"An Indian's Looking-Glass For The White Man" by William Apess

Journal # 12
Posted by Melissa Veum
10-29-09
Engl 48A

"If black or red skins or any other skin of color is disgraceful to God, it appears that he has disgraced himself a great deal- for he has made fifteen colored people to one white and placed them here upon this earth (Apess, 1054)."

"I felt convinced that Christ died for all mankind- that age, sect, color, country, or situation make no difference. I felt an assurance that I was included in the plan of redemption with all my brethren (A Son Of The Forest; Apess : wikipedia.com)."

I love this quote and completely agree with the statement Apess is making about the way of God and how it is perceived in the world at this time. Apess talks about how if every skin color other than white is a disgrace to God himself then God has very much so disgraced himself. It is very Christian like to believe that God created all of us and if God himself is disgraced by color, then why did he make so many colored spectrum's of people? I like that Apess talks about all the skin colors not only referencing his own. He talks about the fact that if God does love all individuals, no matter what, then why are people so discriminatory towards something that appears different?

It is a very true statement that "... he has made fifteen colored people to one white..." in which we are all on this planet together, supposed to living as one. Just because some people have "white" faces does not make them superior to other nationalities and does not make it fair for one skin color to "own" and oppress another. I think Apess is saying that God did not make a mistake in this process of "creating" people and individuals, he has put everyone on this planet together for a reason. Why are there so many colored faces and not as many white faces? According to Apess, God did this not to disgrace himself, but on purpose.

Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle"

Journal # 11
Posted By Melissa Veum
10-27-09
Engl 48A


"During the whole time, Rip and his companion had laboured on in silence; for though the former marvelled greatly what could be the object of carrying a keg of liquor up this wild mountain, yet there was something strange and incomprehensible about the unknown, that inspired awe, and checked familiarity (Irving, 958)."

"Great minds have purposes, others have wishes. Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them (Irving, quotationspage.com)."

I did think that it was strange for Rip to be following this gentlemen without speaking one word the whole time. Rip is a generous man and the story does talk about how he does everything and anything to help others, but not even asking where he's taking him is a little strange. Rip follows this man with a gigantic keg on his back through the wild mountains and over rough terrain to find no one hurt or needing help, but other unknown gentlemen playing nine-pins. Rip did not even ask what he was doing there, which leads me to think that he wanted to get away, that maybe he internally wanted to "ignore" his life and his responsibilities and get drunk with these men who appeared to be having a good time.

Irving states that Rip did have a yearning for the unknown and that this circumstance of following this unknown person "... inspired awe, and checked familiarity." Rip wanted to get away, that's what he was doing in the mountain woods in the first place. He was curious and did not at the time think there would be any consequences for following someone deeper into the woods than he usually goes. Rip was intrigued by this fellow and felt his familiarity, his life, being checked. Checked by himself, his wife, his dog, these unknown gentlemen. Rip was okay even when he woke up. He was more upset about his dog and being given this old, dingy gun than he was with having stayed out all night. Rip was obviously worried about his wife too but felt an enormous sense of relief finding out that she was no more. He had been gone for 20 years and seemed kinda relieved and okay with the situation upon his return.

"Resistance To Civil Government " by Henry David Thoreau

Journal #10
Posted By Melissa Veum
10-22-09
Engl 48A

"It is a sort of wooden gun to the people themselves; and, if ever they should use it in earnest as a real one against each other, it will surely split (Thoreau, 1857)."

"Self-Reliance" by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Journal #9
Posted by Melissa Veum
10-20-09
Engl 48A

"There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till (Emerson, 1164)."

"The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons (Emerson, quotationspage.com)."

Throughout Emerson's essay, Self-Reliance, he talks a lot about relying on yourself and never second-guessing yourself over any matter. This passage struck me as very witty in terms of how you should be yourself and realize that the grass is not always greener. I like how Emerson says "...in every man's education..." because it shows that everyone does gain education in their lives and that that will be the time when you actually come to some self- realization that things are not as they seem. When you have envy for someone or something, which we all have had, there comes this time when you realize that it is stupid and that you only end up hurting yourself and not feeling good about yourself. Imitation again as Emerson says, "... is suicide..." and when you realize this, you'll be better off. It can ruin you to take someone else's ideas and claim them as your own. Emerson clearly states that you must trust yourself and take everything you have for face value, don't try to turn yourself into something your not.

Emerson also states that although the world is full of good, and sometimes we may want to take advantage of this, nothing is better than we bestow upon ourselves. If we all trust in ourselves and in our hearts, the good and the bad, we too will be able to have all the good inside of ourselves. We are all given a "plot of ground" in which is inside each of us to make good and have forever, it's when you start looking on to what others have that you don't, that we sometimes get insecure. I think that Emerson is just trying to tell us to look deeper inside ourselves and we will see what we've always wanted, we've had.

Harriet Jacobs, "Incidents In The Life of a Slave Girl"

Journal #8
Posted By Melissa Veum
10-15-09
Engl 48A

"She clasped a gold chain around my baby's neck. I thanked her for this kindness; but I did not like the emblem. I wanted no chain to be fastened on my daughter, not even if it's links were of gold. How earnestly I prayed that she might never feel the weight of slavery's chain, who's iron entereth into the soul (Jacobs, 1821)."

"Cruelty is contagious in uncivilized communities (Jacobs, memorablequotations.com)."

This passage comes at the time that Linda is having her children baptized behind her master's back in a church. Her father's old mistress placed a beautiful gold chain around Ellen's neck as a gift and even though Linda appreciated the gift, she did not want something chained and fastened around her daughter's neck, ever, even something made out of gold.

I love the way Jacobs uses the analogy of a gold chain necklace to interpret the ever-binding chains of slavery. She really makes you realize the harshness and unforgotten way that she was treated by making every reference to the fact that her children shall never feel that chain of restraint. Linda states that "slavery's chain, whose iron enereth into the soul." slavery is something that when it enters your soul, you never get rid of that feeling of utter isolation and self-unworthiness. The fact that she says it weighs down on the soul like an iron is very reminiscent to the way she feels at the end of the story, even with all of her good memories about her grandmother, she still carries on the bad memories too that will never rid her body. Linda never wants her children's souls to be "tainted" like hers will be forever more into eternity.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Journal #7
Posted By Melissa Veum
10-13-09
Engl 48A

"I know of such cases; and it is worthy of remark that such slaves invariably suffer greater hardships, and have more to contend with, than others. They are, in the first place, a constant offense to their mistress (Douglass, 2073)."

"People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get (Douglass, quotationspage.com)."

In this passage Douglass is referring to the many slaves that had a father who was also their master. In these slave days the "right of passage" for all slaves was to follow in the footsteps of their mother, not their father. So many children born to slave mothers grew up to be slaves even though they were part white. These slaves in turn had the worst hardships of all in many cases. Nothing they ever did would be good enough for the master and his wife because this child was born into a forbidden world according to the mistress involved.

These slaves were considered a "constant offense to their mistress'" because every time the masters' wife would look upon these children it reminded her of the fact that her husband was a sleazy, unfaithful husband. I don't think that it would be a woman's place to reprimand her husband in this time for doing these deeds of adultery, but maybe instead she could get out some of her anger on these poor, defenseless children stuck in the middle of scandal.

Edgar Allen Poe and "The Fall of the House of Usher"

Journal #6
Posted By Melissa Veum
Engl 48A
10-08-09

"The general furniture was profuse, comfortless, antique, and tattered. Many books and musical instruments lay scattered about, but failed to give any vitality to the scene. I felt that I breathed an atmosphere of sorrow. An air of stern, deep, and irredeemable gloom hung over and pervaded all (Poe, 1555)."

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before (Poe, brainyquote.com)."

In this passage Poe demonstrates his ideal intelligence and perception to give the reader a visual look into the world of "The House Of Usher" as it glooms onward. The perception Poe demonstrates is extraordinary. It is interesting that everything in this room which he describes gives off a vitality except for the musical instruments and books, which i think do give a room it's vitality. I think maybe in the way they were scattered and maybe not taken care of was the reason for them being this insignificant. I liked how The furniture was described as "profuse, comfortless, antique, and tattered", it shows that you probably wouldn't want to sit in any of this furniture and that in this huge mansion, there is not the comfiest of chairs in this main room of Usher's. It also gives depth to the voice of the stories' feeling of imagery upon entering by using the word antique and tattered all in the same sentence. This shows the furniture has not been cared for and probably not sat in in awhile.

The speaker says that "he breathed an air of sorrow" which meant that there was gloom throughout the mansion. It could be felt in the air. When gloom hits your lungs, so to speak, it is very chilling and not ultimately the kind of air one wants to inhale. He speaks of the gloom taking over everything almost instantly and that it hung over the room. This gives us the image of a very dark, lonely home that seems almost inhabitable. Who wants to live in a place surrounded by doom? Even the outside is gloomy with the cracks and haze and tarn all around. Not a place I would like to visit anytime soon.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Minister's Black Veil"

Journal #5
Posted By Melissa Veum
10-06-09
Engl 48A

"All through life that piece of crape had hung between him and the world:it had separated him from cheerful brotherhood and woman's love, and kept him in that saddest of all prisons, his own heart; and still it lay upon his face, as if to deepen the gloom of his darksome chamber, and shade him from the sunshine of eternity (Hawthorne, 1319)."

"Words -- so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them (Hawthorne,quotationspage.com)."

In this passage I feel that Hawthorne is trying to "show" us the meaning behind the veil Mr. Hooper wears throughout his life. It says that the crape of fabric was between himself and the entire world all of his life. It was definitely a type of shield. Shielding his soul, so that no one could look in or maybe shielding the look on his face of his own repence. The passage talks about how the crape kept him in his own sad prison; inside his heart and soul. The only things about a person that no one else can see, only by way of facial expressions and types of movement and personalities people have. I think that Mr. Hooper did not anyone to see his original sins and even though everybody has them, no one broadcasts it all over their face like Mr. Hooper did with his veil.

I do believe that Hawthorne is trying to "deepen the gloom of his darksome chamber" by wearing the veil covering practically his entire face and not really talking about his sins all together but by showing everyone that we all have sins, he just chooses to show his by means of covering his face. The one thing everyone sees first when they meet you, the emotion and spirit of yourself is always painted on your face no matter what, it's hard to hide, but Mr. Hooper does the job by advertising that he does have sins just like everybody else. I think he goes to these extremes to show others that you have to not hide behind your original sin, we all have them.

Rebecca Harding Davis "Life in the Iron Mills"

Journal #4
Posted by Melissa Veum
Engl 48A
10-01-09

"Deborah was stupid with sleep; her back pained her sharply; and her teeth chattered with cold, with the rain that soaked her clothes and dripped from her at every step. She stood, however, patiently holding the pail, and waiting (Davis, 2604)."

“Reform is born of need, not pity. No vital movement of the people has worked down, for good or evil; fermented, instead, carried up the heaving, cloggy mass (thinkexist.com)."

This passage from Davis talks about how patient, loving, and giving Deborah was of Hugh. She was extremely tired and cold and still walked the mile to Hugh's workplace in the freezing weather, drenched beyond belief. Throughout the story Deborah seems to always be in pain, dirty, and freezing from being soaking wet constantly. She came to deliver Hugh's dinner to him, even though he wasn't expecting it. He was working and did not really acknowledge her at first, so she patiently waited. Even after he had begun eating she still waited for Hugh and did what he wanted her to do; wait for him by taking a nap on the warm ashes.

Deborah shows immense respect and loyalty towards Hugh throughout this passage.The quote is just one example of this. She did not need to walk to Hugh's workplace, through the dirty, gloomy streets, but she did, showing that she cares and has love for him. She shows that he comes first and that she is loyal and despite her many pains, she still thinks of him first. That he needs to eat, that his workday is very long, and that he needs to be respected. I like how this quote says that Deborah was "stupid with sleep" because that shows just how tired she was and in the passages following you see that she really is stupid by stealing something from Mitchell. Maybe if she wasn't in so much pain and so tired, she would have thought more about what she was doing and not made the worst mistake of her life.