A femist voice

Sylvia Plath is one of those writers that I thoroughly enjoy. Maybe it's the strong feminist voice she uses or maybe it's the way she connects a resentment for her father to the resentment for her ex-husband to the resentment of the male population. Sylvia Plath struggles with the traditional roles of women of being submissive the the superior male. Much like many of the women today, Plathy hated that role. I don't think society does it on purpose. I think that the traditional roles assumed by men and women are because well they're traditional, passed down from generation to generation. Women make the dinner, raise the kids, keep the house clean, and tend to the garden. Men work hard, make the money, and typically are not around much. Now I don't associate myself with the strong voiced feminists of today but I do understand their arguments. I personally don't mind having dinner on the table when my husband walks in the door as long as it's not expected or demanded. I really don't mind raising the kids as long as I'm given a chance to be me and have time alone. I don't mind cleaning house as long as I am not doing it alone, afterall I don't recall throwing dirty boxers on the floor before my shower. If I didn't have a brown thumb, I'm sure gardening would be fun. I do intend to be a career woman and do intend to make my own name. I don't want to be known as Rebecca, Grant Kooima's wife. I want to be known as Rebecca Kooima and wouldn't mind Grant being known as Rebecca Kooima's husband. I may not hold that strong feminist voice that Sylvia Plath has captured but I can relate. I have always loved Sylvia Plath and I think I figured out why. She is a writer that has captured the struggle that women have had for centuries to have equal rights. I like that in a writer. I like that Sylvia Plath has captured such a strong feminist voice and she can reach out to the poetry, well, disadvantaged like me.

Top Ten List

I was quite relieved after reading the two stories. Both O'Conner and Ellison write at a level that allow me to see into the world they are trying to draw their readers into. I've said it before, literature is not my forte. I found myself, while reading Ellison, to be picking out different elements of the story all on my own. I found the symbolism of the American flag, I found the racial tensions, and the tensions of sexism laced throughout the story. I walked away feeling like an English major. I walked away feeling a great sense of accomplishment. Following Ellison I read O'Conner. O'Conner, when just scratching the surface of her story, seems to be just a writer merely for entertainment. I began to sit and wonder why she wrote the story, surely it could not be for just entertainment. The story would not have been included in a Norton anthology had it been for pure entertainment. Then it hit me. O'Conner was a true postmodernist writer. The idea that old myths don't work and yet nothing can really work. O'Conner captured this with her character, Joy (my personal favorite). I caught myself actually laughing (as horrible as it is) when the bible salesman stole her leg. How did she get home? How did she get down out of the loft? What a fool! I had even seen that coming! These two stories have made my top ten list for this course along with Anne Bradstreet's "The Prologue." Very enjoyable!

A Secret World

It's days like today I wonder if I can be a teacher of English teacher. It's days like today I question my choice to be an English major. Poetry days are the days I question whether I am in the right field. After reading the selected poems by Wallace Stevens and T.S. Eliot, I felt as though I had just finished an advanced assignmnet in Greek. I put down my anthology with no more knowledge than when I picked it up. After class today, I walked out questioning my ability to even read. I am wondering if there is some hidden secret as to how to read poetry. If anyone reading this knows that secret, please let me into the secret world of poetry.

Some poetry

Never being a fan of poetry, I for some reason enjoyed Frost's poetry. The struggle he has with the idea of a divine being seems to be the same struggle so many of us have with our own faith. Frost really touched home for me. Life isn't always a bowl of cherries, we're going to hit sour ones, we're going to hit rotten ones, and don't forget the pits. The idea of perfecting one's self isn't always in our hands, or is it? Frost and I agree on that. I think I am now a fan of some poetry. Not all, but some!

Hard on the ears

As easy as it is for me to read Washington and to agree with him, it's even easier to agree with Du Bois. Washington speaks of peace, don't fight for equal rights, work for them. Du Bois says that working for equal rights is not an option. A black man will always be a black man, there will never be true equality. As much as I hate to say it, it's true. I will always be a white woman. We will always be what our physical image is and we will always be judged with the stereotype that goes along with that physical image. It stinks! Washington is very easy on the ears. He makes us feel as though equality is going to happen, it won't be that hard to achieve, cooperation is key. Du Bois points out that this is not the case. Equality will never happen. There will always be a difference, no matter how hard we try. Affirmative Action is one example. Upon trying to grant equal rights to the blacks, our government has been trying to make up for the past mistakes. Affirmative Action, instead of discriminating against blacks, points out that they are black and they deserve more of a chance than someone else equally qualified. This does not only work for blacks, women suffer from the same acts of favoritism. A woman will be given admission to a college over a man with equal qualifications. Our physical appearance will always matter and there is no true equality. Ouch, that's hard on the ears!

The fall of man

Upon reading the description of Pap being like Adam, I though of Pap as being made from mud. Adam was made of mud, God formed Adam out of mud and breathed life into him. Then it hit me. Adam was the fall of mankind. Pap is sinful and is Huck's fall. Yet, even with this awesome referral to Adam's original sin, Twain had more to say with this. Twain wanted to make a point that Pap is bad, but so is everyone. Adam sinned and so do the rest of us because of that. No sin is worse than another. In fact, Jesus said, "those who are without sin cast the first stone." Twain was pointing out that we are so quick to judge Pap because he seems so easy to critique, when really we should take a step back and look at our own lives. Pap is bad but think of some of the things we do that are not so great and go against God's plan for us. Adam was the fall of mankind, therefore we all are sinful, ALL our sinful.

What a brave man

It's interesting to me that a runaway slave becomes the moral center of Huckleberry Finn. In a time where blacks were the considered the scum of the earth, Twain uses a runaway slave to preach the moral law. What is right in society's eyes is not always moral. I like this. Twain made a very bold statement in using a black man in his writing for something other than a slave. What a brave man. I envy this.

Eureka!

Eureka! I have found it! A literary period that makes sense to me has finally come to my attention. I never understood the idea of transcendentalism and romaticism. Realism is my kind of writing. The truth will set you free. I truly enjoy the eye opening we, as readers, receive through the writing of this time. Twain addresses that no human being is perfect, essentially we are all failures in God's eyes. We, as a society, look down our noses at other people becuase they seem to be "less" than us, the gutter rats, the prostitutes, the single parents. Twain bluntly points out, no you are no better than the man who spends every night in the bar. I like this in hiw writing. I like the idea of the truth and not putting any on up on a pedestal. I like that Twain is also writing during a time where the nation was split on such a controversial issue, slavery. Huck Finn befriended a run away slave and even though that was wrong in society's eyes at that time, Huck knew what was morally right and morally wrong. It is morally wrong to judge someone by the color of their skin rather than their true character. Twain made some amazingly bold statements in a novel that could be considered a simple story with no underlying theme. I like reading realist writing. Eureka!

Touch of the Times

The more and more I think about it, the more I realize how much the times effect writing. George Orwell wrote Animal Farm as a response to the Communist movement. Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales in response to the corruption of the catholic church. Walt Whitman wrote poetry reflecting his pantheist beliefs and reflecting the time of romanticism. Emily Dickinson's poetry, although she was a Christian, wrote poetry also reflecting the transcendentalism theory. Dickinson's poetry is indeed wonderful and unique, but there is a touch of each writer before her in her work. Whitman influenced her, Thoreau was one of her favorite writers of all time. Dickinson had a very unique style of poetry but the times she lived in effected her writing without a doubt. Dickinson's poetry includes a touch of the times.

Too blunt

Walt Whitman was, true a wonderful writer, but was so point-blank in all of his writing. He had an excellent way of expressing his beliefs and his point of view but he also had a very blunt way of expressing some very particular beliefs. Try as I might, I tried to overlook his references to homosexuality, I just could not. I recognize his talent and his contribution to American literature. I understand that modern poets either mirror his poetry or that of Dickinson. I also know that there are so many more cryptic ways of explaining this homosexuality. I expect this kind of writing out of modern poets and modern writers, but I did not expect it from one of the most well-known poets in America and one with such influence.

Chewing their cud

Upon driving onto my own driveway last night I glanced over at the cattle who were making a mad dash to the fence closest to the house. The cattle closely watched me step out of my car, anticipating my very next move. Odd it is, but I noticed a strange resemblance between the cattle watching me and the rest of the world. Society has the annoying way of watching to see where I am going to go next, what my next move will be, and if I will rise or fall. These moments in my life often make it to the neighbor's dinner over the evening meal. I had to wonder before I entered my house, am I the topic of conversation while the cattle are standing around chewing their cud?

The Enemy of Genius is Genuius

Isn't it true that we seem to fail every time we try to perfectly mirror our idol? I can not count the number of times I have attempted to write a poem as amazing as one of Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allen Poe, and William Chaucer and have failed miserably. Emerson made a point to tell his readers that by mirroring the genius writer a person is only holding themself back. To be a true scholar one must make an attempt to discover new ideas, experience life, and put them in words that are unique and have not already been used. Before reading the "American Scholar", I would have given anything to write in the style of Emerson and do so successfully. After finishing this truth-filled piece, I realized I need to put my own ideas on paper.

Vanity

Franklin believed that vanity was wrong and those that are vain lose. Franklin was so avid about this that he refused to eat out of china bowls and off silver spoons. When his wife purchased china and silver for him because she believed he was deserving of it he criticized her. This was a gift to him, she admired him so much she decided to purchase something well out of their means because he deserved it. It was almost vain of him to try to live a life preaching about vanity. Franklin did live somewhat of a humble lifestyle but I just have to make the point that he was vain as well. It is a fact that Franklin worked very hard to be more than successful. Had he been as humble as he claimed he would not have had to work so hard to be better than everyone else.

Did he forget about the New Testament?

Although Jonathan Edwards is very well rehearsed and knows his material, I have to wonder if he only knows his material from the Old Testament. He is making a point to inform the people that God has the power to save whomever he wants and does not have to same someone. He also speaks of all of humanity dangling over the pits of a fiery hell, it is God's choice to save us from this. Edwards was a calvanist and they believe that God doesn't have to save anyone, in fact a person is chosen to be saved before they even ask for it. The New Testament clearly states that anyone who chooses to follow Christ is saved. In fact a very well-known verse in the New Testament, John 3:16 states, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but shall have eternal life." It's not about God choosing who will be saved, God wants us all in his family. God wants everyone to follow him.

Ode to Bradstreet

It is too bad that in the time of the Puritans women were thought of to be nitwits. It is too bad that when Ann Bradstreet was writing some of the best poetry of that time she was thought of to be a nitwit. Women of that time period were never given a chance to exhibit their true gifts. Bradstreet made a great point in saying that by writing an amazing work everyone will think that it was by chance or that she stole it, women were to have little heads during that time. It is just too bad. Bradstreet had everything but a little head. I am sure she made a great wife and mother but she also made one heck of a writer. She paved the way for so many women poets and writers. Had it not been for her talent I truly believe that women would have had many more struggles in being published as known authors and poets. As a woman I would like to thank Bradstreet for paving the way for me to be an educated young woman working daily with literature.

Winthrop made one good point

John Winthrop stated that God created diferent people to be in different levels of society. Truth is God did not create people to be in different levels of society. God created all men in his image, all men equal. God would not have created us in his image had he wanted there to be levels of society. Truth is, God created each person as an individual. With that it mind, each person is going to need each other. Not every person is going to be able to do everything, people will still have to rely on each other and I believe that this is the only point that John Winthrop captured. Winthrop, I am sure, had many reasonsfor writing what he did, but I believe that it was all a misinterpretation. Society has levels of society, yes, but not because it is to avoid conformity and to truly manifest his work. God created each person as an individual and ultimately the goal was to work through that person as a way to manifest his work, not by the social level they are in but through the individual.

True Blindness

Ever wonder what it would be like to be blind? Ever wonder what it would be like to never see what you're wearing or what you're eating or what you're furniture looks like? This is blindness. Does it really matter if you're wearing lucky brand jeans or jc penny's jeans? Does it really matter if your plate is arranged beautifully or if the food is just set on the plate? Does it really matter if all of the furniture in a room matches perfectly? Doesn't the personality of a person matter anymore? Whatever happened to a family restaraunt with home-cooked food? Aren't we all truly blind? In this modern world what used to matter to our grandparents does not seem so i'mportant to this generation. Maybe we all are truly blind and the people that are blind are actually better off. Maybe not knowing what a brand of jeans look like but rather what they feel like is better. Maybe having comfortable furniture rather than modern fancy furniture is better. Maybe we are all truly blind.

Trapped by gender

Among the many ideas the settlers heading west had, was the one that women belonged in the kitchen. Although that same stereotype is around in some families it was not an occasional expectation, it was a way of life. The women were responsible for the children, the house, the dinner, and the animals. Women were not given the opportunities that we are now. Women are given a chance at life now. Women are given a chance to achieve a higher education, we are given the chance to move up in the career world and hold positions higher than the male race, we are given a chance to be something that we never could have before. Louise Gluck addresses this in her poem "The School Children." Women helped the kids get ready for school and sent them off. The children would come home speaking of their education and to the mother's this was a completely different language. They were never given the chance to learn what their kids were learning. The children slowly grew away from their mothers and the mothers eventually realize there is no way out. They work to figure out how to find a new life, but trapped by the expectations of womanhood, there is nothing they can do but make the dinner and make sure it is on the table when the husband walks in the door from a long day at workl. Women were trapped by gender.