Robert Frost

                                                            Robert Frost

7.1                                                                                 

Robert Frost was born in 1874.  Frost wrote poetry as a teen and graduated from high school as valedictorian.  Frost tried college several times but he didn’t like conventional academics.  Frost made his living by farming and teaching.  Frost really liked nature but wasn’t into religious dogma.  Frost wrote many popular poems’ that to this day is still used.  Frost loved farming and nature that’s where a lot of his poems came from.

Frost’s poem “Fire and Ice” is one that I really like how he uses fire and ice to represent the end of the world.   Fire is a desire and lust which is a transgression. Ice is hate that humanity embraces. Through the hate and desires of the world it will end, which could be looked at as a sin.  These acts of nature versus the acts of humans will eventually take over the world. 

The other poem I like is “Home Burial” which is very good but very sad.  A couple loses their child.  Neither one of them understands the other and their feelings. They blame each other for the loss of the child.   The wife wants him to talk about the loss, but he deals with death like all people very different.  Her husband uses threats to communicate his emotions to his wife.  Over time it get worse and she decides to leave after she has had enough. He is still making threats after she goes to come bring her back home no matter what force it requires.   Here he is left at home alone which will be his own home burial.  

The other poem I liked is “The Road not Taken” I have ask several people what they think the meaning of this poem is and every time I get a different answer.  I happen to think that it means the path isn’t as easy and very confusing with the outcome undetermined.   In the end the road taken is the path less traveled but who knows which path is less traveled.  This saying has been around for ever.  Sometimes the road less traveled is the toughest road to follow.  So how do we know which road to take?  I guess it’s like life it’s a choice we will have to make. 

                             

                                                                                              

The Other Two

6.3 Edith Wharton                   “The Other Two”

Edith Wharton was born into a wealthy and privileged society and by no surprise she married into money.  Her childhood gave her the best education by tutors and she was taken for extended tours abroad.  Here is where she gained her love for European art and culture. Edith and her husband traveled a lot from America to Europe visiting relatives while living off their allowance provide by both of their families. After several years of marriage they divorced in which Edith was married again later on. She divorced again and later married her third husband.  Mr. and Mrs. Wharton are newlyweds that while on their honeymoon got cut short due to her daughter age tweleve became ill from Typhoid.  Mrs. Wharton’s daughter was from a previous marriage.  Her daughter usually visits her dad Mr. Haskett, once a week but due to illness he is asking to come to their home to see Lily.  Mr. Haskett just wants to have an active roll and see that Lily is doing well.  He uses laws as well as emotional appeal to ask for visits with his biological daughter.   The conversation discloses the complication that Alice has to deal with from her ex-husbands which causes a number of disputes and arguments between the newlyweds.  Mr. Wharton wasn’t thrilled at the idea of another man being in his home, but later grew to understand the reasons were wholesome and reasonable.  While dealing with these problems he also has to deal with the fact that he has taken over a business deal with her other ex-husband.  He lets these issues with her ex-husband’s worry him, but the more he is around he figures out that it doesn’t change his feelings for her. Her husband meeting and being around these other two men makes him realize why he really loves his wife.  Her first marriage caused Alice to appreciate what she has and brought out her kind nature.  The second marriage ended in infidelity which taught her to appreciate the marriage bond. In the end her husband realizes that because of her past she is everything he has ever wanted and he owes it all to her two ex-husbands for making his life so easy. 

The open Boat

 6.2                                        “The Open Boat”                                                 

    The Open Boat was a story about four men and their emotions, and, struggles as they try to survive against the forces of nature.  I really enjoyed this story after I really got into it.  At first I didn’t put it all together.  This was an inspiring story that these men would do anything to stay alive and fight for their lives in the middle of the sea.  The four main characters are the captain, Billie, oiler and the cook, whom survived the SS Commodore a major ship wreck. The captain was already injured and would only get weaker in the struggle to survive.  They didn’t have any food, which didn’t help matters any.  These men were very different but worked together in order to survive. They are now in the middle of the sea in a small boat fighting for their life.  I liked how Crane used the example of the bath tub to capture the size of the small boat they were in.  They have grown to know one another and only have each other to get back to shore.   When they see the lighthouse they’re optimism changes.  They know it is almost impossible to reach land that they have finally found.  This would be heart breaking knowing you can see land but unable to get there.  The men decide that they have no other choice than to swim to shore.  Three of the men decide to swim while holding on to the boat.  Billie being the strongest of all the men thought he could make it to shore, and swims a head of the others.  When the others get to shore they find Billie dead he had drowned.  This was very disappointing to me.  I just knew they were all going to live after all they went through. 

Stephen Crane's Poetry

6.1                                                                                   Stephen Crane’s Poetry

Stephen Cranes was raised in a Methodist home. This was the idea that man had significance in the universe. We all have free will and God is good. Like many kids he grew up to attack these ideas with humor and savage irony.  He planed on going to the military but went to college instead.  He became a free lance journalist and began to publish poems in 1895.  Crane was known for his use of irony and his christen symbolist.  Crane wrote many novels as well as poems and  is known today for his novel” The Open Book” After reading several poems by Crane it seems that his has somewhat a bitter view of the world.  He concentrates on the profound conflict man has with himself and God. It seems that writers write about issues that they have endured at some point in their life and maybe that’s why Crane seems to struggle with religion. The poem “In the Desert” made me think of a bitter person, so bitter his heart had no love at all.  But he liked it because it was his heart therefore he would be the only one that knew why he was bitter.  Maybe he wasn’t bitter maybe he really loved himself. I feel that if the poems were named I could understand them better, however: I also think that’s why some poet’s don’t name their work; they want to be the only one that understands their work. Another poem I thought was really deep was “A Man Said to the Universe”.  The man spoke to the universe which replied the fact has not created in me a sense of obligation.  So the universe had no sense of obligation to acknowledge him.  Like the book stated Crane was the master of irony, which I see him as being bitter and sarcastic and he accomplished this not by talking to people but through his poetry. I see him as a very distant person that suppressed his feelings on the outside.  But when he wrote his exploded with what he wanted to accomplish.  Sarcasm isn’t all negative it can bring quite a few laughs. Much like Cranes work

                

                                                                            

Kate Chopin

5.2                                                                                                                             

 Kate Chopin was born in St.Louis Missouri and lived there most of her life.  Kate being born into a wealthy merchant family advanced her the education in a Roman Catholic convent school.  Kate was married at age nine-teen to Oscar Chopin a wealthy business man, that later died from swamp fever.   The couple had six kids together and after his death Katie was left with enough money to take care of them. Even though Katie had plenty of children and things to keep her busy she started writing.  She was writing unconventional and received a lot of criticism.  Katie wrote poetry, sketches, and, fiction dealing with Louisiana Creoles.  Her writings challenged normative female scripts of the nine-tenth century.  Today her writing would be better accepted than it was in that era of time.  Today people are looking for excitement to read instead of the truth or boring articles from papers and magazines.

“The Awakening” by Kate Chopin has been one of the most criticized novels due to the passion and infidelity. Today it is one of the most well recognized books. The main character Edna was a wealthy young woman married to a well received business man.  The family is spending their summer in the Grand Isle with the kids. The women envy Edna and make snide remarks about her and the family, “she has the perfect husband”.

He makes enough money to give them a comfortable life. Her husband is always concerned about his kids and sends his wife a little present while he is out of town.  Edna is spoiled in the eyes of the other women, but looks can be deceiving because Edna isn’t as happy as everyone thinks. Edna doesn’t enjoy all the things that the other women like.  Most of the other women are devoted to their husband and kids but, Edna is distant.  She isn’t the motherly type; she seems preoccupied with other things.  Her husband considers these issues but pushes the thoughts away, thinking the best of his wife. 

Edna meets Robert while they are staying at Grand Isle.  During the time with Robert she begins to change.  Her attention becomes more and more directed toward him.  First she thinks nothing of it, and soon afterwards it develops into much more than a friendship.  She finds herself wanting him when he is away.  Everything in her life seems to be changing and, everyone is noticing the change.  People are asking questions about them and what is going on between them. Kate Chopin‘s writing in this novel illustrates how a women opens up and discovers herself.  Edna finally felt lively and free with Robert.  I guess you could say Edna had several processes of “awakening” a long the way.   Edna decides to leave her husband and kids for Robert.  But he makes it clear that he doesn’t want her and she is married to another man.  Here is another awakening moment where I feel she makes a big mistake by leaving her family for a man she hardly known’s.  For the first time Edna had her own thoughts feelings and emotions.  But these emotions weren’t the ones of young love these were an awakening to reality.

                                         

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

5.1                                                                             Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Charlotte Perkins Gilman was broken from then starts.  She was from a poverty stricken home which offered little in education.  As she got older she did get married but wasn’t very happy.  There is where is wrote of her felling of unhappiness.  During the era of which she lived she was expected to be a faithful wife and mother.  Women were to obey their husbands and conform to societies expectations.  It wasn’t long before Charlotte started being depressed. Charlotte had seen the doctor which: he told her to take it easy and refrain from writing, painting, and, reading. She still continued to be unhappy and depressed. Then she realized that freedom and independence was her best option. I understand her in these feelings if someone is unhappy and depressed and the answer for good heath for a person it might end in divorce.  She did divorce her husband. She married again later to George Gilman which was a successful marriage.  She was a strong advocate of women’s rights; even after being divorced and remarried she continued her crusade.  Charlotte had a philosophical impact on women. She was also an advocate for health care, civil justice, labor rights, and poverty. Her topics grew as well as did her audience. 

The story “Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Gilman reflects from her own experiences to create one of her most famous stories.  Her experiences with mental depression and suffering helped to create such a complex story.  One of her ideas for writing the story according to the text was to expose the mistakes made by medical science in treating the mentally insane.  This part reminds me of a soap opera where they lock people up to maintain their safety that I feel is all wrong.  Speaking from a once very depressed person that had lots of depressed friends, all I and they wanted was to be left alone.  I wanted no one around me. But the best thing for me was when my friend’s called and took me places and then I seen the world in a better light and my life could have been so much worse. So I have now figured out how to just be thankful for what I have and try to help others that sometimes like all of us have struggles.  Being locked up with her illness by her husband isn’t helping her at all.

At first she is amazed with the yellow wallpaper, and soon infatuated as it takes on a life of its own, and consumes her entirely. She is the yellow wallpaper.  Charlotte is escalating out of control and is trapped in her own mind. Charlotte being in isolation is making her illness worse day after day. What made matters worse was her husband wouldn’t listen to her pleas for help. He thought by her being away she would be safe and ok. But on the inside of her mind she was going crazy.  He wanted her to get better, but he did not listen to her. Then she begged for them to destroy the yellow wallpaper, just like she begged for a change in her life. Charlotte had to do as she had done before with her first marriage, she had to take control. So she took down the wallpaper and freed herself.  This directly relates to Gilman’s life when she broke free from her first marriage. She ripped the wallpaper down and felt freedom and relief.   

     

Ambrose Bierce

4.4                                            Ambrose Bierce                   

Ambrose Bierce was born in the eight-teen hundreds and died when he was seventy-two years old.  Today he is best known for “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”.  He was born into a poor family of farmers in Ohio that were very religious.  Ambrose didn’t take well to religion and made it known in his writings.  When Ambrose was fifteen he went to work as an apprentice.  Soon after, he enlisted in the military during the civil war.  He re-enlisted two more times before leaving for good.  Being that he had been in the military so long there wasn’t much he hadn’t encountered.  After becoming a writer he wrote of the experiences he had and seen.  He was known as “bitter Bierce” writing on death, maimings, and separation of parents, children and families. 

The novel “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” reflects much of Ambrose’s life.  The characters in his stores reflect his life and how he felt.  I can understand how a person can become so bitter seeing the events that the war Intel’s.  But I can also see a person that is bitter turn into a very thankful person.  The setting is Owl Creek Bridge with a prisoner Peyton Farquhar that has a wife and kids.  Peyton is getting ready to be hung.  The soldiers were cold and inhuman in their mannerism.  Before he is hung he escapes, he is free and, is safely with his family which is thirty miles from the bridge.  But in reality he never leaves the tree at all and dies.  Ambrose is a wonderful writer his imagination makes the reader think it is all happening when it is only his imagination.  I knew it was too good to be true.  I knew something weird would take place this was a great story.  When we have an assignment I go to the internet and look around to find out about different people. Especially: if our book doesn’t have a lot of information about their bio.  

  

During my readings on Ambrose I found out that this story has been called several different names.  I’m not sure why but that is a good question for our teacher I’m sure she will know.  I do know that one was a film so maybe that’s why the name has changed some.    

Henry James

4.3                                                                                                          Henry James

Henry James was a great writer that grew up in an wealthy family that believed highly in education. All of the children from the James family had tutors that their Father took across the Atlantic for education and to expose them to a global culture.  During Henry’s childhood he lived in several different places with his brother William.  They both studied art and enjoyed the company of their cousins and neighbors in Rhode Island.  James went to Harvard law school but shortly dropped out and studied a literacy career.  James published several books at a young age and he is known for his short stories and collections.  In later years James became talented in his critical writing.  James was intrigued with the psychology of his characters he wrote about.   Being that he was educated in philosopher and psychology at an earlier age. At the age of thirty-three James settled in Europe for the rest of his life.  Later his novels brought him much success. But he couldn’t come out from the failure he once had experience in earlier years.

“Daisy Miller: A Study” written by Henry James centers on conflict between simple Americans and sophisticated Europeans.  Winterbourne a man from America comes to visit his aunt in Switzerland, where he meets Daisy Miller.  Miller and her mother with aliments’ and her undisciplined brother are also traveling when she runs into Winterbourne.  He takes an interest in Daisy in all her innocence and beauty.  The more he gets to know her, the more intrigued he becomes. He watches her every move and thinks she is a flirt. But he is drawn to her and takes her to see the castle she has wanted to see. They part ways and her family returns to Italy where she meets a man named Giovanelli.  Winterbourne runs into Daisy with Giovanelli one night and confronts her about her ways.  Winterbourne’s aunt warns him about Daisy and informs him he should stay away from her. Winterbourne warns about the fever that Daisy can get from being around Giovanelli which is Italian decent.  Daisy gets sick and dies from malaria.  At the Grave site Giovanelli persuades Winterbourne that he and everyone else had wrongly condemned her all along. Daisy was after all not bad but simply a pretty American flirt.  Like Winterbourne people think women should act a certain way. Every culture set standards that women should or should not behave in such a manner.  But as we seen in this story Daisy was nothing more than an American flirt. This wasn’t my favorite story, but it had some interesting parts.  I did like the end but it was too late for Daisy to know because she was dead. 

William Dean Howells

4.2                                                                  William Dean Howells   

William Dean Howells was from a small town in Ohio. He was the son of a printer.  Howells was a novelist, critic, and a magazine editor.  He also was very intelligent with little education?  He became an editor of several magazines and wrote over a hundreds novels.  Howells was a writer that really got into his characters and made them depict real life events. It seems that writers and poets get their interest from some form of literature at a young age. 

Editha is a very beautiful young woman that is engaged to be married.  She wants a hero more than anything in the world. What better way to become a hero than to go to war.  Or that’s what Editha thinks. She wanted Gearson to sign up for the army to come home and be her hero.  But things don’t happen like we always think they will. Only one thing about that is she doesn’t have any idea what war entail and how some people don’t come home.  Gearson doesn’t take to the idea at all and he doesn’t fill that people need to fight. Editha feels so strong about him going that she writes him a letter. Editha seems very spoiled and immature.  Her thoughts on the war seem aloft and ignorant. Editha like other women seems to know exactly what to say to get Gearson to give in to her request. 

After much conversation Gearson still doesn’t understand the reason for fighting.  Editha’s immature actions com e through with the letter she writes him.  After much thought Gearson told her he would go to war. She was so happy that he would come back and be her hero. But that is just what she didn’t think of that was terrible about this story.  Gearson was killed shortly after going to war in the first bunch.  Editha is devastated by the news.

Editha travels to go see Gerason’s mother and tell her the bad news. She being extremely upset due to she knew he went to war for her.  If it hadn’t been for her Gearson wouldn’t have ever went.  It was like Editha had finally understood what she had done. For a moment she had grew up and seen the real world and now it wasn’t very pretty. She had seen what she had ask of him was so selfish and was left with no hero or boyfriend.