I have found that this piece is much harder to read than Washington’s Up From Slavery. I had transitioned from Washington’s straight into Dubois’s and found that the format and language was much harder. This made me question who Dubois’ intended audience was and if it differed from Washington’s? Also I found that I did not enjoy his writing style because even though he is straight forward with his objectives and thoughts, I found it awkward with how everything seemed to blend together. His little history lesson in the beginning about the Freedmen’s Bureau seemed a little long and ranting.
I hope that Dubois is not as self centered as Washington was and I can not wait to read more and find out more information on how Dubois feels about Washington since Washington was nice when he mentioned Dubois in his novel. I just hope that Dubois has more information on is beliefs than on dismissing Washington’s. The fact that there is a whole chapter devoted to Washington seems that Dubois cares much about explaining in detail what Washington was for and not his own. “ Mr. Washington represents in negro thought the old attitude of adjustment and submission” here is an instance of Dubois explaining what Washington represents in his own opinion.
I have felt that while reading this novel I have been reading a summary of history. Even though they are opinionated, it seems that it has been a broad view of history and I hoped to get a more detailed and intimate piece of one instance than an overview. I hope that as I read more that the style grows on me.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Up From Slavery chapters1-4
So far I have very much enjoyed this novel. I felt that his struggle to learn was very inspiring. While I was reading the first four chapters, I found that I could not help but think about how I would have acted growing up as a slave. I would want to think that I would crave the same knowledge that he craves for, but I am not sure because of all of the hardships he goes through to learn. Also I kept on thinking about how easy it would have been for him, or his mother, to tell him to quit. As I thought about this I wondered if Washington wanted to create those questions in our minds.
When I got to chapter four I did not want to put down the book. I felt that this was such a hard part to stop at because I kept on wondering whether in the next chapter anything would happen to Washington. I worried that this chapter was foreshadowing for the next chapter with the Ku Klux Klan. I have done some studying on this time period out side of school so I felt even more drawn to this part in the book. It was hard to read and not think about all of the innocent lives that were hurt and taken. I felt that Washington really wanted to connect with his readers on a more personal level to him.
All in all I have felt that Washington’s story is very inspirational so far because of how much he really wants to help others. I have been wondering about Dubois’s thoughts about Washington though.
When I got to chapter four I did not want to put down the book. I felt that this was such a hard part to stop at because I kept on wondering whether in the next chapter anything would happen to Washington. I worried that this chapter was foreshadowing for the next chapter with the Ku Klux Klan. I have done some studying on this time period out side of school so I felt even more drawn to this part in the book. It was hard to read and not think about all of the innocent lives that were hurt and taken. I felt that Washington really wanted to connect with his readers on a more personal level to him.
All in all I have felt that Washington’s story is very inspirational so far because of how much he really wants to help others. I have been wondering about Dubois’s thoughts about Washington though.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
blog 9
So far I have really loved and connected with this book so far. The main character I have felt really compassion for. I feel that she has matured so much in the last 100 or so pages. She has changed from the girl who never really had a care in the world, to realizing and standing up for the hardships of others.
It is also easy to realize that the author is Jewish. She seems to have an immense amount of compassion for the little Jewish girls. I feel though that the authors way of writing makes the reader sympathizes more than if it was written from the Jewish perceptive.
I thought the part where she gets kicked out of her house is a real turning point. Now she is not just a women helping with the strike but now she feels what they feel. She is now homeless with not a “cent to her name”. She has no home and no place to go. She now has no father, or mother, or Jim. Somehow she is content with herself though because she is still standing up for what she believes in. When she goes into the pawn shop she just does not see objects, she sees the stories of women who have tried to live and have given everything they could, including baby shoes, just to live.
This has been a very touching story and I cannot wait to see what else is going to happen. I just hope that everything will work out soon and not too late.
It is also easy to realize that the author is Jewish. She seems to have an immense amount of compassion for the little Jewish girls. I feel though that the authors way of writing makes the reader sympathizes more than if it was written from the Jewish perceptive.
I thought the part where she gets kicked out of her house is a real turning point. Now she is not just a women helping with the strike but now she feels what they feel. She is now homeless with not a “cent to her name”. She has no home and no place to go. She now has no father, or mother, or Jim. Somehow she is content with herself though because she is still standing up for what she believes in. When she goes into the pawn shop she just does not see objects, she sees the stories of women who have tried to live and have given everything they could, including baby shoes, just to live.
This has been a very touching story and I cannot wait to see what else is going to happen. I just hope that everything will work out soon and not too late.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Blog 8
I was really glad that this reading was an assigned reading. I felt that it answered many questions that I had had about the movie Blade Runner. Technophobia expressed the relationship that exists between liberty and equality. My first thought of both concepts is that you could not have one without the other but this is not the case. Equality is brought to an extreme in many 1970 and 1980’s movies by cloning and machines, while liberty is the escape into freedom.
I felt that Blade Runner was a contradiction to the examples expressed earlier because it had the escape into nature but also that escape was with a machine. I also felt that with the machines in Blade Runner the viewer had much more sympathy for than the machines in the other examples.
Something else that I was grateful that the author did was express the scene where Decker basically rapes Rachael. I was very confused with this scene in the movie but after reading this passage it made a little more sense. “It can be read as depicting the construction of female subjectivity under patriarchy as something pliant and submissive as well as a threatening and castratory.”(63).
I really loves the style of writing the author used to express such an abstract concept. It was very easy to follow and I felt that it dragged the reader in. Also the examples the author uses are expressed in such detail that the reader does not have to have prior knowledge of them.
I felt that Blade Runner was a contradiction to the examples expressed earlier because it had the escape into nature but also that escape was with a machine. I also felt that with the machines in Blade Runner the viewer had much more sympathy for than the machines in the other examples.
Something else that I was grateful that the author did was express the scene where Decker basically rapes Rachael. I was very confused with this scene in the movie but after reading this passage it made a little more sense. “It can be read as depicting the construction of female subjectivity under patriarchy as something pliant and submissive as well as a threatening and castratory.”(63).
I really loves the style of writing the author used to express such an abstract concept. It was very easy to follow and I felt that it dragged the reader in. Also the examples the author uses are expressed in such detail that the reader does not have to have prior knowledge of them.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
At first I thought that I would not be able to get through the passage because it seemed very dry and difficult but after the first page I found myself intrigued and wanting to know what the point was. I really enjoyed reading it but felt that I might have missed some greater meaning because at the end I did not feel that anything was revealed. The reader still did not know anything about Bartleby. I asked myself if Bartleby stood for something else and was not just a character. I hope we talk about this more in class because I feel as if I missed the bigger picture.
Also I felt that there was something wrong with the owner because he is drawn to this man that there is definitely something wrong with. Bartleby sort of scared me. I always thought that he was going to do something but he just always preferred not to. At first I thought that the reason he did not want to read was because he could not and I wondered why the owner did not ask he if he knew how to read. I felt that the owner was a little weird too because he could have employed other workers but instead complained about them instead. I felt that he got attached to people and could not let go.
Also I felt that there was something wrong with the owner because he is drawn to this man that there is definitely something wrong with. Bartleby sort of scared me. I always thought that he was going to do something but he just always preferred not to. At first I thought that the reason he did not want to read was because he could not and I wondered why the owner did not ask he if he knew how to read. I felt that the owner was a little weird too because he could have employed other workers but instead complained about them instead. I felt that he got attached to people and could not let go.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Overall
My overall thoughts of the novel are very high. I enjoyed the book the entire way through and thought that it was a good contrast to Twain. I was very happy for Tati that he was able to make money to take care of himself and his daughter. I had the feeling that he and mother would get married because of how their situations were presented.
I definitely sympathized with Coalhouse in the end. I felt that he had tried to go through the legal system to get the justice that he deserved but that it was corrupt and would not help him. I still do feel that his actions were a bit too intense and that killing the innocent people was wrong, but I could see why he did what he did. I felt bad reading it because he felt like there was nothing else he could do to get justice and he resulted to at the time what he felt was right but later realized it was not.
Doctorow does foreshadowing throughout the novel to hint to the reader how the book is going to end, in war, once in the beginning with the little boy warning Houdini about the duke and again later in the novel toward the end. I did not feel that this war was anything like the war at the end of twain’s book. This war I felt was more of a balance from the benefits of technology to the consequences of having such power available, where as in Twain’s piece I felt that technology had a negative connotation and was over all a drawdown to society.
I definitely sympathized with Coalhouse in the end. I felt that he had tried to go through the legal system to get the justice that he deserved but that it was corrupt and would not help him. I still do feel that his actions were a bit too intense and that killing the innocent people was wrong, but I could see why he did what he did. I felt bad reading it because he felt like there was nothing else he could do to get justice and he resulted to at the time what he felt was right but later realized it was not.
Doctorow does foreshadowing throughout the novel to hint to the reader how the book is going to end, in war, once in the beginning with the little boy warning Houdini about the duke and again later in the novel toward the end. I did not feel that this war was anything like the war at the end of twain’s book. This war I felt was more of a balance from the benefits of technology to the consequences of having such power available, where as in Twain’s piece I felt that technology had a negative connotation and was over all a drawdown to society.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Easy Read
The book that we are reading now in class is much easier than any of the other pieces. I actually found myself reading more than was required because it was so relaxing to reading something that did not take too much thought. I will admit that at some instances I wish the language were a little more difficult because at one or two instances I felt as though I was reading a middle school book.
The one aspect of the book that I love in any authors writing style is when they have scenes that do not seem to be related at all but later you find that the whole story is one big, messy web. Also in this style I have found that some author change chapters with a dramatic change in characters and plot. I have always found that intriguing but what I feel is even more interesting is that this book does not feel as choppy as some others I have read.
In I think the third chapter I was a little confused because it had said that the escape artist had died I thought when he did the escape from underground. But then the boy sees him and he is alive doing shows and escaping from prisons. I have a feeling I missed something or I was just reading it wrong. All I know is, I perceived it as he had died and then was alive. I tried rereading it 4 times and I still could not find what I missed.
The book that we are reading now in class is much easier than any of the other pieces. I actually found myself reading more than was required because it was so relaxing to reading something that did not take too much thought. I will admit that at some instances I wish the language were a little more difficult because at one or two instances I felt as though I was reading a middle school book.
The one aspect of the book that I love in any authors writing style is when they have scenes that do not seem to be related at all but later you find that the whole story is one big, messy web. Also in this style I have found that some author change chapters with a dramatic change in characters and plot. I have always found that intriguing but what I feel is even more interesting is that this book does not feel as choppy as some others I have read.
In I think the third chapter I was a little confused because it had said that the escape artist had died I thought when he did the escape from underground. But then the boy sees him and he is alive doing shows and escaping from prisons. I have a feeling I missed something or I was just reading it wrong. All I know is, I perceived it as he had died and then was alive. I tried rereading it 4 times and I still could not find what I missed.
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