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.

Poe - The Raven

Having read Edgar Allen Poe earlier on in high school, I can say this poem means a whole lot to me than it used to. For one, as an English major, I can more easily pick out an abundance of the literary elements that make this poem so iconic in the first place. For example, the element of rhyme is ever-persistent throughout; literally, every second, fourth, fifth, and sixth line ends in some kind of "or" sound. This alone makes the poem all the more fun to listen to and keep in rhythm if one were to read it. The next thing is the element of repetition; the poem literally repeats the word "Nevermore" for the last couple stanzas and is, perhaps, the main thing the poem is remembered for. Also the fact that the raven can talk in the first place leads readers to wonder whether what the narrator is experiencing is either a hallucination or if it is simply a personification of his feelings. This, however, is a debate for another post in another place.

2/3 of the Way In

As far as we've gotten into this class, I must concur that it has gotten more interesting the more we have gone in. For one, the fiction is some of the best I think I've ever read in any college literature class. Between works "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Scarlet Letter", it's no wonder I feel I've been missing out on some of these "best hits" from America's past. In the long run, this has been beneficial to me and my quest to understand more of how fiction works in terms of both plot and character. For one, "Rip Van Winkle" has an interesting plot that hooks you from start to finish despite the traditional, but gradual buildup. In addition, "The Scarlet Letter" is full of compelling characters that are easily identifiable by their words and actions (i.e.: Hester is good and Chillingworth is bad). Without this class, I may not even have much in the way of inspiration to keep going with my works even if they aren't timeless as these.

Scarlet Letter - Part III

Having just finished the book, here are my final thoughts: The Scarlet Letter is certainly an integral part of American literature in general. The reason for this being is that the themes it invokes the harsh theme of adultery in a way that's okay for those in an academic position to read. While it may not be the most appropriate reading in that case, it certainly delivers this theme nicely in a way that society at the time of which this is set in would have reacted. What makes it interesting is that it still applies to today in some ways concerning its philosophical depth. In terms of its philosophy, it is strong in its Christian thematic elements such as the way it relates the situation at hand to the woman caught in adultery. As a Christian myself, I find it interesting in this aspect as well as the fact that Hawthorne managed to pull it off so well at the time. Props to him for that.

Scarlet Letter - Part II

One of the major things our professor did to coincide with us reading "The Scarlet Letter" was to draw our own letter on a card that is representative of, according to him, our most egregious sin. Thinking about this, I was hesitant to do so since I, as a Christian, do not like to remind myself of my own sin, but rather forgive myself and move on knowing that God has forgiven me. I will not say what letter I put or what it represented, but I will say it was an interesting experience to sort of tie in with the story. In the story, Hester Prynne must wear her scarlet letter A for roughly seven years, having to endure sessions in which she stands on a scaffolding to be publicly condemned for her sin. For an average person in this day and age, this may be terrifying, though, even after she's worn it long enough, she does not discard it right away. Instead, she decides that it will come off whenever God wants it to. The way I see it is that she fully understands her mistake and wants to accept the fact that she did wrong to remind herself to repent. Similarly, the activity we did sort of tied into the same idea. An interesting way to coincide with the reading, indeed.

Scarlet Letter - Part I

Although the novel itself is relatively difficult to understand completely, given the time period it was written in, I appreciate the Scarlet Letter for what it is so far. The beginning seemed rather intriguing with the imagery of the rose bush near the prison door. It may not seem like much at first, but it basically foreshadows much of the dominant story symbols. The rose bush itself seems to be representative of the idea of sin growing inside a "good" person; in this instance it's representative of Hester and her sin of bearing a child in adultery. Typically, a rose is also scarlet, which represents the scarlet letter (hence the title) that she wears for a number of years. It's interesting to note how much more fascinating a simple idea become the further one reads into a story.

Resistance to Civil Government

Henry David Thoreau's essay "Resistance to Civil Government" had some interesting topics of writing that still matter very much today. As the title implies, the main idea is that government isn't exactly the most reliable thing to live along with. In ways government can be more harmful than helpful in the sense that it may treat certain people unfairly or lack benefits for a certain group of people. According to Thoreau, government appears to fuel corruption and injustice, which tends to be a major problem today now more than ever. I would have to agree that today, especially, the U.S. government has certain aspects to it that can't be looked at as "civil and just" such as in the way it addresses other groups which may or may not pose much threat to our country. Even though Thoreau said that there were even some admirable aspects to the U.S. government at the time in which he wrote this, this saying may as well be different for today.

Nature - R. W. Emerson

Upon hearing the title "Nature" by Ralph Waldo Emerson, one may suspect it to be this perfect description of nature and why it's so important we take care of it. The opposite is true. What this essay discusses is not the typical motivational speech to preserve nature that conservationists give today, but rather the benefits of appreciating nature for what it is: a beautiful sight for human being's to accept. It talks about how too often we, as humans, are distracted by the demands of the world that we forget to stop and appreciate how great it is through our actions. Too often, we are caught in the waves of societal pressure that we never quite get the chance to go into solitude with it and experience the "wholeness" of nature that Emerson describes. Essentially, what he means is that humans experience a spiritual relationship with nature as man does with God. It's almost as if he was saying nature is his god or something, but that's a topic for another time/post.