End of Line

From what the class has shown me this whole semester, I am very pleased to say that I have fully much enjoyed it for what it was and what it showed me about American culture. Though not contemporary, a huge part of what we read is reflective of our culture for two reasons:

1. It represents the history of our literature and how far we've come.

2. It shows just what the concept of "we" is not just us in the class, but the American people.

While it may be obvious just how representative of American history the literature part is, I felt it was important to readdress the idea of "we" our teacher talked about at the beginning of class. The reason for this is because, though we as a class learned about the works collectively, we also got a sense of what it's like to be American people. The "we" associated with such is representative of the idea that, as Americans, we mainly have a sense of justice, freedom, and liberty and do what we can to make the world whole again. An impossible task, for sure, but, even in our darkest hours, we'll never stop trying to do our best.

Emily Dickinson

There's no mistake about it; Emily Dickinson is one of the greatest poets of all time in the sense that she has common recurring themes that make you wonder just what it is she's talking about. In particular, her poem "I heard a fly buzz -- when I died" had sort of an intriguing feel to it. The poem depicts the speaker on their deathbed, their relatives all around them, crying and waiting to see when they'll go. While this happens, there is a fly buzzing around them between them and the so-called "Light" -- presumably talking about heaven. While, in class, we did not necessarily come up with a conclusion as to what this means, I recall back when I read this in high school that we sort of concluded that the fly may represent the devil or some other demon. The message behind the poem remains unclear due to Dickinson passing away before all her works were published. Still, it's worth discussing exactly what she meant about her poems in which one of her main themes was death.

Walt Whitman

To say that Walt Whitman is a very compelling poet is pretty much the proper thing to say based on his style. Having read -- and sort of skimmed -- the entirety of his poem (or collection of poems) "Song of Myself", I can certainly say that Whitman had an "interesting" taste when it came to poetry. For one, he wrote this poem sort of in a prose format in the sense that he rarely ever pertained to proper rhyme and seemed more like an avid description of nature. And, by "nature", I mean his interpretation of the human body, which has been subject to debate since his death. What makes the poem fully unique is the point of view; it is often debated whether the "I" in the poem is referring to simply Walt Whitman himself or somebody else. Whomever it is, it appears that the Whitman had a huge imagination that demonstrated his wit and wisdom.

Uncle Tom's Cabin Part III

I will admit it took me long enough to come out with this post, but that will not stop me from further evaluating what I thought of the book as I did my best to finish it. The whole thing was an interesting work speaking against slavery and was easy enough to read that I was able to understand what was going on for the most part. What struck me most about the narrative as what happened toward the end. I won't spoil it for those who haven't read it, but it shows that, even in the lives of the characters in the book, that many since the time period in which the book was written have changed their minds about slavery. Though the book essentially sparked America's most devastating war, it's interesting to note that it may have also allowed America to change its mind about slavery. Surely, this book is something to credit for the idea of abolishing slavery in the first place.

Uncle Tom's Cabin Part II

An intriguing point we brought up during class as to why this novel is a novel in the first place is due to the accessibility of novels in general. As I mentioned before, if it was an academic essay, it may have gone unnoticed and the American Civil War may not have happened. The main reasons for putting it in a novel format involve a few among other forms of connection: sentimentalism and empathy. Without the characters to connect to, nobody ever would have understood the messages that Stowe was trying to convince the public. Based on what she wrote, she was writing against oppression towards the slaves in attempt to convince America that slavery was a horrible thing from the beginning. As such, she made an abundance of the female characters the voice of reason, since, throughout history, people tend to listen and trust women more than men. An interesting strategy on her part, indeed.

Uncle Tom's Cabin Part I

Without a doubt, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe is one of the most interesting novels we've studied in the time period we've looked over. Having heard about this novel before, I think I finally understand the meaning of the term "Uncle Tom" apart from my very own real life Uncle Tom. The way the titular character behaves toward authority figures in a subservient manner is just one of the main reasons the American Civil War sparked in the years following its publication. Who would have known that a simple novel that spoke out against slavery could essentially cause such chaos in our country? If it was an essay without these iconic characters, it may as well have been ignored by the public eye and brushed under the rug without much mention in later years. Still, it's an interesting read so far, and I hope to keep up with the themes we look over and such.

Poe - Annabel Lee

Yet another poem that sealed Poe's legacy as an iconic author, this one wasn't even published until after he died when someone found the poem and put it out there. The repetition is still prominent with the repeating of lines such as "kingdom by the sea" and "beautiful Annabel Lee". I always found it interesting how Poe tended to write poems about the deaths of beautiful women, which makes for an all the more upsetting premise for such intriguing poems. It would seem as though he did this because his only wife and first cousin, Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe, died rather early having only been married for eleven years. Despite the sad contexts of his poems, he really hammered it in with his unique style of poetry in his rhyme schemes, repetition, and vivid vocabulary. It's one of many reasons why I still enjoy Poe even after all these years.