"In the Land of the Free"

Charles So
English 48B
Jan. 23 2011
Journal for Sui Sin Far

Author Quote:
"You do not know man what it is to miss the feel of the little fingers and the little toes and the soft round limbs of your little one. Even in the darkness his darling eyes used to shine up to mine, and often have I fallen into slumber with his pretty babble at my ear. And now, I see him not; I touch him not; I hear him not. My baby, my little fat one!" (882)

Internet Quote:

"the first Chinese woman writer in North America, expressed both her feelings as a Eurasian and her keen desire to explain what kind of people Chinese Americans were.¹ Among early Chinese immigrant authors, she was virtually the only one who was engaged in writing imaginative literature rather than social-anthropological works." (Literature Resource Center The Voice of a Eurasian:, by Xiao Huang Yin)

Summary:

Still attempting to cope with the loss of her only child, Lae Choo is very frustrated and vents out at her husband who asks if she had gotten any sleep. Her reaction is very emotional as she tries to express to her husband about her discontent and her emotional loss of her child. She becomes very maternal as she talks about her child. She talks about her son as if he was a part of her, like he was still in her womb, when she talks about the loss of her child she expresses it as the end of the world.

Personal Opinion:

In Sui Sin Far's "In the Land of the Free," she conveys the Chinese as a race of positive and enduring people, who work hard and overcome the adversities which are handed to them. From the beginning Sui Sin Far portrays the mother and son as faithful immigrants coming to America to enjoy the freedoms. From the confrontation between Hom Hing and the U.S. customs, you get the sense that the Chinese people are law abiding even through unjust actions. Throughout the story Sui Sin Far goes into the lives and mentality of Chinese immigrants, she captures their emotions and attitudes through the heart wrenching story and throughout the story she drops little pictures and ideas of Chinese culture; celebration of a baby's first month, description of food; rice steaming in the bowl. She also gives stark insight about the attitudes of Chinese people towards White people, it seems that Chinese people don't really trust Whites.

Zitkala-Sa

Charles So

English 48B

Jan. 18 2011

Journal for Zitkala Sa

Author Quote:  From- "Why I Am a Pagan"

"Folded hands lie in my lap, for the time forgot. My heart and i lie small upon the earth like a grain of throbbing sand... During the idle while i sat upon the sunny river brink, i grew somewhat, though my response be not so clearly manifest as in the green grass fringing the edge of the high bluff back of me." (1130)

Internet Quote:

" Zitkala-Sa was "very conscious of the passing of an era" (D. Fisher 207), although in radically different ways. Criticism of her work typically concedes her status as cultural ghost, interpreting key passages of her autobiographical essays as her own recognition of, even acquiescence in, a tragic cultural dissolution; she is read as a casualty of the unresolved ambivalence's of a mixed-blood biculturalism." (Literature Resource Center Author- D.K. Meisenheimer, Jr.)

Summary:

The nature of Zitkala-Sa's quote is to express her feelings toward nature. Her experience in the quote is comparable to people who attend church, as she express's herself sitting down with her hands folded on her lap, just as you may in church on sundays. Her affection towards nature and its affects on her is strongly presented as she says, "I grew somewhat," again the affects of nature for her is comparable to 

someone religious going to church.

Personal Opinion:

I feel the harsh and not so idealistic first interactions with white people in Zitkala-Sa's childhood and young adolescents greatly effected the mindstate and attitude of Zitkala-Sa towards society. In her autobiographical story she talks about her trip to get the white people's red apples and how it turn out to be bad because all she got was dirty looks during the train ride for the red apples and when she arrived at the school where her apples are suppose to be, she only got her hair chopped off which was very disgraceful for her. Not only her experience in school, but her decision to leave her mother essentially her people and culture for the white society makes her have discontent and maybe a grudge.

"The Souls of Black Folk"

Charles So

Eng. 48B

Jan. 11 2011

Journal for Du Bois

Author Quote:

"-a world which yields him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the otherworld. It is peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his two-ness,- an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.(896)

Internet Quote:

"DuBois plunged eagerly into his research. He was certain that the race problem was one of ignorance. And he was determined to unearth as much knowledge as he could, thereby providing the "cure" for color prejudice. His relentless studies led into historical investigation, statistical and anthropological measurement, and sociological interpretation...This was the first time such a scientific approach to studying social phenomena was undertaken, and as a consequence DuBois is acknowledged as the father of Social Science." ( A Biographical Sketch of W.E.B. DuBois by Gerald C. Hynes found on www.duboilc.org/html/DuBoisBio)

Summary:
W.E.B. DuBois explains the sociology of being black, in the text that i read and quoted, he speaks of the mental effects of slavery upon black people. DuBois writes of his peoples confused and distraught state of mind, he speaks of measuring themselves to white people and how they look at life and society inward as they are always to be subjected to two sides of things, first a empirical measuring to white people then a cultural self realization of themselves.

Personal Opinion:
For DuBois, Washington was an example of double consciousness or inward view, his ideas and plans for blacks fell short of what DuBois believed in. DuBois believed that the blacks should not patiently wait for society to integrate them, he believed that it was societies undertaken to help the blacks to better themselves in order to better society. I feel that DuBois believed that Washington meant well but he was a victim of the inward view or double consciousness inflicted by the white people and slavery. Before his criticism of Washington, DuBois writes, "without forgetting that it is easier to do ill than well in the world," (902) this was meant for Washington and his accomplishments. Also I believe many of the societal views for blacks as DuBois explained can also be relevant for minorities today. The inward view of blacks due to slavery and bigotry in DuBois time can be translated to minorities inward view today due to society and the media.  

"Up From Slavery"

Charles So

English 48B

Jan. 10 2011

Journal for Washington

Author Quote:

"Every persecuted individual  and race should get much consolation out of the great human law, which is universal and eternal, that merit, no matter under what skin found, is, in the long run, recognized and rewarded." (679-680)

Internet Quote:

"Though Washington offered little that was innovative in industrial education, which both northern philanthropic foundations and southern leaders were already promoting, he became its chief black exemplar and spokesman. In his advocacy of Tuskegee Institute and its educational method, Washington revealed the political adroitness and accommodationist philosophy that were to characterize his career in the wider arena of race leadership. He convinced southern white employers and governors that Tuskegee offered an education that would keep blacks "down on the farm" and in the trades." (ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SOUTHERN CULTURE edited by Charles Reagan Wilson and William Ferris)

Summary:

 An autobiography, Booker T. Washington brings the reader into his past and history. In his youth, just as Frederick Douglass, Washington finds himself endeavoring to achieve knowledge and to fulfill his goals. Washington explains the folly of slavery on both the white boys and slaves themselves, he also writes about how the best interests of black people in the post civil war, would be through education in the crafts and industrial skills and the cultivation of the virtues of patience, enterprise, and thrift. He urged his fellow blacks to cultivate their industrial and farming skills so as to attain economic security. Through his passive outlook he believes that through hard work and grit, equality will come eventually.

Personal Opinion:

Washington's outlook for me required Blacks to work harder and still wait, and not confront segregation and discrimination as it rised. His idea that eventual acquisition of wealth and culture through hard work would gradually win the respect and acceptance of the white community and in turn break down the divisions between the two races and lead to equal citizenship for blacks in the end is realistic, but it seems very grueling and unfair for the Blacks. Washington in many ways is looking forward for black people, but he isn't trying to resolve the issues of equality, for he is more on the morality and drive of the black people. He wants to invigorate newly freed slaves with a sense of responsibility and strong will that will overcome all shadows of hate that may come there way. In Washington's writing there is still a sense of cautiousness in freedom as he preaches to the blacks to still keep working hard and become better people, as he his apprehensive about freedom and equaltiy for black people. 

"The Yellow Wall-Paper"

Charles So

English 48A

Jan. 6 2011

Journal for Gilman

Author Quote:
"Jennie wanted to sleep with me the sly thing! but i told her i should undoubtedly rest better for a night all alone. That was clever, for really i wasn't alone a bit! As soon as it was moonlight and that poor thing began to crawl and shake the pattern, i got up and ran to help her" (818)

Internet Quote:

"Much more significantly, Gilman wrote fiction for the same reason she wrote everything else and for the same reason she spent years on the lecture circuit. She wrote and she lectured in an effort to convert people to her ideas. She used fiction, for example, to illustrate her deeply held belief that the home and domestic life as currently constructed are the source of the oppression of women" (The Charlotte Perkins Gilman Reader by Ann J. Lane found in Googlescholar.com)

Summary:

Because the narrator has been forced to stay in the room to cope with her illness, she has become infatuated with the yellow wall paper which she sees everyday. Even though the narrator believes tells her husband the "rest cure" he believes in, is not working for her and is actually contributing to her illness, he ignores her, for he believes her illness is causing her to act this way. The misdiagnosis pushes her madness and the narrator writes her frustration and she becomes disillusional.

Personal Opinion:
Gilman's intents on writing the story is powerful, she uses her experiences to write a psychological story of misdiagnoses and mis-remedy. This ultimatley dooms the poor woman to her disillusioned state. As you follow the descent of madness of the narrator, it is clear that she was not crazy or seriously ill from the start. It is the isolation and loss of control around her which pushes her to the edge, because of her misdiagnoses and mis-remedy she is deprived of the essentials which keeps her sane. She is pleaded not to stimulate or express her creative and intellectual urges, in order to help herself. This makes her go even crazier for she is distraught by the whole fundmental aspect of her treatment. Beyond the ultimate message of womens oppression i feel this story is also great psychological thriller.    

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"

Charles So

English 48B

Journal for Bierce

Author Quote:

"Evidently this was no vulgar assassin. The liberal military code makes provision for hanging many kinds of persons, and gentlemen are not excluded"(361)

Internet Quote:
"The short stories Bierce wrote were of three main types: satirical horror stories, emphasizing the "horror"; anti-war satires, emphasizing the brutality and human wreckage of war; and, by contrast, a crazy group of old-Western "tall tales," the exaggeration being turned to into satiric purposes"( "The Complete Short Stories of Ambrose Bierce" by Ambrose Bierce foreword by Ernest Jerome Hopkins found in Googlescholar.com)

Summary:
In "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," Bierce vividly details the entire story. From the scene at the bridge, to Farquhar narrowly escaping and somehow making it back home, I felt the realism and surrealism of the story. With Bierce's striking messages, there is a tone of sympathy for the military even though they are the villains of the story, for they are merely the executioner doing their duties.

Personal Opinion:
This was a riveting story because i thought he had escaped death, with the cannons shooting and Farquhar i felt he was meant to escape. The story was so detailed it convinced me of the misappropriate situation of the event and i sympathized for Farquhar and believed he should escape. It was during only the last few paragraphs where i felt the surrealism of the event and got suspicious of Farquhar. This story by Bierce has a message of humanity and the great twist ending is great if you didn't catch on early like i did.