Blog 1: Montana 1948, Part I

What are Wes Hayden's feelings toward Native Americans? How does this view compare to the perspective held by other family members? Include a quotation for support when providing your answer. [2 points]

Wes Hayden does not dislike the Indians, but his feelings toward them are not positive either. He considered them to be automatically lower than "white men" in status. As the narrator states, "He could treat the Indians with generosity, kindness, and respect (as he could treat every human being.) Nevertheless, he believed in Indians, with only a few exceptions, were ignorant, lazy, superstitious, and irresponsible." This differed from that of the other members of the Hayden family because the mother and narrator love the Native Americans. They treat them as they would treat humans, because that is what they are. When the narrator was given moccasins as a present from his aunt, Mr. Hayden forbade him to wear them. If it has just been his mother it would not have been an issue.

Blog 6: The Scarlet Ibis

There were many superstitions presented in The Scarlet Ibis. Besides the "Jesus' nightgown" and "rain frog," there was also the superstition that "dead birds are bad luck." This was said by Aunt Nicey who is full of superstitions throughout the story. She happened to be correct in saying this because Doodle later faced a death much like that of the Scarlet Ibis'. One superstition that my mom and I believe in is the Death Watch Beetle that warns someone that their loved one is about to die. This superstition dates back to Egyptian times and is believed by many to be true. 

Blog 5: The Man That Was Almost A Man

1. After reading the first paragraph, identify the narrator, the point of view, and the dialect.

The narrator is an adolescent boy named Dave who lives in the south and works to keep food on the table for his family. He along with his father and mother have heavy southern accents and speak using poor English.

2. What is Dave's mother's response when he asks her if he can buy a gun? How does he ask her?

At first she doesn't agree to allow him to get a gun but after much begging she finally says yes, but under one condition. He asked her by holding up the catalogue he received from Joe at the store and pointing to the gun section hesitantly. He was told to immediately return home after purchasing the gun and give it to his father. He decided to rebel and keep it for himself and practice using it.

3. What is Dave's reaction when pressed to tell the truth? What is the crowd's reaction when he tells? 

He is hesitant when asked to tell the truth but when he finally does the crowd laughs at his foolishness. One man claims that "he knew it was a bullet wound." Altogether, they weren't surprised.

4. Think of the train as a symbol. What do you think it represents?

The train symbolizes the journey to manhood. Even though I believe that his actions in leaving were cowardly, maybe his living alone will teach him what it's really like to be a man. 

5. Is society better off without individuals like Dave? Should they celebrate his departure?

They shouldn't necessarily celebrate his departure but they shouldn't feel like they're at a loss because his cowardly behavior is not something to look up to. He disobeyed his parents then lied about it. Hopefully his journey will make him realize what the qualities of a real man are.

Blog 4: Lamb to the Slaughter

The ending was ironic and clever. Irony is when the full significance of a character's words or actions are clear to the reader but unknown to the character. In Lamb to the Slaughter, the detectives were the unknowing as Mary giggled at their confused expressions. As they said that the culprit must be right under their noses, the "murder weapon" literally was. The moral of this story is that looks can be deceiving. One would never expect for the 1940's housewife to murder her husband who she adored so very much. Now a days, it would be impossible for her to commit her crime successfully. The technology and precautions that would be taken would eventually find her guilty.

Blog 1: Part 1 Reflection

In Part one, when Riva was comforting her younger brothers. "I put my arms around him and hold him close. I kiss his light brown hair. 'I am so lucky to have you two, my wise darling brothers. I still have you two to hold onto. I love you both so much.'" As the mother figure, she cares for them both so much. Even in the worst of times, she worries that she's making the right decisions. Her maturity level exceeds any of a child I have ever encountered. This isn't necessarily a good thing, because it means that she's had her innocence robbed from her. She withstood a nightmare without a second of complaining. This is amazing to me.

Blog 9: Lawyer. To Defend or Not to Defend (A Little Late)

My decision would be to defend the accused. My first reason is that personal life shouldn’t effect one as a lawyer. Just because defending this person may cause for friends to turn against me is not a good enough reason to decline. A real lawyer wouldn’t let his or her personal life effect business decisions. Basically, if you’re good at what you do, you should be able to defend even the guiltiest of the accused. Atticus Finch proved himself to be an upstanding citizen when accepting the rape case. He is one of the few characters who, despite what the rest of the world thinks, does not discriminate against blacks. I believe that Atticus really loves law. He gives a new name to scummy lawyers.

Blog 16: News Report on Chapter Four

April 2, 1940 - With each passing day, more and more Jews are being captured and forced out of their homes. The once happy neighborhoods have turned to a glum, depressing environment. The silence suddenly breaks out in chaos with a "Forward, march!" These two simple words mean horrific things to come for the innocent men, women, and even children. The chaos gets louder. Screaming and crying...BANG!...then silence. A pregnant Jew is pulled out from the marching line of bobbing heads, and thrown to the ground. Another scream can be heard...following another shot...then the dreaded silence. 

This game is much like cat and mouse. The evil Nazi soldiers trail around the Jews as if they were mice.  What the cats don't see is that the mice have names, families, lives. The naive young children who are separated from their loved ones scurry around, wide-eyed, in hope of finding someone, anyone to stand by them. The victims of the Holocaust - Jews, gays, and different people alike - have endured more than any human ever should, for unjust reasons. All we can do is remember those who were lost and pray for this war of hate to be over.

Blog 15: Holocaust Topics and The Cage

The Jewish Holocaust took place in Europe from 1933-1945. It was a mass murder of millions of followers of Judaism. The Nazi Party consisted of political followers of Adolph Hitler's views. Hitler lead and organized the genocide. Ruth Minsky Sender is a Poland-born holocaust survivor. After her mother being taken from her, leaving her with her brothers to take care of, she was sent to Auschwitz concentration camp, where she was seperated at the gates from her brothers. She was finally liberated by Russian forces. Mittelsteine was the second camp she was sent to and eventually rescued from. A personal memoir is a writing of an encounter the author had themselves. The Cage is a story of one girl who encountered the horrific genocide known as the Holocaust, and her experiences throughout.

Blog 14: How Petruchio Tamed Kate

From the first time they met, Petruchio was overbearing of Kate, forcing her to do and say things she didn't want to at the time. His first step to taming the shrew was to get her father's permission to marry her, and making it seem as if she wanted to marry him by saying that, when it was just the two of them, Katherina hung on Petruchio's neck. Of course this was false, but it didn't stop Petruchio from getting his way. His determination and stubbornness throughout the whole process allowed for him to be successful. First, he showed up late to their wedding in order to show her who had the upper hand in the relationship. Embarassed and weeping, Katherina still married him once he did arrive, dressed poorly and unclean. Once she lived in his house, he didn't allow for her to be fed or rested, as he did with his falcons to train them. She begged for food and first began to respect Petruchio. He also was purposely demanding toward the help in front of Katherina, but later explained to them it was only an act for Katherina to look up to him. As the play went on, she became more and more willing to obey him, realizing that there was nothing more she could do. Finally, in Act V Scene ii, Katherina expressed her true feelings about marriage to her sister Bianca and the widow who was wife to Hortensio. When the two women did not obey their husbands, Katherina lectured them on how a good wife should act. Katherina and Petruchio's relationship reminds me of 

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's marriage. Petruchio would be Angelina while Katherina would be Brad. From an outsider's perspective, it seems as though Angelina has the upper hand in the relationship and forces respect. Of course no one will ever know what really goes on inside their home, but one can always wonder.

The three lines that stood out to me most were, first: Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe,/And craves no other tribute at thy hands/But love, fair looks, and true obedience-/Too little payment for so great a debt.

In the lines displayed above, Katherina puts men on a pedestal. She took a complete 180 and now truly believes that women should treat their husbands as kings in return for taking care of them. She is a contender to those who believe that the role of a wife is in the kitchen and the role of a husband lies in the office.

One of the only things that Katherina does not mention is the mental aspect of their relationship. I predict that she believes that women are more advanced, mentally, than men but does not wish to disrespect her husband by either expressing that particular opinion or lying about it.

Blog 11: Shakespeare's Language

1. Blank Verse is verse without rhyme or set rhythm.

2. a) But wait! What time of day is it?

b) You are more lovely and more innocent.

c) If it were done when it was supposed to be done then all would be well.

d) They fell in love easily and quickly, and got married without a second thought.

NYT Article & Power in OMAM

1. At the time of OMAM, there was the Great Depression going on. In the New York Times article, it discusses the recession that is occurring at this time. 

2. The false sense of comfort that the article presents is the bidding up of stocks. 

3. If the US thinks that we are going to recover than we will. No one is spending because of the recession but if we all ignore the problem and start to spend again everything will go back to normal.

Blog 7: The Boss

George says that Lennie is his slow cousin who was kicked in the head by a horse as a child, which is a lie. He suspects that George is taking Lennie's money and tells, "But don't try to put nothing over, 'cause you can't get away with nothing." He lies and says that Lennie is shy so that he won't ruin this job for them as he has in the past. 

Pandora's Box

1. The one thing that did not make its way out of the box was the ability to know what's going to happen before it does. This would eliminate the idea of hope. All of society would be depressed and unsurprised each day.

2. If disease had not escaped Pandora's box, the world would never experience tragedies like plagues. Although these things are unfortunate, they keep the population in check. Without them, our planet would be too over populated.

Blog 1 Myth Athene

1. She was a beautiful maiden, a Titaness, as well as the daughter of one of his old enemies.

2. He goes from a god to a serpent and captures her. This symbolizes the characteristics and ferocity of a serpent.

3. Zeus suffered the greatest headache of all time, causing Hephaesteus to hammer his head open. At this time, a tall maiden sprung from his head.

4. The moral of Athene is that, if you boast about a talent you have and don't be modest, bad things will come to you.