabulary over another may reflect an embedded meaning that only the author knows. In our text page 302, Mark Twain proposes a list of “approximate word” (Twain 302) and how they should be replaced by Twain’s perfect words. Honestly, I did not read those words one by one because it would not help unless comparing to the original text (and I was too lazy to google the Deerslayer…) I assume Mark Twain’s revision is better, but I think some modern English majors may also be able to challenge his dictions. In addition, his another evident to demonstrate Cooper’s literary offence goes, “as nobody had missed it yet, the ‘also’ was not necessary” (Twain 300). In his own work, “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Ch. XXXI,” I can easily find he commits some careless mistake as well. But, of course, those mechanical mistakes like “says I” (Twain 245) are intended to match the content; yet, I think “also” in Cooper’s work is also not a big deal.

Recently, I am having a cold war with my best friend because I made a negative comment on her essay (well, actually not that negative, I just said “it seems the last one is better and I see room of improvement for this one.”) She gets mad at me, of course plus some personal reasons, and both of us are upset about it. The incident gives me a valuable lesson that we should respect others and their effort made in each work, and hence I think Mark Twain is over-reacted in this particular case.

#14 Edith Wharton - The Other Two

Bila Lee
English 48B
February 20, 2009
Journal #14 Edith Wharton

Quote
“’There’s just one thing you can do, Mr. Waythron,’ he said. ‘You can remind Mrs. Waythron that, by the decree of the courts, I am entitled to have a voice in Lily’s bringing-up. […] I’m not the kind to talk about enforcing my rights, Mr. Waythron. I don’t know as I think a man is entitled to rights he hasn’t known how to hold on to; but this business of the child is different. I’ve never let go there – and I never mean to’” (Wharton 839).

Summary
It is indeed an extremely interesting story about a very complicated family. Alice Waythron has divorced twice and newly marries to a successful businessman, Mr. Waythron. The couple’s honeymoon is ended earlier because Lily, the daughter of Alice and Mr. Haskett, is diagnosed with typhoid. The above quotation is extracted from a private conversation between Mr. Waythron and Haskett, and it is basically about Haskett’s rights to visit his biological daughter. He uses laws as well as emotional appeal to ask for a visit. To an extent, the conversation discloses the complication for Alice to deal with her ex-husbands, and yes, it causes quite a number of disputes and arguments between the newly-married couple.

Responses
Honestly, I am a bit confused and puzzled when reading Edith Wharton’s “The Other Two.” I sometimes mix up Mr. Waythron, Mr. Haskett and Mr. Varick and have to re-read back-and-forth to get a better understanding of the story. Nevertheless, in general, it is a great story with a common sociological issue – divorce and the relationship between the divorced couple and their children. Yet, it was uncommon to have divorce case in the nineteenth century and thus it somehow sounds weird for Alice Waythron to have this experience twice.

As Wikipedia and our author introduction suggest, Edith Wharton had a very unhappy marriage but did not get divorced until ten years after the novel, “The Other Two,” was published. So it might be true that Wharton employed her pen to express her eagerness to get divorced. In fact, their lives (I mean both Waythron and Haskett) are very complicated and difficult when compared to normal people. For example, a kid should receive the quietest environment and the warmest parental care when they are sick, not to mention some big illnesses like typhoid. However, when Lily gets that illness, the adults are solving the dispute whether her biological father has the rights to visit Lily and when is the fittest time for him to visit.

Not only is the normal business of Wharton interfered but his mood is also adversely affected. No one would feel happy when his wife is harassed by her pervious lovers are frequently in contact with her. And I think these three are the worst consequences for this particular story. In Hong Kong, some lawsuits about how the properties should be divided are occasionally reported – and those cases usually involve celebrities and a huge amount of money.

So I think we should really think twice or even thrice before getting married.

#13 Henry James - Daisy Miller: A Study

Bila Lee
English 48B
February 19, 2009
Journal #13 Henry James

Quote
“At last he said, ‘She was the most beautiful young lady I ever saw, and the most amiable.’ And then he added in a moment, ‘And she was the most innocent.’” (James 428).

Summary
The above quote is extracted at the very ending of the story, “Daisy Miller: A Study.” It is indeed the final part because the protagonist, who is also the experimental subject in the study, dies because of malaria. The quote is taken from a conversation between two loving rivalries, Winterbourne and Giovanelli, during Daisy’s funeral landscape. It is not quite surprising for them to discuss their common friend, but the content in the conversation is extraordinary significant and it leaves a big question mark for the entire novel. Is Daisy a virgin when she dies? Does she fall for either Winterbourne or Giovanelli, or both? For all these flirting questions will never have a concrete and recognized answers – that’s why we spent a large amount of lesson time to discuss her purity and innocence – we really wish to know whether she is a virgin.

Responses
Above all, I have to say it is the most entertaining story in the course so far. It refreshes my memory back to my junior Literature class in high school, and recalls one of my favorite novels, “Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier. Both novels depict some romantic love affair between charming gentlemen and attractive fair ladies – and the chief male characters named Maxim de Winter and Winterbourne respectively. The coincidence impresses me at first glance, and I am thinking if I should name me future son as “Winter” to inject some romantic and charming element into him.

I like the story mainly because the physical beauty and classical feminine instinct displayed by Daisy Miller. As illustrated in the section, “Daisy Miller,” in Wikipedia, it is exactly right to address the story as “confused courtship of the eponymous American girl” (Wikipedia). To a very small extent, I personally am also attracted to her based on the textual description and how she verbally seduces males, like she praises Giovanelli as “the handsomest man in the world – except Mr. Winterbourne!” (James 412) and “I don’t want you to come for your aunt, I want you to come for me” (James 408). Daisy Miller possesses two strong weapons: the inborn beauty and the acquired flirting techniques, in which it is incredibly easy for her to conquer the hearts of Winterbourne and Giovanelli. Hence, critics raise a question to challenge if Daisy is as innocent as what Winterbourne claims, “she’s very innocent” (James 415).

I think she is both innocent and intelligent in dealing with males. Though she likes to hang around with different males, I believe she does not mean any sexual purpose but only intend to verify her popularity. Yes, some of my female friends always play this trick, and sometimes I think they wish examine if any boys who love them would feel jealous. Thereby, I guess it may be simply an illusion for critics to doubt the purity and innocence of Daisy Miller – I bet it is only her feminine instinct to get so close with Giovanelli to examine Winterbourne, the one she really falls for.

#12 Stephen Crane - The Open Boat

Bila Lee
English 48B
February 13, 2009
Journal #12 Stephen Crane

Quote
“During this dismal night, it may be remarked that a man would conclude that it was really the intention of the seven mad gods to drown him, despite the abominable injustice of it. For it was certainly an abominable injustice to drown a man who had worked so hard, so hard. The man felt it would be a crime most unnatural. Other people had drowned at sea since galleys swarmed with painted sails, but still – ” (Crane 1011).

Summary
The four men in the short story were in a very dangerous situation, and they were nearly drowned to death. The above quote was extracted from Chapter VI of “The Open Boat,” in which I guess was murmured by the correspondent because he was ambiguously employed by Stephen Crane to narrate the entire story. I pick this quote partly because it developed an arguable dispute if Crane had injected some religious matters into his text, and partly because it brought a philosophical matter to investigate the internal struggle of a person when he/she knew he/she had a high probability to die soon. Though Billie the Oiler died eventually when the Captain, the Cook and the Correspondent survived, it was indeed a naturalistic and masterpiece story which followed Crane’s style.

Responses
Stephen Crane was raised in a family with a Methodist minister father and a social reform-minded mother. However, Crane was an individual who “systematically rejected religious and social traditions” (Wikipedia). Yet, one of the most heated debate topics in today’s class meeting was whether religious matters were added to his famous novel, “The Open Boat.” I advocate the side that Crane held no intentions to get involved in Christianity, and I think it was only his and his fellows’ instinct to blame God when they were facing danger. It was particularly remarkable that Crane wrote the story based on a recent experience of his steamer, “The Commodore,” sank off the coast of Florida.

To a certain extent, humans are the strangest organism in terms of our mind. We tend to point a finger at some unknown externalities when we are trapped in difficulty, problems, and in this very story, a serious sinking which might cause deaths. Apparently, the narrator desperately thought it was injustice to him, his friends and the boat; he blamed the God for creating this unfair incident. But with an eyes to his following statement, “Yes, but I love myself,” (Crane 1011) I think he was in an insensational mode that he was thinking irrationally. The correspondent did not want to die too soon, or in such an innocent way, and hence he wanted to blame someone and excused some being ought to accountable for the tragedy. I further believe Crane used “God” rather than “Mohammed” nor “Allah” simply because Christianity had been the most widely-distributed religion in the world, and human beings are thereby dependent on God. It is common to hear “Oh My God” when you did something wrongly or “Thanks God” when you did something pleasingly – yet, it has nothing to deal with religion.

To conclude, I think the narrator was so desperate and helpless that he wished to express his internal mood, and did not relate to any religious matter.

#11 Stephen Crane - Maggie

Bila Lee
English 48B
February 12, 2009
Journal #11 Stephen Crane

Quote
“He found his mother raving. Maggie had not returned home. The parent continually wondered how her daughter could come to such a pass. She had never considered Maggie as pearl dropped unstained into Rum Alley from Heaven, but she could not conceive how it was possible for her daughter to fall so low as to bring disgrace upon her family. She was terrific in denunciation of the girl’s wickedness” (Crane 985).

Summary
It was a heartbreaking story which reflected the very genuine social darkness. The quote was extracted from Chapter XIII of “Maggie,” and was accurately yet coldly demonstrated how Mary, mother of Maggie, reacted when Mary was informed her daughter became a prostitute. I chose this short quote for analysis because it covered two important ideas: Mary was a drunken mother that she even did not concern how her children were doing outside, she did not even notice Jimmie and Maggie “had not returned home.” Moreover, Maggie stayed in astray not because of her wicked mother instead of Pete. She did rarely, if ever, receive maternal love from Mary and Mary was only aware of the “disgrace upon her family” and how they were viewed by neighbors when she knew the cruel truth.

Responses
Stephen Crane was one of the best-known naturalistic writers. As stated in the section, “Naturalism,” in Wikipedia, “Naturalist fiction in the United States often concentrated on the non-Anglo, ethnically marked inhabitants of the growing American cities, many of them immigrants and most belonging to a class-spectrum ranging from the destitute to the lower middle-class” (Wikipedia). In fact, Crane used his pen to desperately describe the hardship of Irish immigrants in the novel “Maggie.”

The novel ran smoothly and naturally in the sense that it was not a fairy tale but portrayed some realistic plots. Maggie was raised in a broken family that her parents were both indulged in alcoholic drinks, it was commonly observed among the Irish immigrants population because they could barely participate in the discriminating community and hence lost their direction in life, and consequently expressed an extent of indifference to their children. Maggie was literally a natural victim who got acquaintance to Pete, and finally got trapped into the world of prostitution and darkness.

Mary was a typical and conventional mother who believed her children were existed to glorify their parents; yet they were some “wicked children” if they behaved in some disgraceful way. For example, it was undoubtedly a negative thing to have a prostitute in the family, and deserved every reason to have the bad reputation circulated around the neighborhood. Yet, Mary should protect rather than to join the bad-mouthing neighbors to address her daughter. The story followed naturalism to have a sad ending, and it was heartbroken for me to read how Mary reacted when she was informed her daughter’s death, “She continued her meal. When she finished her coffee she began to weep” (Crane 999). It is horrible to imagine how calm Mary was at that very moment.

An old saying goes like parents will tolerate the faults that their children have committed. Yes, Mary ends the story by saying, “Oh yes, I’ll forgive her! I’ll forgive her,” (Crane 1000) but I doubt how sincere when compared with my beginning quote.

#10 Ruiz Burton - The Squatter and the Don

Bila Lee
English 48B
February 6, 2009
Journal #10 Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton

Quote
“You are too good business men to suppose that I should not reserve some slight advantage for myself, when I am willing you should have many more yourselves. All I want to do is to save the few cattle I have left” (Burton 96).

Summary
The quote was extracted from a negotiation between the Don and the squatters. The Don was the Spanish landowner who owned lands and raised cattles; however his properties were lost partly because of human factors, and partly because of governmental policies. In fact, the U.S. government established some discriminative policies against immigrants to protect its local residents; in her most famous novel, “The Squatter and the Don,” Ruiz Burton explicitly employed the Don (a.k.a. Senor Alamar) and his loss to point a finger at the “no fence law”; but Burton also ironically defended her people from being discriminated. The quote summarized how the Don struggled to achieve what he deserved.

Responses
The novel consolidated the influential status of Ruiz Burton in the Mexican American Literature because her work encouraged a reflection among “the multiple groups under attack by white, capitalist corporate entities” (Burton). In addition to context, the novel is absolutely a pleasure to read because of her excellent writing technique; for instance, Burton created an illusion that each squatter was highly respect to the Don at the beginning of the discussion. The squatters showed their warmest greetings to Alamar, appreciated Alamar’s English pronunciation (it sounds interesting to see the native speakers praise an ESL speaker) and the general meeting atmosphere was harmonious. The entire setting twisted not until the Don proposed his business plan to lease his cattles and the corresponding terms.












His business plan was very generous in the sense that he proposed to share his wealth with the squatters. The act was suspectical and Mathews was the first one to express his concerns, “Pshaw! I knew there was to be something behind all that display of generosity” (Burton 96). Basically, his doubt was raised inaudibly reasonable because most humans make decision for self-interest and there had only a few, if any, altruistic persons existed in reality. The intention of the Don was exceedingly questionable provided that his properties were recently lost, and his cattles were stolen because his squatters refused to build protecting fences. Hence, the squatters possessed every reason to hold reservations for the Don and his “unsuspected hero” behavior.

It was believed that it was a defensive tactic for the Don to introduce these attractive clauses to the squatters, because some governmental policies were suppressing him. The Don was wise to make a concession to share his benefits with his potential enemies – the squatters might play a crucial role in the Don’s loss, as there was an ambiguous statement in the novel, “‘Exactly, we want to look after our cows, too,’ said the Don, laughing. All saw the fine irony of the rejoinder, and laughed heartily.” (Burton 95). I interpret the line as the Don already knew the squatters’ trick in enraging him, but he was well-prepared to fight-back. Instead of any harmful retaliation, the Don calmly chose to propose a practicable method to the squatters, in a hope to retain his most handsome profit. I think he was clever because he pierced the humans’ mind that everyone is self-interest and strive for the biggest returns.

#9 Sarah Orne Jewett - A White Heron

Bila Lee
English 48B
February 5, 2009
Journal #9 Sarah Orne Jewett

Quote
“Sylvia still watched the young man with loving admiration. She had never seen anybody so charming and delightful; the woman’s heart, asleep in the child, was vaguely thrilled by a dream of love” (Jewett 526).

Summary
Though the length of the story is comparatively short, it covers many critical themes and I am especially fascinated in discussing gender roles. Sylvia and Mrs. Tilley interdependently live in a rural woods, and they are isolated from males until the hunter emerges. As the only male character in the story (even the cow is female), his emergence sharply brings the feminist criticism – the above quotation depicts the Sylvia’s internal feeling towards the hunter that she seems like sexually attracted by him; nevertheless, the plot of the story demonstrates that female also possess the privilege to celebrate bravery, freedom and strength. So I believe one of the central themes is to challenge the genders norm.

Responses
Jewett skillfully employs Sylvia as the protagonist. Wikipedia reminds me the significance of nine-year-old for a girl that she “is close to puberty, she begins to have new kinds of feelings toward this young hunter,” (A White Heron) which strengthens the feminist criticism for the entire story. It is also important to set the story in 1886 at the time when male was always predominant over female. Sociologically speaking, gender roles is a concept for what the society expects men/women do and not to do; for instance men are expected to provide manpower whereas women are likely take some gentler tasks. Sylvia, a nine-year-old girl who is possibly an orphan, symbolizes a pure and innocent female who challenges gender roles.

Hunting is supposedly a manly activity but the young girl displays her exceptional bravery and strength to hunt. Jewitt intentionally energizes Sylvia as the female representative to create an idea that women can be as strong as men. Some boy friends of mine are scared of dogs, cockroaches, darkness and ghosts, but Sylvia is oppositely brave to kill with her bloody hands. In addition, Sylvia also expresses a sense of freedom when she follows a stranger hunter. Not only is it awkward to hang out with a strange man but it is also inappropriate to let him enter the house to live. The plot reflects Sylvia, or perhaps Jewitt, is attempting to get rid of the social restriction, and voices that female should also have the privilege to enjoy freedom and to practice what they think appropriate.

The male hunter is interested in hunting and collecting the white heron, he proposes to “give ten dollars to anybody who could show it to me” (Jewett 525). Prior to our class discussion, I did not arrive at an important point that the extravagant “ten dollars” are spent to but Sylvia for some sexual purposes. It is absolutely a sexist criticism that male always believe money and their physical power can help achieving whatever they wish. But the feminist short story asserts and makes a fight-back to deny the hunter from getting the white heron – Jewett wants to exhibit the truth that a little girl is powerful enough to turn a man down, and make him feel frustrated.

#8 Sui Sin Far - In the Land of the Free

Bila Lee
English 48B
January 30, 2009
Journal #8 Sui Sin Far

Quote
“After my son was born my mother fell sick and my wife nursed and cared for her; then my father, too, fell sick, and my wife also nursed and cared for him. For twenty moons my wife care for and nurse the old people, and when they die they bless her and my son, and I send for her to return to me” (Sui Sin Far 881).

Summary
The quote was extracted from the conversation between Hom Hing and the customs officers. I found this quote portrayed the central idea of the whole story because it precisely addressed to the maternal love of Lae Choo, whereas the reply of the officers reflected their indifference towards aliens. The story was a tearjerker one in the sense that it cruelly depicted how Lae Choo suffered when she gave birth to Little One, when Little One was held by the U.S. government, and when Little One did not recognize her at last.

Responses
Sui Sin Far, as her pseudonym suggests, was closely related to the Chinese culture. In fact, her mother was a Chinese but raised in England, and her father was a British businessman. As stated in Wikipedia, the couple met during a business trip in Shanghai (Wikipedia). Sui Sin Far was renowned for her courage to depict the sufferings of Chinese immigrants – our story “In the Land of the Free” is an eminent example to demonstrate the dark side of them.

Hom Hing and Lae Choo were attempting to build a sweet family: Hom Hing was making a fortune in the United States as a businessman, Lae Choo recently gave birth to Little One in China and they were supposed to reunite. However, all in a sudden, the happiness and hope were switched into sadness and tears because they could not provide official documents to prove the identity of Little One. The story disclosed the altruistic maternal love of Lae Choo and how the stubborn U.S. government endeavored to make the life of Chinese immigrants difficult. Lae Choo was a great mother who could sacrifice everything for her child – she suffered all the painfulness on her own, she nursed and cared her parents-in-law, and paid all her precious jewelries to the lawyer. All her sacrifices were converted into tears, tears for her beloved Little One. It was not difficult to imagine how desperate a woman felt when she was forced to depart from her biological children, and how despair when her child did not recognize her and bade, “Go ‘way, go ‘way!” (Sui Sin Far 886). Sui Sin Far skillfully to put Little One into the missionary school for 10 months, as 10 months were also the duration for a pregnancy. It deepened the wound of Lae Choo.

On another hand, the story also displayed both indifference and inefficiency of the U.S. government. The extracted quote touchingly described the situation of the Chinese family, but the customs officers coldly replied, “Very good. Nevertheless, we [have to] take your son,” (Sui Sin Far 881). It was also somehow corruptive to approve the paperwork for Little One because the young lawyer could solve the issue by some of his simple trick. Even today, I still suspect the U.S. government treats me as an alien to the country. Last September, I applied for a social security card for an on-campus employment; but I was frustrated to have notified that my birth date is shown as “01/01/1900” in the database, hence I was not allowed to apply for an official social security card until the issue was fixed (like the Little One story.) It took me three months to have that little problem fixed, and the worst was the officers in the Social Security Department were ignorant, like the customs officers in the story.

#7 Abraham Cahan - The Special One

Bila Lee
English 48B
January 29, 2009
Journal #7 Abraham Cahan

Quote
“But what was to be done with father’s opposition? Asriel Stroon had never been the man to yield, and now that he grew more devout every day, her case seemed hopeless. But then Flora was her father’s daughter, and when she took a resolve she could not imagine herself otherwise than carrying it out, sooner or later” (Cahan 765).

Summary
The quote was found in the renowned story, “The Imported Bridegroom.” It was narrated by Flora the protagonist to express the limitation to realize her Americanized dream. She was raised in an affluent yet traditional family. Her father desired a “God-fearing business man and no fellow deep in Gentile lore and shaving his beard” (Cahan 764) as the groom; however Flora had a burning desire to marry a Jewish doctor. It was absolutely ambivalent for Flora to satisfy her father or to satisfy herself.












Responses
Flora was raised in a wealthy family, which differentiated her from ordinary Jewish girls. For example, she read fictions that were written by some literary giants whereas other girls read some “cheap reprints of popular books” (Cahan 764). Flora’s home was also comparatively luxurious. The setting was skillfully depicted to demonstrate how Flora was different from her peers, and hence left a foreshadowing to her unique Americanized dream. She was special because she wanted to break the norm to marry a doctor; she was indifferent to common customs and desired such an uncommon match. However, her successful father was the biggest obstacle to her rebellion.

Being an only child always has unlimited privileges; but he/she was also always put excessive expectation and pressures by his/her parents. For example, an ideal groom was designated by Arisel and Flora was highly expected to marry the ideal Mr. Right; another example was the anniversary of her grandfather’s death. Flora expressed a sense of impatience to the procedure in English, instead of her native Yiddish. She further persuaded her father not to sing the traditional songs – though the suggestion was out of a health concern, it reflected Flora’s indifference to some deadly traditions. In fact, her preference to speak in English was a sign to indicate she placed an Americanized living style at a higher position. She was like the “Hester Street” video clip we watched that both the characters and Flora behaved in an Americanized way – spoke in an Americanized style, and shouted “Welcome to America” (Youtube) as if they were the representatives of the United States. They behaved in such a way to show they had assimilated to the American mainstream.

As for Flora, it was an opportunity cost issue to choose to be either a special one or an obedient sheep. To be a special one, she would be considered a rebellist but at risk of being exiled by her wealthy father that she had to sacrifice her current materialistic life. In the ancient Chinese history, some emperors also experienced the dilemma to pick either the throne or a beautiful woman – as economics concept suggests that limited resources cannot completely fulfill humans’ unlimited desires.

At last, Flora chose to be a special one simply because she valued the Americanized dream at a higher position.

#6 Zitkala Sa - Big Red Apples...Big Uncle Sam

Bila Lee
English 48B
January 23, 2009
Journal #6 Zitkala Sa

Quote
“Don’t believe a word they say. Their words are sweet, but, my child, their deeds are bitter. You will cry for me, but they will not even soothe you. Stay with me, my little one! Your brother Dawee says that going East, away from your mother, is too hard an experience for his baby sister” (Zitkala Sa 1112).

Summary
The quote was found in the chapter, “VII. The Big Red Apples,” in the autobiography titled, “Impressions of an Indian Childhood.” Zitkala Sa’s mother expressed her motherly love towards Zitkala by telling her how bad the palefaces were. Influenced by the great stories told by her best friend Judewin, Zitkala would like to explore herself to the East and see the city of Big Red Apples, and her opportunity arrived when the missionaries inquired if they could bring Zitkala. Zitkala was excited about the journey; but her mother, who possessed a richer life experience, was hesitated with reservations about the plan. She was afraid Zitkala would be hurt by the white people.

Responses
Wikipedia users describe young Zitkala Sa as a “free and innocent young girl” (Wikipedia). In her autobiography, “Impressions of an Indian Childhood”, it was literally a description of a loveable girl. For instance, she could force some elderly people to shared some legendary stories by saying, “Ask them to tell an Iktomi story, mother” (Zitkala Sa 1109), and the elderly were not hardhearted to turn her request down. It seemed like her mother would do everything to meet her wish. However, her mother was hesitated if she should unconditionally actualize her daughter’s dream to visit the East. Though the seriousness between story-telling in a dinner and an individual journey for a seven-year-old girl were distinctly different, I could see her mother’s hesitation and reservation were originated by her love to Zitkala.

In the beginning of the autobiography, Zitkala already depicted a foreshadowing to describe her mother’s poor impression against the paleface. “If the paleface does not take away from us the river we drink,” her mother told little Zitkala. It was strange for a mother-and-daughter conversation to go in such negative way, because I presume every mother would draw a peaceful, wonderful and beautiful picture about the world to their kids, as if they were the protagonists of a fairy tale. I am not doubting the reality of this conversation, but I think her mother was right in the sense that Zitkala did finally contribute a lot to her tribe by dealing with the bad paleface. In fact, her mother was like a fortune teller to address the white people to her girls. For example, the white interpreter answered Zitkala, “Yes, little girl, the nice red apples are for those who pick them; and you have a ride on the iron horse if you go with these good people” (Zitkala 1112). His sweet words were intentionally served to attract Zitkala and Zitkala did really cry for her mother because of her experience in the East.

As an international student, I experienced the feelings when I had to depart from my family. Though I left at an age much older than Zitkala, I also possessed a complicated feeling. On one hand, I was excited to explore myself to the American culture, I was also enthusiastic about my studies at Foothill College; but on another hand, I was reluctant to leave my home because I was not mentally ready to overcome those unexpected challenges on my own. Until now, I still don’t know how my parents felt two years ago – it was possible that they shared the same idea as Ziktala’s mother that they didn’t really want me to travel to the Big Uncle Sam.

#5 Sarah Winnemucca - The Passion of Thocmetony

Bila Lee
English 48B
January 22, 2009
Journal #5 Sarah Winnemucca

Quote
“I was once buried alive; but my second burial shall be for ever, where no father or mother will come and dig me up. It shall not be with throbbing heart that I shall listen for coming footsteps. I shall be in the sweet rest of peace, - I, the chieftain’s weary daughter” (Winnemucca 505).

Summary
The quote was narrated by Sarah Winnemucca when she was rescued by her parents. Sarah and her cousins were buried alive to protect themselves against the white people, whom Sarah’s grandfather loved so deeply. There was a weird story that the white people “were killing everybody and eating them” (Winnemucca 504), thus Sarah’s mother buried Sarah and her cousins as a means to avoid being killed and eaten. You can hardly imagine the time of being buried alive, but you can easily imagine how desperate Sarah felt when she was buried alive. Fortunately, her parents finally succeeded in digging her out of the living hell; however, the white people were undeniably “cruel children” (Winnemucca 503) and, to an extent, were sinful to hurt other mankind.

Responses
Sarah Winnemucca once made a comment, “I am a shell flower, who could be as strong or as beautiful as me” (Wikipedia). Well, it was subjective to judge if a person was beautiful or ugly, but her colorful life experience and fruitful resume were two strong evident to demonstrate her strengths and contributions to American Indians. In her renowned autobiography, “Life among the Piutes,” Sarah described her childhood and shared some traditional stories of her people. Although I am not a Christian, I had studied in Christian schools for more than 10 years in Hong Kong, and I found those traditional stories (especially the “lost white brother”) shared some obvious similarities with the biblical stories.

“In the beginning of the world there were only four, two girls and two boys” (Winnemucca 503) was like the story of Adam, Eva and the Garden of Eden. In the beginning of the world, the God created a girl and a boy, and he loved both Adam and Eva so deeply that he provided almost everything to them. Adam and Eva were supposed living happily in such a paradise. However everything changed when they failed to refuse temptation offered by the snake and ate the apples – it was a sin and resulted in a huge punishment. Similarly, the white couple and the black couple in the “lost white brother” story also failed to refuse the temptation to dominate over each other, they fought and physically hurt their mates. Finally, they received a punishment from Sarah’s grandfather to “depart from each other” and they were titled as “cruel children” (Winnemucca 503) because of their sins.

Furthermore, I interpret Sarah’s narration “I was once buried alive; but my second burial shall be for ever” (Winnemucca 505) as a sacrifice to redeem the sins of her white fellows. It sounded like Jesus Christ who sacrificed himself on a cross to redeem the sins of all mankind. Being buried alive was absolutely a torture to a human – no light but only darkness, no food but only starvation, no water but only dehydration, and it was a complete hopeless environment that Sarah and her cousins did not know what the real world was like and how they would be treated. “I was once buried alive” implied she hoped her suffering would bring changes to American Indians; and “but my second burial shall be for ever” implied she would eternally die if she was threatened by the white people again.

Sarah dreamed her “sacrifice”, or her passion, might bring some returns to her people.

#4 W.E.B. Du Bois - Same Brotherly Root

Bila Lee
English 48B
January 16, 2009
Journal #4 W.E.B. Du Bois

Quote
“Among his own people, however, Mr. Washington has encountered the strongest and most lasting opposition, amounting at times to bitterness, and even today continuing strong and insistent even though largely silenced in outward expression by the public opinion of the nation” (Du Bois 903).

Summary
The quote was narrated by W.E.B. Du Bois to voice his opposite viewpoint against Booker T. Washington. After his inspiring speech at the Atlantic Exposition, Washington gained massive popularity for his role as “a compromiser between the South, the North, and the Negro” (Du Bois 905). He was the most popular colored person, perhaps also the most controversial American, in the early 1900s. However, Du Bois did not share the same idea with Washington in several areas like civil rights and education. As a result, Du Bois decided to voice his personal opinions in “The Soul of Black Folk.”

Responses
In his compilation titled, “The Souls of Black Folk,” W.E.B. Du Bois criticized the over-praising on Booker T. Washington. Du Bois pointed a finger at Washington for his surrender on racial respect, and stated clearly that his fame in the black community was a false impression since the colored fellows were brainwashed by the overwhelming media. In fact, the diametrical opposition between the two wise men was depicted by Dudley Randall’s poem titled, “Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois.” In the poem, Randall ironically repeated “’It seems to me,’ said Booker T.” and “’I don’t agree,’ said W.E.B.” (Randall). It was unbelievably true that Du Bois attempted to overthrow all the successes which Washington had achieved.

Du Bois blamed Washington as if Washington admitted the civil inferiority for the Negro as a compromise. For example, Du Bois believed the best way to upgrade colored people was through high education (I guess he referred to legal studies or any branch that is more academical), instead of industrial education. He might think industrial education did not help improving the social status of the Negro but improving their technical skills to work as slaves. In addition, Du Bois also believed all mankind should possess the rights to vote, and to celebrate an equal political power. He named aplenty authorities to support voting rights and political power are two universal wishes among the colored community, and indirectly demonstrated his disappointment against Booker Washington who did nothing to realize the dream of his race.

To me, the dispute between them was both remarkable and miserable. It was remarkable in the sense that both intelligent scholars had unquestioned contributions to the race movement. Washington was the one who represented the colored group to negotiate with the whites and gained a huge respect; likewise, Du Bois was the first one who broke the innate obstacle to obtain a doctoral degree at one of the finest universities in the world. The purpose of their debate was undoubtedly to improve the living conditions of the Negro. However, I was deeply aspired when we concluded the situation as, “it sound like some Democratic politicians are attacking Barack Obama.” The mini civil war forced me to recall a famous Chinese History story in the history of Three Kingdoms: “the poem in seven steps.” The elder brother (let’s call him Cao Pei) was ambitious to be the Emperor while the little brother (let’s call him Cao Chik) was indulged in Literature with no political ambition. However, Pei still decided to kill Chik to protect himself and ready to kill Chik unless he composed a quality poem in seven steps. Chik composed the following famous poem, “We are sprouted from the same brotherly root, why are you so eagerly harming me?” (Apologize for my poor translation lol)

#3 Booker T. Washington - Never Judge A Book By Its Cover

Bila Lee
English 48B
January 15, 2009
Journal #3 Booker T. Washington

Quote
“I used to envy the white boy who had no obstacles placed in the way of his becoming a Congressman, Governor, Bishop, or President by reason of the accident of his birth or race” (Washington 679).

Summary
The quote was narrated by Booker T. Washington in his autobiography titled, “From Up from Slavery” (Note: Chapter II). In the Civil War period, colored people were slaves for the privileged whites, and this injustice phenomenon was observed until Lincoln freed the slaves. Thereafter, Booker T. Washington received proper education and contributed a lot to the African American society in terms of inspiring speeches and altruistic commitment. He was considered the most influential figure of race relations in the United States (Baym 663) in his time; however, he could not deny the fact that colored people were still facing numerous obstacles, solely because of their genes.

Responses
Booker T. Washington, in his inspiring autography, “From Up from Slavery,” completely disclosed how colored people were mentally tortured during the Civil War period. They worked to serve the whites at the expense of their [the colored people] normal lives. For example, Washington’s stepfather was at home only once a year; and later when the family moved to Malden, he did not allow Booker Washington to attend regular day school because the stepfather “could not spare [Booker] from work” (Washington 676). Little talented Washington failed to hide his disappointment that his mother arranged a night schedule for him to receive education – and I think the moving the clock hands incident was interesting enough to display his eagerness to learn and his daring combined with superior judgment.

In fact, Washington had devoted his life to education. As stated in Wikipedia, “Washington believed that education was a crucial key to African American citizens rising within the social and economic structure of the United States” (Wikipedia), thus he made every endeavor to nurture the next generation as a teacher, and build Tuskegee Institute as the Principal. He dreamed to supply the best educational resources to colored people to equip their knowledge, to create their civil mind and to equalize them to the privileged whites. Booker Washington was literally a hero to the black society – not only did his speech delivered in the Atlantic Exposition energize the Negro but also impress the whites, the power elites and two American Presidents. Nevertheless, how many colored people could achieve what Mr. Booker T. Washington had accomplished?

According to our text, the public as well as the media seemed to be deeply inspired by Washington; but, ironically, the Jim Crow Day, the Civil Rights movement and segregation schools were still existed in the American History. The whites turned a deaf ear, or simply in one ear and out the other, to Washington’s appeal basically because they were uncivilized and shallow that they judged a book simply by its cover.

Fortunately, the colored glasses against colored people are gradually torn off today. In fact, more and more black people are playing an influential role in our society – some are successful billionaires, popular pop stars, energetic athletes, wise Congressmen or Governors, mighty Bishops...and one of them will be Mr. President next Tuesday!

I think the contributions of all colored people suffered in the old days, Booker T. Washington, Martin Luther King Jr., and not to mention Barack Obama are equally important to create a new page for human history.

#2 Charlotte Perkins Gilman - Pride and Prejudice

Bila Lee
English 48B
January 9, 2009
Journal #2 Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Quote
“John is a physician, and perhaps – (I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind) – perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster” (Gilman 808).

Summary
The quote was a narration found in the beginning of “The Yellow Wall-paper.” The narrator, whose name was not known, suffered from a nervous depression. Her husband John and her brother were both physicians, and they recommended the best prescription to deal with the disorder was an isolation from the outer world – no writing, no thinking and no friends. As a professional writer with strong “imaginative power and habit of story-making” (Gilman 811), it is quite a mission impossible for the narrator not to think. The initiative to stay in the haunted house worsened her condition, and she did not dare to express her mind to John. Therefore the narrator complaint her husband was one of the biggest obstacles for her recovery.

Responses
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, in her controversial short story, “The Yellow Wall-paper,” depicts the emotional fluctuation of a lady who got a nervous depression in form of journals. Gilman uses first-person narration to describe both the fluctuation and frustration of the protagonist, which serves to create a better understanding of the story. For example, we knew the relationship between the couple was flawed, “John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage” (Gilman 808). It ironically illustrated the fact that the narrator was scared of her husband, and on another hand, as stated in Wikipedia, John did not trust his wife by “treating her like a powerless patient” (Wikipedia). Through reading the narrator’s personal journals, we could easily address her eagerness and hunger of critical thinking, and foreshadowed the imagination of creeping women.

Having a physician husband and a physician brother is supposedly a privilege because mutually trust and reliability are essential to both doctor and patient. The narrator disliked her bedroom with awkward yellow wall-paper and disgusting yellow smell, and her request to move to another room was unexplainably rejected. Readers realize it was John’s intension to keep track of his wife, but the poor narrator might interpret in an alternative way that her husband wanted to control everything, which could worsen her health condition. Yes, John and other physicians intended to control the narrator by prohibiting her from doing whatever she desired to do, from meeting whoever she desired to meet – what the narrator should do was to obey as if she were a robot.

It was literally a real life Pride and Prejudice between the couple. John was somehow arrogant because of his highly standard occupation; he believed his professional knowledge was the only solution to cure the temporary nervous depression, or in his diagnosis, “a slight hysterical tendency” (Gilman 808). On the other hand, the narrator possessed a prejudice attitude towards her husband; she disagreed with John and his methodology and did not agree rest cure would work. She even believed “John is a physician, and perhaps – (I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind) – perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster” (Gilman 808).

I had a similar experience in junior high school. I was nervous in Biology class because I was afraid of my Biology teacher. He was talented and energetic, and most students were fond of him. Nevertheless, he once commented my weaknesses after a test that made me feel ashamed – since then, I did not do well in his class because a sense of pride and prejudice existed between us.