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.