A Wall 10 Feet High

"The Border Patrol State," a story written by Leslie Silko, brings to light the immediate problems with border controls and immigration both in the past and in modern day. In her story, she tells tales of specific injustices against her people and those of other cultural backgrounds by authoritative border patrol officers. Ironically, I found her most pressing argument in the last bit of the story, where she mentioned, "It is no use; borders haven't worked, and they won't work, not now, as the indigenous people of the Americas reassert their kinship and solidarity with one another. A mass migration is already under way; its roots are not simply economic." She goes on to say that the Americas are an Indian land, and the "Indian problem" will never go away. I agree with her argument here because of the topics that have been covered in this class over the semester. Referring back to the first session when Columbus was discussed, the Native Americans were "American" first, with diverse cultures, languages, and traditions. The border patrol officers in this story act similarly to European settlers; they are "willing to detain anyone, for no apparent reason." Not only did settlers detain people, but they tore apart vast cultures just as the border patrol officers are tearing apart the bond between the Americas and anyone from outside the country. If America is a free country, a place for opportunity to succeed, the border patrol stations contradict those ideas fully. I stand behind Silko's every argument. Immigrants are not fighting for their lives while crossing the borders of the United States to tear apart our country, destroy our lands, or hinder our economy - they are crossing the border to find opportunity, better their lives and the lives of others, and hopefully mark a footprint on the culture and history of the United States. The last we as citizens and the border patrol as protectors can do is let these Native Americans and people of other cultures have a chance to live the American Dream.

What Would I Carry?

I've never had to think about what I would carry with me had I been in a war-like situation. After reading Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried," I was forced to think about the tangibles and even intangibles that I would carry in my rucksack. Of course, men in the story carried objects "varied by mission" as well as necessity, superstition, and rank. Therefore, depending on what section of the military I was placed in, I would carry the proper weaponry or defensive mechanisms like tear gas. I would wear and carry the proper uniform to protect myself from shots or danger. I would always have a canteen with me for water, and if the luxury was there, I would carry around small, flavored tea packets to mix with my water. I would carry a picture of my family, and most importantly, a picture of my hero: my grandmother. The ability to look at those pictures along the way would help me continue on with my treacherous journey. I would also carry pictures of my friends, which would help me to retain memories and laugh at past jokes. I would have to carry with me my lucky charm: my Texas State Volleyball ring, preferably hanging from a necklace. Along in my rucksack would be the necessities, like socks, a raincoat, a tent, canned foods, small bottles of soap, and most importantly, gum or some way of keeping my teeth clean.  I would carry grief for the dead, sorrow, and longing for my family with me at all times - intangibles are just as important as the tangibles are in a situation like war. But, the most important intangible I would carry with me, which I carry with me at all times, is a sense of willpower and determination. In a dark, dreary situation like war, the difference between insanity and a drive to live can be affected by a smile or a positive attitude. 

Living the American Dream - The Wrong Way

The American Dream is a patriotic ethos in which freedom includes a promise of prosperity, success, and independence. Throughout this class, particular readings have followed the message of this dream and certain characters have reached the benefits, but in my opinion, the story of Zitkala-Sa's life and education is not an ideal of the American Dream. Granted, she may have been provided an education and the means to become a "civilized" human being, but the circumstances in which she came upon those benefits is opposite of the "rags to riches" story. Zitkala-Sa was forced by Americans from her native homeland to the "Land of the Red Apples," the location of a White's Manual Labor Institute. There, she was constrained from her national identity and humiliated into assimilating to white behavior. In Native American culture, having long hair was a sign of strength and virtue. "Our mothers had taught us that only unskilled warriors who were captured had their hair shingled by the enemy. Among our people, short hair was worn by mourners, and shingled hair by cowards!" Despite that Native American tradition, she was forced to cut her hair, as she lost her spirit and fell to the extreme indignities. In her school, she felt out of place and on the verge of tears constantly, fearing to venture to understand white culture. At one point, she mentioned "they took their forefingers out of their mouths and pointed at my moccasined feet...this embarrassed me, and kept me constantly on the verge of tears." Therefore, whites at the school indirectly taught Native Americans to assimilate to white culture by poking fun or staring at odd Native American clothes and traditions. Therefore, instead of starting out in the "rags" position and making her way to the American Dream, she was taken from her family, raised forcefully to be civilized, and assimilated to American language and culture in a way that disregarded her own decision making process and image for her life.

The History of Hawaii

"Nor has any people known to history shown a greater reverence and love for their Christian teachers, or filled the measure of a grateful return more overflowingly. And where else in the world's history is it written that a savage people, pagan for ages, with fixed hereditary customs and beliefs, have made equal progress in civilization and Christianity in the same space of time?"


This sentence is my favorite by far after reading "Hawaii's Story" by Queen Lili'uokalani's because it best expresses her initial reaction to U.S. Imperialism. She possesses the utmost respect for her Hawaiian people as they focus greatly on religion and education and the fact that they are grateful and determined beings, regardless of the fact that they started as "savage" natives and modernized in civilization in the same span of time as other cultures that the United States had been in connection with. Regardless of the demoralizing influences that flooded onto the Hawaiian people, they progressed to save and civilize the masses regardless of foreigners and the ruling class that was overexerting their authority.

Questions about Strange Places

After reading the last line of Claude McKay's poem "If We Must Die," I experienced a moment of confusion rather than clarity. This moment could have been considered a sudden aha! moment, which I discussed in my last blog, and I felt persuaded to ask a question about the text. The poem is about a young prostitute, or a dancer, who is "proudly-swaying...and hanging loose about her form" for men and even women in a dance club during the Harlem Renaissance. Yet the speaker that is watching her performance startles the reader by saying," I knew her self was not in that strange place." What did McKay mean by that sentence? Did she mean that the dancer was forced to dance during those times for money? Was she putting on a show for the audience, while deep down she was unhappy? Looking into context, the descriptions of the dancer and the people admiring her in the poem paint the picture of a confident woman with beautiful features and the confidence to flaunt her assets. Plus, looking further into historical instances, the Harlem Renaissance was a time when the African American community developed into a new black identity. My guess for this last line is that this woman is overwhelmed by the developments of history and culture. As the African Americans were gaining more momentum culturally, the prostitution and dance scene probably gained speed as well. Therefore, I assume she became a dancer for money; an innocent young woman who was forced to put herself out there to succeed in the rising times of the Harlem Renaissance. While people were passionately eyeing her body, she may have felt uncomfortable. The one man that looked through her "falsely-smiling face" could have been the only person in the crowd that didn't look at her in sexual envy.

The Aha! Moment

The aha! moment may not be defined conclusively, but it can be described as the moment a reader throws down a book and finally "gets it." In other words, it is advanced state of understanding when a reader finally comprehends the meaning of a book. Both "The Wife of His Youth" and "Learning to Read" are written with the intention to shock readers with deliberate moment of clarity. In "Wife of his Youth," Charles Chesnutt places his moment at the last sentence of his piece, in order to leave readers thinking about what they just read. His last sentence, "Permit me to introduce to you the wife of my youth," completely alters everything the readers had previously expected of the story. When reading the story, I would have never expected that the husband that Liza Jane had been looking for all along was the main protagonist, Mr. Ryder. In retrospect, when Liza approached Mr. Ryder's gate telling the story of her long lost husband and explained her dedication for the past 25 years in looking for her husband, she handed him a picture of her husband, which ended up being a picture of Mr. Ryder. Looking back further, we realize at the point when Mr. Ryder "went upstairs to his bedroom, and stood for a long time before the mirror of his dressing-case, gazing thoughtfully at the reflection of his own face." He planned a grand ball and I assumed he would propose to Miss Dixon, when all the sudden the previous foreshadowing comes into play and we realize he is actually professing his deep affections for the wife of his youth, Liza. In "Learning to Read" by Frances E. W. Harper, the first few stanzas are written to influence the readers to believe that the old slave woman never learned to read or had access to education. She tells stories of a man "who greased the pages of his book, and hid it in his hat." She also mentions that "knowledge didn't agree with slavery - 'twould make us all too wise." Based on these first few examples, we know that slaves were not given the opportunity to learn to read and write and that very few slaves took the necessary steps to learn that ability. As a turning point in the story, the last few stanzas suddenly direct readers in a different direction in which she says she "never stopped till I could read, vthe hymns and the testament," from the Bible. From that point on, the reader knows she went to great lengths to learn to read and that her descriptions of slaves at the forefront of the play did not describe her passion for learning. 

Contemporary Connection

Between 1865 and 1914, the United States needed to make post-Civil War decisions that would develop the country into a world power, like how to unite the North and the South, how to handle racist segregation, and how to industrialize the economy. During the Gilded Age, developments in technology transformed every aspect of life in the United States. A host of new inventions were introduced between 1865 and 1914, like the typewriter, radio, motion picture, and publishing. With these new methods of technology, the United States emerged as a world power. In comparison with the 21st century, the development of technology correlates directly with the whirlwind emergence of Apple. The company came out of the clouds and introduced products that have taken over the world. Steve Jobs first introduced the iPod and developed from there the iPhone, iMac, and iPad, each of which are updated every few months to even more technological advancements. The legacy of Steve Jobs brought the United States into a world market, as citizens of countries all over the world started ordering iPhones and iMacs, bringing others together to celebrate an advancement more powerful than any seen during the Gilded Age. As Thomas Edison was hailed as the "English Wonder of the World" during the Gilded Age, Steve Jobs deserves to be coined the newest "Wonder of the World." Yet, during the Gilded Age, the advancements in technology, one of the more popular early American literary device, poetry, didn't exactly benefit from industrialization. Many poets that had been popular before saw a diminishing role in magazines and newspapers. Similarly, because of the advancements in technology in the 21st century, newspapers and magazines are seeing a less important role in culture. By using the iPhone or iMac, digital newspapers and magazines or newspapers on iPhone applications have attracted audiences all over the world. Instead of waiting daily for a magazine which is a hassle to read, audiences can press a few buttons on their technological devices and find news at any time, anywhere. In the end, technological advancements in the Gilded Age helped the United States become the world power it is today.

An Agreement for Change

When Lincoln delivered his Second Inaugural Address, he sought out to "articulate the meaning of the war and to lay the groundwork for peace, reconstruction, and reunification" after the Civil War was drawing to a close. Likewise, when Henry Garnet was invited by President Lincoln to deliver a sermon at the House of Representatives, he could possibly have been in agreement and conversation with Lincoln. Garnet was "urging legislators to go even further, erasing all distinctions based on race from the laws and Constitution of the United States." Besides the fact that the two were conversational in reality, their views on "the next step" for the United States after the close of the Civil War were identical. Garnet is pushing legislators to understand that demands by abolitionists and reformers will dwindle once "the unjust and heavy burdens shall be removed from every man in the land." The Emancipation Proclamation may have been issued, but slaves in areas not controlled by the federal government continued to be burdened by slavery. Therefore, Garnet is speaking for the eternal justice of every African American in the United States "to make his own way in the social walks of life." Both Lincoln's Inaugural Address and Garnet's Discourse to the House of Representatives took place in 1865, when Lincoln wanted the United States to achieve "malice toward none...to do all which may achieve peace and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves and with all nations." The two leaders were in agreement at this thought. The American Dream for both is for peace and unification as one country, where people of any color can pave their own paths and determine their own destiny. The war was drawing to a close, and it was time to reconstruct the way of life in the North and South. Although Lincoln's powerful position in politics may have added to his persuasive tone, both verbal announcements of sentiments were powerful claims received by many - a claim that pressures the United States to reunify and reconstruct to regain peace.

A Call to Action

Compelling, vivid, and rather violent images of despair and mistreatment were the calls to action that abolitionist authors like John Whittier and Frances Harper incorporated in their poems during the antislavery crusade. Most memorable were the images in "The Slave Mother" by Harper, in which the author portrayed the separation of mother in a tormenting fashion: "He is not hers, although she bore for him a mother's pains; He is not hers, although her blood is coursing through his veins" (17-20). In modern days and in the past, it is assumed that the relationship between mother and child quintessential to development - a relationship that should not be tampered with. Yet, when a slave master is described as standing in the way of that bond, the reader must feel immense sympathy for the situation and is therefore called to action to improve standards in the racially divided United States. Likewise, in her other poem entitled "Ethiopia," the image of laughing children to startle readers. The only difference, though, is that the image of children in "Ethiopia" is a more positive one, as "'Neath sheltering vines and stately palms shall laughing children play, and aged sires with joyous psalms shall gladden every day" represents the fact that, although slave children are stuck in an oppressive state, the redress of God will bring light to the lives of the children (17-20). Although this perspective may not startle readers because it does not physically torment, it shows that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and with the work of crusaders, that redress of God will show through sooner. Lastly, in "The Farewell of a Virginia Slave Mother to Her Daughters" by Whittier, daughters are "sold and gone" to dark, lonesome, gloomy homes where "There no mother's eye is near them, there no mother's ear can hear them; Never, when the torturing lash seams their back with many a gash, shall their mother's kindness bless them, or a mother's arms caress them" (15-20). Not only does the whipping images startle a reader, but the fact that these children in despair are left suffering without the loving touch of a mother is the one image a reader needs to realize that the antislavery crusade is something that everyone should join, and, fortunately for the success of the United States, that abolition crusade finally worked many years later.

"It's Not What You Say, But How You Say It"

Growing up, my mom always pressed the concept of saying things the way they are meant to mean. For the longest time, I didn't understand what she meant, but looking back on the past, Harriet Jacobs wrote "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" with that motto in mind. Jacobs' intent wasn't to scream at the women reading her novel or even the white men and women soaking in her words. Her intent was to tell a story and hope that her readers would respond to her experience and try to make a change. Jacobs summed up her intent in her preface, where she mentioned "I have not written my experiences in order to attract attention to myself; on the contrary, it would have been more pleasant for me to have been silent about my own history. Neither do I care to excite sympathy for my own sufferings." Instead of reading a book, you are almost talking to the woman herself. She speaks to her audience directly, and in my personal opinion, she reached out to her audience more directly that way. Firstly, Jacobs decided to directly address white women or African American women not involved in slavery directly, "But, O, ye happy women, whose purity has been sheltered from childhood, who have been free to choose the objects of your affection...If slavery had been abolished, I, also, could have married the man of my choice; I could have had a home shielded by the laws, and I should have been spared the painful task of confessing what I am now about to relate." Jacobs is not flirting with big words or hiding her main intent: she is putting into comprehensible words her view on the world, and hoping that her experience and view on slavery will light the fire in free and enslaved women to fight for freedom from oppression. "But I do earnestly desire to arouse the women of the North to a realizing sense of the condition of two millions of women at the South, still in bondage, suffering what I suffered, and most of them far worse." In sum, Jacobs wasn't claiming superiority by saying her situation represented the entire population and that she was screaming for a change. Jacobs' easy-going, relatable language choices and diction add a conversational touch to "Incidents" that make it a truly meaningful read. (EXTRA CREDIT)

A Plight for Freedom

During a time of immense struggle for independence and abolition, women of the 1860’s like Linda, the main character in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, employed the power of voice and reason to spread the message of slavery across the Free States and Slave States alike. Although Linda was thrown into slavery at a young age, she chose to speak up to her master regardless of the beatings that ensued, and also chose to run away and fight for her freedom regardless of the search parties her master was gathering. “When separations come by the hand of death, the pious soul can bow in resignation...but when the ruthless hand of man strikes the blow, regardless of the misery he causes, it is hard to be submissive” (Jacobs, Pg. 772). Because Linda is an African American woman whose mother was also a slave, she is forced be sold into slavery and from then on she battled several social contexts. Starting with race and culture, her mixed racial skin tone, known as “mulatto,” contributed to the lack of prospects for her to “lead a better life.” The entire problem of slavery came about in the 1860’s because of the culture clash between African Americans and the social hierarchy and class structure of the White folks. For example, when Linda fell in love with a free black man, she mentioned she could never marry him or leave her slave because “the husband of a slave has no power to protect her.” Therefore, African American men were still considered lower in gender roles to the White man, and the African American slave woman was the lowest in social classes. Although society says that African American woman must be the housekeepers, the slaves, the cleaners, Linda resists those roles completely - which is why the reader connects so strongly to her plight for freedom. When her master hits her for the first time, Linda speaks her mind and says, “You have tried to kill me, and I wish you had; but you have no right to do as you like with me.” African American slave women speaking up in such a way at that time was nonexistent, which is one of the reasons why Jacobs was trying to teach women in her situation to escape. Also, Linda is willing to speak up about her race and her love with her husband, as her master calls them puppies and she responds, “If he is a puppy, I am a puppy, for we are both of the negro race. It is right and honorable for us to love each other. The man you call a puppy never insulted me, sir; and he would not love me if he did not believe me to be a virtuous woman” (Jacobs, Pg. 774). The painful memories of Linda’s past makes my heart ache in sadness for the hardships African American woman had to endure because of the color of their skin, yet it inspires me that we have a culture today that, for the most part, provides equal treatment and happiness for all. 

1 John 4:21

Mary Brave Bird, a famous Native American, once said “The land is sacred. These words are at the core of your being. The land is our mother, the rivers our blood. Take our land away and we die. That is, the Indian in us dies.” “An Indian’s Looking Glass for the White Man” and “Indian Names,” both written in the late 1800’s, magnify a central theme of Native American mistreatment in the United States by the white man and focuses more importantly on the unnoticed gifts that the Native Americans prized America. Apess highlights the fact that “Christian” white men are mistreating the “red-faced” Native Americans because they are following the guidelines of the Bible, yet the Native Americans “cannot enjoy their rights and privileges as the whites do, they are not protected in their persons and property...are disenfranchised from all their rights just because their skin is not white.” Had I been a white person reading this in the late 1800’s, I would have been utterly shocked by the point that Apess makes in his writing. He is not blaming the white’s nor “raising his voice” in an argumentative manner, he is “not speaking for office, but merely placing before you the black inconsistency that you have placed before me.” In sum, Apess addresses the injustice toward Native Americans by white Christians despite the fact that “men of a different skin are so despised, and the white’s are acting so contrary to the Gospel.” Similarly, in the writing by Sigourney, she addresses the same aspect of mistreatment toward Native Americans in a different light. Instead, she implies that the Native Americans that are being killed and mistreated in the United States are the reason why the United States is ultimately so successful. Like we have studied previously, Native Americans were the first people on our land and learned how to cultivate and survive on that land. Sigourney writes, “That ‘mid the forests where they roamed/These rings no hunter’s shout; But their name is on your waters/Ye may not wash it out...Your mountains build their monument/Though ye destroy their dust.” Therefore, the message in this poem is that, although you are destroying the lives and land of the Native Americans, their name, hard work, and dedication marked the territory of the United States. White Christians may have been “following the word of God” and putting themselves above Native Americans hierarchically, but there were still “fellow citizens, who advocate our cause daily” (Apess). 

Through The Looking Glass

For most people and fictional characters, looking into glass, and in particular mirrors, symbolizes a feeling of encouragement and inner beauty. Symbolism, as defined in the Writing about Literature book, are words or ideas up for interpretation that stand for something much more complex and prominent in the story. In upbeat, positive stories in the world of Disney, glass mirrors are dream-like symbols in which physically appealing princesses look toward the the magical future or admire makeup and designer clothes. Yet, in "The Tenth of January," the main character Senath finds herself looking into glass mirrors and seeing the exact opposite in reflection. The word glass is mentioned several times in the story, and more often than not the images are negatively portrayed by brokenness and ugliness, for example "she sat out in the snow-drifts through terror of her home...she would wake up with a little cracked glass upon the opposite wall; of creeping out and up to it in her night-dress; of the ghastly twisted thing that looked back at her" (Phelps, Pg. 3). Later on in the story, after readers realize Senath is unhappy in her marriage and merging on a depressive state, she "put her elbows on the table and her chin into her hands, and so, for a motionless half-hour, studied the unrounded, uncolored, unlightened face that stared back at her...her breath dimming the outline of its repulsive mouth" (Pg. 10) While interpreting symbolism is a daunting and annoying task for readers, most writers pick and choose their words carefully display a certain emotion or enhance a character. In this story, Phelps may have chosen glass and mirror symbolism and the way the main character sees herself in those objects to enhance the darkness and gloom of the story and the plot in the end.

The "American Dream" Gone Awry

The “American Dream” is an image of economic success, blissful family life, abundant opportunities, and opulent lifestyle -- but what happens when that image is obstructed? “Those disasters which break down the spirit of a man...while treading the prosperous paths of life...[those men] who behold a female who can be the comforter and supporter of her husband under misfortune” (Irving, 526). Considering the grave recession the United States is weighted under, the message Washington Irving sends in his work “The Wife” is one that connects to the modern day family. Yet comparing his plot to the realistic situations families find themselves in today, “The Wife” could actually be a work to draw inspiration from. In times of crisis, families should come together instead of break apart and love unconditionally rather than fight out of emotions. In this story, a man is afraid to tell his wife that he has been “reduced to almost penury” by an economic crisis. His good friend advises him to tell his wife, but the husband is afraid she cannot bear the poverty when she has been growing up with “all the refinements of opulence.” Following his friends advice, he tells his wife about his economic troubles, and instead of breaking the marriage, she responded “like an angel...she threw her arms around my neck, and asked if this was all that had lately made me unhappy.” In the end, the husband “has never experienced a moment of such unutterable felicity” when he learns that his wife loves him despite his economic situation in “a home destitute of everything elegant...exhausted and spiritless over a prospect of future poverty.” Irving describes a life that is not male-dominated, a life in which the union of marriage is strong and can withstand all obstacles, a life that can make many twists and turns but is nevertheless satisfying because the United States offers life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Truth or Myth?

Last semester I took a class called Race, Gender, Mass Media, and for my final project, I decided to study the contrast between the movie portrayal of Disney movie Pocahontas and the actual history behind the story. After reading the poem by Paula Gunn Allen, a dialogue between Pocahontas and her English husband John Rolfe, I decided to reflect in more detail a few similar ideas. Relatively speaking, the Disney portrayal of the Pocahontas story was an idyllic and fabricated one. What actually happened was rather different: The English treacherously kidnapped Pocahontas, which is where she met John Rolfe. She married Rolfe under the condition that she should be released from her captivity in Jamestown. Role took her to England and used her as propaganda to support his colony in Virginia. Those situations were never shown in the book and have not been spoken of until reading this poem, which ignited a spark inside of me to defend the real story of Pocahontas. Here in this poem, she wants to take a stand and use her feminist voice to show that there is no patriarchy, that John Rolfe was only successful because Pocahontas herself was in his life. There were other problems in the life of Pocahontas that Disney decided not to show, which gives her story much more cultural significance, displaying the actual tension and problems in the Native American culture. In her poem, Pocahontas says, “Had I not set  you tasks, your masters far across the sea would have abandoned you...Still you survived, oh my fair husband, and brought them gold wrung from a harvest I taught you to plant.” In reality, Pocahontas and Native Americans in general taught the Europeans everything they needed to know to be successful in America, and the Europeans in truth owe much of their dominance to the natives. 

What does it mean to be an American?

An American, to me, is a patriotic, free, and liberated human being who has equal opportunity to succeed and dream. After studying and discussing poems with alternate definitions of Americans in class, I figured my vision would change, but surprisingly enough, my vision did not stray from my mind. Being the cousin of a New York City firefighter and EMT and the niece of a New York City police officer, my family was directly affected by the September 11th terrorist attacks. That event, which ultimately changed American history forever, instilled in me a particularly passionate feeling of patriotism toward my country and the soldiers, presidents, and proud citizens that represent it. Although my family feels cheated by intruders, I still believe that immigration is what keeps our country running smoothly. America is an admired place of residence, and I believe citizens should welcome those that are strong enough to join our powerhouse. Therefore, I particularly connected to “The New Colossus,” not only because it’s main “character” is the Statue of Liberty in New York City, but also because “the mighty woman with a torch” extends an offer other countries to “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free...I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” I stand by the image of the golden door, because I believe that America is heaven. I stand by the image of breathing free in America, because we are a democratic country free of governmental interference and we can be educated and determined leaders of our own lives. Since 9/11, I perceive America as the ultimate golden door or entrance to diversity, a place of “world-wide welcome.”