The Jumping Frog

Throughout the short story of The Jumping Frog, the author, Mark Twain, relates to realism and uses a great deal of imagery. He paints out a clear picture for his audience. Twain deeply describes the characters to get the audience to relate more to the story. “…I noticed that he was fat and bald-headed, and had an expression of winning gentleness and simplicity upon his tranquil countenance.” This quote is used to describe one of the main characters of the story, Simon Wheeler. It gives the audience a physical description and a bit of his personality.

Twain’s diction also stands out to me. Unlike other authors, Twain uses diction to emphasize Jim Smiley’s gambling problem. Twain refers to him as the “uncommonly lucky” man. In many of the examples that he listed, it is inferred that Smiley is indeed lucky. Twain uses the example of Smiley gambling horse races, the health of Parson Walker’s wife, the winning of his handicapped dog in dog fights, etc. to show the extent of Smiley’s gambling problem.

Due to the great use of imagery and diction, the audience was able to paint out a vivid picture of what occurred in the story. This story also contains irony. At the beginning of the story, Ward was looking to find information on Leonidas W. Smiley and Simon Wheeler ends up giving him information on Jim Smiley the whole time. It is not understood why Ward stuck around to hear the story of someone he didn’t know.

Learning to Read and Write Lit. Response

“Education and slavery were incompatible with each other” is a quote from the excerpt, Learning to Read and Write by Frederick Douglass. Douglass was born a slave in 1818. Back in those times, a slave being able to read and write was like a crime. For Frederick Douglass to be able to do both tells you a lot about his character before you even read the passage. It tells you that he’s a very ambitious and strong-minded man. He found ways to accomplish his goal to learn how to read and write. In his writing, he appeals to the three parts of the rhetorical triangle: ethos, logos, and pathos.

Douglass appeals to ethos in this passage. His character can be determined through the title of this excerpt and even the first sentence of the story. “I lived in Master Hugh’s family about seven years.” This implies that he is like every other slave though he still managed to go beyond and find a way to learn. This sets the tone of the story. His reason for writing was to show how he had goals but went beyond what any other slave had done to try to accomplish them. He tells about his experience and journey of coming to literacy. Also, this grabs the attention of his audience and makes him as an author credible and trustworthy.

The reason for writing this story is was to show the audience the steps he took on learning to read and write thus appealing to logos. He gives examples on what he had been through to get to where he’s at. “The plan which I adopted…was making friends of all the little white boys whom I met in the street. As many of them as I could, I converted them into teachers” This is an example of a step he too to reach his goal. He makes it clear to his audience that this is what really happens to him and what he had to do.

I feel this passage mainly appeals to pathos. Because this is a true story, it grabs the audience’s attention. At one point in the story, he tells about himself finally learning to read. You would think this would be a big accomplishment for him and he would be proud of himself. Douglass says that he found himself regretting his own existence and was wishing himself dead. This is the turning point of the story. The audience would not suspect him feeling this way at all. By Douglass learning how to read, he has found out so much information about slavery and what the whites have done to his people. He is appalled by some of the information he has found out but soon realizes that he can’t do much about it because if anyone was to find out he could read it could “injure” him. It took many steps for Douglass to be able to read and write. His mistress, who was said to be kind and tender-hearted, was the one person who supported him and even taught him the alphabet. Ironically, there was a change in her character. She stopped teaching him things and even hated to see him with a newspaper.

I feel this was an inspirational story. I feel the message was to inform the audience that anything is possible and to never let anything hold you back. This story was filled with emotion and I really enjoyed reading this passage.

Spontaneous Me Lit. Resp.

Spontaneous Me, written by Walt Whitman, was a very metaphoric poem. Throughout the entire poem, he compared a human’s (man) sensuality to the beauty of nature. In the very first line in the poem, it says “Spontaneous Me, Nature”. I think he purposely made that the first thing the audience knew about the poem. As the audience continues to read, it is apparent that he is comparing two types of nature: the sensual human side of nature to the beauty of non-human nature.

Whitman definitely appealed to pathos throughout the whole poem. This poem is about the passion in a man. Whitman grabs the audience’s attention by the abundance of emotion within the writing. He focuses on the sense of touch the most. For example, the quote “Two sleepers at night lying close together as they sleep, one with an arm slanting down across and below the waist of the other” implies a sexual experience between the two lovers and explains the way they touch.

Throughout this poem, there is an ample use of figurative language. This poem basically consists of metaphors, or it can even be said that there is a use of personification. Nature is compared and is given human characteristics. For instance, the line “The hairy wild-bee that murmurs and hankers up and down, that gripes the full-grown lady-flower, curves upon her with amorous firm legs, takes his will of her, and hold himself tremulous and tight till he is satisfied” shows sensuality in a human-like way.

Whitman used diction to show imagery in his poem. Every noun in the poem was described by many adjectives. The audience got the exact picture and knew what happened and how it happened just by his choice of words. “Dead leaf”, “Hairy wild-bee”, “limpid liquid”, or “vigilant eyes” are all examples of the way he thoroughly described things to keep his audience’s attention.

This is a really passionate poem and I think it is even better because it was written by a man. It shows the softer and more sensual side of a man and not just the hard core. Whitman got his message through to his audience well because of his use of diction, which painted a visual picture. This is an easy piece to read and I found this poem to be very interesting.

Desiree's Baby Lit. Response

The story of Desiree’s Baby, by Kate Chopin, is a short story filled with ironic twists and turns. The story starts off with her mother reminiscing on times when Desiree was a little girl, and now she’s a young woman having a child. But they run into a problem. People start to notice the baby’s skin color is starting to look like one’s of a quadroon. This imposes a major conflict in the plot of he story. It also relates to the theme of the story, which is mainly race and the mixing of racial groups.

Kate Chopin appeals to pathos in this story. The plot is emotional throughout the story. Chopin shows how passionate and caring Desiree is in the sentence “. She did not just neglect her baby when she found out the baby was perhaps a quadroon. She remained loving and cared for the baby. Though, the father, Armand, starts to not care for the baby anymore. At first, it was said that he was really excited, and now that he has found out the baby is a quadroon, he doesn’t want to have anything to do with it. This takes a major toll on Desiree. The sentence “Desiree was miserable enough to die” shows how bad she hurt and feels about the situation. It also shows how she reacts to certain situations and what type of person she is.

Also, you can say that the theme of this story is also feminism. I believe it’s another one of the main themes because Desiree was the first to be blamed for being black. Why couldn’t her husband have been black? In this story, Chopin made her the underdog because she is a woman. Though, we do have clues that could suggest that her husband was actually the one who was had black in them. The quote “But Armand’s dark, handsome face…”gives the audience a clue on how he looks. But later on in the story, Desiree tries to prove to him that she’s not the one who’s black. She tells Armand to look at her hair, which is described as “long, silky brown hair that hung about her shoulders”. She also describes her eyes as gray, her skin fair and being whiter than his. These are not physical features a black person would have. You can assume that her husband was actually the one who was black but didn’t get blamed for it because he’s a man. That also had something to do with the time period they were in.

Chopin’s diction throughout the story was sometimes vague though she did use a metaphors and similes to express imagery to the audience. There were times where I was unclear on something. For instance, throughout the whole story, the baby never had a name. It was always referred to as “baby”. I think she may have done this to imply that the baby was not worthy enough to get a name because he was a quadroon. Another reason may have been to show that they baby was not going to stay long. “The blood turned like ice in her veins, and clammy moisture gathered upon her face” is an example of a simile used to show the audience the emotion she was feeling.

Desiree’s Baby was a very interesting and ironic story. At the end, it turns out the husband was actually the one who was black. Chopin definitely grabbed the audience’s attention by her use of pathos. She also created imagery for her audience using similes and metaphors. This was a great story and really opened my eyes to how the world used to be (or is) and what was accepted and what was not.

The Story of An Hour Lit. Resp.

The Story of An Hour by the author, Kate Chopin, was very interesting and had unexpected twists and turns throughout the story. Chopin used irony to get the plot of the story across and to describe the setting and characters. The first thing the audience learned about the main character, Mrs. Mallard, was that she has heart trouble. This implies to the audience that she’s weak and might not be able to handle the news of her husband’s death. Her sister, Josephine, cannot exactly tell her what has happened to her husband and gives her little hints. However, Richards didn’t have any problems breaking the news to her. This action shows you Richards’ character and how he feels about Mrs. Mallard. He didn’t consider her feelings or how she would’ve reacted to the news. Mrs. Mallard “wept” in her sister’s arms, showing the audience how she reacted and how emotional she is. This is another characteristic given about Mrs. Mallard.

Chopin used an abundance imagery to describe the setting. You can also say her imagery is ironic as well. She describes the day of the incident. “…aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air…There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds…” This whole quote symbolizes the start of a new life. Chopin used the season spring to symbolize growth and a fresh start. I also think the patches in the clouds represented new doors opening in her life. Chopin describes Mrs. Mallard sitting in her room in a “comfortable, roomy armchair” facing the window. So what does this say about how she’s feeling? I think this is meant to show the audience her longing for her husband.

The start of suspense is in paragraph 9, where it says “But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air.” Now the audience is wondering what that something was coming after her. Then, she repeats “free, free, free”. I think that freedom is the “something” coming to her. Now since her husband has passed, she feels freedom. In the next couple paragraphs, its explaining the joy she’s feeling. It is even described as “monstrous joy”. Mrs. Mallard was living for her husband and not for herself. Her husband was taking over her life and now he had no power over her since he was dead. The sentence “And yet she had loved him--sometimes.” implies that she had love for him but didn’t care for him much when he took away her freedom away. And again, she says “Free! Body and soul free!” This shows how excited she is to finally be free.

The turning point of the story is when her husband walks through the door. It turns out that her husband really wasn’t killed in the railroad incident. Irony takes place when Mrs. Mallard dies when she sees her husband. The doctors said that she died “of heart disease--of the joy that kills.” The doctors may have said this for the interest of her husband. They may think she died because she was happy to see that her husband is still alive. The heart problem was the first thing we learned about Mrs. Mallard and now it’s the reason for her death. The end of this story had a very ironic twist.

Sojourner Truth Lit. Response

Is the speech Sojourner Truth gave at the women’s right convention called “Aren’t I a woman?” or “Ain’t I a woman?” This was a very powerful speech, but I feel it was even more powerful when it was in written in the way that she spoke it. The word choices that were in the speech relates to pathos. The language that was chosen appeals to emotion, gaining attention from the audience. It shows her character and it also gave the speech more meaning. It showed the audience that she was human, as well as a woman.

Sojourner Truth appeals to logos as well. Multiple times in her speech, she repeated the phrase “Ain’t I a woman?” This was reiterated about four times throughout the speech. She did this to get her purpose across to the audience. She constantly reminds her audience the reason on why she is speaking. She gives several examples of experiences she has gone through as an African-American woman and how she has done things for herself. For example, she said she had thirteen children and cried out for them when she almost saw them get sold into slavery. I think she said this to prove just like any other mother, she would have the grief any other mother would have. She wants to be treated as if she was equal and this is what this speech is suggesting.

Also, during her speech, she showed her audience her muscle inferring that she was jus as strong as a man, so why shouldn’t she be considered a woman. She even said she did the same type of work a man could do. This point appeals to ethos. She tells about her experience and knowledge making her more believable and her speech sincere. The audience would probably pay more attention and take what she has to say more seriously. Another thing that makes this speech appeal more to ethos is her character. Sojourner Truth was an abolitionist and women’s right activist. This demonstrates that she’s trustworthy and credible in what she’s saying. She would know a lot about the subject she was talking about. Sojourner Truth does not use a different persona. She is just herself and was expressing her point of view on the subject.

I really enjoyed her speech and I thought it was powerful. She got her point through to her audience and relates to all the parts of the rhetorical triangle thus making this an excellent speech.

Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley is considered American’s first black poet. She was very intelligent and learned how to read and write as a child. She wrote her first poem at the age of thirteen. She became famous when she wrote the poem on Reverend George Whitefield’s death in 1770. Three years later, her poems were published in London as a book called Poems of Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. It was the first book to be published by a black American. Her life experiences influenced most of her poetry like her poem On Being Brought from Africa to America. It talks about her experience and how she felt.

Wheatley’s poetry would be considered as concrete poetry. The poems, On Being Brought from Africa to America and To His Excellency General Washington, rhyme and have almost the exact same spacing in each line. She does use plenty of punctuation in her poems, making them easier to understand and to show how the lines should be read. Therefore, she is connecting to pathos. The use of punctuation illustrates the emotion within her poetry. In the poem, To His Excellency of General Washington, she has four lines that are indented. I believe they are indented because they may be a start to another idea.

In the poem, On Being Brought from Africa to America, she talks about how all of the slaves got taken of their land by the white people and how they didn’t like the African race. “Some view our race with scornful eye…” In To His Excellency General Washington, she honors him and his efforts to make America a free country. She talks about how he is standing up for America to become free, referencing to the French and Indian War. Her purpose for sending Washington this poem was to give Washington confidence in what he was doing for the country and how she was behind him the whole way. For example, “Proceed, great chief, with virtue on thy side, Thy every action let the goddess guide…”

The persona is not different than the author. She expresses her own emotions and point of views. In the poems, she has a poems based on a character. In one of them, she writes about herself and other Africans and their experience on being brought to America. She writes about Washington in the poem and also refers to a “freedom goddess”.

Though Wheatley’s poems were a bit hard to understand, I felt the emotion she tried to get across to her audience. She used pathos to grab attention from the audience. Her word choices were confusing, like when she said “Columbia” instead of just saying America. Also, she must have been well educated on the subject of Washington. That poems was written very well.

Huswifery

The poem, Huswifery, written by Edward Taylor, was referring to predestination as a Puritan woman. This poem is about her relationship and connection with God. When I read the title of the poem, it made me think of “housewife”. I figured this would be a clue on better understanding the writing. Taylor also used feminine expressions in the poem, such as “pinkt and Varnish’t Flowers” and him referring to yarn and knitting. This would be a piece of writing that a Puritan woman can relate to.

I believe this poem can be referred to as concrete poetry. The spacing of the poem is the same in each verse. The second, fourth, fifth, and sixth lines in each verse is indented. I think the first and third lines are the main ideas in the verse, and the indented lines are used to support them. I noticed that Taylor capitalized some nouns throughout the poem. These words maybe important key words to look at. For example, the words “Conversation”, “Spinning Wheele”, “Loome”, “Ordiances”, etc. are capitalized. Lastly, Taylor uses feminine words to illustrate that it might be a woman’s feelings.

The plot of the poem is a “conversation” a Puritan woman hopes to have with God to convince him that she is a visible saint. She is telling God her conscience, judgment, and way of life is good, and she deserves to go to heaven. I believe Taylor’s purpose was to show people the faith this woman has and her making her way to salvation. She has to live God’s way of life in order for her to get to the Holy land. “And make my Soule thy holy Spoole to bee.” (Line 4). This Puritan woman hopes to be dressed in the Holy robe as said in the last two lines of the poem. I found that Taylor used imagery in this poem. He painted out the words using phrases like “Spinning Wheele” which I believe is talking about her life, “Fulling Mills” meaning large dinners, and “Heavenly Colours” meaning a soft and spiritual atmosphere.

The persona is different than the author. I believe this poem is talking about a Puritan woman. The title Huswifery makes me think he’s referring to a housewife and her relation with God. He uses knitting to illustrate her way of life. In line 11, she says when she dies; she wants to pick the colors of heaven. Then in line 12, she chooses the color pink.

This poem by Edward Taylor is enjoyable and I found myself reading beyond the words. His word choices really made me think and try to figure out his purpose and what he was trying to say. It took me a couple tries to understand the writing, but each time it became a little easier. In addition, this poem shows me how much Puritans had faith in God and how serious they took their relationship with him.

Anne Bradstreet Poetry

While reading Anne Bradstreet’s poems, I found myself trying to go beyond what she was saying and capture exactly what she meant. As a Puritan woman, she was a deep writer which makes her different because women back in the 17th century were not able to express themselves as well as she did. Anne was very educated, using affluent vocabulary in her poetry. I found these poems interesting because of her use of words. I could tell these poems contained a lot of emotion.
Before I read each poem, I first looked and analyzed each title. I couldn’t quite get the title for the first poem. Though I do think it means “her story”. I believe this poem is referring to her life in general. In the first poem she says, “Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain…” I think she is relating this to herself, maybe talking about an illness she has had since she was born. She also says “I washed my face, but more defects I saw”. I could tell she was not happy with something about herself. The second poem she starts off poignant and somewhat depressing. She refers to death and says that they will meet and it cannot be avoided; on the other hand, the title of the poem is Before the Birth of One of Her Children. I believe she feels like she is going to die after she had the baby. In this poem, she also refers to a last farewell. That statement really makes me believe she feels is going to die. The third poem she wrote to her husband. She really expresses her feelings toward him. There is a line in the poem where she compares her love for him and shows she’s very compassionate. “I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold”. She refers to them as one and wants to be with him forever which somewhat goes against her Puritan beliefs.
Anne Bradstreet’s poetry definitely establishes pathos. She basically pours out her heart in her poetry. She tells about her struggles and what she’s going through. Her illness seems to take a major toll on her. Throughout the poems, it seems as if she’s writing a farewell letter and almost writing her own obituary. The audience reading these poems would feel the emotion she incorporates. Her writing is deep which makes the audience think deeper than the words. The persona is not different than the author. I know this because this is poetry about her life. She doesn’t have any characters in her poems to display her struggles.
I really enjoyed Anne Bradstreet’s poems. They were heartfelt and emotional. The poems taught me something about her as a person. When it came to her feelings about her husband and the love they had, the beliefs of her religion didn’t matter to her. She stood up for what she believes in and expresses her feelings the way she wanted. She is a great poet. I really appreciate her writing.

Columbus/Cabeza de Vaca Lit. Response

Between the times of 1492 and 1504, Christopher Columbus made four voyages to find a convenient Atlantic route to Asia. During his voyages, he had a lot of hardships and many disasters occurred. Columbus writes a letter to Luis de Santangel to inform him on his first voyage. In the letter, he tells Santangel his journey and what he has been through. Columbus establishes logos in his letter. His reason for going on the voyage was to discover quicker ways to get to Asia and he tells Santangel where he has been, what he’s seen, and how close he’s getting to learning a route. Therefore, his reason for writing was recognized. Ethos was established because Columbus told him how he felt about some situations, also relating to pathos.
In the letter Columbus wrote to Ferdinand and Isabella during his first voyage, he touched all of the elements in the rhetorical triangle: pathos, ethos, and logos. I felt that was a more personal letter. Columbus uses “Your Highnesses” and refers to God often, making this letter contain more emotion. He tells exactly what he’s going through and how he feels. He says things like he is about to die and how he has nothing but gray hair on his body. Pathos is definitely established in this letter. Ethos is established because he writes this letter like it’s his personal journal creating credibility. His story is believable and sincere. Columbus gives us specific details on what he doing and what he’s going through thus establishing logos. He wanted to inform them on his voyage to Asia, which he did.
During the year of 1540, a man named Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca finished his first narrative on the Narvaez expedition back to the New World (South America). In this Narrative, Cabeza de Vaca also establishes all the elements of the rhetorical triangle. This narrative contained ethos because he shows a lot of character by expressing his feelings throughout the passage. He also explains a lot of events that happened or that he observed while he was there making his story believable. This also leads to logos. He had a purpose for writing this and it was to inform the reader on the experiences he had been through and the people and cultures that he had studied. He gives out specific details and examples for his audience in picture in their minds. The letter contained pathos because the author uses first person though he is informative. Cabeza de Vaca refers to God making the piece more personal.

Stories of the Beginning World

People have their own stories on how the world was created. The Native American culture has many creation stories though they were never written down. The Europeans gathered information about the Iroquois and Pima tribes. So we know very little about them. Though in the late nineteenth century, the Europeans were able to translate and understand the creation stories told by the Native Americans. Both tribes had a different version of how the world was created. They were both interesting and different from the biblical version.
Both the Iroquois and Pima creation stories were myths. Though they claimed it to be history, the way it was told was like a myth. They were said to cosmogonic myths which are narratives of the establishment of the world. I expected these creation stories to be ironic, spiritual stories and they were. I really enjoyed the stories because they were different from what I was used to. Almost everyone knows the biblical version of the way the world was created and these stories were something new and contained more irony.
The writer of the Iroquois established all of the rhetorical devices: ethos, logos, and pathos. He establishes ethos because he gained creditability. David Cusick, the writer of the Iroquois creation story, was educated and was an important leader among of Tuscaroras. The audience is more likely to believe in his myth and agree with what he says. He establishes logos because he had a reason for writing the myth. He tells people how he thinks and believes the earth was created. Though there were not any statistics or figures to support his myth, but he did provide specific details. The myth was clear and that’s why I think he established logos. Also, Cusick established pathos because the myth showed emotion. I think the myth engages emotion in the audience.
The writer of the Pima creation story established ethos, logos, and pathos in the myth. Thin Leather establishes ethos because he was J.W. Wood’s grand-uncle and he knew many ancient stories of the Pimas. The audience would give him credibility because usually when people are older, they consider them as wise. Therefore, the audience might believe his myth and not think he made it up. The writer also established logos. Just like in the Iroquois creation story, there were not any statistics or figures, but there were specific details given in the story. Emotion was also shown in the creation story therefore appealing to pathos. The story was basically about not giving up because Juhwertamahkai had to keep rebuilding the earth because it was not working out. The people he created were killing each other and he didn’t like it. Something went wrong every time he built the world over again. Though, he kept trying and it finally came together. I think this part of the creation story brought out the emotion in the myth.
Some myths are made up and have no reason or logic, but these creation stories were different. They both contained ethos, logos, and pathos making them great pieces to read. Also both of the stories were different from the story from the bible, making me think more logically about what might have really happened. I enjoyed both the creation stories and I hope to read many more.

Is Google Making Us Stupid.?

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

            Nowadays, there are shortcuts to everything. Everyone tries to find a quick, efficient way to do something. This is now what’s programmed in our brains to do, including while we’re reading. Majority of the time, I find myself spacing out while reading a book or article. The Net is said to be “chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation”. I feel this is true. When I’m researching a topic on Google, I try to find an article that is straight-to-the-point and will give me my answer quickly. If there’s a huge article on the topic, I find another hyperlink to choose where I don’t have to read as much. Even if I find a large article to read, I always find myself skimming through it after a couple paragraphs. Google is filled with a lot of information and is not directly making us stupid. I feel the way we are using it and taking advantage of it is causing us to lose focus.

            The author, Nicholas Carr, claims research that once required the library and checking out several books now takes only minutes. When you research information by reading from a book, I feel you learn way more than Google provides for you. Deep reading is now a struggle for everyone. I always find myself drifting off while reading or trying to find out something else to do. We depend on Google and search engines so much; we forget we have access to the library and so many other options. So I feel this is a good point he made. Carr did have evidence, such as history on the subject to support his claim.

            The rhetorical strategies that the author used were ethos and logos. The author establishes ethos because he relates to his audience as if he’s one of them, suffering with the same problem of not being able to focus or concentrate when he’s reading a book or an article. Also, he establishes logos as well. His reason for writing this was to show people how Google or other search engines are affect they are were thinking. Carr also included some facts and statistics, only with a bit history to support his claims. In addition, the author addresses the audience appropriately. He knows who he’s talking to and is aware of how he is saying it. I believe his audience is people who use Google often or has used it before and can relate to what the author is saying. His audience is people who also are interested in the information he is providing. Carr got his purpose across for his audience to understand. The question was “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” and I think Carr answered the question and also gave evidence to support his answer.

            Carr’s word choices were important in this passage. Carr made the text more personal by using “me” or “my”, relating the text to him. I think this goes right back to ethos and shows character. This gives the author more credibility. Also, there is very little figurative language. Carr uses the metaphor “…we have come to think of them [brains] as operating like computers”. That piece of figurative language is very much related to the purpose. People are starting to think less and have the computer do it for them. Our brains are picking up habits just like the computers.

            There is always any easy way out of everything. Google is one of them. It’s a machine used by people who want to research something in a matter of time. The answers are quick and short. Old fashion trips to the library are now starting to be uncommon. I feel that Google is making us stupid. Though Google is not hurting us directly, it has it affects on our brains. We should be grabbing a couple of books rather than grabbing the mouse to our computer going to Google. 

Diction

A willow like a blanketed elephant.