Southern Lit

2006-05-03T17:09:00.000-07:00

I thought that the ending of the novel brought some closure for Allison's characters. Bone realizes that things aren't going to be perfect, but that she can find a happy medium in her life. There is a line at the end where she says something like "i know who i am going to be." She can willfully accept her past and embrace her future.
I found myself to be greatly annoyed with the mother's character toward the end of the novel. I was so angry that Anney continuously goes back to Daddy Glen. Even after Anney realizes that her husband has raped her daughter, she still cannot fully leave him. If I were Bone, i would hate my mother forever, yet the child still seems to have an unconditional love for her, despite her weakness. it was obvious from the beginning of the story that Anney would never possess the wherewithal to be a strong woman.
All in all I really enjoyed the story. Some parts were morally reprehensible and apalling to read. The rape scenes were terribly graphic, but I feel as though the extra detail was needed, as it compliments Allison's writing style.

2006-04-24T19:40:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed the poem we read today in class. 'Falling' was one of the most interesting poems I have ever read. The way that Dickey created such an intricate poem from a news clipping was fascinating to me. Did anyone else feel this way? The way he describes the stewardesses fall was both disturbing and yet intriguing. I found myself really wanting to know what was going to come of her death at the end. I also liked how we talked about the correlation between the actual act of falling and the syntax of the piece. The sentence structure was really cool. It was definitely made that way to create more of a sensation of free form, sort of broken, flowing, falling.

2006-04-12T17:34:00.000-07:00

The presentations we did in class were great. I thought everyone did a really nice job conveying their topic. I feel like I learned alot from all of the groups;each one had something different to offer!
I wonder why the Southern Belle is often the opposite of what we perceive her to be? In my presentation, I talked about the "Belle Gone Bad," and I also heard other groups talking about how the Southern Belle was fiesty, independent, and ambitious. The character Scarlett from Gone With the Wind is a good example of this, which brings me to my next point. I feel as though the stereotype of the Southern Belle is really not accurate. It can't be completely true if we keep hearing of accounts or seeing portrayals of women who are not the quintessential lady. Any other opinions?

2006-04-04T18:21:00.000-07:00

I thought that the story we read in class "A Good Man is Hard to Find" was very interesting. The character of Grandmother was an important influence in the story. Her wild comments and odd mannerisms were overlooked by the rest of the family. It was almost as if she was ignored completely in some scenes. I wonder why this is? Grandmother was definitely an extremely strange character. I also thought it was weird that she seemed to connect with the Misfit. She is really the only that talks to him and tries to change him. It is a pity that her efforts went unnoticed, and the ending of the story was rather disturbing.

2006-03-28T19:38:00.000-08:00

So far, I enjoy the movie version of "A Streetcar Named Desire." I think that the actors really embody the characters. Every character detail and description that we read in the book is coming through on screen, and that is a very good thing considering that this book would be nothing without the very diverse (and exhausting!) personalities of all the characters. The dispositions and actions of Blanche and Stanley and Stella are all so different and that's what makes the story work. If the actors were boring, the movie would not be believable. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the movie!

2006-03-21T17:40:00.000-08:00

I have to say I really enjoyed reading Their Eyes Were Watching God. The ending surprised me though! I enver thought that Janie would have the wherewithal to kill Tea Cake. I think that that one moment where she shoots him was a very defining moment for her character; it shows the reader that Janie really is capable of anything, and was not going to sit there and let her rabid husband kill her. Although it was a sort of disturbing scene, I did enjoy reading it. The only thing that I thought might have been done differently was the speed of the last few chapters. I thought 17-20 was very rushed and sort of tried to fit a bunch of information and time into too short of a limit. The trial and the death were sort of hastily strewn together to create the ending. I think Hurston might have fared better with a more drawn out ending.

2006-03-14T18:29:00.000-08:00

I liked comparing the Zoara Neale Hurston and Richard Wright readings in class on Monday. I thought it was interesting how their childhood's were so different. Hurston seemed sort of unaware and yet proud that she was colored, whereas Wright was very aware and sort of ashamed. He knew that his skin color was viewed as "the wrong one." Hurston explains in her piece that she only really started to feel colored when she turned 13, yet in the Wright piece it seems as though he could feel that he was colored (in a negative way) ever since he could remember. I thought it was horrifying that Wright had to deal with violent fights with the white kids. The fact that his mother didn't even feel remotely sorry for him was apalling!

2006-03-01T13:39:00.000-08:00

I liked reading the excerpts by Porter. The Last Leaf was interesting. It was cool to see how Nannie makes a complete transformation in her life. What I thought was odd, however, was when Nannie talks about how she really didn't like being a nanny at all. This is contrary to most Southern values of that time period, where women who held that position loved their work; they wanted nothing more than to serve their host family and tend to the children and cook and clean. Nannie is the opposite of this image. I liked how Porter really took a polar opposite perspective with Nannie's character. There are points in the story where Nannie is downright upset with her job and her life. I wonder if there were many women who held the position of nanny who felt the same way as Nannie did?

2006-02-21T16:57:00.000-08:00

I think that the latter half of The Bear was interesting. I like how Professor Wells gives us those question sheets and divides us into pairs. It really helps me understand the readings better, and because Faulkner is so challenging, I can listen to what other people have to say and take notes during the readings so as to better comprehend what the story is depicting.
With that said, I think it is great how Faulkner conveys the death of Old Ben. He was not killed by the heroic, wise woodsman, (like Sam Fathers) but rather by this incompetent white trash man named Boon. It just made the whole climax ironic, turning it into more of an anti-climax, if you will.
I wonder if Faulkner was trying to tell us something by using that irony there?

2006-02-13T12:43:00.000-08:00

The excerpt "Pantaloon in Black" was a bit easier for me to understand. I liked how Faulkner tried to challenge the sterotypes of African Americans. In some ways, Faulkner did erase some of the common stereotypes. I was actaully reminded of some of Thomas Jefferson's stereotypes while I was reading "Pantaloon." The parts of the story where blacks are viewed as being sort of non-human and incapable of having deep feelings and emotions reminded me of the Jefferson passages. However, Faulkner tries to dismantle that stereotype by depicting the main character of Rider as being emotionally attached to his wife and dog. Rider definitely shows alot of grief concerning his dead wife. He even sees her ghost, which is a very moving passage in the story.
I was wondering, however, why Faulkner (being a white man) decided to try to delve into the thoughts and feelings of the African American race?

Faulkner reading

2006-02-08T12:37:00.000-08:00

WOW..how confusing was today's reading? I personally already had a strong dislike for Faulkner's writing. I read 'As I Lay Dying' ( also by Faulkner) in A.P. English last year. I dislike his colloquial style immensely. I found myself concentrating so much on the vocabulary, run-ons and horrible word placement that I didn't even retain any of the plot. I had to go back and re-read some parts of the story to actually get a feel for what Faulkner was saying. I wonder if his further excerpts are going to be as challenging as this first one was. Only after professor Wells went through and explained the plot and broke down the syntax did I understand where the plot was going. Hopefully the rest of 'Go Down Moses' will be easier to understand.

2006-01-31T17:07:00.000-08:00

The Frederick Douglass readings were quite interesting and informative. I was shocked to see how amazingly detailed his writing is. He described things i could never even imagine seeing in my own life; whipping,beating,rape, and other things. If Frederick Douglass was mulatto, I wonder if maybe he was looked at differently by the other slaves. Do you think that maybe they looked at his with disgust or contempt? Or were they not phased by his light skin? Also, it had to be hard on the master, who was also his father. I wonder if the mistress ever did any harm to Douglass. I'm sure she knew that her husband was the father of this illegitimate child.
Interestingly enough though, Douglass's experience doesn't seem to have made him bitter. The tone and mood of his writing does not reflect a bitter resentment for his life. I wonder why this is?

2006-01-28T12:29:00.000-08:00

"The Fall of the House of Usher" was a very interesting piece. After further analyzation of the passage by Poe, I found myself wondering just WHERE is this house? In Friday's class I was given this exact question. I perused the work, but was only given a few minor details and hints as to where this place actually is. Does anyone else have any ideas as to where the house is? I agree with Professor Wells that the house might not have been in America, but besides that fact, are there any other suggestions?

John Smith and his Pocahontas

2006-01-23T16:17:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, I hope this thing works....anyway, after today's discussion about the REAL Pocahontas story, I started to wonder why the story we know today has become so embellished. At what point did it change? Pocahontas was certainly not the beautiful young woman that is depicted in our modern society. As a ten year old girl, I'm sure she did not have any sort of romantic relations with a man as old as John Smith. So how did it become so blown out of proportion? I found a website that describes the history of the story, and it alsoincludes an excerpt from John Smith's perspective: http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/johnsmith.htm

Enjoy!

Elizabeth