May's Character

In "the Age of Innocence" the author, Wharton portraits May Welland as a woman who presents innocence and purity and follows the strict rules of society consistently. In one scene of this book she is shown as a chameleon who does not 'change' her mind but tell the truth and is clear for the first time (in the book). On page 110-111 she presents a strong woman who wants to talk abou the truth "she seemed to grow in womanly stature and dignity" ..... "Or even if it's true: why shouldn't we speak of it"

Do you think that May Welland has a strong character or is she more of a conformist? And what would happen when she finds out that there is something between Archer and her cousin?

Age of Innocence

In class on tuesday, we talked about how Age of Innocence is a book that makes fun of society's elites and exposes the flaws of their lives. We see modern versions of age of innocence all the time, such as gossip girl. why do you think that this type of story has been, and still is, so appealing to our culture?

Whitman today

A lot of our posts have been analyzing how the ideas of Whitman or the American Romantics in general are viewed in our culture. The society that Whitman lived in considered his work shocking and improper, but in our society we admire originality and we are most interested in the things that shock us. If Leaves of Grass were published today how would our reactions be different from those of the people in Whitman's time, and how have our attitudes towards his ideas changed? What do you consider the most shocking, weird, or interesting theme that Whitman's style embodies?

Equality

In 'Song of Myself' Whitman talks about the idea of what we normally think of opposites. He basically dismisses the idea of opposites and says that we are all the same. Does this hold any truth, and how does it apply today?

Modern Day Romanticism

Both American and British romantics talked about their love of nature, the idea of anti-consumerism, desire to escape from conformity and a love of childhood and innocence. Today, we are constantly bombarded with advertisements to buy products that make us more beautiful and more connected through technology. there is a desire and glamorization of growing up, turning 18 and being an adult. In a culture like this, do you think there are any more true romantics?

Whitman can be seen as self centered (quote from Emerson) with his writing as well as self less, he is said to be the poet of the common people. Based on what we have read and talked about in class do you think Whitman is more self centered or self less?

Self Reliance

In Emerson's, "Self- Reliance" he talks about how we should not care about slavery because it does not directly involve us. Then he says that we should not give to the poor becausedo not belong to them. Also he mentions how even the smallest ideas can be great ideas and how one should think for himself. Does our society think these ideas today??

Hester Prynne & Arthur Dimmesdale

Even though both Hester and Mr.Dimmesdale lived their lives trying to repent for their sin and both even admitted to it publicly, they still were not left to be happy or together in the afterlife. They remained separated as we find out when the position of their graves are described. Why do you think this happens? Are they just used to reiterate the values of the Puritans and their ideas of predestination, or is it used to effect the reader and our emotions? What do you think?

Hester & The Scarlet Letter

So, we all know that Hester was forced to confess her sin due to her visual pregnant stomach and obvious birth of Pearl. What if Hester did not have those visual representations? Would she have confessed to her adultery? How would this change the book? Would this change the way we thought of Hester as a person & how she compares to Dimmesdale?

Scarlet Letter

In the Scarlet Letter, sin is a recurring theme; if you are a sinner the book gives us a message that your sin should be on public display. For example, by making Hester wear the A on her chest for everyone to see she constantly subjected to the judgment of those around her. Also, she is constantly used as an example of a sinner in sermons. To me it seems that they are just making her wear the A to humiliate her, which I think is useless because Puritans believed that life is predestined, including whether they end up in heaven or hell. Why use her as an example when her life is predestined?

Benito Cereno 10/20/2011

Today was one of our final class discussions about Benito Cereno. Our main focus today was to separate the three themes found in the short story. The theme that stuck out the most to me was the theme of racism. I believe Delano could not see the truth behind revolt by the Negroes because his racism got in the way. His mindset on how "Negro slaves could never overpower those who were their white owners" kept him from seeking the truth. In your opinion, what was the most important theme to why Delano could not catch onto the Negro revolt?

Washington Irving and Content vs. Bradstreet/Wheatley and Social Status

Today in class we talked about Rip Van Winkle, specifically the Preface by Washington Irving. We talked about why the writing was different from other writings of his time, along with how it carried some traits of a typical fictional story from the early 19th century. After discussing the uniwue characteristics of this story, and Washington Irving in general, I think that it would be fair to say that the type of writing done by Washington Irving is just as innovative of that of Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley. In the late 17th century, Anne Bradstreet was making her mark as one of the first female writers of her time, beginning her own revolution for the community of aspiring women writers by beginning to publish her work. In the late 18th century, Phillis Wheatley was being discovered as a rare enslaved writer, showing that even black, women slaves can create literature. Washington Irving made his grand appearance by the content of his writing, not by his identity. He was a typical American male, but unlike Bradstreet and Wheatley, the surprise in his writing was the contact that nobody before him would ever dare to write. His writing took more of a risk than any fictional writer before him. He wrote exactly whatever story was on his mind, and not just a story that would be acceptable to his audience. Is this innovative form writing regarding content (the writing involving one's own, creative ideas, no matter how insulting or offensive to another group of people) as important as the innovation of Bradstreet and Wheatley (the focus on the innovation of the author and their social status rather than content)? Or do you believe that content is always changing, but new social classes birthing literary innovators is a more significant change?

Benito Cereno

From reading the first few pages of Benito Cereno, I noticed that the personalities of Captain Delano and Captain Cereno are practically opposites. But most of what we know about Cereno is perceived from Delano's perspective. Do you think this alters the way we see Cereno, either by making him seem "better" than he is becuase Delano sees everyone in the best possible light, or making him seem "worse" than he is becuase it makes us see how much his personality contrasts wtih Delano's?

Rip Van Winkle

When i first read Rip Van Winkle, i just thought it was a interesting short story. After talking about it in class and analyzing it, i began to pick up on lots of hidden meanings and 'sacred cows' in the story. I started to wonder how it was recieved at the time it was written and if readers also saw these hidden meanings. was the story well recieved? i was wondering what everyone's thoughts were...

To the Right Honorable William, Earl of Dartmouth

At the end of the third stanza Wheatley writes, "Such, such my case. And can I then but pray others may never feel tyrannic sway?" Originally when I was looking at this in class I didn't notice the question mark, but that changes up the whole meaning of the verse, at least for me. It's almost like she is questioning herself and her beliefs in freedom. She is trying to help people obtain freedom who stole hers from her, and caused tyranny on her and her family. Also, if they do obtain freedom she won't, nor will she be treated any differently. Do you think that she should still try to help them obtain freedom? Why or why not.

American Literature CLOG: Crèvecoeur vs. Winthrop

American Literature CLOG: Crèvecoeur vs. Winthrop: Crèvecoeur and Winthrop clearly have very different views of the New World, and of what distinguishes it from Europe. However, in my opinion Crevecouer is looking for opportunities for the settlers in the new country. He also describes that America is an melting pot of people who came from Europe and Africa etc. Futhermore his vision is closer to the way the Americans think of themselves now because America have a lot of people from all over the world and it began in the 17th century when English, Dutch, Spanisch, German, Swedish,...people came abroad to feel as freemen and get a uncomplicated lifestyle.

Crèvecoeur vs. Winthrop

Crèvecoeur and Winthrop clearly have very different views of the New World, and of what distinguishes it from Europe.  However, I'd argue that both of their visions of America/Americans are still alive in our time/our culture.  So, I'm curious:  which vision do you think is closer to the way we think of ourselves now and how so/why?

Anne Bradsreet and Feminism

Today in class we discussed Anne Bradstreet and feminism. While we were able to talk about how men believed that Bradstreet's writing ability was rare for women, or how Bradstreet was an exception to women writers, and was the only woman who could write in a style and at a level that only men displayed in the 17th century, I feel like we didn't pay attention the fact that Anne could have been starting a new view of women her own. Reading the first two pages of the prologue, the main idea that was coming from the class was that the author believed that Bradstreet was an excellent writer, but she was the only woman that had that ability, and it shouldn't have been assumed that any other woman could write at he level. When I read the first two pages, I thought that the author was trying to get across the fact that maybe there are women who can write just as well as men, and not just Bradstreet. I believe that he was explaining that the obvious writer with talent that was superior to most men was Bradstreet, but that men should also keep an open mind and begin to accept what women had to write. If a piece of literature is interesting and enjoyable to a man, he should accept that work whether it was written by a man or woman. The author, I thought, was only using an example of an exceptional woman writer. Bradstreet, in my opinion, was at the beginning of starting a revolution for women, by showing that woman, and herself, have goals, ideas, and the capability to be an excellent writer. In Bradstreet's "The Author to Her Book", you are able to get and idea of how Bradstreet was never completely satisfied with her writing, since her ideas were always growing and he goals were always becoming more of a challenge. In conclusion, I think that the prologue's first two pages was not saying that Bradstreet was an exception, but that she was an example, and that this could have been a start to feminism in the 17th century, not just a society that looked at Bradstreet as the only acceptable woman writer. Do you the society was becoming more feminist, or do you thin that Bradstreet was just an exception? Do you think other men had faith that since Bradstreet had the talent to write well there could possibly other women who could write well?

John Winthrop

Yesterday in class we dissussed about John Winthrop's, "Modell of Christian Charity", and i was thinking are there any similarites and/or differences between his work and the early american poams we read? I found that in "The Author to Her Book", the author did not mention the the Christan God whish I thought was unusal becuase it was a puritain author. Did you guys find any differences and/or similarites??

Christopher Columbus

So before reading Columbus's letter to Luis de Santangel, I would have NEVER thought of Columbus's discovery to be anything but positive. However, after doing the activity assigned in class, I got a new perspective on Columbus's ways of colonizing and 'discovering' the Americas. The way that Columbus just assumed he could take over the Natives, because they were so weak, really shocked me. He assumed they wanted to leave their own lifestyles and convert to Christianity, becoming just another carbon copy of those in Spain. Could you imagine if someone stormed into your life (who seemed very friendly and giving) and took advantage of you? What if your life and the way you lived was completely changed because someone else took your weakness as a chance to convert you to something you might not want to become?

A Block- Post Lady Gaga

Ms. Stuart, I really really enjoy theorizing on modern day advertisements, trends, and common sense. Even though some people dread talking about theory (John Michael, HAHA), I think its truly interesting and somewhat important to exploring where all of these ideas come from.

So I know that we discussed Lady Gaga's impacts on society and theorized on her image, but what other modern day things could we theorize about?

An idea that I'd love to theorize about is how celebrities create this image about what it means to be beautiful. Society sees the typical beauty as a skinny figure, so where did this come from? I, however, think the super skinny figure to some girls makes them unattractive. Who created this specific image to beauty? Who is to judge what is beautiful and what is not? This all leads to the question of 'What is beauty'?

What do you guys think?

Last Clog Topic: Summarizing American Literature, Preparation for Memoir.

I personally thought that there was a consistent theme throughout American Lit class which is resistance. Emerson's essay about non-conformity, Thoreau's Walden both insist individual's independence from society. Beat Generation tried to go against society and chose drugs, sex, and alcohol as methods to do this. Sylvia Plath and Emily Dickinson isolated themselves from society and mentioned death as a total relief from the world. And I thought these all connect to common theme of resisting against society. What kind of pattern did you find in American Literature?, what did you relate to the most?

Debouis

Debouis referred to the double consciousness of black people in "The Souls of Black Folks". How does his revelation about this relate to Romanticism? And with the way that he defines his double consciousness, do you think his optimism about over coming it seem possible?

What are the poetic merits of T.S. Elliot's Wasteland?

T.S. Elliot's Wasteland is a poetic work no matter how confusing and jumbled it is. It is also included in the Norton which says that the poem benefits literature. What are the poetic merits of Elliot's Wasteland?

Is Death of a Salesman Realist or Modernist?

While Death of a Salesman does not fall into the realm of Realist or Modernist writing, it obviously is influenced by both literary movements. Which style, in your opinion, influences the play predominately?

Gatsby vs. Van der Luydens / vs. Beauforts

Gatsby rarely shows himself at his own parties, similar to how the Van der Luydens rarely showed themselves in the New York society. Do you think, as Ellen depicted to Newland, that both of these people are so popular because of this? Also, if Gatsby is the new money, how does he relate to the Beauforts? Do people like him, unlike how the people of New York disliked the Beauforts?

Great Gatsby Nintendo Game

http://www.readymade.com/blog/tech/2011/02/16/the_great_gatsby_nintendo_game_greatest_thing_ever

Extra credit to anyone who plays this and writes me a review of it, including how it compares to the novel. You must include a photo of you playing it so I know you really did.

Why is Gatsby so Great?

After reading the first chapter of The Great Gatsby, what are your predictions for who Gatsby is, what he means to both Daisy and Nick, and what makes him great?

Naturalism in Age of Innocence

Today in class we did an In-class Essay and one question talked about how the Age of Innocence could be related to Naturalism since it deals with fate. Do you think that this book could be related to Naturalism? We talked about it in class as though Newland chooses to leave it to fate. Is that naturalistic?

Influence of Age of Innocence

Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton is one of the highliest-regarded books in history. Her unique writing style pioneered and explored new possibilities of futuristic literature. That being said, in what ways has Age of Innocence influenced modern writing?

Age of Innocence

There has been a general agreement in our class that Age of Innocence is going to be boring. I always find that connecting books like that to today's world makes them much more interesting. So: How is culture today similar to/ different from the culture Wharton describes? What would you like/ dislike about living in Wharton's world, in comparison to ours?

What aspects of realism does our generation find boring? Why? What aspects of realism has our culture embraced? Give examples.

What movies can be considered a work of realism and what qualifies them to be this?

With us learning about realism, one cannot help but to point out numerous examples of realism in movies. What movies could be considered a work of realism and what qualifies them to be this?

Keep in mind the qualifications/characteristics of realism
Ex. : "American Splendor" is about a boring, average guy from the middle class. The story is told from his point of view and his perspectives of daily life.