Reflections of the Soul

It is a common saying among authors that writing does not take any effort whatsoever; one simply sits down with a pen and paper and opens a vein. The blood that stains these pages is filled with all of the writer, their faults and strengths, their aspirations and fears, their truths and prejudices. Nothing is left out of this process, most especially the trials and tribulations that makes up the character of the novelist. In this respect, fiction writing of any kind takes on more truth than the author may have intended.

Such is the case of nineteenth century writer Catherin Chopin. Kate widely used the themes of tragedy and irony in her stories to exemplify her view of the world. Her stories not only accurately described the lives of nineteenth century white women, but also hinted towards her own heart wrenching experiences and grievous past. She wrote of the only world she has ever known, one filled only with regret and heartbreak, hopelessness and despair. The events in her life has probably led her to the assumption that true happiness and contentment were the things of the fairytales she was so fond of, meant to be enjoyed only by the young and naïve until the callousness of reality sets in. This ideal is reflected in her writing, where the fleeting blissful movements in her characters’ tales are inevitably overshadowed by the usually fatal disappointments.

Her pessimistic views on life, however, is what gives her distinction from the other romantic writers of this time. Marriages and life in general for women at the time were oftentimes plagued by hardships and sorrow, more often ending in anguish and grief than in the unbridled bliss that matrimony promised. Her essays and writings touched upon on the changing institution of marriage, shedding light on the fragility of the heart and the disastrous consequences it can have for both parties. She intertwined her own despair in the lives of her character to send messages like these home, so that they might have a positive impact on her readers.

The characterization and backgrounds of her heroines likewise mirror their esteemed author. In both Desiree’s Baby and Story of an Hour, the women are from well-to-do or middle class families, like the author. Both were strong, intelligent women, much like Ms. Chopin. She seemed to model their experiences with calamity and heartbreak after her own, while also installing her own strengths and ideal characteristics in their beings. Her characters were only metaphors for the disappointments and tragedies experienced in her life, as well as so many others around the nation.

Even the fate of Chopin, who’s characters’ deaths were always premature and tragic, seemed mirrored in her writing. She died at the age of fifty-four from a brain hemorrhage, two days after making an appearance at the famous St. Louis World's Fair. The fact that none of her heroines lived to overcome the obstacles of their short lives was far from coincidental. Like her characters, Kate could not escape the shadow of tragedy that seemed to surround her like a cloak. Kate’s stories were elegantly simplistic, hauntingly vivid, and, as it would turn out, tragically prophetic.

Ain't I a Woman Comparison

If one were to read both the original and edited version of Sojourner Truth’s Ain’t I a Woman, they would notice a stark difference in both the language and styles employed for each of them. The edited version is not only more grammatically correct than it’s predecessor, it shows more refinement and restraint as far as diction goes. The language is not as passionate or primitive as before, but this change was made for a reason. One must understand that issues such as feminism and slavery were tough pills to swallow for mainstream America in the mid nineteenth century, even if it were argued by the most educate and sensible white man among them. Changing the diction in Ain’t I A Woman just coated that pill in sugar and spices, making it all the more appealing and easier to swallow for its target audience, Caucasians. It did not take away Miss Truth’s voice and messages like most would argue, but instead let that voice be heard to a wider audience, one that would have a much better influence over the issues she was championing than her fellow Blacks. These changes, it could be argued, were necessary in impacting a group who might not have understood or connecting with the message else wise, much like the language of Shakespeare would be edited and altered to better suit our own generation. In any piece, the diction could be as simplistic and ‘real’ as you wish it to be, but if its messages.

I'm too tired to come up with something witty

In her piece,Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs concentrates on the abomination of slavery as a whole, but more specifically on it’s affect on women of all colors. Haled as a superb example of early feminist literature, and rightly so in my opinion, this autobiographical work illustrates the harshness and often cruelties of life as a piece of merchandise, only as good as the amount of crops they can harvest and lustful pleasure they can bring. From what I’ve gathered by reading the passages provided, she seems to have an intense urge to not only expose these basic truths to the whole of the world, she aims to encourage other women, regardless of color, to speak out about their own knowledge and experiences with such atrocities. Harriet uses simple yet eloquent diction in her piece, insuring that the reader is both comprehending her message and being captivated by its fluency, both of which she succeeds tremendously at. She utilizes tact when addressing potentially controversial and offensive subject, treading lightly but confidently on the issues of ‘feminine purity’ (which the biography in the beginning of this packet touches upon briefly) and its applicability to the ‘sub-human’ negro women, the destruction of family ties when confronted with slavery, and the lack of integrity and morality that exists in a relationship between the owner and it’s property.

Frederick Douglass, though no less effective in his messages and writing abilities, chose a much different approach to his piece, Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Where Jacobs used the devices of pathos and flowing diction, Douglass instead employed bluntness and imagery as his weapons of choice. Lines such as ’he commenced to lay on the heavy cowskin, and soon the warm, red blood (amid heart-rending shrieks from her, and horrid oaths from him) came dripping to the floor’ invoke vivid and disturbing images from the reader, leaving little room to interpret this narratives purpose. He, too, challenged the horrors of slavery and the devastating effect they have on its participants, though concentrating his focus on another group. Mulattos, he cited, had it worse than perhaps any other type of slave, for they suffer the intense hatred of their mistresses, are often sold by there own fathers, and are permanently separated from their mothers. He also addresses issues of human cruelties, abuses of power by an oppressor, and the utter powerlessness that must have been felt amongst the oppressed. He is not tentative in his approach as one would expect from a fugitive slave in this era, but is direct and explicit in his recollection of prior events. He holds absolutely nothing back, allowing his audience to feel the full brunt of his message and empathize with him on a level that would not have been possible, had he chosen to tell the watered-down version of things.

Both narratives are equally fascinating and effective, both portraying a unique perspective of life as a slave. These memoirs give us a glimpse into the horrors of dehumanization and the effects it has on the mind and soul, as told by the often kicked ’lions’ of history. They offer us a side of a story rarely told, giving a voice to the millions who were never given one, to those who were permanently silenced in life. Together, they encompass issues that have long since ceased in their relevancy, as well as those that are still very much an issue today. Both offer valuable lessons in terms of the capacity for human brutality, lessons which the younger generation of today would still benefit greatly to learn.

Questions

1) Caucasian authors vouch for their African-American counterparts not only to benefit themselves, but to further a message they themselves believe in. The vast majority of these authors were abolitionists and slave sympathizers, who, I’m sure, made it their own personal goal to assist in the discontinuance of slavery in any way they could. Wendell Phillips and Lydia Maria Child were both American abolitionists and Native American rights activists, adamant in the progression of humanity and justice.

2) These Caucasians assist in the establishment of ethos in two ways. The first would be to gather another perspective on such an issue, making sure that the piece does not lopsidedly favor one race over the other. The other, more important purpose for their input is to settle the concerns of the whites, who may not be entirely comfortable reading a piece by their inferior. Another white assuring them that the accounts in the narrative are indeed true and safe for their delicate eyes to read helps to quell these fears.

3) The primary audience at the time of publication would, of course, be Caucasians. Black literacy rates in the times before the civil war were dismal at best, atrocious at worst. As the majority of the population of blacks were slaves, and it was illegal in most southern states to teach a slave how to read, these slave narrative authors obviously couldn’t count on their peers as an audience. Besides, they wielded little, if any, power to change the issues they were addressing. Liberal whites were targeted because they held the key to the slaves’ freedoms in their hands; they were the ones who needed influencing, who could decide the fate of each and every slave narrative author and their relatives.

Blast from the Past

(From Swing Low, Sweet Chariot)

Tell Ole Massa to let me be
Coming for to carry me home
‘Cause in these angels' arms I’m free
Coming for to carry me home

I don't think that this lyric changes either the effect or the meaning of the traditional spiritual, but rather keeps the optimistic view and (so-called) encoded meanings. This verse can mean that upon the death of the body, the soul becomes free in heaven; it can also be a reference to the workers of the underground railroad (the 'angels), and their guidance to freedom up north.

Confounding Contradictions

Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those others that have been tried from time to time.- Winston Churchill

Upon starting this paper, I had already decided wholeheartedly which side of this political debate I would align myself to. I had no illusions of a rainbow-tinted world in which everyone ruled themselves ‘justly‘ and independently, no naïve perceptions as to how absolutely wonderful the world would be without government. The concept of anarchy, or any kind of fictional government Henry David Thoreau was suggesting in his highly acclaimed Civil Disobedience, seemed dangerously radical, even to a infamously left-leaning liberal such as myself. The opening paragraph alone seemed

Needless to say, continuing to read only strengthened my predisposed notion of the author’s naivety and my incredulity that such a half-baked scheme could be so respected almost a century and a half after it’s publication.

The first two paragraphs were disappointing, failing to meet even the lowest of standards I’d set for this essay. Thoreau argued predictably and unpersuasively against the ‘evils’ of all governments in general, taking on the republican-friendly motto of ‘The best government is the one which governs the least’ (Page 1, Civil Disobedience). He makes what seems to be a very convincing argument for the incompetence of the American government at one point, but in his efforts to invoke logos (no, surprisingly, it’s not pathos this time), he left out one crucial element. The logos. Sure, the idea of making the government our official scapegoat

A Rose By Any Other Name.....Would Still Stink

You know, I’ve always hated poetry. That may sound like a harsh judgment to make on such a revered form of creativity and self expression to most, but if I were to be totally and completely honest with myself, I would realize that I just could never bring myself to enjoy the genre. The pieces I’ve read have been nothing more than nonsensical babble with little traces of plot nor purpose, and quite frankly, I’m sick of authors sprouting poetry and creative licenses as an excuse to show off their thesaurus-enhanced vocabulary and clichéd ideals. Pretty words and ’striking’ imagery often times conceal the author’s blatant disregard for logic or originality, these attractive layers making topics like bowel movements sound charming and eloquent. Bad experiences have led me to the conclusion that poetry is an utterly useless genre, second only to science fiction in terms of tediousness and irrelevancy .

That said, I found myself pleasantly surprised and a tad bit sheepish after reading Longfellow’s The Slave's Dream. The structure of the poem seemed relaxed, the format more closely following that of a freestyle poem at times than that of the tradition ABAB or ABCB styling. There was no over-the-top vocabulary, no mediocre attempts at imagery, not even a single unimaginative metaphor; indeed, it seems as though this poem goes against every single predisposition and bias I’ve built against this cursed genre in the entirety of my academic career. Longfellow has manage to captivate me with his vivid descriptions and rapt attention to detail, taking me beyond my comfort zone and into the emotions and pains of another. I could almost see the shrunken slave in his last moments on earth, utterly defeated in life but hopeful and anticipative of what lie ahead. It seems as though the ‘tinkling caravans’ can be heard if I just listened for them with enough concentration, that the gentle spray of the ocean that lay just beyond those Caffre huts can be felt through the words on the page. He no doubt succeeds in his effort to bring a story-like feel and movie-like imagery to his audience, impressing even a stone-face cynic such as myself.

Another area this poem exceeds in is it’s audience appeal, or more specifically, it’s powerful pull on sympathetic and empathetic responses of the readers. It draws the reader emotionally into their self, urging them to replace this poem’s protagonist’s anguish and sorrows with their own past experiences. While there really isn’t anyone alive today who has experienced the horrors of mid-Atlantic slavery, there isn’t a soul on the face of this earth who hasn’t experienced disappointments and pain, who can’t relate to having their dreams crushed or their hopes dashed. Hope for a better tomorrow is universally understood, as well as nearly always reciprocated.

the gettysburg adress

see review questions

review questions

um...yeah

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_architecture
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761552472/realism_(art_and_literature).html