Johnson & Dunbar

When comparing the selected works of Johnson and Dunbar, the most obvious difference was the language the two men used.  While Johnson wrote in proper english, Dunbar wrote the way freed slaves spoke at that time.

This distiguishes Dunbar's work from any other poetry I've ever read, but in my opinion it made it more difficult for me to comprehend.  I was focused more on understanding what he was saying rather than the meaning behind his words.  Not a fan.

As far as Johnson's poetry, I found it to be boring.  Sorry Johnson.

Dunbar&&Johnson

Dunbar was definitely interesting. It definitely reminds me of the typical rap songs that we hear today. I think though that Johnson was a lot easier to read since Dunbar was choppy and was paid attention a lot to how he wants the words pronounced. Johnson just says what he wants to say.

So I don't know for sure but I'm assuming that Johnson is talking about white females having sex with their black slaves. Women and men used to have sexual relations with their slaves lots of times According to a history class I took last semester it was something that happened quite often. Some men got lucky when they slept with the white land owner because their son/daughter would get to live a nice slave-free life. I also think it's interesting and well... funny... that Johnson compares the woman to a vampire. which we all know sucks the life out of us humans. Guess he thinks these crazy women are going to suck their lives out which could happen.

That is also very sexist. Not all women are going to be ruthless and suck the life out of you men.. just FYI. I think my boyfriend would agree there. I would hope.. that since we live together.. he can stand me long enough that I don't suck the life out of him. Hahaha. Don't y'all think it sounds funny saying that we're  ( us women) suck the life out of women.. WIERD!

Psychotic

Both of the readings were definitely interesting. I really enjoyed The Yellow Wall-Paper. It reminded me of a horror movie or a suspense movie. It definitely mirrored the movie "Secret Window" with Johnny Depp. For those of you who have not seen it.... This man is staying at his cabin because he is procrastinating his divorce after finding his wife having an affair. He gets approached by this farmer who is saying he stole his story and plagiarized. Johnny who is convinced he did not do such a thing is in a whirlwind of craziness with this psychotic farmer. SPOILER ALERT: Johnny's character has multiple personalities and he doesn't know.. neither does the watcher. Anyways... as we talked about in class... We do not even know who the narrator is by the end of the story and that is exactly what Johnny kind of portrays in the movie. Definitely a movie I would recommend.... even though I did kinda ruin it.. It would still be a good watch since I left out all the juicy details. I know this story is super short compared to what other movies have been based upon but I think that if a director decided to make this a movie it would do great.

Kate Chopin

"Free, free, free….””Free! Body and Soul free!” are the words uttered by Louise, a now widowing woman, in Chopin’s short story called The Story of an Hour, which is derived from Chopin’s actual life.  At the age 20, Kate married a gentleman by the name of Oscar Chopin, who passed away in 1882, leaving her in charge of his plantation and general store. Kate Chopin was and is still considered by some novelists to have been a forerunner of feminist authors of the 20^th century. She incorporated her rebellion and free spirit into her writings. Her second novel, The Awakening, was written about a women trapped in the confines of an oppressed society and had received so much criticism because of its moral and literary standards. I think if she were still alive right now, she would appreciate the 21^st century, a place where she can practice her feminism. She would have noticed that we are now in a world where woman are actually working outside of the house, becoming successful businesswoman by developing their own businesses, women are going out and earning some sort of education,  as well as even earning a higher income than men and evening becoming bosses for major companies.


LISA STANTON

Chopin and Gilman

The Story of an Hour

Kate Chopin

Kate Chopin was the third of five children, but she was the only one to live past the age of twenty- five. Since we know that now, it makes sense that she's no stranger to death.It was also said that she was a feminist as well, which is clear in her book "The Awakening" (Something I recommend you should read) and in this short story  In The Story of an Hour, Mrs. Mallard discovers that her husband has died. Although most women would be terribly distraught over this, she kind of got over it a little quickly. She says she's "free, free, free" on page 556 and she whispers "Free! Body and soul free!"on page 557. What I got from this was that her husband was kind of over protective or possessive. He probably smothered her and, although it's a little sad, she feels free. At first I assumed she probably knew she was going to die, but she didn't want to leave her husband alone in the world, so when he died she felt she was free to die. I read this story another time and came to the conclusion that she was probably in a relationship she wasn't too fond of which is why she considers herself free at the end. I thought it was pretty sad that she ended up dying though. She had barely been free and she just dies right after she realizes it. This wasn't my absolute favorite piece Chopin has written, but it was still interesting(: 

The Yellow Wall-paper

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

I actually really liked "The Yellow Wall-paper". It turns out this was actually kind of based on Gilman's life. She was a writer and a social activist in the 1800's and 1900's. She was married to her first husband for several years and they had a daughter. Gilman suffered from Postpartum depression throughout her marriage and "The Yellow Wall-paper" was a little insight on how she felt. She went through so many treatments just to get through it. As you can tell from the story, she was also a feminist and she wrote books on that topic. She ended up marrying her cousin after her first marriage ended and after he died, she found out that she had breast cancer. She ended up committing suicide August 17, 1935.

In "The Yellow Wall-paper" the narrator never reveals her name, which annoyed me a bit. If  I'm going to read something, I want to know everything about the narrator. It did make me a little more interested in the story though. Why didn't she reveal her name throughout the story? There's a part at the end where she says "I've got out at last... in spite of you and Jane!..." I didn't really know who Jane was, then I thought Jane might be the narrator's name. I really didn't like John in this story. He didn't take her feelings into consideration and he just assumed he knew what was best for her. Her breaking out at the end was a symbol for her breaking free from her husband. That shows how much feminism was important to her. I felt bad for the narrator in the story because she wasn't crazy to begin with; she just had postpartum depression. It was sad how she mentioned they wouldn't let her hold her baby. 

I did read this story in high school and I still like it to this day.(:

A Story of Love in an Hour

"The Story of an Hour" really appealed to me tonight because I like love and death. They are two of my favorite topics about life. In this reading the way Mrs. Mallard reacts to the death of her husband seemed fake at first. The way she cried and stormed to her room. I say fake because immediately upon entering the other room and being alone she shows her true feelings. She is happy that he is gone. She had this terrible heart condition for a while now, but it was suddenly cured. She said she felt free. She would be able to live for herself, and not for someone else. One hour thinking changed her whole outlook on life. She wanted to go out and live a life of her accord. Sadly, this could not last, for when she came downstairs her husband came walking in the room. When she saw this, she just gave up and died. This reminded me of the story of my Aunt Odie's and Uncle Ray's deaths. It is, however, the opposite of this story being they were both actually in love. These two people in my life weren't really my aunt and uncle. They were my grandparent's neighbors in New York and my God parents. They followed my parents to texas because of me and my sister. I knew them both for as long as I could remember. Odie became very feeble in old age, and would get injured or sick easily. Ray was the second manliest man I knew(first is my father). He was always healthy, strong, and never got sick. Odie eventually passed away in 2002 at the age of sixty-one. Ray seemed so strong only fifty-six years of age, and still had a long life ahead of him. However, he became really sick only months after Odie's funeral. He never told us with what, but he refused to see a doctor. He died only 5 months after Odie's funeral of natural causes. "The Story of an Hour" brought up a correlation that I strongly believe exists between love and life and death. Love can make a person feel alive, and for some is a reason to live. However, when lost it can be very painful and even deadly.

American Literature Since 1865

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Best,

Shiloh