Evalution

My favorite blog we had to write would probably be my strongest opinion on any topic because it was such an open ended blog. I did not like the "A Walk Through Harlem" because it took a lot of evaluation for other sites and searching for things I didn't find that I needed to know. Sometimes, I admit, I did just do the minimum for the blog, but a lot of the time the interest spoke to me so I did more than I needed to do. I did think blogging was a fun way to learn because it is more interactive than a lecture and more fun then doing a worksheet. I don't see myself continuing this blog, but I never know. Next year's juniors should have a blogging experience because it was not too overwhelming and it was a nice way to get assignments done.
My favorite stories we read were The Pit and the Pendulum, The Crucible, and The World on the Turtle's Back.

A Learned Man Came to Me at Once

--->A learned man came to me once.
He said, "I know the way, -- come."
And I was overjoyed at this.
Together we hastened.
Soon, too soon, were we
Where my eyes were useless,
And I knew not the ways of my feet.
I clung to the hand of my friend;
But at last he cried, "I am lost."<---

This poem by Steven Crane really shows me that when you follow someone, 

they might not be trustworthy. He says "I knew not the ways of my feet" and I feel 

like he meant that when you follow someone it isn't YOUR path, the way you were

suppose to go. He says he clung to the hand of "this man", obviously with trust, 

but his friend cried out "I am lost" therefore "this man" wasn't trustworthy to 

begin with. Be an individual, then maybe if you get lost you can blame yourself for 

being so misguided.  

Mark Twain Quote

"Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live."
I really like this quote by Mark Twain. This is a quote that really explains the point of living outside of the box to me, well, this is how I interpret it. Being yourself and how you interpret things is something that is necessary for your life. If you adapt to other people and their ways of living you have ceased to live and that is the main point I got from this Mark Twain quote.

Dred Scott Fights Til Death

One great civil rights leader I learned much more about was Dred Scott. Scott was born a slave and was sent to be with John Emerson who migrated all the way to the "free lands" of Illinois and lower Wisconsin. Scott was with Emerson until Emerson passed away, that is when Scott asked for his freedom from the widow--who refused. Scott decided to sue them for his freedom in 1846 claiming he had lived in free territory long enough and deserved to be free. This case went from The Supreme Court in Missouri all the way to the US Supreme Court! With two previous "no's" for decisions Scott knew it was his time to get the freedom he wanted. In 1857 the Supreme Court gives him a big N.O. again and later that year they pass the law that slaves can be taken into any state. Scott did not get the freedom he wanted by the time he died, but he will forever be known as the slave that went to court fighting for his freedom. 

 

A Walk Through Harlem!

On the virtual tour, 7th avenue would be the location of Bessie's dental office and their apartment! From their apartment they would be able to see, or at least walk to a variety of churches and even  the building of James Weldon Johnson who supported the Negro Movement; and we even read one of his poems in class! Madam CJ Walker's beauty salon was even close by. Their history then is everyone's history now in Harlem. On the other link I looked more into James Weldon Johnson and his influence on making Harlem famous. He was a writer, poet, and what I found out about he was a statesman. He didn't come from a low-ended family, but he did surpass many African Americans of his time. Him and his brother even wrote what eventually came to be the "Negro National Anthem." That is a huge step for any person, white or black, to do. This is much like Sadie and Bessie because they surpassed many standards already set for them just because of their race, and they made history because of it.

Middle Passage

This photo from the Middle Passage made me think about when Sadie and Bessie were talking about how blacks were treated back in their time. This makes me think about how all of the children felt being put down and talked so terribly to that they didn't want to listen to anything going on anymore, they were miserable. Sadie and Bessie have a story to teach and they said it like it was.

Strong opinion

This blog might be extremely ridiculous considering what I'm about to write about, but I guess it was the assignment so I'll start. I have a strong opinion of how people should eat their foods. I find it extremely disgusting to hear any type of unnecessary juices flowing around or being able to see your teeth devour the food before my eyes. I don't understand why people learn such terrible eating "habits", for lack of a better word. I understand there is an extent to where it is inevitable to not hear some chewing, but excessive amounts make me want to throw up. So.. there it is, my opinion on a very basic daily thing. Please be respectful of others with your eating habits.

There Was a Child Went Forth

I personally did not like this poem at all. I found it to be very drought out and uninteresting. But this is a personal reflection so I must say this reminds me of going to my friend's house when I was younger and inspecting everything, since it was always a new house. Whitman seems to be over analyzing everything he sees as a child, but I don't blame him since that makes anyone much more creative with their thoughts. Another part of me did not understand this poem at all, I read it over twice and really got no solid meaning from it. I'm sure Whitman had a better idea in mind than that but it just never came across to me.

Emily Poem

Pink, small, and punctual, Aromatic, low, Covert in April, Candid in May, Dear to the moss, Known by the knoll, Next to the robin In every human soul. Bold little beauty, Bedecked with thee, Nature forswears Antiquity. This Emily Dickinson poem is very unique in the way she expresses her feelings about nature. My favorite line from this would be "next to the robin, in every human soul" because it shows the connection between nature and humans and how we live together in harmony. A word I enjoy that she uses is "antiquity" at the end. It ties everything together very well. This poem is called May-Flower.

Transcendental vs. Antitranscendental Writers

Personally, I enjoyed the  antitranscendental writers. This is because I really enjoy the gothic elements they used in their writings. Surprisingly, I enjoyed The Scarlet Letter because it was gothic and proved that people are not always good. I also enjoyed Dr. Heidegger's Experiment because it has a very good meaning and the story doesn't lose my attention like the transcendental writers like Emerson and Thoreau.