The Story of an Hour

Amanda Onalaja

September 29, 2009

Pd. 2 – Ms Brown

“The Story of an Hour”, written by Kate Chopin, is another story revolving the experiences of women. However short, the narrative is filled with hidden meaning and overall rhetoric. Its protagonist, Mrs. Mallard, embodies characteristics of women in Chopin’s time. One might even say Chopin herself might have held the same notions and feelings as her character did.

As the story begins we’re introduced to a woman “with heart troubles” who’s husband has just died. The very character of Mrs. Mallard is odd. “She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength” and “…as her two white slender hands would have been”, she is described as somewhat powerful for a woman with a heart so frail. She is dynamic from her initial reaction to her husband’s death, “she wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms” to the optimistic view of her newfound freedom, “she would live for herself”. This ironic and paradox character is an appeal to pathos all on her own. She definitely triggers certain suspicious moods and reactions in readers.

Chopin also details the slightly isolated life of our Mrs. Mallard. “And yet she loved him – sometimes. Often she had not.” This tells a lot about Mrs. Mallard’s or rather Chopin’s view of freedom. It seems Mrs. Mallard was almost a prisoner to her husband even though she cared for him. “There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature” in this passage I feel Chopin is speaking of marriage. She possibly loves her freedom as an independent woman and views the terms of marriage are just barriers on people. Furthermore in regards to independence, Mrs. Mallard’s first name, Louise, wasn’t revealed until near the story’s end. It wasn’t until she had claimed her own freedom and fully embraced it that we no longer called her Mrs. Mallard, but Louise.

Lastly, at the story’s end when we find that Mr. Mallard isn’t dead and it was all a mistake, our weak Louise can not handle the news. However, “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease – of the joy that kills”, the last line is somewhat misleading. So far Louise has just undergone a transformation, she has embraced her independence. From her hysterical cries and sorrow she found a silver lining, but it was taken back from her. The doctors are assuming she died because she couldn’t take the excitement and joy from her husband’s safe return, but I believe she couldn’t take the pain of the new life she had just become attached to being taken away from her.

The question that arises in me however, was the meaning behind not WHY she died but WHY DID the narrator choose to kill her off? Maybe her death was the ultimate freedom, it took death to realize her independence, but possibly it was her death that had to be achieved and not her husband’s. At the same time it could have been a justification for her “wicked” happiness at the loss of her husband’s life. Regardless it ends on a cliffhanger just as Chopin often does.

Sojourner Truth

Amanda Onalaja

September 28, 2009

Pd. 2 – Ms. Brown

Sojourner Truth was a strong willed abolitionist. Born Isabella Baumfree, she clung to her well known title after a religious experience. From then on she expressed the lack of African American and women’s rights. The speech, “Ain’t I a Woman?” addressed to a Women’s Rights Convention contradicted assumptions regarding gender and the “roles” of women. In her speech, Truth appeals to ethos and pathos with powerful examples and fiery emotion.

There are supposedly two accounts of “Ain’t I a Woman?”, one written by Truth herself and a revised version crafted by Frances Gage nearly 30 years later. The message in both accounts are the same, however the change in syntax truly appeals to Truth’s credibility. In one version the dialect is that of a black woman of her time, “I tink dat ‘twixt de niggers of de Souf and de womin at de Nork…”. In the other, “I think that ‘twixt the negroes of the South and the women of the North…”. The change in syntax illustrates two woman, one educated and well-known of the English language, the other somewhat illiterate, but still knowledgeable. The question being which one can be labeled as Truth’s work. If the broken English is hers, it displays how proud Truth is to be a black woman. She was able to renounce social barriers and express herself in her natural tongue while still keeping its flame. However, if it’s not Truth’s work and was written by Frances Gage, what was she trying to prove? That Truth’s speech should have been displayed in that form? In it’s raw state, unlike the proper standards written by their society? It’s obvious there’s a high level of pride in the authors.

Other examples of ethos are her relations to woman and religion. She “pints out” the minister and contradicts views that women are less equal because Christ was a man. “Where did Christ come from … From God and a woman”, she states. Her biblical evidence can’ be counted out, especially amongst Christians. Jesus was birthed by Mary, a woman; Truth argues that Man, who had no involvement, shouldn’t be considered better than Woman. She continues using Eve as an example, “If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down, all alone…”, this reference is almost the climax of the speech. She makes a very critical point, woman are capable of many things.

Aside from creditability, the speech appeals to ethos because of emotional responses it targets, “I have borne thirteen children and seen them almost all sold off into slavery, and when I cried out with a mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard”. It would take a strong will to suffer some of the torment she endured. Her strive and determination entices her audience, as clearly expressed through the side notes of the speech.

The Wiz

Amanda Onalaja

September 22, 2009

Pd. 2 – Ms. Brown

Whether you’ve read the novel or watched the movie, The Wizard of Oz, is a heartfelt story with any different concepts. The protagonist, or main character, Dorothy is cast off from her hometown of Kansas to a magical land called Oz. She encounters a scarecrow, a tin-man, and a lion, each joining her party in a search for the Wizard of Oz and a wish of whatever their heart desires. In an adaptation, The Wiz, the storyline is similar, expect for the memorable cast including Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, and the modern environments. However, one concept that truly shines is Dorothy’s realization of the meaning of family.

In the first scenes of The Wiz, Dorothy’s Aunt Em is hosting a Thanksgiving dinner party. As Aunt Em and the guests sing, Dorothy looks about the dinner table with cheerless expressions almost as if she doesn’t fit in. In the middle of the carol, she hurriedly excuses herself from the table and into the kitchen where she continues a glum version of the song, “Lose it, lose it, I don’t even know the first thing about what they’re feeling”, she seems to question herself. The setting in Aunt Em’s home is cheery and joyful, but Dorothy sticks out. Her character isn’t defiant just distinct in her manner of operating.

However, we see Dorothy’s character progress throughout the story. From the moment she lands in Oz she begs and pleas to return home. The dependent side of her breaks through as the once “wanted to handle my life on my own Dorothy” now sees she needs help and the safety and comfort of home, the same safety and comfort that is brought out by family. She constantly clings to her dog Toto, every moment he runs off she nearly breaks down into hysterical tears, seeing as he is the only thing tying her to the reality she believes still exists in New York.

As the story progresses the scarecrow, tin-man, and lion are introduced into the story. Through different trials the party subtly gains the things they desired without help from the Wiz. Dorothy displays maternal actions such as comforting the others in times of stress too, “It’s all right, everything’s all right”. When it comes time to meet the Wiz, she even defends her friends saying they’re her “companions” and she won’t see the wizard unless her fiends can too. By now Dorothy expresses her gratitude for the party’s company throughout her quest to go home; she sticks by them just as family would.

When all is said and done, Dorothy is thankful for the experience and friends she has met but she is grateful to go home. She learned the value of family; people who stick by you through thick and thin and love you unconditionally, just as her friends did. Without them she wouldn’t have been able to face the obstacles she had and eventually find herself and her purpose. Many could learn about family values from characters like her.

"Spontaneous Me" Analysis

Amanda Onalaja

September 16, 2009

Pd. 2 – Ms. Brown

“Spontaneous Me” can very well be described as a list of random subjects. The poet, Walt Whitman embodies randomness and spontaneity, or so one may think. The first line repeats the title and the topic, Nature. While the poem appears impulsive, the images Whitman expresses do have a common link with nature. The importance of his “list style” is the requirement to infer the poems overall relationship with its topic – How is Whitman connecting these different events? Not to mention his purpose for comparing them. In “Spontaneous Me” Whitman appeals to pathos with his uses of refined imagery. He discusses Nature and it’s relation to humanity or rather humans and their relation with Nature.

What readers may not realize is that Whitman mixes human nature and non-human nature in this poem. “…The friend I am happy with, the arm of my friend hanging idly over my shoulder” and “Two sleepers at night lying close together as they sleep, one with an arm slanting down across and below the waist of the other” are examples of the human nature Whitman expresses. Each quote depicts a natural instinct of love in humans. The non-human side is displayed through everyday nature, “…hillside whiten’d with blossoms of the mountain ash” and “The rich coverlet of the grass, animals and birds”. All of the examples given are characteristics of nature in some form.

However, Whitman indulges in the human side of nature in a more sensual way – the nature of sexual desire. “The hairy wild-bee… that gripes the full-grown lady-flower, curves upon her with amorous firm legs, takes his will of her, and holds himself tremulous and tight till he is satisfied” that passage radiates sexuality, but in a sense it still is a metaphor for nature by human and non-human standards. “Love-thoughts, love-juice, love-odor, love-yielding, love-climbers”, the word “love” is repetitiously used to emphasis a sexual connection with many things, although “love” may not be the same as “sexual desire”, like Whitman is talking about.

Overall, I believe the poet is using nature to bury his true gist of the poem. He practically announces the significance of the poem in the eighth and ninth lines, “The real poems, (what we call poems being merely pictures)/ The poems of the privacy of the night”, he speaks of something obviously sexual. Whitman is trying to say he believes sexual desire is natural. “The poems” he speak of are phallic, “This poem drooping shy and unseen that I always carry, and that all men carry, (…our lusty lurking masculine poems)”. Whitman intertwines the body, love, and passion together to get poetry. “The curious roamer the hand roaming all over the body”, “the young man all color’d, red, ashamed, angry”, and “the young man that flushes and flushes, and the young woman that flushes and flushes”, are all examples of natural sexual instincts.

Whitman embraces the nature of his manhood and is unashamed. He feels there is a “great chastity of paternity, to match the great chastity of maternity” and will not be afraid to express his desires as a human. He also appeals to ethos and gives biblical credit when he writes, “The oath of procreation, I have sworn, my Adamic… [I] shall produce boys to fill my place when I am through”, reminding readers he is a descendant of biblical character Adam and therefore must recognize his duties (producing offspring or not) as a man.

Phillis Wheatley

Amanda Onalaja

September 15, 2009

Pd. 2 – Ms. Brown

Phillis Wheatley grew up as a very privileged woman of her time. Not only was she female and African American, she was highly intelligent. She was born into slavery and sold to John and Susannah Wheatley. With the Wheatley’s she experienced a surreal form of slavery, she was accepted and raised as one of the Wheatley’s own children. She developed quickly with reading and writing. Wheatley was a truly an influential person as her admirers saw in her “the triumph of human spirit over the circumstances of birth”. She is considerable the first African American to publish book. However, her gifts were questioned as John Wheatley, John Hancock, and others had to prove her originality, “[Phillis] had been examined and thought qualified to write them”.

Not only was she a literary genius, but Wheatley was a wise woman; commenting on the issues of slavery, “It does not take a philosopher to see that the exercise of slavery cannot be reconciled with a principle that God has implanted in every human breast, “Love of Freedom””. This quote is an appeal to pathos and ethos. God is her credited source; slavery can’t co-inhabit with man because God designed man to be free. It’s an appeal to logos because she uses imagery to paint a picture of a man torn between society’s ways and the natural way of God. Wheatley didn’t seem to be an abolitionist, but she made her views on slavery clear with another passage from a poem, “Such, such my case. And can I then but pray/others may never feel tyrannic sway”. The “tyranny” she speaks of is oppression, but she uses a word associated with evil people like despots and villains. Wheatley, however, doesn’t always sing the praises of her roots.

In “On Being Brought from Africa to America” an original poem, there is a patronizing yet saccharine tone to it. “… Some view our sable race with scornful eye, ‘Their color is a diabolical dye’. Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain, may be refined and join angelic train”. Wheatley refers to Negroes as descendants of the biblical Cain, those who are supposedly cursed for his crime, but she sounds patronizing in the sense that she emphasizes her audience by calling them “Christians”, subtly hinting that they should think in pious fashion. In a sense the Negro Christian and White Christian share a common bond which only Wheatley knows or seems to acknowledge. Wheatley displays distaste for oppression in more ways than just racism. In her poem “To His Excellency General Washington”, she expresses her anticipation of victory in freeing the colonies from England. She envisions victory even though in this period, victory leaned on the side of Britain.

Thomas Jefferson

Amanda Onalaja

September 14, 2009

Pd. 2 –Ms. Brown

Thomas Jefferson is one of our founding fathers; he along with several other men signed the Declaration of Independence and is the reason why today we don’t hail to a queen. He was a man who fought against slavery, ironically he dabbled with slaves in his personal life, but furthermore he helped certify a holiday celebrated across the U.S. In his autobiography he writes of the trials with trying to ratify the declaration along with the departure from English rule. In the passage, Jefferson describes the days leading to the declaration’s signing and the original and revised versions.

The Declaration itself is an evident appeal to pathos. The comparison between the original and revised version highlights the change in tone from the change in diction. The passage isn’t as harsh; it holds a calmer and refined tone as if it’s holding back its true meaning. “… The present king of Great Britain is a history of unremitting injuries and usurpations”, the underlined portion was replaced with “alter”. Another example, “[The king of England] has suffered the administration of justice…” the underlined portion was replaced with “by”. The original diction had more power because the phrase were uncommon and stronger than there new substitutions.

Not all of the Declaration was replaced however. In fact, paragraphs were removed. An entire paragraph on the king’s neglect toward his people has removed. I suppose congress wanted to stay on task and write of their new found independence rather than their dislike and disloyalty to monarchy. It almost seemed like a persuasive essay on why the king was considered bad instead of proclaiming themselves free.

Coincidently, given Jefferson’s history and his relationship with slaves, I found some excerpts to be highly hypocritical. “He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns and destroyed the lives of our peace”, it sounds as if these are the words of the Native Americans, the same inhabitants of the Americas that we’ve come to claim as our territory. It’s ironic how the declaration was about securing the liberties of man; however they were for the white, northern man. The entire passage appears patriotic, but how can it be if its notions don’t apply to all men?

Huswifery

Amanda Onalaja

September 9, 2009

Pd. 2 – Ms. Brown

The life of a Puritan is known to revolve around one thing–God. So it was no surprise when reading Edward Taylor’s work it expressed his want to be reformed by the Lord. His writing differs though, unlike Anne Bradstreet’s writing that was somewhat prosaic, Taylor’s writing is a little more in-depth wherein you have to infer and analyze the metaphors he uses. “Huswifery”, however cleverly written, was nothing I expected by the title alone. I thought of a married coupled since “huswifery” looks like husband and wife mixed together. But, instead I read an account of a man who wants God to take control of his life.

“Huswifery” is an appeal to pathos because the narrative left me feeling empathetic. Taylor relates to God through a daily task for Puritans of that time, operating a spinning wheel, “Make me, O Lord, thy Spinning Wheele compleat”. Using the spinning wheel as a metaphor for his place with God was good because he and other Puritans could better understand their connection. Modern day, we might not be as subtle and directly say something such as “Lord mold me into a better man”; maybe a phrase like that would be easier to understand because we hear something like that often or about someone becoming a better person because they want to be saved. Taylor continues to weave his qualities with everyday knitting to further highlight the act of God manipulating his life.

Taylor also expresses his belief that one cannot expect to find true salvation without first reaching for God. A spinning wheel cannot operate on its own, it needs someone to guide its movements and actions, “Then cloath therewith mine Understanding, Will, Affections, Judgment, Conscience, Memory”. The process of God weaving in out of mankind applies to all man, but in Taylor’s case, he wants God to leave behind a better man; a man with grace and overall salvation. It also seems to follow the path of predestination, since he writes as if one cannot take control of their own lives; that it is only by God’s hands can you be worthy of such grace.

Aside from the overall meaning of the poem, Taylor’s syntax is unlike that of present day. On common words readers notice a silent “E”, “worde”, “mee”, “reele”, etc. The “E” is something I’ve noticed on old shops or retro restaurants called “The Shoppe”. It isn’t used often but the use of it in Taylor’s writing is evidence of its old age and times.

Anne Bradstreet

Amanda Onalaja

September 6, 2009

Pd. 2- Ms. Brown

Anne Bradstreet was a Puritan woman, who some consider to be the first American poet. Her book of poems was the first book written by a woman to be published in the United States. Her stories display how life was for Puritan woman adjusting to colonial life. She also wrote more personal and intimate works. “The Author to Her Book” and “To My Dear and Loving Husband” are poems written by Bradstreet; however, they seem to show a side of Anne that indulged in more than just God. Her poems appeal to pathos and express the love and emotion she, even as a Puritan woman, felt.

“The Author to Her Book” has somewhat of a maternal but ironic tone. She uses contradictions, “Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain, who after birth didst by my side remain”, she refers to her stories, ideas, or characters as “offspring” giving a maternal mood, but calls them “ill-formed offspring” as if they are ungraceful or unwanted. “My rambling brat (in print) should mother call”, she once again compares her unwanted work to “her” spoiled child. She demonstrates things a mother would do for her child, “…I washed thy face…I stretched thy joints”. Bradstreet is very fond of her work it would seem, however this poem can be looked at another way.

After reading “The Author to Her Book” for a third time, I realized she might have been narrating a story but using the maternal tone to move it along. I believe it’s a story of a poem or book Bradstreet may have written that she didn’t like, “ill-formed offspring”, that was encouraged by her publisher anyway, “Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true, who thee abroad, exposed to public view”. She didn’t like the story and felt it needed revising, “…errors were not lessened…I cast thee by as one unfit for light, thy visage was so irksome”. The maternal aspect of the poem commences, “…Yet being my own, at length affection would thy blemishes amend, if so I could”, and she tries to repair her tale. But in the end she is ashamed of her story and finds there is nothing she can do, so like a “good mother”, she trashes the story, “…which caused her thus to send thee out of door”.

Unlike “The Author to Her Book”, “To My Dear and Loving Husband” is a poem that has an obvious meaning. Bradstreet, uncommon in her time, expresses her affection for her husband. It is a poignant piece with an amorous tone. Bradstreet writes using heartfelt lines, “If ever two were one, then surely we…my love is such that rivers cannot quench… in love let’s so preserve that when we live no more, we may live ever”. There is nothing to infer because she blatantly displays her love to her husband.

Bradstreet’s form of writing is deep and full of affection. She exposes the buried emotions that woman, even now, don’t usually express, and in a profound way. “To My Dear and Loving Husband” did seem a little clichéd but that’s because it’s an original, a piece of literature that paved the way for today’s love notes and songs. To imagine a woman of her time, whose sole duty was home, children, and God, Bradstreet defied the norm.

Edwards

Amanda Onalaja

September 2, 2009

Pd. 2 –Ms. Brown

I may not go to church every Sunday, but I don’t think anyone has the right to question my spirituality. An individual’s relationship with God is not a topic for others to be concerned with. No man knows the purpose behind God’s actions, so to criticize one and call his actions “wicked” is entirely wrong. The text written by Edwards was terribly harsh. The man seems hypocritical and narrow minded. In “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God”, he definitely appeals to pathos in a sense that he uses such strong depictions and illustrations to put readers in an angry, fearful, and intimidated mood.

The first line of this text is “Their foot shall slide in due time”, a passage from the Bible. It represents, what must be Edwards view, sinners and their revelation. He continues to branch off this passage to the book of Psalm where he uses more passages having to do with “sliding” and the process of damnation. Later in the text, a passage from Ecclesiastes is used, “How dieth the wise man? Even as the fool”, this is used to express that Edwards believes that acquiring mankind’s limited pool of wisdom is not enough to save one from death. There are several more biblical quotes outlined in the text and even though their messages are usually meant to inspire, the context in which their used appears intimidating. The passages sound like conformations to Edwards’s belief of those who are wicked and their means of punishment. Christian readers, like myself, may read this text and see those biblical passages and assume they are plain evidence to Edwards’s cause and accusations. This is an appeal to ethos. The men and women who originally read this may have had some Christian backgrounds and I can imagine them nearly believing and fearing Edwards’s logic.

Luckily, the Bible isn’t as harsh as Edwards’s writing style. Throughout the entire account, he depicts horrifying images, “… the pit is prepared, the fire is made ready, the furnace is now hot, ready to receive them; the flames do now rage and glow…”, he uses these descriptions as if they were as real as day.

On the fifth page, near the bottom, Edwards uses a simile to compare damnation, “…your destruction would come like a whirlwind, and would be like the chaff of the summer threshing floor”, this comparison didn’t make much sense, even after I looked up “chaff” and “threshing”. Furthermore, he uses another simile, “[the devils] stand waiting for them, like greedy hungry lions that see their prey”, and this is a terrifying analogy. Why would he depict man as prey of any sort?

It seems to me this whole account is nothing more than a scare tactic to convert others. However, I fail to see what Edwards wanted to accomplish with this narrative. He didn’t earn respect or make a point; instead he frightened and accused men of wickedness. His sense of logic is in disarray and it made me question his sanity. I don’t believe he himself was a true man of God, for he would have set examples, rather then set punishments or predict them. Who is he to claim the will and way of God? I believe the title of this text should be changed; he is the only one who is angry.