Free Response Answers

The relationship between the Europeans and the Native Americans during the colonial period were similar to a mentor and mentee relationship when exposing the ignorant in mind to a world and culture unknown. European colonizers and explorers came to American soil with no knowledge about the terrain. Many had their minds set on acquiring riches to either gain individual wealth or add onto their affluent rulers who sponsored their costly voyages. The local natives were the first inhabitants of the unknown landscape Europeans had encountered when first arriving and their knowledge and expertise on the unfamiliar land was valuable in their conquest. The narratives on Cabeza de Vaca are an example of one of the first European explorers to come to America and have personal experience with the locals. The Native Americans became “tour guides” to many of the explorers and their knowledge on the land was valuable to their survival. The story of Cabeza de Vaca having to live off the terrain for many months in harsh weather under the guidance of the Native Americans is an example of the knowledge of the locals being of value. All the Indians of this region either are ignorant of time by sun or moon…They understand the seasons in terms of ripening fruits, the dying fish, and position of stars in which they are adept. (Cabeza de Vaca) explains how many of the locals and the explorers understood each other when concerning time and season. Because Native Americans were void of any numerical calendar, they relied to natures own time to distinguish times and seasons; better helping the explorers survive in harsh months and weather when concerning the food to eat and how to prepare such delicacies. With the Native Americans vast knowledge on the lands seasonal periods, explorers had a better percentage of surviving the most brutal of times with the aid of the locals as well. We always went naked like them and covered ourselves at night with deerskin. (Cabeza de Vaca) portrays how local Natives guided the European explorers into making articles of clothing to shield their nakedness from the elements of nature when time required it. Without the knowledge from the Native Americans, European explorers would not have known to use the carcass of a deer to make clothing to keep their body’s warm- let alone capture one without scarring it off into the wilderness. I bartered with these Indians in combs I made for them and in bows and arrows and nets. (Cabeza de Vaca) shows how Europeans learned the personalized techniques of artistry of the Native Americans to make a living in the trade to stay alive; selling or exchanging what they created to gain food and sustenance to live by during their months in unknown lands. The lessons in skill from Native Americans had given these naïve explorers tools of survival and slight independence from their “hosts”.
However, the stereotypes of Native Americans being savage and inhumane are the representation Europeans give their saviors in their narratives back home. Although many of the narratives representing Native Americans show how the aid of the locals helped keep oblivious explorers alive and well, they do so in a manner that depicts the average Native American as savage and ghastly. We always went naked like them (Cabeza de Vaca) depicts Native Americans as wild, ill-mannered, and uncivilized as they roam free in shameless nudity; not having anything to clothe themselves with or having any manners to shield their privates in a land where the customs are free nudity is frowned upon. They joined another tribe, the Arbadaos, who astonished us by their weak, emaciated, swollen condition. (Cabeza de Vaca) shows the Natives as inept to take care of themselves in order to live a healthy life amongst men who have hygienic rituals daily. There is no chief (Cabeza de Vaca) portrays them as a nation under no rule of morale. The men bore one of their nipples, some both, and insert a joint of cane two and a half palms long by two fingers thick. (Cabeza de Vaca) shows that their customs of self-expression are odd and unnatural. Narratives from European explorers portray the Native Americans as a type of new “specie”. It is something unknown and confusing yet tantalizing.

European colonizers used their narratives to mediate the relationship with authority figures by mainly focusing on what the costly voyages and journeys could do for the rulers in who sponsor their trips. Christopher Columbus used his narrative to persuade the dominant leaders of his country that the voyages they were sponsoring would pay off largely for their own benefit. His letter to Luis de Santangel demonstrated that his efforts in financing his first voyage would largely pay off for his benefit instead of his own. And there I found very many islands filled with people innumerable and of them all I have taken possession for their highness… (Christopher Columbus) Columbus writes to Santangel in an effort to demonstrate that his authority over the unknown territory is already advancing on the general population of Natives for the ultimate takeover for the King and Queen. He also goes into detail throughout the narrative stating that the islands he had found from his journeys named after the authoritative figures that sponsored his voyage. Reference to the Divine Majesty and the current King and Queen of Spain demonstrate that the islands name entitles complete ownership and rule by those who governs it. By naming the islands after political leaders, Columbus establishes ownership of those lands and gives them to those authorities. This island and all the others are very fertile to a limitless degree, and this island is extremely so. (Christopher Columbus) Columbus uses imagery to depict the lustrous lands and fertile grounds that are of use for an advantage in their nation’s agriculture or other cultivation advantages that can benefit well financially for the good of national economy. Cabeza de Vaca uses his stance on conversion to gain the support to the Catholic Majesty that installed the support for his voyage. …for those who go in your name to subdue those countries and bring them to knowledge of the true faith and true Lord and bring them under the imperial dominion… (Cabeza de Vaca) demonstrates the main argument that the rule of the dominant ruler be enforced on the general population of the new lands and the enforcement of their religion and political government will be in effect for a wider spread of domination for their majesty. These narratives are the base of their argument for continuous support for the leaders and authorities who sponsor and support these costly trips to foreign lands.

The first European explorers envisioned the Americas as a project they could conquer and rule to enforce dominant rule and authority of their nation. Columbus conveys the Americas as an “enterprise” and won the support from the King and Queen due to his ideas of expansion of their ultimate power of authority. The support was won due to the guarantee of something being in return for the cost of their sponsorship. The promise of domination and power over the new lands was the settling factor is the result of the decision. The lands were thought to have luscious lands, wide fields, and invaluable riches that are immeasurable. I believed that their example would have been to the profit of others. (Christopher Columbus) demonstrates how Columbus already acquired preconceptions of what the land would look like and how it could benefit the ultimate beneficiary.

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The rising cost of college — even before the recession — threatens to put higher education out of reach for most Americans, according to the biennial report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.
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college tuition and fees increased 439 percent from 1982 to 2007 while median family income rose 147 percent. Student borrowing has more than doubled in the last decade, and students from lower-income families, on average, get smaller grants from the colleges they attend than students from more affluent families.
“If we go on this way for another 25 years, we won’t have an affordable system of higher education,” said Patrick M. Callan, president of the center, a nonpartisan organization that promotes access to higher education.
“When we come out of the recession,” Mr. Callan added, “we’re really going to be in jeopardy, because the educational gap between our work force and the rest of the world will make it very hard to be competitive. Already, we’re one of the few countries where 25- to 34-year-olds are less educated than older workers.”
Although college enrollment has continued to rise in recent years, Mr. Callan said, it is not clear how long that can continue.
“The middle class has been financing it through debt,” he said. “The scenario has been that families that have a history of sending kids to college will do whatever if takes, even if that means a huge amount of debt.”
But low-income students, he said, will be less able to afford college. Already, he said, the strains are clear.
The report, “Measuring Up 2008,” is one of the few to compare net college costs — that is, a year’s tuition, fees, room and board, minus financial aid — against median family income. Those findings are stark. Last year, the net cost at a four-year public university amounted to 28 percent of the median family income, while a four-year private university cost 76 percent of the median family income.
The share of income required to pay for college, even with financial aid, has been growing especially fast for lower-income families, the report found.
Among the poorest families — those with incomes in the lowest 20 percent — the net cost of a year at a public university was 55 percent of median income, up from 39 percent in 1999-2000. At community colleges, long seen as a safety net, that cost was 49 percent of the poorest families’ median income last year, up from 40 percent in 1999-2000.
The likelihood of large tuition increases next year is especially worrying, Mr. Callan said. “Most governors’ budgets don’t come out until January, but what we’re seeing so far is Florida talking about a 15 percent increase, Washington State talking about a 20 percent increase, and California with a mixture of budget cuts and enrollment cuts,” he said.
In a separate report released this week by the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, the public universities acknowledged the looming crisis, but painted a different picture.
That report emphasized that families have many higher-education choices, from community colleges, where tuition and fees averaged about $3,200, to private research universities, where they cost more than $33,000.
“We think public higher education is affordable right now, but we’re concerned that it won’t be, if the changes we’re seeing continue, and family income doesn’t go up,” said David Shulenburger, the group’s vice president for academic affairs and co-author of the report. “The public conversation is very often in terms of a $35,000 price tag, but what you get at major public research university is, for the most part, still affordable at 6,000 bucks a year.”
While tuition has risen at public universities, his report said, that has largely been to make up for declining state appropriations. The report offered its own cost projections, not including room and board.
“Projecting out to 2036, tuition would go from 11 percent of the family budget to 24 percent of the family budget, and that’s pretty huge,” Mr. Shulenburger said. “We only looked at tuition and fees because those are the only things we can control.”
Looking at total costs, as families must, he said, his group shared Mr. Callan’s concerns.
Mr. Shulenburger’s report suggested that public universities explore a variety of approaches to lower costs — distance learning, better use of senior year in high school, perhaps even shortening college from four years.
“There’s an awful lot of experimentation going on right now, and that needs to go on,” he said. “If you teach a course by distance with 1,000 students, does that affect learning? Till we know the answer, it’s difficult to control costs in ways that don’t affect quality.”
Mr. Callan, for his part, urged a reversal in states’ approach to higher-education financing.
“When the economy is good, and state universities are somewhat better funded, we raise tuition as little as possible,” he said. “When the economy is bad, we raise tuition and sock it to families, when people can least afford it. That’s exactly the opposite of what we need.”
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: December 4, 2008 Because of an editing error, an article on Wednesday about the increasing cost of higher education gave an incorrect context for two figures: the 439 percent increase in college tuition and fees and the 147 percent increase in median family income since 1982. Those figures were not adjusted for inflation. The error was repeated for the data in an accompanying chart. A corrected chart appears at nytimes.com/national.
The article also described incorrectly the report for the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education that cited the figures. It is produced every other year, not annually.


W.E.B. Dubois’s argument in Chapter three of The Souls Of Black Folks revolves around the central idea that Blacks are easily persuaded to alter their political and moral views due to the substantial rise of one of their own without knowing the facts behind their political leader’s upbringings. His central image of African-American power comes from the example of Booker T. Washington, the main figure of dominance among Black culture that has risen from poverty to complete economic and education supremacy. Dubois states that, although many African-Americans admire and idolize Washington, they disagree with his morality and ideas of uplifting and bringing progress amongst the African-American race. Among his own people, however, Mr. Washington has encountered the strongest and most lasting opposition(Page 48) Dubois demonstrates that this dislike comes from pure envy and jealousy of seeing a Black man succeed while many of his own people are still working for any scrap and/or penny they can get their hands on. Dubois, also, demonstrates that most of the dislike comes from bright, intelligent, and highly respected Black leaders that have a feeling of deep regret, sorrow, and apprehension. These feelings of mixed emotions come from the ideology of Washington's plan that ultimately keep colored people as slaves, working in the field to get by and make a decent living.The typical African-American would disagree with Washington's plan if he did not have majority of coloreds and white Americans in favor of his program and logic. Largely silenced in outward expres- sion by the public opinion of the nation. (Chapter 3, paragraph 6) is shown to suggest that the outward expression of dislike for Booker T. Washington's program was frowned upon amongst the nation and especially towards Black people. Typical mindset would be that they should be grateful for a Black man to be in such power in such a day in age and should bow their heads and nod gracefully with acceptance. The plan, however, much didn't thoroughly know about in full detail. It silenced if it did not convert the Negroes themselves (Chapter 3, paragraph 2) tells that the Negroes only went along with the plan because of majority vote and/or they did not fully comprehend what Washington was asking. If the average Black man knew his opposing side- the supremacist- were in favor of a Black man, than he would become pressured to follow by example and support his own. If an average Black man did not know what Washington was asking of his people due to the fluid and articulate language from his profound education, then he would most likely follow in the footsteps of Washington's followers and support him based on the single evidence that he was African-American.


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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/education/03college.html?_r=1&em

Lit Response 2

W.E.B. Dubois’s argument in Chapter three of The Souls Of Black Folks revolves around the central idea that Blacks are easily persuaded to alter their political and moral views due to the substantial rise of one of their own without knowing the facts behind their political leader’s upbringings. His central image of African-American power comes from the example of Booker T. Washington, the main figure of dominance among Black culture that has risen from poverty to complete economic and education supremacy. Dubois states that, although many African-Americans admire and idolize Washington, they disagree with his morality and ideas of uplifting and bringing progress amongst the African-American race. Among his own people, however, Mr. Washington has encountered the strongest and most lasting opposition(Page 48) Dubois demonstrates that this dislike comes from pure envy and jealousy of seeing a Black man succeed while many of his own people are still working for any scrap and/or penny they can get their hands on. Dubois, also, demonstrates that most of the dislike comes from bright, intelligent, and highly respected Black leaders that have a feeling of deep regret, sorrow, and apprehension. These feelings of mixed emotions come from the ideology of Washington's plan that ultimately keep colored people as slaves, working in the field to get by and make a decent living.

The typical African-American would disagree with Washington's plan if he did not have majority of coloreds and white Americans in favor of his program and logic. Largely silenced in outward expres- sion by the public opinion of the nation. (Chapter 3, paragraph 6) is shown to suggest that the outward expression of dislike for Booker T. Washington's program was frowned upon amongst the nation and especially towards Black people. Typical mindset would be that they should be grateful for a Black man to be in such power in such a day in age and should bow their heads and nod gracefully with acceptance. The plan, however, much didn't thoroughly know about in full detail. It silenced if it did not convert the Negroes themselves (Chapter 3, paragraph 2) tells that the Negroes only went along with the plan because of majority vote and/or they did not fully comprehend what Washington was asking. If the average Black man knew his opposing side- the supremacist- were in favor of a Black man, than he would become pressured to follow by example and support his own. If an average Black man did not know what Washington was asking of his people due to the fluid and articulate language from his profound education, then he would most likely follow in the footsteps of Washington's followers and support him based on the single evidence that he was African-American.

Lit response

Chapter one in W.E.B. Dubois’, The Souls Of Black Folk, conveys an underlain message to his audience that he is proud to be an African-American and the wonders Blacks can achieve are often misconstrued or underappreciated; that his duty as a Black man of such an underprivileged race is to bring those wonders into light and continue to journey of success. Throughout the short first chapter, Dubois does very little to persuade or guide his readers into thought that he pities himself for not having the “privilege” in being accepted amongst white society; in fact, he states the very opposite. I had thereafter no desire to tear down that veil, to creep through. (Page 44) The veil Dubois speaks of is symbolic of the imaginary blindfold white America had placed on all Negros to shield them from ever seeing the true joys and wonders of the American Nation because of their social status. Dubois states that after the incident concerning his ostracism from his white peers, he had no desire to every “creep” through or break free from that veil that blinded him from the world he was unknown to. Later, he makes it apparent that he enjoyed being singled out amongst the group of all white faces due to the fact that he could stand out and be different. The sky was bluest when I could beat my mates at examination time.(Page 44) suggests that Dubois enjoyed when he could disband any prejudgments his peers had against him because of the color of his skin and prove that he was just as good, if not better, than they all were.
A particular section of the chapter shows an underlain message that Dubois enjoyed the richness of his diverse background due to the fact that he was two-parts of two great nations. He was American and African. Two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings, (Page 45)The ability to be both an American and Black man who’s history goes back as far as the Sphinx of Egypt tell the reader that Dubois enjoyed being different because he was two great beings wrapped up in one dark body. As much as he clings and accepts his Negro skin just as much as his American, title, he does now disown or outdo the other with any less importance. He would not Africanize America for America has too much to teach the world (Page 45) and he would not bleach his Negro soul for he knows the Negro has a message to teach the world (Page 45). This intense passion coming from Dubois shows he rather be African-American than any other race because of the richness and uniqueness within his blood. He is two people merged into one body and with that comes immense pride from both his Nationalities.
Another suggestion of pride coming from Dubois comes from his reference to Negroes being the "seventh son" amongst six other races of people. This is symbolic of the way the Negro views himself from the eyes of another and makes his judgements about himself based off what he is taught and shown through through the eyes of his superiors. The "seventh son" reference makes note that there are six other instances when groups of people had to make preconceptions about themselves based off what others had told them about their people, the Negro being no different in being so judgemental about themselves based off the racisim and bigotry from the group of people above them in power. Dubois' pride comes from the underlying message that despite the past of African-American self-doubt, his people are coming to term with who they are and what their history is without the hearsay from white America. He makes reference to the black man's strength and drive that keeps his sanity and persistance in finding himself and what and who he is without the "veil" from white America. One ever feels his twoness, -- an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder. (Chapter 1, page 45) This "twoness" helps the Negro differinciate his African side from his American exsitance and find the past of his people and the great things they achieved without having a mental collapse in stability.
Reference to the Sphinx of Egypt and Ethiopia the Shadowy demonstrates that miraculous feats that undermined Black race has done that are viewed and glorified by the world. The success of having a wonder of the world and a land that is fluid and thriving with great glory is often misunderstood as a Arab feat or done by another race that is not close to being African. Dubois states that the accomlishments of the Sphinx and a great African nation was created by the very people whose ancestors just got released from the chains of submission and slavery. These feats, however, are often overlooked because of the color of the creator's skin and the plauged thoughts of the people who deny the rightful owners their due glory. Dubois shows that despite all the faded glory of the Black man, he is proud to be a man of a race that is underappreciated and underglorified; though he would prefer to see his people have the respect and admiration they deserve from their past generations greatest accomlishments.

Booker T. Washington Response

Booker T. Washington’s, The awakening of the Negro, expository essay had an aimed audience of white middle-aged men with an objective of explaining the rationale behind his Tuskegee Institute and why it was built for educating colored men and women. Tuskegee’s common goal, as stated by Washington himself, is to reach the seven million colored people living in the Black Belt of the South and show them how to lift themselves up and live better lives. (Paragraph 4, line 7-10) However, the flaw in Washington’s argument is that his institute is built on teaching the already socially enslaved colored person to work with his or her hands in order to gain respect from the white man, but not with their mind. This rationality behind the Institute’s morality is very similar to keeping the colored people of the South as “working” slaves that now earn pennies more for the work they were once forced to do for free.
Washington addresses his institute as a place that is constantly in the working progress of preparing the leaders that will uplift the African-American race. Throughout the entire fifth paragraph, Washington breaks down the rationality behind his labor enforced school and demonstrates how having students be required to do manual labor helps mold themselves into leaders of the future. Most of all, we find the industrial system valuable in teaching economy, thrift, and the dignity of labor, in giving moral backbone to students. (Line 7-8) Washington then goes into the fact of stating that a student who possesses the knowledge of knowing how to build a harness a wagon gives certain confidence and moral independence. (Line9-10) This coming from a black man who has had the privilege of acquiring a decent education comes off as biased or one-sided; the mindset being similar to a white man who’s only job in life s to see the Black people of America struggle to do more than work with their hands. Washington makes himself come off as somewhat of a “sell-out” towards the African-American community with his ideals and views. His institute was established to educate the colored population with something they already were familiar with- labor and hard work. Nowhere in the fifth paragraph does Washington suggest the Black people of America use the intelligence of white America to gain success and respect amongst their white peers; he suggests learning to build with their hands in order to gain financial stability from meting the white man’s demands- a handout.
Later, he goes into the notion that the education and skills that the colored population can acquire from the Tuskegee Institute can better help themselves while hinting that this newfound advantage will pass over to the white population. Washington states that the Tuskegee Institute helps aid their students into learning how to better cultivate their lands and produce and gather their subsidence more efficiently. The object is not only to cultivate the land in a way to make it pay our boarding department, but at the same time to teach the students, in addition to the practical works, something of the chemistry of the soil, the best methods of drainage, dairying, the cultivation of fruit, the care of livestock and tools, and scores of other lessons needed by a people whose main dependence is on agriculture. (Line 2-6) Washington states that his school helps students pioneer in ways to cultivate and produce a better agriculture and helps teach them the tools to facilitate their labor in the fields. Teaching students how to grow better gardens and care for animals is a lesson needed for ones who live on the farm, but Washington fails to teach the students anything other than the “know-how” of better farming and not go into the “Why and how?” of better farming. He states that these tools in helping student’s better produce crops and healthier animals will aid those who depend on agriculture. Since that is majority of America- white America included- one must wonder on why a Black man is making his students do the work out in the fields for only a white person to eat. The education given helps aid the white population more than the black population because the whites won’t set foot near a farm to get their hands dirty, but blacks will for the scrap change they can get from producing healthy farms and livestock just to get by on the daily bases. He puts this as a main interest to the white population in order to attract and gain the support of the white population in agreeing that his methods of teaching the basics of manual labor and how to cultivate properly because, in the long-run, they will be the ones who benefit the most. Washington never goes into detail on how he teaches his students the scientific or mathematical part of better cultivation and it even hints to the point where we question if Washington had his students think of the crops they were growing at all. The only thing he says to draw the interest of white America is that he keeps his student s out in the fields, growing and gathering the food they will soon eat with great care and better methods than before.
Washington also keeps his people down into traditional gender roles that they have been accustomed to since birth. While the young men do the kinds of work I have mentioned, the young women to a large extent make, mend, and launder the clothing of the young men, and thus are taught important industries. (Line 19-20) His school is teaching the colored population to attend to the needs of others and work their way into getting respect and money from the white population. Washington does not take the initiative to establish new rule and a new mental foundation to his people, but decides to enforce the policy to which he had been taught to live by. Black women making and mending men’s clothing is something they have been taught to do since birth; their knowledge being passed down generation to generation from the women in their families in order to teach them the way in being a respectable woman. The men working in the; labor industry is something they have been doing since their ancestors came to the lands of America. Black me have been working with their hands for free to feed the white general public, and now Washington is enforcing this same morality onto his people to work and make money by doing cheap labor to gain a few coins to live by. He does not educate his people the ways to learn the forbidden knowledge of textbooks that the white children have learned. He does not aid his people into familiarizing themselves with the common education that will help them become successful in life and do something more profound and prestigious that will gain them much more respect from the white population than being a good blacksmith or carpenter.
In spite of the evil, the Negro got the habit of work from slavery. (Paragraph 9, line 1) Washington feels his people are only going to become successful in life if they learn to be more efficient and skilled with their hands. His theory is that the Negro has working in their blood and the only way they will gain respect and independence from the white man is to keep that ideology of manual labor for the white population to get a few cents and live accordingly. Washington does not feel Blacks are mentally capable of becoming intelligent enough to gain prestigious jobs in positions only thought for the white man. His own people suffer from the closed-mindedness of his morality that we have to work and become better in labor to get any amount of respect from anyone. His school is built on forcing the rationality that labor will give them happiness and prosperity, but intellect and education of the white children is what he fails to connect his rule with.

1) The narrator’s imaginative power leads her down a spiraling pit of hysteria as she pictures women trapped behind the bars of the yellow wallpaper during the night, observes shadows creeping behind the wallpaper in the moonlight, and imagining herself trapped inside the wallpaper as a prisoner of her own mind; thus finding herself going completely insane at the conclusion of the story when she finally has the opportunity to tear the dreaded wallpaper. Her husband feels that these imaginative scenes only make her more weak and frail, so he suggests she stay in the nursery and rest to regain her strength and become more able bodied and able minded. Paragraphs describing the narrator’s imagination at work describe how she suffers from frenzy, mental distortion and madness in her mind; her friends and family around her putting her ailment to a rest by suggesting she be confined to the nursery to better her mentally and physically through bed rest and no social contact. The rest cure seems like the only suitable option judging by the way her husband and family looks down upon her and her unstable metal health care.
2) Since she knows her husband’s treatment is similar to the infamous Weir Mitchell, she knows that when she goes to see him for his aid in her ailment, the kindness and compassion her husband gives her will diminish and she will only be left with the harsh cruelty of Weir Mitchell. The narrator knows her husband’s medical solutions mimic Weir Mitchell, therefore she has already come to the conclusion that when she handed into the hands of the sinister doctor, her accustomed feeling to kindness and compassion will leave her for she is faced with the fact that she is not in the hands of her husband’s care any longer, but in fact in the custody of Weir Mitchell. Her husbands leniency and gentle “understanding” is something Weir Mitchell will not give her so the narrator has already amped herself to accept that she will endure the same medical treatments from Mitchell but not acquire nearly as much sympathy and love her husband gave her. It is signs of favoritism almost due to the fact that the man that took care of the narrator was the husband and wanted to be a gentle and loving as possible, not just professional.
3) The description of the wallpaper foreshadows future events through the intense detail of the wallpaper and portrayal of emotion. The narrator has already shown her utter dislike to the horrendous wallpaper and has written about it in her diary to control her wondering thoughts. Details that give notice to her unrelenting irritation with the wallpaper come from the line: It is dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study… This snippet concludes that the narrator will not cease to observe the wallpaper and the sight of its irritates her to no end, erupting more waves of constant unnecessary studying that aid her into her evident hysteria at the end of the story. Also, the adjectives used to describe the wallpaper can also be used to describe the writing style the narrator uses throughout the duration of the story. She starts of formal and observant in certain occasions, goes into a frenzy of descriptive words and phrases in another section- most due to the wallpaper irritation, uses words that personify inanimate objects in certain parts of her diary, and begins writing in five syllable sentences that depict no emotion and so forth. Her writing and the style of the wallpaper and correlate in those particular ways of beginning as plain and formal to out of control and fancy.
4) Her actions of biting off a piece the bed show the relation of her weakened willpower to stay in “control”. Throughout the story, she is contantly found battling with herself to stay sane and in control of her addiction to tearing of the yellow wallpaper. At the end of the story, she lets go into her passion and finds herself going into a frenzy with all her mental issues being the forefront of her anger and frustration. This scene is, also, an inevitable one because it was bound to happen sooner or later. The entire story discussed her growing obession with the wallapaper and the deepening mental unstability she dug for herself. The scene where she "cracks" was the final solution to her hysteria and delayed or suppressed feelings that were fated to take control.
5) Jane is the wife that has been suppressed under her husbands ruling for so long, allowing another to control her life and not speak for herself; letting her inner woman die along with her thoughts. John had fainted and the wife and the woman"trapped" was liberated and set free to be herself from oppression
6) A tenement is a small house or an apartment in the Lower East Side part of Manhattan that housed a family between four and eight in a very small bedrooms while living with a border. A sweat shop was the workplace inside the tenement that had very crampped spaces where dozens of people would work sixteen-eighteen hour shifts. Crime, disease, fires, etc. roamed freely and were able to be reproduced. Due to body heat, the room temperatures were abnormally high and the people who worked there were underpaid.
7) Abraham Cahan described the realities of the sweatshop with a light tone that touched the subjects harshness but not enough to give a mentla image of the cruelty. In sweatshop romance, there are clues and hints of endless work hours and humid work enviorments that were packed with people in a small room, but there was not enough detail to portray the crime, disease, fires, and other diasaters that occured there. The "Sweat Shop Romance" was enough to give the reader an idea of the life of a Jewish immigrant worker but not enough to relate the text back to any similar instances with enough detail to provoke imagery. The descriptions of work and leisure among Jewish immigrants compare to the photographs in the archive by giveing the text a "face". A reader can read about the cruelties and imagine the scenery based on the given information, but the photographs help put the sweat shops in braod daylight by giving visual evidence of the way things were conducted. The pictures were the visual portrayl of what the articles describing sweatshop life were like.
8) Many media personal portray the slums of American Urban areas as poverty ingested, predominately minority-Blacks, Latinos- with wrecked homes, broken cars, drug trafficing on the corner, prostitutes on every street, gang members on each block. They portray the slums as a modern day hell for people to live in due to the high crime rates and potential harm that can come about from living in that certain area.

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Evan P. Apfelbaum, Michael I. Norton, and Samuel R. Sommers. (2008). Seeing Race and Seeming Racist? Evaluating Strategic Colorblindness in Social Interaction, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95 (4), 918-932.

This article refers to how psychologists interpret the way human-beings look at people based on the color of their skin through the appeal to ethos and logos. According to one of the authors, people’s preference on looking at a situation based on the color of one’s skin is based on either a bottom-up way of thinking, or a top-down. Top-Down is the thinking process where one already has a preconception of what the situation was about, who had most likely caused it, or what had happened based on past experience. Bottom-Up is the exact opposite. It occurs when one comes into a situation with a clear mind and does not pre-judge events based on inalienable factors. Based on the article, most individuals try not to look at race when in a social setting that is surrounded by people from all ethnic groups, attempting to be in that top-down process in order to make unbiased opinions about the situation around them. Through logos, the authors effectively convey the argument of the way people think about something and how it reflects what they have experienced in their life one way or another. It also shows that individuals go out of their way to make their racial observations seem unprejudiced and obvious amongst the eye. Through ethos, the authors convey that that they were credible sources through: a) the personal anecdote in the beginning of the article states that it was a first-hand experience that was told by first person and, b) that their information is legit and information through the series of tests and experiments conducted by certified psychologists to analyze people’s thought process based on just seeing race. This shows the reader that the authors are credible sources due to their methods of observation and testing. The only problem with the argument is that the authors make the article seem more like a science experiment than anything. The article gives off the impression from the beginning that there was a reason behind the introduction story to a misunderstood conception of race. Though the article does give sold point to the reason behind it all, it seems like there was more experiment behind the article then ‘telling’. It was similar to reading a science experiment being conducted on paper rather than hearing, reading rather, a lecture done on how people perceive race and how to avoid the issue based on current knowledge. Either way, this article only adds more to my flame of perusing a career in psychology because of the hidden mysteries this profession can solve. The way people think has always fascinated me and has always made me wonder to why people are racist and what determines a bigot. The fact that I always wanted to know what people thought and how people judge me when they don’t even know me being a factor as well.

Calvin Kai-Ching Yu. (2008). Ancient Chinese Sex Symbols in Dreams. Dreaming. 18 (3), 158-166

The purpose of the article to examine how often the Chinese sex symbols occur on Chinese individual’s dreams, both male and female. Through the appeals to audience and essay structure, the author effectively portrays the message of how one’s sexual experience may have a correlation with a certain Chinese Sex Symbol. Appeals to audience occur mainly to the Asian population of those reading the article due to the fact of their better understanding of that particular culture and the meanings of those symbols even without dreaming them. It is not to say that other cultures may not take interest in the way cultural symbols occur in dreams, but the appeal to these certain sex symbols from a certain culture takes certain interest in people of that genre. Through essay structure, the author begins with a quick overview about Sigmund Freud’s dream analysis theory and how he believed dreams are a portal into our unconscious desires, how dreams can help us discover something about us we never knew. Then, the author gradually begins to weave in his idea of the infamous theory by comparing the dream theory with the importance of Chinese sex symbols in Chinese people dreams. The things that lack in the article are the mention of Sigmund Freud’s dream theory and not the author’s own knowledge. The author seems to rely heavily on particular theory and not go into any other sources, thus questioning his credibility on diversity and openness for other ideas that could be influential. This article has helped me want to understand the power of which dreams have on people and why one’s social experience and cultural background affect our sexual experience and preference. This also makes me wonder the reason to the logic behind interracial dating and sexual intercourse. The study of dreaming of ones cultural sexual status quo opens doors to the study of going beyond what is expected and becoming more diverse in selection. The article adds onto my curiosity into the human mind.

Cogan, Rosemary; Cochran, Bradley S.; Velarde, Luis C.; Calkins, Heather B.; Chenault, Natalie E.; Cody, Dana L.; Kelley, Matthew D.; Kubicek, Steven J.; Loving, Adam R.; Noriega, Jose P.; Phelan, Kathleen A.; Seigle, Sarah C.; Stout, Troy I.; Styles, Jared W.; Williams, Henry A. (2007). Sexual fantasies, sexual functioning, and hysteria among women: A test of Freud's (1905) hypothesis. Psychoanalytic Psychology. 24 (4), 697-700.

The testing of Sigmund Freud’s dream analysis theory is show in the article determined to debate the myth among hysteria of women who are not sexually active than to women who are. The authors of the article appeal to their reader through the professional yet realistic perspectives that convey persona and logos throughout the article. The authors show that there are flaws in Freud’s dream theory and understand that, while there is some useful and correct logic behind some of his sayings, not all of is necessarily true about women that are not sexually active. The persona taken place sounds on behalf of women who defend the right to not be categorized as someone who is “hysterical” because there is no sex being taken place in her life. It also shows that the persona taken place during the article reflects on the idea of hidden dreams and motives as something that can be shown through a dream but not necessarily affective in altering ones personal life. The logos behind the article are shown through the effective way of challenging Freud’s dream theory into a counter experiment that was initially set up to challenge it. The main objective is to symbolize that women who are not sexually active do no necessarily have to be “crazy” or stressed because of lack of intimacy. The flaws in the article are mainly the way they do not go into detail stating Freud’s specific theory. The article gives a glimpse of what the theory is about and how if effects the argument but it contains no deep analysis of what Freud’s theory says. That may cause the reader to become confused about it all and become more focused on Freud and less on the argument. This article broadens my thinking into wondering how the lack of something in ones life can affect their mental process, if it is affected at all. This analytical analysis makes me want to study more about how women’s brains are and if we get so stressed that we become hysterical.

Sonja Feist-Price, Sheldon D. Fields, and David Malebanche. (2008) Childhood Sexual Abuse in Black Men Who Have Sex With Men Results From Three Qualitative Studies. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. 14 (4), 385-390.

The article above shows the case study amongst black men who had been sexually abused by other black men, resulting in their sexual orientation. The article establishes logos through the initial message that is being sent through scientific observation. Since blacks make up over half of HIV and AIDS cases, and more black men are now pronounced on the "DL", the common , misconception of the scenario is that black men are becoming homosexual and then going off after sexual encounters with men into women's bedrooms. The authors of the article, in three different essays, explain that the current mindset of homosexual men may have been altered by traumatizing from being abused by a close male relative or friend of theirs. It also refers to the subconscious mindset in males that elicits pleasure from being with ones own sex, enjoying their company and taking pleasure from pain; allowing them to look into their subconscious and realize that they want to romantic relationship of their own sex because of uncontrollable desires. The logos is done created through the study to debunk the myth that all black men are gay because of tabloid abuse or because "coming out" is what is hot at the moment. The study shows how the effects of one persons life event can effect them years down the road. Also, the ethos is created through the independent study with first-hand African-American homosexual males that have confessed to being abused by a loved one, and went on into life with that event of being anally raped to lead their life into becoming homosexual. Other men stated that they had desires in liking their own sex but suppressed the feelings as mutual or unnatural, creating the burning desire to grow even more elaborate than it was before. The ethos is within the article is created from the authors sources. The authors did not read an encyclopedia or get information off the internet, they conducted a scientific experiment that showed through variable analysis how the effects of sexual abuse amongst black males effects their sexual orientation and how suppressing those feelings only makes the forbidden taboo even more tantalizing. The only issues with the article was that it was too short for my liking and didn't have enough background information for the reader to fall back on. A reader unknown to anything about HIV/AIDS would have been clueless if read the article and background information supporting the ideals and beliefs of homosexuality amongst the men are little to nonexistent. It was similar to reading about the exploitation of men whose life experiences were used as the foundation of a scientific investigation. The article did, however, make me want to pursue my career as a psychologist because it makes me want to know more about how life experiences effect a person's outlook on life. I was always curious to how sexually, physically, and emotionally abused victims make up over half the murder population.

Christopher R. Agnew and Paul E. Etcheverry (2008) Romantic Partner and Friend Influences on Young Adult Cigarette Smoking: Computer Others’ Smoking and Injunctive Norms Over Time. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. 22(3), 313-325

The article portrays the effects of social peer pressure amongst young teenagers to smoke illegally despite what mental training they have already accomplished. Through structure and ethos, the authors of the article effectively convey the message that young teenagers are influenced greatly by what the people around them do and how these acts of conformity effect judgement. The beginning of the article dives straight into the argument stating that previous research on teenage smoking habits have been studied to conclude on solid argumentation to why teens smoke. It also demonstrates that negative effects on teenage smoking outweighs to good in earlier research. The structure of the article comes off as a research paper that has been doing extensive research in teenage smoking and how the people around that teen, friends and boyfriend/girlfriend, can sway the opinion. The article moves from a foreword introduction of of the general study of smoking amongst teens, the effects, and the factors contributing to smoking, to the direct argument of the article: teenager's and their smoking habits based on social pressures. Several paragraphs are dedicated to the research concerning how love interests can sway the opinion on smoking within a teen and how the desire to conform with admired ones in the teens world sways their personal preference on smoking. The ethos is established through the experiment itself and the research conducted. Although various methods of teenage smoking habits have been research and experiments have been planned out to examine these methods, the article portrays an experiment that went above and beyond ordinary expectations of teenage habit experimentation and took a look deeper into factors that have been either overlooked or tossed out due to irrelevance. The experiment is conducted from first-hand knowledge and experience and the authors gathered enough data with well-read information for the reader to comprehend and understand it all. The only flaws in the article is that the article is set up to mimic a science experiment. Even thought he article was a research article, there was more science and statistical logic than mental and emotional. The article, under my impression, was going to report on how social pressures effect teenagers opinions on smoking. It did give me my answer, and the article fulfilled it purpose, but was set up to look more like a science journal than a filed report on findings. This article helps me want to know more about collecting data on certain experiments while conducting experiments to find out why people do the things they do to conform or "fit-in".


Nalini Ambady, Evan P. Apfelbaum, Michael I. Norton, Kristin Pauker,
and Samuel R. Sommers. (2008). Learning (Not) to Talk About Race: When Older Children Underperform In Social Categorization.


The article discusses the difference between younger children and older children when it comes to deciphering race and why the older the child, the more critical they think and analyze. Through persona and logos, the authors of this article convey the overall message of brain development and how this development causes children to think more critically. The persona in the article sounds professional and well0organized, knowing the facts before speaking them and putting them into discussion. It also seems to lean toward the defensive side of defending how children see other people when basing their observations on skin color, yet sending a mixed message of warning. Due to the fact that children begin to classify people according to race as they grow older, the person speaking feels the need to explain this phenomena through scientific research that was conducted on a group of fifth graders and sixth graders, all different ages, to show just how more cynical children think as they grow older. The warning seems to come off towards the end when the author uses the word "cost". "Cost" stands out due to the tone in which the persona speaks in. The main objective is to convey that children's thinking ability to categorizes broaden with age, but it has its cons as well as pros. The logos behind the argument is that children become more observant as they grow older and it is debated on whether it is due to nature or nurture. The downfall to this article is that it was too short for my taste, and I believe more than one experiment should have been conducted to compare and test earlier findings. This article contributes to my fascination with finding out how the bran develops over time and if it from either nature or nurture. It also makes me want to know more about how racism effects the way we perceive the world around us. I know racism is alive and well, but I want to know what can be deciphered as racist and what can be looked upon at prejudice. The minds way in sensation and perception have always left me want ting know a lot more about how we perceive different stimuli and how that effects out outlook on society.


Julianna Deardorff, Elena Flores, and Jeanne M. Tschann. (2008) Sexual Values Among Latino Youth: Measurement Development Using a Culturally Based Approach. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. 14(2), 138-146


The article discusses the sexual values and morals amongst the Hispanic population of youth and how their sexual morality effects their daily life in their romantic relationships. The article discusses the Hispanic culture and their sexual value through conducted analysis of a group of Latino youth that surveyed them on whether or not they were virgins, used condoms when having sexual intercourse, etc; tying their results into the data that 13% of Hispanics make up HIV/AIDS cases and most of them are between the ages of 13-19- teenagers. Throughout the duration of the article, the persona of the article seemed to take the mindset of a Latino-American and speak on behalf of the culture and what is accepted among st the youth in that certain culture. The persona also takes the position of explaining why the Latino youth are being as sexually "free" as they are, relating back to the culture as well as the values bestowed upon them from their society and family. The persona of the article is also somewhat attracting themselves to the Hispanic population. Taking the role as an informant to educate the Hispanic youth, this has the effect to attract the younger population of Latino America and may sway their mind set to have interest in reading the article based on the on what the article discusses and how the article pertains to the specifically. The only flaws with the argument is that is does not relate its findings to the other population of American teens to do extensive research in how the different cultures compare. I know how teens think and the interesting part of the argument only shows how Latino culture effects the sexual practices of Latino youth, but it does not invite other ethnicity and demonstrate their sexual activity based on culture. This information would have been more valuable to see how different cultures add up and act differently in similar scenarios, even though there is a culture clash effect that causes them to behave differently. This article helps me want to understand more about sexual behaviors in humans and how culture effects our libido and sexual safety. I also want to know more about other cultures to relate them back to other data that demonstrates their activity compared to other ethnicity's, doing research and experiments to find out how the culture of one person has a great psychological effect on them.


Carlos M. Grilo and Robin M. Masheb. (2008). Examination of Predictors and Moderators of Self-Help Treatment of Binge-Eating Disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 76 (5), 900-905


The article discusses the psychological effects of being overweight amongst different groups of people and how these effects lead to eating disorders such as Binging- vomiting after eating in order to lose weight. Through pathos, the authors of the article raise awareness to a growing problem among the overweight population. Case studies, interviews, personal confessions, and experiments were conducted to gather information but the establishment of pathos is within those studies to demonstrate how social pressures and reality outlooks from people take effect on the mindset of the overweight. Social pressures from society glorify the size five and under while fat-loss diets and gym membership commercials bombard the television sets of all homes across the nation. This study was done to reflect how these types of messages, media and other forms of entertainment, effect the thought process of someone who does not mold into the accepted image of "beautiful". Appeals to emotion comes from the wanted sympathy from the reader to try and understand how such baggering can effect a person emotionally and mentally. The dramatic methods people do in order to fit that mold being a size five and under is an undiscusses topic that society does not want to talk about because it is something no one wants to admit is happening. Emotion from the reader is aimed for understand of social comformity amongst the "black sheep" and and some amount of leniency when judging people who are over the weight limit. The flaws in this argument is that the article depicts overweight people as ALL wanting to binge after eating to lose weight, and does not shed light on those who are overweight and happen to like the fact that they are plus size. The image and impression given of by the article is that all overweight people have some sort of mental problem because they can't lose weight and should be pitied on when it is not the case. This article makes me want to continue on with my persue of becoming a psychologist because I would like to know more about how socil pressures alterone's way of thinking. I want to know more about how persuasive techniques cause people that don't fit in to go to te extreme to get that stamp of approval from the ones around them that are deemed worthy.

Michael C. Singer. (2008). How Anti-Gay Bias Compromised A Treatment: A Commentary on Meissner (2006). Psychoanalytic Psychology. 25 (1), 181-185

The article discusses the way of how the situation conerning a homosexual male had birthed a compromise that had fvored both the homosexual population as well as the heterosexual population. The logos behind the article is that one event that may seem terrible or devestating may end up resulting in an agreed solution to help both parties. In this case, a homosexual was in turmoil because of some anti-homosexul event and the legal action was resolved with a compromise that contented both parties. The overall message, my opinion, is that any situation can be resolved when looked at from more than one point of view and talked over rather than rushed into court. The flaws in the arguement is that there was not much background detail given about the situation that occured and thus leaving the reader with a blank on what really happened. Also, the article could have been longer and filled with more detail that would have been useful and relevent to the topic such as gay bashings, legal action concerning gay rights, and other comproises settled from a dispute cocerning homosexuals. There was not that much information about the background baisics and this coul have been to ensure anonomity among the individuals involved, but it does hardly anything for the reader but to guess on what occured. This article makes me want to continue my dreams in bcoming a certified psychologist because it makes me want to know more about how people discriminate agasint one another based on different traits or qualities they have and why they try to eliminate what is different from them based on the sole fact that they don't condone it. This study also makes me want to try and do experiments amongst my peers to se how they react to homosexualisim and if they don't agree with it, whta factors contribute to their logic? Thus study opens up many doors into the thought process of people and what makes people think the way they do, why they do the things they do, and how choosing a life partner can end up being in the same sex.

Edith M. Fresh. (2008)) Book Reviews. Families, Systems, and Health. 23 (3), 343-346

Character Analysis

The character, Ronnie “Ronald”, in the 2007 blockbuster film, Distrubia, was portrayed by Aaron Yoo, a twenty-nine year old Asian from East Brunswick, New Jersey. Ronnie is the average teenager that is the silly, immature, yet intelligent friend everyone has amongst their group of friends or self-proclaimed ‘clique’. Through auditory elements, Ronnie is shown to be the ‘jokester’ amongst everyone through his playful attitude and vulgar innuendos to attract attention- shown during the first few minutes of the movie where he says perhaps in Spanish as it sounds like ‘kiss ass’. These acts of foolishness point to the fact that Ronnie is that guy everyone knows that doesn’t take much seriously but is still an over all well-rounded guy, funny to talk to but sometimes annoying and hard to put up with. Through visual elements, the audiences of the movie can see that Ronnie does not think much of his stunts through before completion. In a scene where Kale, Shia Lebeouf’s character, shows Ronnie the girl next door swimming half-naked in a bikini, Ronnie tries to get a better view of the scenery by pushing the binoculars up close to the window and then hurting himself from the due force. The scene was very humorous but showed not only the perverted side of the character, but the stupidity behind his actions. Common-sense knows that binoculars magnify scenery, but Ronnie does not think logically in this scene- nor the scene after it when the girl catches him and his friend spying on her and looks out the window anyway- after a warning from Kale- to see if she was coming over to tell them off. It is these random acts of hilarity that make Ronnie a believable character in the movie and not some terrible actor that over thinks the part. Ronnie’s character can be related to anyone’s group of friends or close relative with a similar personality. The character serves as comic relief in a way while bringing seriousness and naivety to the movie to keep in tune with the plot line. Ronnie can be related back to anyone’s close friend that is the funny one that is the smart one but acts incredible dumb.

Truth Questions

1)
What Sojourner Truth is responding to in her powerful oratory at the Women’s Rights Convention are the people that counter argue against her claims of deserving women and civil rights and the nonbelievers who consider her not only not a female, but not a human being as well. Through this direct address, Sojourner Truth responds to the issues facing her gender as female that corresponds with current law forbidding certain liberties for females while combating the wrongs and immoralities done in slavery that prohibits any kind of freedom to the enslaved black individual.

2)
The examples in Truth’s argument are personal incidents that happened in her life that give her the evidence and the “foundation” of her argument in acquiring the equal rights as any white woman. Her examples show that she is equally qualified to be treated with as much respect and decency as any other woman because she has done the required tasks to becomes the “true” woman, bearing children and becoming a mother, while exceeding those limits to new heights that were considered masculine- plowing, planting, getting whipped with intense ferocity suit only for a powerful man, eating as much food as a man would when starved. These examples of being of equal status with a man, if not higher, are the source of Truth’s argument stating that she deserves the equal rights every white woman has and then some with her extensive background experience of being both the feminine figure as well as the masculine one. She wishes to have men help her in her time of need and come to her aid when needed, but because of her sin color, they cannot and will not do such thing. She repeats the saying “Aren’t I a woman?” to emphasize that, despite her color pigmentation, she is still a female and should be treated with as much fragile care as any other white woman would. The examples provided by Truth show that she is still a female and even with her being a slave, she is still a woman with no less value of innovation. She has been though and gotten over obstacles that normal women in that society could never defeat, and justified in getting rewarded with the trivial token of respect and decency of being feminine.

3)
If I were in the audience during Truth’s speech, I would have had the perception that she was a strong woman who had done a great amount of rigorous work to gain such muscle and strength suited for only a man, while commending her on getting up and telling her personal story as a slave and speaking out about her troubles she has in being ostracized as a female due to her skin color. I also would have thought her voice would have sounded masculine and strong due to the detail and little side notes displaying the actions done during and after Truth’s speech. I doubt Truth could counter my perception based on the simple fact that they are mostly obvious observations, but I think she might have went into detail about how her manly features should take away from that fact that she is female and should be respected as such.

Fredrick Douglass questions

1)

Some ways Fredrick Douglass taught himself to read and write are:

a- Having his master’s mistress teach him to read through daily teachings of the alphabet.

b- Having poor white children teach him how to read in exchange for food.

c- Reading the dictionary and other scholarly books.

d- Watching ships-man carve letters in larboard and learn and memorize those letters.

e- Copy and learn the writings in Webster’s Spelling Book

f- Read, copy, and memorize Master Thomas’ copy-books.

2)

Other than Fredrick Douglass, his master’s mistress undergoes a learning process of realizing that slaves are potental threats to her society's reality with knowledge equal to a white child's education and the results of said process are fatal and yet a tragedy due to the loss of a closeted abolishitionist that could have been one of many voices to speak on Douglass' behalf to a right of a decent chance at learning. Douglass describes his mistress as nothing less similar to a tender loving lamb that clothes the naked, feeds the poor, and comforts all mourners who come seek her counsel. He tells the anecdote of how she would defy all moral code of not teaching a slave how to read by patiently educating Douglass on the alphabet, endangering the wellbeing of his life as well as hers if they were to be caught, while treating Douglass as a human being an not as someone’s inanimate property. As time progressed, Douglass noticed a change in his mistress’ behavior and saw that her kind disposition was surrogated for one that resembled pure demonic wrath and villainous ferocity. He states that with her change in attitude came her change in behavior, her daily teachings of forbidden education coming to an immediate halt, her privileges she once had given- reading the newspaper for example- now taken away, as novel beatings that proceeded her malicious acts.
According to Fredrick Douglass, the shift in behavior came from the realization that Douglass could be a potential threat to the lavished life of luxury they lived in and to society as a whole. Education for a slave only resulted in revolt and death for their captures, so the conclusion of having a slave left in “mental darkness” through the restrictions of knowledge was the only prevention method to ensure slaveholders safety. The results of Douglass’ mistress abandoning her teachings of Douglass showed that anyone can be persuaded to think a certain one when provoked with the right methods, and ordinary, kind, gentle people can alter their personalities to suit ones resembling devil’s advocates themselves. With Douglass’ mistress “learning” that by teaching a slave to read could pose as a potential threat to her life as well as her families, she was “taught” that what she was doing through acts of kindness could only lead to her downfall and inevitable doom with the knowledge he’ll soon acquire just from reading books about the reality in the lies slave masters had told them.

3)

Although Fredrick Douglass and Malcolm X’s personal experiences are different, their quests for getting a profound education are very much alike. Douglass was born a slave and taught himself to read and write though copy and memorization methods- looking at words, letters, or a combination of both- and applying that to his daily learning. Although he had acquired a head start from the generous counsel of his mistress’s teachings of the alphabet, Douglass found himself buying his education through the exchange of food for thought and tedious readings in scholarly literature that could expand his knowledge. Malcolm X, however, was imprisoned when he learned to “read” and write. Malcolm X knew the words he spoke in public but did not know how to convey his thoughts on paper through the written language of English. In prison, Malcolm X would sit in the library and copy, write, and memorize the words a given dictionary would offer him. He would then go back to his cell and recite what he had written aloud to make better understanding of his work and apply his new found knowledge of words he never knew existed and better penmanship to his occasional writings and debates the prison would often have. He states that there was a time where one could not wedge himself out of a book, that binding novel being his only “escape” from prison and onto another far beyond place. Just like Douglass, Malcolm X was a man who went to great lengths and beyond to get a decent education that would make him be considered articulate and innovative. Both men used the copy and memorize method and read the dictionary- the mini-encyclopedia according to “X”- to learn more about the unknown that modern culture did not want them to be taught. They were both black men in search of a greater channel of thinking and acquired that through the hard work and dedication of reading, writing, and patience in a society that deems the average black man as unintelligent and inferior. They withstood obstacles that could have taken their lives but pursued an education despite the odds of racial tension.

4)

I learned that Africa is a messed up country right now because of civil-war outbreaks and other countries are more focused on democratizing Iraq than helping a once powerful continent regain its place in the world as a stable country. I love the fact that I come from a continent with so many great monuments and treasures that are valued by the entire world, but am slightly ashamed that my “original” home is a land of complete chaos and confusion that was brought on by the very people that brought me to America in the first place. I learned a lot about my culture and where I came from with the facts and knowledge about Kings and Queens that ruled Africa with an iron fist, but also realized that that strong monarchy is long gone and replaced with European ideas in exchange for their loss of identity. It is a pleasure to know I come from a lineage of prestige power, but painful to know that my people are now fighting each other rather than the “true” enemy.

Literary Response

The poem, A Slave’s Dream, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was a written piece of literature dedicated in portraying the inner thoughts and feelings of a captive slave through the use of syntax, pathos, and imagery. The syntax is used throughout the poem to convey the thoughts and ideas of the wilting slave as he passes from his life on earth to heaven where his soul remains free from all confinements that once withheld him from liberty. The words used in each sentence were formed precisely to portray the idea of freedom from captivity through death. “Again, in the mist and shadow of sleep, He saw his Native Land.”(A Slave’s Dream, line 5-6) is an example of the use of syntax to convey the thoughts of the slave as he died that was only obtainable through his dreams, the shadow of sleep representing the slow process of falling into an eternal slumber of death as the dream of the Slave’s native land replays in his mind before he passes; resembling the act of simply dozing off and becoming lost in a dream of the mind. The sentence structure is dedicated to the process of making the reader understand the feelings and thoughts of the slave through acts of pathos- the connection of sleeping and dying being the equal for a slave having an emotional effect on most, if not all, his readers through suggestions of physical and emotional captivity. Emotion plays a paramount role in the progression of the poem with the ties of relation and thought to the readers freedom of choice and liberty of life; comparing their own liberties to the one’s of slave’s making a drastic emotional effect on the reader with intense thought and ambiguity about real freedom- while tying them back to the idea of freedom after death and freedom of a slave through sleep.
“For Death had illumined the Land of Sleep” (A Slave’s Dream, line 46) is another example of the use of syntax due to the formatting and language the author uses to convey liberty after death. Death illuminating the Land of Sleep was a use of figurative language as an extended metaphor or an allegorical comparison to give the thought of dying as being similar to dreaming; again, playing with pathos as well as imagery to portray the thought of someone sleeping and their dreams being their innermost desires and wishes of life. Throughout the slave’s dream sequences, the reader is given vivid descriptions of his life back in his Native Land of Africa through the details and imagery the author provides as his reader’s visual during the poem progression. The syntax used in the sentence is representing how dying shadows sleeping and dreaming, the slave’s death being the equivalent to him drifting off into slumber and dreaming of his previous life before his captivity being the ultimate freedom he can obtain only through death and sleep, and the only reachable freedom he had while living on earth being the outlet of his dreams. Imagery and pathos suggests that his dreams are the thoughts of his homeland and his death is the only escape route he to get there.

Lincoln Questions

1. a) slavery
b) What he, as president, plans to do to resolve slavery.
c) How he is going to resolve the civil war.
d) How the government was going to help the people.
e) What people the government helped.
f) Will slavery be abolished.

2. The last sentence in Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address is the closing argument that leaves his audience with a powerful message of preserving their government from a civil-war that can tear it apart, and dedicating themselves to finishing the task of keeping the American nation under peace and equal order the fallen soldiers of the American army had already started to defend with honor. This closing argument is the “topping” to Lincoln’s powerful speech in Gettysburg, despite its shortness in length, serving as an inspiration to all who may have lost hope in the American government and their ability to control their people. All persons who have had the pleasure of hearing such a speech may have been moved by Lincoln’s powerful and persuasive oratory that could effect people’s emotions in a positive way of influence, his words directing attention on preserving the American rights and nation rather than a simple dedication to those who have died in battle; honoring them wholeheartedly but feeling that the consecrated battle ground was already a dedication in itself, the deaths of the ones they lost not being in vain because of persistence and determination by the American people. The sentence in the speech is set to inspire and motivate the American public, keeping their hope and faith alive in the government that controls them while ensuring that all changes that need to be made to keep all balance in the nation will be carried out with haste and emotional drive for excellence. I think the audience in the crowd had been moved by Lincoln’s speech due to his intense oratory he is infamous for and the message he had given to inspire and reassure. His words were filled with emotion and had the honest-to-Abe truth was known for.

I rather be dead and buried in soil six feet below the ground than be controlled and manipulated by another- Liberty and freedom that are in my god-given rights to happiness taking hold over my imagination- the spirit within me that causes my suppressed soul to stir out of condemnation- that my children’s lives will be free and holy if I set an example for them to follow- and my unalienable right of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness won’t be overlooked because of the color of my skin.

3. The Gettysburg Address and the Declaration of Independence are similar in ways of writing style and powerful persuasive dialogue but differ in subject title. Lincoln uses his speech as a way to ensure the American people that the government is still fighting a strong war to stand tall against an object of peril that is testing the limits of young America and the founding fathers of our nation uses their speech as a way to tell the king of Britain that he is no longer in power over the thirteen colonies- that they are their own country- and the wrongs done by the King onto them are the justifications of their withdrawal from his leadership, the lists of “He has” quotes stating such wrongs as evidence. Each document was written to convey a message that each individual thought was the main priority of the United States and could ensure the well-being of the American people. Although the messages of both are different in audience, length, and subject, they both carry that powerful aura of inspiration and authority that was easily understood and persuasive.

4. Speeches I have heard are similar to Lincoln’s Address in category of topic and powerful oratory, but the language used and subject audience differs drastically. Most speeches I have had the privilege of listening to had dealt with modern day problems such as education, teenage pregnancy, and how to further your life, not war between the North and the South over unfair advantages and slavery. The speaker always carried that same air of confidence Lincoln was known for, as well as authority when speaking, but used a more modern, comprehensive language the audience- teenager in this case- could relate to.

Scarlet Letter Review Questions

1. Hester’s sin in the Scarlet Letter: A) is committing the acts of adultery with another man other than her husband, lead by lust, sexual passion, and admiration for a man she had not devoted her life to. B) Breaking religious and moral ethical ‘law’ in the Puritan society where a ‘true’ woman was one who was faithful to her husband while attending to all the domestic responsibilities a female provider were supposed to attend to as the male caregiver- the husband- provided; withholding all needs and desires of stepping out of place from the role given to avoid conflict in the home.
The consequences of Hester’s sins are is that she is left pregnant, alone, and looked down upon as the town ‘whore’ due to her little ‘one-night stand’. She is forced to wear a delicately- yet artistically-designed scarlet ‘A’ that stands for adulteress on her bosom everyday until the day she dies; becoming an exile in her village and forced to live in a remote area with her daughter, Pearl. Not only has Hester lost all her friends, family, dignity, and respect, she is fated to carry the burden of her sin with each passing moment of Pearl’s youth, constantly reminded that she had had intimate relations with another man that was brashly forbidden in her culture. Although Hester isn’t as defiant and carefree as she was when she had her rendezvous, she still keeps the same air of confidence, ferocity, and individuality she once wore upon entering and exiting the jailhouse.

Arthur Dimmesdale’s sins in the Scarlet Letter: A) having ‘relations’ with Hester Prynne when he knew she was married. B) Breaking religious and ethical ‘law’ in Puritan society that states the precise roles for a man, especially ones in power, and a woman.
The consequences for Dimmesdale’s sins are his ailing health that is steadily decaying him to his early- yet inevitable- death from the immense torture to his soul from have a guilty conscience of sleeping with Hester Prynne; she forced to wear the scarlet letter that causes her public humiliation that causes Dimmesdale to have a dark soul from the shame he has in staying quiet and hidden and the birth of a daughter he does not have the liberty or chance of befriending. This effects the minister’s character by giving him a miserable and intolerable life lived in a lie that he wish he could repent for in public, in response, allowing the young man to have a negative outlook on the world before him and everything of splendor. He suffers with his hand placed over his heart in a symbolic pain of the torture he feels in his soul from Hester Prynne’s scandal and his days hidden in solitude to remain undiscovered as her ally in their conjoined sin.

The sin of Roger Chillingworth in the Scarlet Letter is: A) the intentional torture of a man’s soul to pry out necessary information about his ex-wife and the scandal concerning her. B) Using such information to use against his friend, the town minister, Arthur Dimmesdale, in his emotional and physical downfall from the highest religious pillar in society to his dramatic death of public branding. C) Disowning his wife, Hester Prynne for her disgrace in their matrimony.
The consequences of the sins committed by Roger Chillingworth are simple the unhappiness and incompletion he feels once returning home from being a captive by Native Americans to see his wife bearing a child that is not his. He feels humiliated and dishonored when he sees Hester on the stage in town square, showing off her Scarlet Letter and the newborn infant she bore from it, as punishment. This dishonor and humiliation is portrayed when Hester sees her husband once her punishment of public humiliation and symbolic awareness has been served, his gesture of placing a single finger over his lips to remain unknown as her husband shows his discomfort and hurt pride while, also, his sin of disowning his wife. He is now a ‘divorced’ man living a lonely life as a physician while playing part-time detective in exposing the culprit of his wife’s fall from womanhood. The effect this has on Roger Chillingworth’s character is the ‘chilly’ disposition and cold demeanor he carries out of self-hatred for stealing away his wife’s youth with his old age and/or hatred for the man that was the ally in his wife’s sin that has remained quiet and hidden to preserve his reputation, holding his newfound personality up to his name as someone who brings a scare or “chill” down one’s spine.

2. Three characteristics of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writing style would be: Allegory, descriptive wording to convey the five senses, and vivid imagery for the reader. The allegory was used as a technique to show how one thing can affect another and what comes as result of such union. One example of allegory would be Hester Prynne’s daughter, Pearl. Pearl is outcome of an intimate relationship her mother had with the minister, Arthur Dimmesdale. She is shown as the byproduct of something so evil and sinister, but is portrayed as a beautiful being with the grace and beauty of a fair maiden. Her symbolism is in her name. Her name is the great price her mother paid in giving birth to her out the sin of adultery and is the only treasure her mother holds dear. The child’s name conveys an expensive token that is searched for by all and paid with excessive amounts of money to be cherished. That same rationale is thought by Hester Prynne as she watches her baby grow with grace and beauty as she cherishes the only vale she has.

“But she named the infant “Pearl”, as being of great price- purchased with all she had,- her mother’s only treasure.” (Scarlet Letter page 82, paragraph 1)

An example of descriptive wording in Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter would be when he describes the scenery, setting, people, and emotions of such individuals with great detail and splendor. Since there were no printing presses back in Hawthorne’s era, the reader had to rely on intense descriptions in the novel to get a visual of what they were reading for better comprehension and understanding. The text was written in overly formal English but held captivating emotion and detail that allowed the reader to imagine the scene playing in their mind like a theatre. Everything from the descriptions of the scenery around the characters to the sounds of little miscellaneous items in the scene were described to give the reader feeling of the scene played before them with all the emotions the character’s feel.

“The day was chill and sombre. Overhead was a grey expanse of cloud, slightly stirred, however, by a breeze; so that the gleam of flickering sunshine might now and then be seen at its solitary play along the path.” (Scarlet Letter page 168, paragraph 3)

An example of vivid imagery in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writing would be when he wrote his descriptive scenes between characters and their conflicts that would allow the reader to visualize everything taking place in great detail. Hawthorne put his readers in the place of his characters when writing and did so with extensive amounts of detail that created pictures laid out before the reader. It felt as if the reader were listening to a narration from the novel in their ear as they gazed into a picture that conveyed the scene down to the slightest component, imagining that they were in the characters shoes while the entire focused on them and their struggle with conflict.

“We have spoken of Pearl’s rich and luxuriant beauty: a beauty that shone with deep and vivid tints; a bright complexion, eyes possessing intensity both of depth and glow, and hair already a deep, glossy brown, and which, in after years, would be nearly akin to black. There was a fire in her and throughout her; she seemed the unpremeditated offshoot of a passionate moment.”


“Her mother, in contriving the child’s garb, had allowed the gorgeous tendencies of her imagination their full play; arraying her in a crimson velvet tunic, a peculiar cut, abundantly embroidered with fantasies and flourishes of gold-thread.” (page 93, paragraph 3)

3. Pearl, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth’s names are symbolic in the Scarlet Letter because, each of their names represents their personality in the novel as well as their purpose.

Pearl: Her name is symbolic because she is her mother’s only treasure that was paid for by a great price: loss of dignity, respect, family, friends, and true “womanhood”. Pearl is a priceless artifact to the protagonist and plays a role in her daily survival. Without Pearl, Hester Prynne would have no reason to live in a world were she is shone because she committed the acts of adultery. This conveys the “treasure” in Hester’s logic about her daughter as well as the price she paid to give birth to her.

Chillingworth: His name is symbolic because he is an older man with a cold disposition that everyone around him seems to take notice; due to his dishonor and humiliation from Hester Prynne. His demeanor is resembles one of a stoic stature when he conducts his business as a physician and his disposition- along with the clamor of his voice- is almost terrifying to all who are near. He gives off an icy or “chilly” front to show his inner feelings of betrayal while keeping others at arms length that serve no purpose to him from which he can gain.

Dimmesdale: Arthur Dimmesdale’s name is symbolic in the novel because it reflects his boring “Blah” personality throughout the book. He is the religious minister that has sinned with Hester Prynne through adultery, but, besides that, nothing else about him is interesting enough for the reader to really take a liking to the young man or even remember he was one of the main characters. He is “dim” and has no real purpose in the novel besides being Hester’s lover, and co-sinner, his die-hard religion related speeches and talks about heaven, sin, and other related holy things becoming tiring- if not annoying- to the reader after the tenth chapter.

4. Hester’s attitude changes from when she was released from the jailhouse to the last scene on the scaffold by her air of confidence and pride. When exiting the jailhouse year’s back- when Pearl was just an infant- she held her head high with a fake air of buoyancy to convey a false sense of a nonchalant attitude, despite her sin of committing adultery and public mockery. As she walked from the jail, she played the part of a strong woman without any care of her wrongdoing, but had the inner feelings of agony and humiliation in her heart and soul; wishing her torture and punishment would end and she could go home and be alone. On the final scene on the scaffold, she, Pearl, and Reverend Dimmesdale are before the town people while the minister confesses his sin as being the one who had ‘relations’ with Hester and the child she bore was, in fact, his; showing the scarlet letter branded on his chest to signify his sin. Hester, this time, did not put on a fake air of poise but held her head high with the man she thought would never repent for their sins and confess that he was the counterpart in her duo sin. She holds grace while showing herself proudly before the townspeople along side her ‘man’ and daughter, not afraid to show her affection for the clergyman as he slowly wilts away, along with the secret that had been eating away at his soul for years.

5. Hester is one of literature’s first feminist due to the fact that she defied the role society had given her to play in a strictly religious, male-dominated Puritan colony. Women back in the 1700’s were the “Angel’s of the Household”. They were supposed to be pure when married and were only allowed to have sexual relations with the man they devoted themselves to through holy matrimony. A ‘true’ woman was one who was white, a virgin, and middle-class, holding devoted religious faith and know-how of domestic abilities to keep the home in order and under natural societal law. The woman was the one who was expected to remain faithful and ignore all desires she felt for anything unholy that would have shamed her and her family, the man- although it was frowned upon but not punished as severely- allowed to have affairs outside the marriage.
Hester Prynne was that single woman who went against all Puritan laws and lived up to those sexual desires she had built up with forced entry because of her husband’s absence. Having had intercourse with another man and married, she was ostracized in her town and lost all respect and rights she had a “real” woman. Even with such disobedience, Hester never allowed her predicament to write the future of her life, seizing the opportunity of being alone and standing as a fallen woman, to lead and live her life the way she planned it; an option women in that era had not acquired because of their gender. Her defiance paved the way for many women after, serving as a guide for them to follow for self-happiness and self-thought. Hester is one of literature’s first feminist because she defied moral conduct and thought for herself, not letting a male tell her in any shape, way, form, or fashion, what to do and how to do it.

6. The second scene in the Scarlet Letter serves as the novels climax due to a foreshadowing of events with Arthur Dimmesdale. Reverend Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold where Hester and Pearl stood years back- when the scandal concerning the scarlet letter first became known- and lets out a scream to show his inner pain and torture due to his sin of partnered adultery with Hester. This scene foreshadows that the minister is a step closer in confessing his sins of adultery due to the fact that his guilt is becoming almost unbearable to handle and conceal, his conscience and neediness to repent to god for forgiveness taking more of a priority. This also serves as the novels climax because it shows intense reactions from the minister, who, throughout the course of the novel, remained quiet and unopinionated about the scandal concerning the Scarlet Letter. This is the minister’s first severe reaction about the scarlet letter and his affiliation with the sin. This shows that the minister is tired of remaining quiet about his relationship with Hester and that Pearl is his daughter, his care for his reputation almost nonexistent but still holding by a thread due to his confession still being withheld out of cowardice.

Links to Sites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_literature