Batard out of Carolina

Let me start of by saying that we are ending this semester with a great book. This book has kept me interested since day one. The only think that I dont like about this book is the truth behind it. Im going to be a teacher in the future and I would hate to anything to happen to mys students and seems like Bone has been through the wrost a child could go through as a child. It seems like Bones Inoocent has been taken from her. She was raped and beaten by a guy that she calls "Daddy Glen". I always wondered why she caled him Daddy Glen especially after all he did to her. What was more disturbing is that her aunt and her mother suspect of it happening and they still dont do anything about it. I hate that her mother lets this horrible man beat her and she doest do anything about it. Annie knows that this man beats her child and she still thinks that this man loves bone and he doesnt mean to do anything to her.

A real disturbing part in the story was when Bone masturbate to the fact that someone might catch Glen beating her. At first I was really shocked because she is so young she shouldnt have to think of anything like that she should be playing with dolls not masturbating. But it all makes sence she does this because its confort for her. She does it because it pleases he to know that some day someone can catch Glen beating her and look at him like a monster. Another thing that bothered me was the fact that she still would have forgave him for him doing such horrific things to her. while I read this book I always wondered why Glen picke Bone and not Reese. I think that he had some type of obsession with her. he was sick in the head. It seems like the mother Annie was even more messed up because she kept this looser around her daughter.

This book is very similiar to the play "A Street Car named Desire" because Bone and Stella were raped and there family members kind of just ignored it. They put there nasty husbands before there family members to me thats just insane.

The Underground Stream and a little about Dickey

When I first read this poem I though Og a guy that was really depressed. I thought that he was suicidal, or a cry for help. To me this person doesnt seem to happy with thereself. They seem like they are trying to hide there identity. They may be trying to throw everything down that well and possibly become someone new. By this I think Dickey is trying to state that the well is an escape. The person in this poem can use the well to shed any worries or there identity that they are not happy with and become a new person. The end of the poem states " My image of joy flow down" Its like he is happy that he is free of the person he was.

My thoughts on Dikey.
When I read Dickeys poems half the time I dont know whats going on but as I read on I notice that he is very physical and emotional in his poems. Even though he uses emotions and physical characteristics he does it in a decrete way. Like in the poem " The sheep Child. He talks about the boys getting sexually aroused but you dont really catch on to it until you read it again. Most of his poems are sexual so that makes me wonder about him. Maybe he was lonely and the only way he got pleasure was through his poems. Just my opinion. I must say My favorite poem that I have read of his was "Falling" this made the most sence to me. It was long but the way he did it made it interesting. He based it on her falling and the things she thought about while she was falling. The ending was a surprise its like she survived just enough time to think about the fact tht she couldve lived if there was water around her, to me that was sad because as she was falling she was so hopeful and reality didnt hit her until she was ready to die.

The Heaven of Animals

This was the most confusing and crazy poem I have ever read. I dont understand it much and to my understanding I believe everyone that reads this peom will have a different view on it. It starts off some what with a quiet tone then it gets a little scary and the end it unknown. I dont know if its just me but I read this many times and each time I read it the question that lingered in my head was "what is going on? So I am going to do my best to break each verse down.

The first verse describe how "they" came and where "they were possibly from"
The second verse describes how "they" came, and I got the sence of them being innocent becuase it describes their eyes soft as they opened.
The third verse, I got the sence that they could be strong becuase it says that they outdid waht was required.
The Fourth verse was it talkes about blood and how they hunted.????
the fifth verse " they " seemed more dangerous because it says that they were "more deadly than they can believe".
The las verse was confuding it was like" their" purpose was to hunt and kill and that was ok...

I chose this poem because when I read the title it looked as if it were going to be easy because of the title but Im not to shure if the title has anything to do with the poem itself. Just my opinion..... :)

Revelation

When I first started reading this story I was really confused because i was expecting a story about God or about something in the bible, but it wasnt quite like that. Its about a women named Mrs.Turpin, who was very large who was in a waiting room in a small hospital sort of like a garage. This lady is very judgemental . It was quite disturbung actually. She talks about a ugly girl, the trashy people also know as "white trash" and the black people but she reffers to them as "niggers". I dont know if this is how white women thought in the south but I wasnt surprised.

On page 820 she says that if Jesus had asked her to pick from being white trash or a nigger, she would have asked for another choice but if he said she had to pick one she would had begged a little more but then she would have picked to be a nigga but she aked to be a propper one not a trashy one. I like Mrs. Trpins interpretation of the social classes in the south.. She describes that at the bottom of the heap were most colored people, then next came white trash, then the home owners and at the top were home and land owners. Mrs. Turpin was at the very top.

Yoou can kind of tell what time frame this takes place, becuae on pg 823 they talk about how hard it is to get black people top pick cotton and how even they were moving up on the class ladder but they described it as the black people trying to be like the white folks. Toward the end she is picked out she is very mad and she constantly says why dont they pick on other trash meaning white people and then she says to pick on the black people instead its like the tables were turned like her, she finally got to feel like the people she talked about.

Street Car Named Desire movie vs play

Ok this was more like it. I didnt like reading the play watching it is way better. When you watch it you can actually see how the characters look how they are and there facial expressions. Blanche looked exactly as I thought she would look, she was blonde skinney and sassy. I didnt like Stellas husband in the play and i especially didnt like him in the movie. In the play he seemed like a jerk in the movie he was a monster. Stella wasnt any help she let him act the way he wanted she shouldve left him when he hit her the first time, but her passion was really seen when she took him back.

I liked the movie better also because not only was it more interesting to look at but you could really see the character Blanche was. She was out of her mind since day one. It was like she was in her own world the way she would pance around the house like she was a queen. For some reason i expecte Mitch to be much more hansome because it just seemed like Blanche would have better taste because she was so sassy. The scen that I really thought was different was the scene where Mitch told Blanche that she wast clean enough to bring to her mother, in the movie he said it bt he was trying to seduce her at the same time. In the book it just seemed like he was telling it to her. Another difference was when Blanche freaked out in the movie she tol him to leave before she began to scream in the play she told him to leave before she began to scream fire.

The ending was the big twist. The ending was different from the play. In the play Stella actually was smart enough to leave her husband. you coul really see how crazy she had turned out she was out of her mind but who wouldnt be after she got raped and all she has went through previously. I liked how Mitch actually noticed what he had done and punched him. I was glad that she left him in the end.

A StreetCar Named Desire

I going to start of by saying that I hate plays and I especially hate reading them. When i saw the title I really wasn't interested because I thought it would be about some stupid guy who liked to race cars and his cars name was Desire,but this was the total opposite. The title is kind of similar to the last story we read "The Eyes Were Watching God" because it has nothing to do with the book, and you notice that as you read on the play is kind of interesting. What i found funny was the fact that they discussed things that were kind of taboo for that time. For example Blanche was this women who made up lies up lies and tried to embellish them. She is a women who sleeps with a lot of men, she is definitely not your typical southern bell. I think that she tells lies because she doesn't want to face the truth. She doest even want Mitch to see her in the light its like she doesn't even want to face her age. Then Mich decides that he doesn't want to marry Blanche anymore and this was also like a big slap in the face. He even tell her "You are not clean enough to bring in the house with my mother". Even if I knew I was a typical southern bell and I was in fact a clean women I would have still been offended. So imagine how she felt.

Stanley cut the cake for me or should i say for Blanche. He really took her back to reality. I think the reason he raped her was to prove the fact that if he did it no one would believe that it was true because she is so promiscuous women and that she tells lies. I think her sister pickes her husband before her because she doesnt want a life like Blanche I think she rather just have a fake "happy' marriage than the one that every one is going to talk about. Sort of like the one that Blanche lives.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

This was a great book. I was real hesitant about this book because the title sounds dry. As I read I found out that the title had nothing to do with the story. This was different from the rest of the stories. The main character Janie is a powerful character. In the begining of the story she was just a child and her point of view was different from all of the other african american characters in the other stories I read. Instead of complaining of her race she was proud to be black. She was not the type to get mad because someone was being racist she looked at it as them missing out on meeting who she really was. She was strong and independent.

As she got older she married man named Jody and this relationship was different. They were distant. I was really surprised at the fact that it was hard to leave Jody when it was easier to up and leave her last marriage. She didnt even get a valid divorce. But it was harder with Jody. Jody was rude and mean and i was really happy when she embarassed him and destroyed his whole sense of man hold. To me he had it coming, he always embarrased her and it was his turn. Towards the end it was like Jody didnt trust her anymore he was resentful. At his bedside when he was dieng he didnt even want her to feed him he trusted the docters instead.

Then came Tea Cake he was alot younger then Jainie he was in his late twenties and she was in his early forties. I was kind of skeptic about him because he was so young. But he was definetly better than Jody. They had a intimite and passionate relationship. He put her on this petistol and she didnt want to be on the petistol. He was different from Jody because he was the one to make her breakfast after sex. With Jody she was expected to be the one in the kitchen. But Tea Cake treated her like a lady.

I didnt like the ending. It was sad, It must have been hard for Jainie to kill the man she loved, but I see why she wasnt hesitant because she was defending her self. She says in the book that that she didnt see the man she loved. I was happy at the fact that they didnt convict her of murder and they were convinced that it was self defence which it was self defence.

Jim Crow

Ok I especially liked this reading because it described how African Americans lived in the south after "slavery" was over. Richard Wright, describes how the blacks lived on the other side of the tracks. This right here describes segregation to me. Jim grow says that nothing green ever grew in his yard and how his house had a skimpy yard that was paved with black cinders. He describes that the only people that saw green in there yard were the "whites". There was a game where children would play by throwing cinders at ecah other. I was really shock to read that even the white children were racist. I came to this conclusion because, insteacd of the white kids throwing cinders back they threw glass bottles which in fact cut Jim. You would think that the children were a little more remorcefull than the grown ups but they were just as bad as there white parents.

I dont believe in beating children in order for them to learn leasons, but i can understand why the mother did. She was scared for her son. She knew how bad things could get. I think that next time, she feared one of the white kids would kill him. I think she also wanted him to learn early, that even if the blacks fight against the whites that they will loose. After his mother beat him he said " I was never to fight any more wars"....... " I was never,never under any condition, to fight WHITE folks again". I think he learned his lesson.

Slavery might have been over, but you can tell that there was still segregation. The blacks had, black school, black churches, black teachers, and black groceries. The mother actually works all day everyday for a white family. Too me she was still considered a slave to the white people. Slvery might have been over but the blacks were still suffereing. What started off as a game enden in black boy being hurt. The blacks want social change. Its horrible how racist the whites are, they dont even want the black people to learn because they dont want them to be smart. I think they dont want them to be smart ennough, because then they will want to fight for more rights.

This story was written to describe the "old South" but let me say something......... These things are still happening. It may not be in the same way but racism has never ended.

An Order From Verbina

I really liked this reading. I think things like this still happen. There is a big conflict in this story. A young boy by the name of Bayard is face with this bif conflict. He is faced with the fact that his father is shot and everyone expects him to get revenge. The Young boy is forced to grow up. In a way Bayard feels guilty for his fathers death. In the story a positive character is Ringo. Ringo is a former slave. He shows that he is loyal to the family by crying over the death of Bayards father. This story is different because Ringo is actaully a positive character. Ringo grew up with Bayard. He is considered more like a friend then a slave. Ringo and Bayard have this history to gether , of killing Ramby a man that killed there grandmother.

As the story goes on Bayard has to figure out what to do. He fights with what society wants him to do. Bayard is supposed to get revenf for his fathers death. he is supposed to get revenge because that is what a southern man should do. Deep down inside Bayard doesnt want to do anything but he is faced with " social Pressure". He has been raise around family violence and there for doesnt believe in violence anymore. He gives people the idea that he is going to seek revenge, but deep down iside he doest want to.

Ok your probably wondering where the word Verbina comes into place. Well, Verbina is a lemony smell. Bayard compares it t the smell of the garden. He relates it to his childhood memories, it is sort of like he is leaving it all behind. Finally when Bayard goes to the office to "kill" Redmond he goes unarmed. I think he goes unarmed because he wants to make it clear that he doesnt want to kill him. But its funny how redmond shoots at him and misses each time. Its like he n=knew he was unarmed and didnt want to kill him.

I think things like this still happen. People are faced with moral issues that are influenced by society. Society and social status forces us to do things that we dont want to do. Sometimes people do things because they are scared of what people mite think and deep down inside we already made up our minds. Everyone expected Bayard to get revenge but all along he was through with violence and didnt want to repeat his fathers history.

Dry September

I never read anything on William Faulkner, but I must say, I really enjoyed this piece. I Liked the fact that he didnt sugar coat anything. He wrote the story from a realistic point of view, for example, in the reading the white men use the word "nigger" alot. Im not saying that I like this awfull word. Im saying that its realistic, this is how the "white man" spoke about black people in the south and I believe still happens.

In the reading there is this black man by th name of Will Mayes. He is accused of hurting a white women. He is accused of either assulting her or raping her. The scene takes place in a barber shop. There are men debating whether the man is innocent or not. One of the mans name is Hawk he believes that Will Mayes is innocent. He doesnt think that the man is capable of doing such a thing. He believes that the white women is lying. Then there is another character by the name of Butch he doesnt agree with what Hawk thinks.

In my opinion he doesnt care if the man is innocent he just cares that the man is black so, right off the bat the man is guilty. Hawk continues to stick up for Will Mayes. He gets called a "nigger lover" and they compare him to the men in the north, sort off like calling him a "yankee". But Hawk has some interesting opinions as to why the women could be lying. He mentions the fact that the women is middle aged and has never had a serious relationship. I think he is pointing at the fact that the women could be lying and doing this for some attention.

This story was interesting to read because you finally got an understanding of what different white people thought about black people, and that not all white people are not races like Hawk who thought Will was innocent the whole time. Then you have people like Butch who make all whie men look bad. Its interesting to read southern lit and how it was in the past because some of these things are still happening now in day.

Kate Chopin

I never read any work of Kate Chopin before I got to this class, but I must say that I love her work. I was very conserned at the begining of the school year, because I was scared I wasnt going to enjoy any reading. But her work made me want to read on. One of my favorites is "The Storm". I enjoyed this story very much. I read At the Cadian Ball and I was so intrigued that I wanted a sequel, and there it was The Storm. The Storm was unpredictable, you thought you knew what was going to happen, but it was the total opposite. In the begining, Calixtas husband Babinot was at a store with BIBi. They had to stay there untill the storm passed. Calixta was at the house getting all the clothes she had put out that day to dry and then it all started. Alcee came along and asked to stay with her while the storm passed. What I found real funny is that he happen to just be riding by and needed shelter and out of all the places it had to be Calixtas house.

See Calixta and Alsee have this passion for eachother, but they are both married so anything they had or have as far as passiom shoulod be forbidden. You thimk them being married would stop them but it doesnt. To my knowledge they have sex which is bad because they are married,but i dont blame them, they have the HOTS for one another. And as for there other spouses they settled for them. Calixta settled for Babinot because he was a good husband. Alsee settled for his wife because of social cercumstances, which was typicle back in the day and to me still happens.

At the end when the storm passes Alsee leaves and Babinot and Bibi come back. This is what blew my mind. Calixta was so happy to see her husband and son and she cooked them dinner like nothing ever happened. Alsee goes back home and writes his wife a love letter. I think they both acted this way out of guilt. Too me, I think Alsee thinks he could keep going to see Calixta or at least wants something to do with her because he tells his wife not to hurry back. In my opinion I think that Alsee and Calixta are perfect for eachother. I dont think you should marry people because of there social class. I think you should be in love with them that way affairs dont happen.

Frederick Douglass and My Views

When I found out that we were reading about Frederick Douglass I was very excited. The funny part is that it is Black history month so what better way than to start off early and read about Frederick Douglass an African American slave. I was very shocked at this narrative because it was the most descriptive peace about slavery that I have ever read. It was interesting from point A to point Z. It made me want to keep reading. This was the first time where i just wanted to keep reading because i was so interested.

The thing that made me sad about the life of Frederick is that he didn’t know his age. He said that most of the slaves didn’t know there age. To me this was very disturbing because this means that they weren’t treated like humans. They were born into slavery. The "white man" wasn’t courteous enough to give them a birth certificate. But then as the story went on, it got worst. Most of the slave’s didn’t know who there mothers were or siblings. I rather know my mother than not know my age. He describes his relationship with his mother as being very brief. He says that when his mother died when he was seven he " received the tidings of her death with much the same emotions he should have probably felt at the death of a stranger" that means that it didn’t hurt him, since he didn’t get to grow a bond with his mother her death wasn’t hard for him.

One thing that shocked me was the fact that the slave owners slept with the women slaves. The catch was that even though the child could have been of a master like Frederic he still was treated like a slave. As a future mother and teacher I didn’t like some of the things that Frederick experienced in his life it was very depressing. He was just a young boy and he experienced his aunt get whipped and others as well. That must have really messed him up emotionally and mentally. Now in day we can block certain things that children see on TV but Slaves like Frederick saw and experienced horrible beating.

Thomas Jefferson reading pgs 34-41

When I studied Thomas Jefferson in grade school, I though he was a good president because he came up with the Declaration of Independence. As a college student I look at him in a new light. He was the biggest hypocrite. He always contradicted himself. In my opinion he wanted to make himself look like a good guy, but only to the white man.
Thomas Jefferson grew up around slavery his father Peter Jefferson owned several tobacco plantations and who do you think worked on those plantations? Slaves. He was a critic and a defender of the native land.In the reading it states that his writing was persuasive, and I couldn’t agree anymore. To me he was trying to impress Virginia and the rest of the nation. He had the idea of freedom of religion, freedom of education and equal representation of the law. There is no way this related to all men. Probably all white men because even after the fiftieth anniversary of the declaration of Independence when Thomas Jefferson died he still owned over one hundred slaves.
I laugh when I hear that he stated that all me are equal. I think that he believed that all white men are created equal. Better yet I believe that he meant all white men that own land are created equal, and by owning land you are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In the Declaration by the Representatives, he said “For the truth of which we pledge a faith yet unsullied by falsehood”, to me he was talking about himself. He talked about freedom this and freedom that but in the end there was still slavery ( Andrews ,1998 pgs 34-41).

Citations

Andrews , William L (1998). The Literature of the American
South. Noth Carolina: W.W. Norton and Company.

what i think about the south and John Smith pg 14-20 reading assignment

When I think about the south I think of good and bad things. The good things that i think about are good southern cooking. I think of hot weather. People are nicer and they have of southern hospitatlity. When bad things cross my mind I think of racism and the K.K.K. because I know there is alot of them in the south. Another thing is that there is alot of storms. People live at a slower pace. I am a city girl so i dont think i would like it there very much.John smith pgs 16-20 reading assignmentThe tonefor this reading is that John is preaching. He is a bully is is trying to put is beliefs in the natives. Colonizing is a tribute to England. They believe that the most important thing is to be a landowner and cultivate. He is tying to make the natives think that it is mans duty to cultivate, and that it should be a pleasure to cultivate Gods land.Thus he is pushing the natives to colonize and farm in a religious way.He also talks about the pains and pleasures of life. He wants the Natives to be more like him. The Irony in this is that John smith felt like he was bullied in England so he left but then he goes to Verginia and tries to impose his beliefs on them. The sense of invading and trying to change peoples way is clonizing. In my opinion John smith and George Bush have alot in common