Modernism Project

Eudora Welty- A Worn Path

Welty, Eudora. "A Worn Path" Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 888-896. Print.

Journal #31 Job Shadowing Experience

Yesterday, I had a really good experience job shadowing in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Memorial Hospital. The lady that I job shadowed was an  intensive care RN. She was a very nice lady and she was really  good about answering all of the questions that I had. At times, Trisha sent me off with other nurses so that I could see that other cool things while my lady was logging charts on the computer. She was really goo about having me and explaining everything that she sees everyday. I would say that she was really good at having someone job shadowing because she was good about explaining things before i had a chance to ask her any questions. In the surgical intensive care unit, there were many different types of patients. Some of the patients were in there because they were trauma patients. Memorial and St. Johns switch off every year on who is going to have the trauma center, and this year it is Memorial. They had all of the trauma patients from Sangamon County. In the unit that I shadowed in, there were many people that had been involved in a car accident. These people were in such bad shape that they had to be placed in the intensive care unit because they needed more attention from the nurses and physicians. Even the patients were really nice to me. They were all in really poor shape, but it was good to see their faces light up because a young girl showed up in their room. I am sure that the patients probably get tired of having the same nurses in their rooms everyday, so it was exciting to them to have me in their rooms. My nurse had two patients that were in the ICU. The two patients were all really nice and they were all happy to have me in their rooms.

I do think that the position that I shadowed is a possibility for my future career. I liked the fact that these nurses were not seeing the same things everyday. They were all seeing different patients and all of the patients had problems that are totally different. I think that I like the adventurous nature behind the job was really good.

Journal #30: Favorite Whitman Poem

My favorite poem out of the ones that I read from Leaves of Grass was I Dream'd in a Dream. I think that this poem is my favorite because it talks about a perfect life. I think that it would be great to have a Utopian city like the one mentioned in this poem. Whitman says in the poem that the city he dreamed of was the city of friends. This leads me to believe that Walt Whitman truly valued the friendships he had because friendships appeared in his dreams. I agree with Walt Whitman in this case because it would be really nice to have a city in which everyone loved one another. This would mean that everyone in the society would get along. This poem is inspiring. It makes me wonder what it would truly be like if there was such a city. Walt Whitman also says that there is nothing greater than the power of love in the city of his dreams. Whitman must have also valued love because he included that in the description of the city of his dreams. I think that the city of my dreams would be somewhat similar to the city of Walt Whitman’s dreams. In my city of dreams I would also include the importance of friendships and family bonding time. I think that a person is only successful in life if they live a happy life. This poem reminds me of that story about the little boy in school. The teacher asked him what he wanted to be when he grows up, and the little boy responded by saying he wants to be happy. That makes my heart melt a little inside. The little boy is thinking of the future of his dreams and all he wants is to be happy. I wish that everyone could live the lives of their dreams and be happy. There has to be an ideal city or town for everyone in the world, but unfortunately not everyone will ever find the city of their dreams. 

Reflection: Chanting The Square Deific

In this poem, God is seen as a quaternity (Oliver). This means that God is seen as having four parts. Instead of the traditional belief of God being a trinity, having the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Whitman's view of this poem show God as having four parts. The four parts that Whitman talks about in this poem are: God, Christ, Satan, and the soul or "Santa Spirita" (Oliver). These four parts are each described in their own stanza in the poem.

The first stanza describes the side of the square of God. He is not just talking about the Christian God, but Brahm, Jehova, Saturnius, and also Father Time. These five Gods are the top of the tree in their certain religion. Just like in the Christian religion, God is at the top of the holy trinity. Brahm, Jehova, and Saturnius seem to also be the top dog from their religion. These Gods come from the religions of Buddhists, Hebrew, and Mythology respectively. This first side of the square is talking about giving no mercy and accepting no remorse(Whitman). The power of this deity is compared to the strength of the Earth's gravitational pull and the changing of the seasons (Whitman).

The second side of the square is describing the son of God, or the figure of Christ. This side of the square is described as being as strong as Hercules. With this simile, Whitman was illustrating that this deity is also very powerful. Comparing the square from this poem and the Trinity of the Christian faith, this side of the square is comparable to Christ in the Trinity and the top being God. This is very similar to the simile referring to Hermes and Zeus. The equivalent to Zeus would be God; the equivalent of Hermes would be Christ, the son of God. This side of the square is younger and more enthusiastic. This side is described as being more influential and exuberant. This side is know as the "cheer bringing God" (Whitman). This is known as the "Consolator" and the comforter (Oliver).

Satan is the third side of the Square Deific.  He is the opposite of the two sides that have been mentioned so far. The side of Satan is described as being "dissatisfied ans plotting revolt" (Oliver). He is not there to help others, he is there to simply torment and persuade people into doing things that should not ever be done. Unfortunately, Satan is like God and Christ in the fact that he is also strong. His strength is not used for the better, in fact, Satan uses his strengths to do people harm. He is the "comrade of criminals," (Whitman) meaning that he is the striving force and the organizer of the wrong doings. This side would be the opposite of the force of God because Satan is the opposing force of God. While God id trying to lead people to do the right things, Satan is luring people into doing the wrong things.

The fourth side of the square is "Santa Spirita," or self. This side joins the other three sides together to make a completed shape. The "self" side is opposite the side of Christ is the most "solid" (Whitman). The side of the soul or self is the most solid because it includes parts of the other three sides. This makes it the "strongest" because it has the best resources and help on it's side. The word choice in the last stanza suggests that the speaker is believing that he makes up the side of "Santa Spirita" (Oliver). He is the most materialized and mortal.

"Chanting the Square Deific" is illustrating the idea of the certain square deity of the speaker. This deity includes four main components: God, Christ, Satan, and Self. The speaker believes that all four of these make up a powerful deity. Whitman's poetry is centered around self, and in this particular poem, it is really easy to see. Whitman related the speaker with the side of self because Whitman really valued the ideals of being individual and developing inside of yourself.


Oliver, Charles M. "'Chanting the Square Deific'." Critical Companion to Walt Whitman: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCWW082&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 4, 2012).

Whitman, Walt. "The Walt Whitman Archive." Chanting the Square Deific. Web. 03 Apr. 2012.

Journal #29: SELF

Self. There are three main components of my transcendental self. Part number one includes the spiritual self. My spiritual self involves the Christian faith. Because I attend a Christian Church with my family, I have grown up going to church and learning about the Christian religion. I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, and he is my Lord and Savior. I think that this is a really big part of myself because I try to do everything that God would want me to do. The second part of self is my personality. My personality is rather outgoing and cheerful. I try to make the best out of ever situation despite the sadness it might bring along. I perceive myself as being a very nice individual and helping others as much as possible. I try to always be positive in all situations and I think that allows me to be good at my job. I work at PASSAGE, the after school daycare program at elementary  school. I think that I am good at this job because there is a certain quality you need. I love children and I am really good at dealing with all of the crap they come up with. The real me is just what you see when you talk to me. I have not completely figured out why I am here or who I really am. I think that as of right now I am here on the Earth to be a good person, a follower of God, and eventually go into medicine so I can help others. I feel like my "real self" includes just the qualities that make me up. With me, what you see is what you get. I think that some people try to hied their real self and be somebody they really are not. This is a very common thing in High School I think because they want to be popular and fit in. Even if I do not fit it as well as I would like, I really try to be myself in everything I do. 

Emily Dickinson Poem Analysis

The poem "Nature, the Gentlest Mother" is a poem by Emily Dickinson. This poem is a discription of mother earth and how she takes care of all of her children and her household (Dickinson). Nature is "impatient of no child" which is a symbol of how Mother Earth takes care of all of her children and people on the planet even when her own children harm her. When she means harm her, she means things like pollution and global warming and things of that sort. Mother Nature however will never turn her back on her children, she will always be there for them. Nature is an aid to her children. She is there in the hills and forests in a way to aid the travelers of these lands. This could mean lots of things. A reader could take these noises as wind or as aninmals in the forest or as a number of different things. They are all signs and beings of nature.

In the third stanza of this poem, there is a use of personification. Emily Dickinson is describing all of the flora and fauna, and she describes all of the critters that are on the Mother Nature's planet. They are known as natures household and assembly (Dickinson). The Mother Earth takes care of her children with days from summer by providing nice weather to the critters and the trees. This is the time of the year when agriculture flourishes in comparison to winter where it does not. Mother Nature could make a harsh winter year round, but she does not because she is taking care of her household.

Emily Dickinson says that nature, or mother nature, has an effect on every creature that is on her planet. Dickinson says that it is the smallest cricket or the most unworthy flower still gets taken care of by mother nature. She uses a lot of personification in this poem because she gives human like traits to all of nature and its beings. None of these things actually have human like traits. There is also a lot of imagry in this poem because it is very descriptive. All of her descriptions are very animated and life like and strong. She creates all kinds of images, such as children sleeping, a very small cricket, and an unworthy flower otherwise known as an ugly flower. She presents rhyme in her final stanza, but only with two different lines, the second and the fourth. The rhyme scheme is not constant, but the rhythm is. Her poems are pretty different from other poets because there is not common rhyme schemes in them. She uses a simple beat to match what she was familiar with.

Emily Dickinson has a good way of capturing her readers with many poetic devices. The most common devices used are personification, imagry, and occasionaly a simile or metaphor thrown in the mix. Emily Dickinson captures her readers with out being confusing and using too many poetic devices. She is a very smart and good poet.

Dickinson, Emily . "Nature, the Gentlest Mother." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online. Web. 29 Mar. 2012.

Journal #28: Emily Dickinson I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died

Emily Dickinson's poem, I Heard a Fly Buzz when I Died, is a very interesting poem. Out of all of the things that were going through her head before she died, she was thinking about a fly. She could have been thinking about all of the things that all ordinary people usually think about before they die. She could have been worried about giving away all of her possessions or worried about her finances, but she was worried about her keepsakes. She said that she "willed my keepsakes, signed away what portion of me I could make assignable" (Dickinson). This means that she had already gone through the process of giving away her material goods that she could. Emily Dickinson's poetry can be read differently every time that you read the poem. She could have been talking her being able to see the light like the light in heaven at the end, but we really did not know. The fly was interrupting her because she was on her way to death and the fly got between her and the light. The very first sense to go when you die is your sight. As soon as she looses her sight, she immediately switches her focus over to her hearing. After her sight is gone, she was only there to focus on the things that she can hear. She was preparing herself for death and she was already to the point where she could not see, so she was peacefully on her way to death and she was interrupted by this really annoying buzzing sound in her ears. I would have been really mad if I was about to be dead and there was a really annoying buzzing in my ear. I hope that when I die, there are not any flies around. Because if I heard that stupid little fly when I was about to die, I would probably freak out and come back to life just to kill that little fly!

Journal #27: Dickinson Poem Tunes

Many of Emily Dickinson's poems can be sung to the tune of many well known songs. This is because they have a very rhythmic beat and they can be sung with the classical folk songs. Emily Dickinson was not around when all of these songs were written, but her poems were written with that same musical beat. These songs have a typical beat and it goes really well with her typical rhyme scheme. She was the first poet to start writing in this rhythm because she wanted to be different than the typical poetry style of the time. It was really ironic that her poems can be read to the tune of "Amazing Grace" because she was not involved with the Christian Church because she did not want to be. The only reason that she was even involved in the church was because of her family's influence. I found it really weird that the song that fits the best was Amazing Grace. Emily was not an involved member in the church and her poems seem to fit really well with many different church hymnals. I figured that because she was not involved in the church that she would not write poetry that went with the same beats and rhythms. Maybe she thought she was coming up with something original but she really was not. She would have known the songs if she went to church and actually paid attention. She probably was not too concerned with with paying attention because she did not have a very strong relationship with god. The reason that it seems really ironic that her poems go with songs that were really important to society is because she was disconnected with society in her seclusion. She must not have liked being around people because she did not go out just for any occasion. She secluded herself from society, but the she went and wrote poetry to the tunes of many popular songs.

Reflection: Emily Dickinson Writing Style

Along with Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson was also considered a "tweener." Also, like Walt Whitman, she was in between the two writing eras of Realism and Modernism. Being grouped with Walt Whitman and Walt Whitman only, Emily Dickinson's works were very popular. If I was asked to name a female poet that I have learned about in High School, I would probably name Emily Dickinson. She wrote very strong and emotional poems. That characteristic made her writings not fit in with the style of the Realism time period. She gave way too much detail and used too much emotion to have her poems classified as Realism writings. It is very unusual that Emily Dickinson did not want her writings published. She only showed her writings to her sister Lavinia (Glencoe Literature). Lavinia sometimes edited the poem before she published them after Emily's death. This means that we really do not know what the exact thoughts of Emily Dickinson were because it is possibly that her sister went back and changed some things after she died. The Before You Read section in the Glencoe Literature book said that her sister Lavinia eliminated dashes, undid capitalizations, and completely changed some words. Emily Dickinson was a Christian because her family pressured her into it. She lived in a very religious time period, and her family thought that their Christian faith was very important. Another reason that she joined the Christian Church was because she was very close with her sister and her sister was very dependent on the teachings of Christianity. Dickinson often wrote of love, life, death, nature, and would often question immortality (McChesney). The subjects of her poems makes it really hard to put her into a category because she does not fit the Realism period of the Modernism period. She did not fit in to the Modernism time period becuase her writings seemed to keep a steady rate and the writings of other Modernist writers seemed to jump back and forth on controversial topics. In the Modernism time period, writers were said to have been trying something new. This means they were purposely trying to write like that of no other previous author. The Modernist writers were trying something new simply because they were trying to get all of the attention and glory for coming up with a new great writing era. A modernist writer believed that a real person who is both thoughtful and real does not fit into society because it is mindless after the first world war we had. Emily Dickinson did not feel this way therefore she did not fit directly into this literary period. I do think that Walt Whitman could have been classified as a Realist/ Transcendentalist because his writings were very similar to those of the other Realism and Transcendentalism writers. I cannot say the same for Ms. Emily Dickinson however. Emily's writings were unlike anyone else's from the time and I think that she does deserve that title of "tweener" because she really did not fit the characteristics of the Realism period or the Modernism period.

Wilhelm, Jeffrey D., Douglas Fisher, Beverly Ann. Chin, and Jacqueline Jones. Royster. "Before You Read: Whitman's Poetry." Glencoe Literature. New York: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2009. 455. Print.

McChesney, Sandra. "A View from the Window: The Poetry of Emily Dickinson." In Harold Bloom, ed. Emily Dickinson, Bloom's BioCritiques. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2002. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 20 Mar. 2012.

Reflection: Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman began a revolution in poetry when he first published "Leaves of Grass" in 1855. Whitman's poetry was realistic, free flowing, and shocking candid (Glencoe Literature).Whitman was the first poet to write extensively in free verse. Free verse is an unregulated form that sounds like the cadences in everyday speech.

Walt Whitman was considered a “tweener.” This title was given to him simply because he was between two periods of Literature. He did not fit all of the characteristics of Realism, but nor did he fit all of the characteristics of Modernism, he was considered to be a “tweener.” Most of the Realism writings were more structured than the writings of Walt Whitman. Walt Whitman’s writing looks like he did not revise anything. Most of his poems are telling some sort of story and go on in the cadences of normal speech. Most examples of Realism writing pertained to real life events or events that could actually happen. In Realism writings, the authors got straight to the point. There was no sugar coating reality. “Whitman's poetry was certainly revolutionary, not only for its expressive language and free verse but also for the intensity of his emotions when discussing his prominent and pervasive themes of love (spiritual and physical alike) and democracy (collectively for the nation and individually for each person's own self-fulfillment). He believed America needed a new poetry, one that related to and embraced more people; Whitman felt that he was the poet who could supply that type of verse”(Connors). Connors backs up the idea that Whitman’s writing was too descriptive for the Realism period.

Whitman may have started the Modernism period. Because his writing was “revolutionary,” he was causing a change in the style of Literature in that era. The writers of the Modernism time period were more of the risk-taking style. They were willing to try weird things in their writing. Modernism writing was not always written in a logical fashion. Because it was a controversial time for religion, there was not always equality amongst the different religions. This may have caused some of the authors to not always tell the truth and nothing but the truth. Walt Whitman fell more into the style of Realism than he fell into Modernism. Whitman knew much information on the topic of politics. Politics was a big topic of discussion in the Realism time period. The Realism time period was a good time to talk about politics because the authors were not dancing around the points. This allowed the public to actually know what was going on in the government system.

Whitman's style of free verse poetry was closely related to the ideas of the Transcendentalist writers, even thought they were popular before his time. Walt Whitman used nature as a major topic of many of his poems, which would be a typical topic for Transcendentalism writers to use. I think that if I had to choose and put him in a time period, it would be the Realism/Transcendentalism era. His writing has both characteristics from the Realism period as well as the transcendentalism period.

Connors, Judith. "Whitman, Walt." In Bloom, Harold, ed. Walt Whitman, Bloom's BioCritiques. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2002. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= BCWWh02&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 21, 2012). 

Wilhelm, Jeffrey D., Douglas Fisher, Beverly Ann. Chin, and Jacqueline Jones. Royster. "Before You Read: Whitman's Poetry." Glencoe Literature. New York: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2009. 408. Print. 

Reflection: Walt Whitman: On The Beach At Night Alone

"On the Beach at Night Alone" was a good poem. Walt Whitman uses so many different literary tools that his poems are really easy and fun to read. In the second line He refers to the ocean as "Old Mother" (Whitman). This shows that he agrees with Emerson and Thoreau about the importance of Nature. This seemed to be more like the Romanticism writers because he was really descriptive. In the time of the Realism writings, the authors seemed to be giving way less detail on the elements and Nature, so I can tell that this was not a part of the writings in the time of the Realism period. Whitman was really into giving the details. While the speaker was on the beach at night he saw the stars and the planets and the moons. I feel like he made the reader use almost all of their senses. When I read about the waves crashing in on the beach, I immediately could hear the sound of the waves crashing in from when I was in vacation in Mexico this summer. I could also seem to smell the salt. When I am at any beach, one of the things that I like the most is the smell of the salt water. I’m not sure what makes it so relaxing, but the smell is one of my favorite things about the beach. One other thing that I notice at the beach actually happens after a day at the beach. That is feeling the tightness of your skin after a day in the salt water and being in the sun all day. Whitman seems to have quite a few poems that deal with Nature. Because he wrote during the Naturalism time period, most of his poems are related to Nature. I love nature and I feel like it is still very influential in the world today. People do not seem to always treat nature with the best intentions, and nature come back to bite people in the butt. 

Huff, Randall. "'On the Beach at Night Alone'." The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry, vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CPAP0300&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 12, 2012).

Whitman, Walt. "On the Beach at Night Alone, by Walt Whitman." Poetry Archive. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. <http://www.poetry-archive.com/w/on_the_beach_at_night_alone.html>.

Reflection: Emily Dickinson: Heart, We Will Forget Him

The poem, "Heart, We Will Forget Him!" was a very interesting poem. It was about how Emily lost a man in her life. She was basically making a plan with her heart about how they were going to cope with their loss. She was speaking to her heart as if it was an external force. She was telling her heart that it was going to have to forget about the warmth of her heart. She knew that her heart was going to miss the warmth of this man. Because she was living in seclusion, she knew that she was not just going to randomly run into him on the street because she never leaves the comfort of her own house. I think that Emerson and Thoreau had similar ideas to those of Emily Dickinson. They were all individualistic. This means that they all valued the individual over society and others. I can definitely relate this idea to Emily Dickinson because she was so individualistic that she stayed at her house every hour of everyday. This shows me that she cared more about herself than society because she did not ever care to go explore any of the things that society had to offer. In the poem at the end she tells her heart that whenever it is feeling down, it can just remember him (Dickinson). This is kind of ironic because the title says that she and her heart are going to forget him. The idea of the poem kind of goes with the philosophies of Thoreau. He said that he was not one to conform. This poem was written about the loss of a man. Because this poem was written, it tells me that she had a hard time making the adjustment when he was gone. Dickinson also had a simple way of living. She was home all of the time, so she did not really have a complex lifestyle whatsoever. Although Dickinson was more realistic in getting to the point of her stories than Emerson and Thoreau, they did have some similarities in writing style.

Dickinson, Emily. "Heart, We Will Forget Him!" The Literature Network. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. <http://www.online-literature.com/dickinson/829/>.

Diamond, Marie Josephine, ed. "realism." Encyclopedia of World Writers, 1800 to the Present. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= GEWW480&SingleRecord=True

Reflection: To Build a Fire: Jack London

Jack London's "To Build A Fire" was a very strong story about nature. Nature plays a huge role in this short story. In the style of Naturalism, authors wanted to show that Nature was really strong. They are proving that in order for you to get along in life and have a good time, you need to respect nature and you will you be treated back nicely by nature. In Naturalism the authors really wanted to show the strength and power that Nature holds. I think that Jack London was really trying to illustrate the fact that Nature was going to kill this man just because he thought he was stronger than nature. Because he decided to walk out into -75 degree temperature in the Arctic, Nature was going to show him whose boss. In Naturalism, authors focused on an accurate, almost clinical, record of a character struggling to survive some form of displacement from his or her surroundings (Sommers). This was represented in the story because the man was definitely at a displacement of his surroundings. He was never used to resorting to building a fire to save his life. Because he was going to have to take his shoes off to warm up his feet, he needed to build a fire. This was a life or death situation because without his feet he would not be able to make it back to civilization. At the end, the author makes nature the “winning team” because he showed that nature was stronger than man and that men should never mess with nature. I think that this story showed some of the beliefs of Emerson. Emerson believed in the quality of self reliance. This means that you kind of value yourself over anyone or anything else. I think that the man in this story was definitely self reliant because he was going out into the wilderness thinking that he was going to more big and bad than nature. Emerson believed that you learned through experience. I think that the guy in the story probably would have learned his lesson if he lived. Emerson thought that you would have to mess up somewhere along the lines in order to better yourself and learn lessons.

Sommers, Joseph Michael. "naturalism." In Maunder, Andrew.Facts On File Companion to the British Short Story. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CBSS450&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 8, 2012).

London, Jack. "To Build a Fire." American Literature. Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 601-614. Print.

Reflection: Richard Cory : Edwin Arlington Robinson

I think that the poem Richard Cory was really sad. It sounds like he had everything going for him. He was rich and it sad he was admired by others and he seemed to be a nice gentleman. He said good morning to others and he seemed to brighten everyone’s days, but I guess he was a little insecure inside because he committed suicide at the end I the story. I was honestly expecting a happier ending to the poem because everything was going so perfectly for him until the very last like where it said that he went home and shot a bullet through his head. This is really sad because I know some suicides really happen like this in real life. People see the victim as being really confident in everything they do, but in reality they are just really good at hiding their inner emotions. This went against the ideas of Emerson and Thoreau because they were into individualism. They believe that you could have a successful life just by living up to your full potential. I think that suicide is a very selfish thing for anyone to do. Just because you think that it is going to help you, it really hurts all of you friends and family more that you were suffering in the first place. I guess that the idea of Realism was accepted in the Realism time period. The characteristics of Realism say that Realism works will show the imperfections of life. I think that this situation would have been an imperfection. It also says that Realism was showing life as it really is, not as people think it should be. I think that they should not have talked about this man committing suicide, but that was how life really was, so they were not going to sugar coat the truth at all. This guy, Richard Cory was definitely more concerned about himself than anyone else around him. It was really selfish to kill himself because it negatively affected so many other people.

Diamond, Marie Josephine, ed. "realism." Encyclopedia of World Writers, 1800 to the Present. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= GEWW480&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 21, 2012).

Reflection: Darling : Anton Chekhov

The Darling was a story about a woman who had married several different men. Some of the men that she married died. People called her darling because she was well liked and she had always had a love for people. When she was young, her father died. She inherited her families townhouse and she lived there with her husband Kukin. Kukin was always in a sort of haze because he did not like how the weather was so gloomy. He was a theater owner, so he had to go to Moscow to hire some actors. While he was gone, Olga was informed that he had passed away. She was very upset, but she quickly moved on to the next man, Vasily Pustovalov. This man was a timber merchant and she was really fond of him. They eventually had a son together. Pretty soon after the son is born, Vasily developed a cold which turned into a really harsh long term illness. Olga is left alone again. She is depressed and lonely.

I believe that this story was sad. I think that it would be really hard to have two husbands back to back that died. Once she got over the first one and got comfortable with the second one, he died too. I cannot even imagine having my husband die let along having two that both died. After the second husband I think that it would be really hard for her to get married again. I think that if I was in her shoes I would never get married again. She clearly has bad luck with her husbands, so she should just stay away. Because she was such a nice person that everyone got along with, people loved her. She was that person that everyone knows and admires. I think that it would be especially hard on her because of the fact that she knows so many people. All of these people could be asking her how she is doing and that could get to be a little too much for her to handle.

She always needed a man though. Emerson and Thoreau were really set on being individuals. They said that you can find all of life’s answers in yourself and nature. She really relied on her husbands in the story, so she did not ever have to be an individual. 

Chekhov, Anton. "Chekhov Stories." SparkNotes. SparkNotes. Web. 06 Mar. 2012. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/chekhov/section7.rhtml>.

Chekhov, Anton. "The Darling." Glencoe Literature: The Reader's Choice. New York, NY: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2000. 557-66. Print.

Reflection: I Will Fight No More Forever : Chief Joseph

“I will Fight no More Forever” was a very short piece. The work is about a man is too tired of fighting. They never really tell us what they are fighting for or who they are fighting against, so all we know is that people are dying and they do not want to fight anymore. They are really sad because three of their powerful leaders have died in the battle and they feel like they should all be done fighting. I am not sure if there is a deeper meaning behind this piece and if there is, I may or may not be missing it. He says that the young is all that is left. All of the elders have died, and the decisions are left for the younger generations. I think that this work is basically bashing the ideas of Emerson and Thoreau. They both believe that people should always persevere and fight until the end, but these Indians are ready to give up. They have been fighting for a very long time and many of their important leaders have passed away. People are freezing because the weather is really harsh. The chief was really self-centered. I think that the chief should have gone and continued to fight because that was his job. He was using the idea of self reliance and that character trait is not good to have in a warrior of any kind. He was going to give up the war simply because he does not want to fight anymore and so he wants peace. I think that it would be wonderful if we could have peace in the world, but you know that is not going to happen any time in my lifetime. I do not agree with the idea of war. If everyone in the word would just grow up we would not ever have to fight. I think that all conflicts can be solved without physically fighting. It makes people look really immature when they cannot solve an argument verbally and they have to physically fight it out. I think that it would be bad to have a leader like Chief Joseph because he gave up and did not fight for what he thought was right.




McCloskey, Mary. "I Will Fight No More Forever." Welcome to Georgia State University. Web. 01 Mar. 2012. <http://www2.gsu.edu/~eslmlm/chiefjoseph.html>

Reflection: Spoon River Anthology by: Edgar Lee Masters

Spoon River Anthology is actually a collection of epitaphs. This is just simply a collection of poems that are all about different characters in a small town and how they are all related in some way. It reveals life how it really is. This is a characteristic of Realism. They were really into telling about life how it really was. They were not concerned with sugar coating the truth. This was a really good representation of the Realism period. In Lucinda Matlock, Lucinda just tells you about her life and how she lived into the age of 96. She says that the younger generations complain about everything and she also says that the younger generations do not live life to the fullest. She views the younger generation has a way lower importance than her own generation. Emerson was really interested in the difference between the levels of people. He says that we are all missing something. A major inspiration for Spoon River Anthology was Epigrams from the Greek Anthology, a work to which Masters was introduced by William Marion Reedy, editor of the St. Louis magazine Reedy's Mirror that first published many of his poems (Becker). He says that all people are missing something. No body is perfect, so they have to have something wrong with them. Each person has their own unique balance of these four basic energies: fire (warmth, inspiration, enthusiasm), earth (practicality, realism, material interests), air (social and intellectual qualities), and water (emotional needs and feelings)(Ralph Waldo Emerson General Characteristics). I think that it is really interesting that Edgar Lee Masters was from Illinois. He lived only about a hour away from where I am right now. His works are actually well known and he lived really close to us. This goes to show that not all famous people come from like New York or California. I think that this collection of stories was really interesting and I think that I may want to read more of these in my spare time.


Becker, Geraldine Cannon. "Spoon River Anthology." In Anderson, George P., Judith S. Baughman, Matthew J. Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson, eds.Encyclopedia of American Literature, Revised Edition: Into the Modern: 1896–1945, Volume 3. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL1405&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 2, 2012).


Masters, Edgar Lee. Spoon River Anthology. New York, 1951. Print.


"Ralph Waldo Emersongeneral Characteristics." Ralph Waldo Emerson Characteristics. Web. 02 Mar. 2012. <http://famous-relationships.topsynergy.com/Ralph_Waldo_Emerson/Characteristics.asp>.

Reflection: from Two Views of a River by: Mark Twain

This piece by Mark Twain was about how he was a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River. He was talking about how dangerous the river is because of all the steamboat travel and how hard it is to navigate a steamboat up and down the Mississippi River. He says that he know the River like he knows the letters of the alphabet (Twain). He is disappointed that he does not see the River as a beautiful element of nature. He described the River as he saw it when he first started he job as the steamboat pilot. He was in awe at the beauty of the River. He loved the new world environment. After awhile, he began to not notice the wonderful elements of Nature. He is mad that he no longer sees the river as he did before. He wishes that he should go back and somehow train himself to continue to see the romance and the beauty of the river. The only things that he notices about the river is the landmarks that he needs to navigate the river at night. He is always too focused on the navigation of the dangerous river to notice all of the small details that he first noticed when he started his job on the river. The title of the book shows much significance. I think that the title actually helped me figure out what the story was talking about before I even read it. The two views of the river are both from Mark Twain, but they are at different times in his life. The first view of the river was from the point in time when he was first starting his job. The second view was after he had been working on the river for a long time and lost the ability to see the beauty in the river and surroundings. Twain grew up living by the Mississippi River, so he was very familiar with the nature and surroundings. This story kind of goes with the fact that the works of the Realism time period says that people are influenced by nature (Diamond).


Diamond, Marie Josephine, ed. "realism." Encyclopedia of World Writers, 1800 to the Present. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= GEWW480&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 21, 2012).


Hearn, Lafcadio. "On Life on the Mississippi." New Orleans Times-Democrat, May 20, 1883. Quoted as "On Life on the Mississippi" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Mark Twain, Classic Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCVMT129&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 29, 2012).


Twain, Mark. "from Two Views of the River" Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 554-555. Print.

Reflection: The Red Badge of Courage

"The Red Badge of Courage" was written in the style of Naturalism. The main character was really worried about the amount of courage that he was going to have. He wanted to be a part of the army because he wanted to share in the glory when the army was successful. When the battle actually starts the main character was worried just like he had been the whole time he was in the army. He was really worried! Washington State University listed some characteristics of Naturalism and the very first thing that they said was that the main characters are normally was frequently ill-educated or lower class. I think that in the case of this story, the man was definitely less fortunate in the area of character. He was lacking in the ares of courage. Naturalism came for Charles Darwin. Back in this time people seemed to be really pessimistic. They were not expecting the best possible outcome. He was very much against the odds of something good happening as a result of a human's actions. People in the naturalism time period were controlled by outside forces. They might not have been able to make decisions for themselves. They were influenced by other people or outside forces (Giles).  I am going to have to give this guy some credit though because I would never have to courage to fight in a battle like that in real life. I think that I would be really scared. I think that it is okay that this guy is nervous. I would be nervous too! It is kind of sad though because if he was really in the army of the right reasons, he would not be concerned about dying in the war.  The only reason that he would be in the army in the Civil War is so that he can take all of the glory when his army is successful. I think that is really ridiculous. They guy is not in the army for the same reason.



Giles, James R. "naturalism." In Anderson, George P., Judith S. Baughman, Matthew J. Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson, eds. Encyclopedia of American Literature, Revised Edition: Into the Modern: 1896–1945, Volume 3. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?


Campbell, Donna M. "Naturalism in American Literature." Washington State University. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/natural.htm>.

Crane, Stephen. "Untitled Document." The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.

Reflection: The Story of an Hour

The Story of an Hour is a really weird story. Mrs. Mallard was notified that her husband was killed in a train accident. She began to sob, but later in the story we find out that she was really happy because her husband was really oppressing. She secluded herself from all of the other women whose husbands in the train accident. I think the reason that she did this was because she did not want the other women to know that she was actually happy that her husband was dead and so she was not going to have to live with the oppression. She was free! At the end of the story her husband actually walks into the room. The story says that she died of great joy because she found out that her husband was actually still alive. I think that when he walked into the room, she felt oppressed again just by his presence, so she died of a heart attack. He seems to have been not a very good husband because she admitted that she did not love him all of the time. She then goes on to say that most of the time she actually did not love him. He was putting way too much pressure on her and she was getting tired of handling the situation. She became overjoyed when she found out he was dead because she was not going to have to live with that kind of pressure on her anymore.

This is a good example of the characteristics of Realism because they were telling how the situation really was. They did not try to sugar coat anything because in the Realism time period, the story was told as it really was in real life (Diamond). Realism also shows the imperfection of life (Diamond). The flaw in the marriage of the Mallards was definitely classified as an imperfection of life. It is very unfortunate that marriages have to be that way. Many marriages are like that today, but for different reasons. In the time of the Realism period the marriages went wrong because the man thought he was superior to the women.

Chopin, Kate. "The Story of an Hour" Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 554-555. Print.

Diamond, Marie Josephine, ed. "realism." Encyclopedia of World Writers, 1800 to the Present. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= GEWW480&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 21, 2012).