Two views of a River

This piece of work by the great literature composer Mark Twain was an excerpt, or chapter rather titled Two Views of a River. The story is him talking about how dangerous a river is or can be because of all the travel due to steamboats because sometimes it can be rather difficult to navigate and control a steamboat. I would not know from first hand, but Twain says it is hard. However, it is not hard for this guy he says that he knows this river like the letters of the alphabet(Twain). The main view someone else would see of a river is a beautiful piece of nature that we can admire, but for Mark Twain the river no longer represents anything near that. It is just a job to him. It is something he has to do. His first job was a steamboat pilot on the River, and at first he loved it but then just like any other job it just became work. I can relate to this, I used to love clothes, and yes I do still like them, but I look at them in completely different ways after I have been an employee at Old Navy for over a year. I do not notice the nice elements clothes used to have, they are just stock items to me now. The same for Mark Twain he wishes that he could just go back and make himself see the river as a beautiful piece of nature like it really is instead of a map of where he steers the steam boat. The only thing that he now sees on this beautiful body of land is all of the landmarks that he uses to navigate the steamboat he drives for work. You can tell what the story or chapter is going to be like just from the title. There are two completely different views of the river, there is the work view where it is no longer beautiful and the view of a tourist as looking at a beautiful body of land. The title helps you understand the story just a little bit more. The two views in the book are both from Mark Twain but they are different views due to times in his life where he was working on the boat and before he worked on the boat. He was influenced by the nature around him. Influence from nature is actually a characteristic of Realism(Diamond). Some times I feel like Mark Twain wanting to go back before I ever worked so I could see clothes how I used to.


Diamond, Marie Josephine, ed. "realism." Encyclopedia of World Writers, 1800 to the Present. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= GEWW480&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 21, 2012).

Twain, Mark. "from Two Views of the River" Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 554-555. Print.

The Red Badge of Courage

The Red Badge of Courage is post civil war writing. It takes place during what is known as the Naturalism period. The Naturalism period was supposedly based on the writings of the scientist, Charles Darwin(Sommers). Charles Darwin was an extremely intelligent man who discovered and made the whole idea of natural selection and survival of the fittest meaning that the best survived because they had all the traits that were wanted to survive. Also a common theme of naturalism is that there is a lot of pessimism. This is present in the red badge of courage. The guy is worried about being in the army, but he was excited to be in the army because he wanted to take the glory and everything whenever they won the war(Crane). However, he was pessimistic because he was always finding something to complain about. He was very pessimistic and he always seemed to be frantic. It is almost a little bit selfish to be in the war only to be able to take the glory of everything with the war. He should want to be in the army to help and fight for his country, but it is their prerogative to be in the army or not. Personally, I would not want to be in the army even if i got to get glory from everyone. I just do not think it is worth it i would be so scared to be in the army you could die, I just do not think it is worth the glory. He was pessimistic and worried about getting blown to bits in the army. If he really wanted to be in the army for the right reasons you would not be worried about dying and getting blown up you would be worried about your own country losing the war. However, it would be nice for everyone to love you for winning the war, but if you died in the war and then you won the war then you would not even be able to claim the prize of freedom or glory from other people so then you would have done everything for no reason other than wanting your children and everyone else to be able to prosper from your good doings.




Crane, Stephen. "Untitled Document." The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.

Sommers, Joseph Michael. "naturalism." In Maunder, Andrew. Facts On File Companion to the British Short Story. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CBSS450&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 27, 2012).

The Story of an Hour

"The Story of an Hour" was a peculiar love story that did not follow the plot of other typical love stories. There was definitely not a happy ending. In the story you almost have to interpret two point of views. In the story a accident occurs and they have to break the news to the wife of a man who was pronounced dead. At first she cries into her sister's arms and then she secludes herself. From the outside the woman looks very sad and like she is almost in shock because her husband is dead. However this is not what the woman is feeling at all. She is actually relieved that her husband passed away because she had loved him--sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being(Chopin). After the death she felt free, her body and soul were now free. She no longer had to deal with the mistreating from her husband. Back in this time of the realism period women had far fewer rights compared to now and compared to men. Even if she was in a terrible marriage she could not divorce him nor even speak how she really felt(Diamond). However women's rights were on the up rise which is why literature was more commonly about women. Emerson and Thoreau believed in equality and equality means everyone so women should be equal to man. At the end of the story the wife is surprised with her husband walking right through the door, she actually dies of a heart attack when she sees him. Again there are two interpretations. She may be so happy he is alive that she was shocked and had a heart attack, but actually she was right back in her terrible life because he was still alive(Chopin). Very sad, but probably very common in the time.

Chopin, Kate. ""The Story of an Hour"" Virginia Commonwealth University. Web. 23 Feb. 2012.

Diamond, Marie Josephine, ed. "realism." Encyclopedia of World Writers, 1800 to the Present. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= GEWW480&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 23, 2012).

Reflection "o' Pioneer"

The story that we read today was "from O Pioneers" and it took place in Nebraska during the time of the late 1800s(Cather). At this same time this new idea was sweeping the nation. This so called idea or movement was Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny was the idea that it was the people's destiny or fate to come to the United States and settle event thought they were kicking innocent Native Americans out and actually mass murdering them during what is now known as the Trail of Tears. This whole movement made the Americans or Europeans at the time rather think that they were so much better than everyone else and actually helped develop some of the issues of racism further. It was and still is a pretty controversial issue. The Americans not only performed what was basically a genocide but they also paid them off to go settle in places like Canada. Native Americans that made it through all of this got stuck in the parts of land that nobody wanted and were and still are living on these Indian Reservations in poor conditions. This makes some big problems and makes the Americans look arrogent and pretty much like terrible people. They felt this sense of self pride like they were so much better than everyone else which goes against both Emerson and Thoreau because both of them believed in equality and were against racism. The American settlers at the time did not reat people equal and were pretty racist to both blacks and Native Americans.

During the Story from O Pioneer, Alexandra and Emil ingage in an arguement on whether or not they should move out of their land in nebraska after the corn crops have failed. Alexandra was against moving because she still believed in the land as where Emil thought they needed to move and find better land. The story then takes a huge leep sixteen years later and it looks like they decided to go with Alexandra's beliefs and they stayed in Nebraska. The two remained patient and sixteen years later the land was succesful due to the new farming techniques and maybe they got to be better farmers. The land they owned has been paid off and they are benefitting and making a profit. At the end of the story Emil is killed becasue he is found laying in the orchard next to Marie. He was always a little bit shady and sketchy and seemed like he always wanted Marie even though he was in a different relationship. Frank finds them and shoots them(Cather)...

A realism characteristic is that choices are shaped from your enviroment which is similar to the raional period(Diamond). This shows through during this piece when Emil and Alexandra are making the choices of what to do with their land.

Cather, Willa. "from O Pioneers!." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 489. Print.

Diamond, Marie Josephine, ed. "realism." Encyclopedia of World Writers, 1800 to the Present. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= GEWW480&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 21, 2012).

An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge

This was the first real long story that we read for this project, and it was actually a pretty interesting story at that too. It used some elements of literature that we have not previously experienced in this project thus far. They used both a flashback and a flash forward in the story. The story opens with a guy about to be hanged at a bridge. So from the very beginning it is both interesting and sad. I mean I do not want anyone to be hanged unless they are a real bad guy. Anyways, this story had a bit of truth in it because the author Ambrose Bierce actually has fought in the Civil War. It was just sad because he was about to be hanged and he had nobody that was going to come to rescue him and he was just left there to die(Beirce). I wish someone would at least be there for him, I know I would want someone to be there for me if I was about to die. And his poor wife probably thinks everything is perfect and dandy and that they will live happily ever after, but that is just not going to happen. The soldiers that killed Farqahar were really mean because they had bribed him to do the crime that he committed to start with. It is not fair for him to be put to death because for pete's sake he was bribed in the first place! The second part then goes back to the prior events before the hanging and during part two is describes all of these things(Renfro). A memorable twist at the end of the story when it is revealed that Farquhar has imagined his entire escape in the brief time between his being pushed from the bridge and the noose's breaking his neck during the hanging(Renfro). It is a a psychological story. It reminds me of the pit and the pendulum in a way. He was in the civil war and he was in the Union which means that he did not want slavery and was for equality just like Emmerson.

Bierce, Ambrose. "An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge, by Ambrose Bierce. Read It Now for Free! (Homepage)." Page By Page Books. Read Classic Books Online, Free. Web. 16 Feb. 2012.

Renfro, Y. P. "'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge'." In Barney, Brett, and Lisa Paddock, eds. Encyclopedia of American Literature: The Age of Romanticism and Realism, 1816–1895, vol. 2, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL0691&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 16, 2012).

Robert E. Lee – from “Letter to his Family”

"Letter to his son" is a letter Robert E. Lee wrote to his son during the time of slavery and the Civil War. A line that stuck out to me was "As far as I can judge by the papers, we are between a state of anarchy and civil war. May God avert both of these evils from us!"(Lee). I think this follows Thoreau's theory that you should do what you believe is right even if it is considered wrong. Lee wanted all of this to just go away. Slavery was a huge issue at the time, and Thoreau was actually a abolitionist. I think he felt so strongly about this because he felt so strongly about civil disobedience. Slavery was to controlling. I think that both Emerson and Thoreau just wanted equality and freedom. Transcendentalism was all about equality and freedom(Quinn). I believe that Emerson and Thoreau were right in saying they were for equality because I agree with them. At this time in history not many people, especially in the South did not stand up for anything, and this is why our country fell to pieces and we were engaged in a great Civil War. It is disgusting that people think that it would ever be okay for people to enslave others just by the color of their skin, it is actually disgusting that people would enslave people for any reason. I think more people should of agreed with these intelligent men Emerson and Thoreau. They knew our country was created to by equal. A lot of the things our founding fathers did were unconstitutional. I think more men like Emerson and Thoreau should of wrote our constitution and then maybe we would not of had all the problems we did when our country was beginning. Slavery completely goes against the theories of Emerson and Thoreau. It was complete and utter disgusting inequality, to go as far as to beat and enslave people. Something was seriously wrong with people who thought this was okay.

Lee, Robert E. "Letter to My Son." Weblog post. Wikispaces. 23 Jan. 1861. Web. Feb. 2012.

Quinn, Edward. "Transcendentalism." A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Terms, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= DLLT1007&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 14, 2012)

Ain't I a Woman

"Ain't I a Woman is a speech by Sojourner Truth about how she is a woman but she is not being treated how women are supposed to be treated. She is not being treated fairly because she is a black woman. One of Emerson's theories is that everyone is significant. This was also a theme in the transcendentalism period(Quinn). This woman Sojourner Truth did not feel she was significant which is sad. She did everything that she was supposed to do in life including raising her children(Truth). She feels that she is just as equal as the white woman who are so important. This makes me think of the Titanic how the women and children were supposed to go first because they were the the makers and the future. I agree with that, but they let the rich women and children go first. That is completely unfair. I feel this is how blacks were treated as well. Sojourner Truth also says that she is just as equal as a man, she can eat as much as them and that she has plowed, farmed, and done all these activities that men have done, so why is she so insignificant? Another one of Emerson's theories is no discrimination. Discrimination was definitely occurring during the time that Sojourner Truth wrote this speech. At first everyone was definitely not equal because there was slavery. After that, people were technically equal, but there was extreme segregation. Separate but "equal" still is not equal. I wish that everyone could of lived by Emerson's theories because then maybe slavery, racism, discrimination, and other issues and history may of never been an issue. I have never understood the issue of racism, I really haven't. If people did not discriminate instances in history that were genocides could of maybe been prevented. Awful things such as the holocaust were millions of Jews and other minorities were mass murdered could of maybe never happened. However, a world with no discrimination and that everyone is significant and equal is never going to happen, maybe in a utopian society. There have been inequality since forever. It is an issue that I honestly do not think will ever be put to rest, which is sad.

Truth, Sojourner. "Ain't I a Woman?" 14 July 1998. Web. 14. Feb. 2012.

Quinn, Edward. "Transcendentalism." A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Terms, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= DLLT1007&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 14, 2012).

Slavery Hymnals

"Swing Low Sweet Chariot" was a spiritual slavery song that African Americans would sing day in and day out while they were doing their regular slavery tasks. The song is about all the slaves just waiting for their own chariot to set them free. They are waiting for a miracle to happen basically to save them from their own everyday nightmare we know as slavery. The song is written by a group of negros before the civil war. It is similar to a folk song that the white population would sing or know then. The chariot is like god or freedom, a miracle that will make them free. They are almost praying. The slaves are picturing the freedom. They wanted their freedom. Henry Thoreau was similar in the beliefs of slavery. He actually fought for freedom.

"Go Down Moses" is also an african american song that was sang during slavery times as they were working and stuff like that. It is also a song of freedom of the slaves. They are waiting for the day that Moses goes down and that they will all be saved and no longer have to live their days in slavery. Egypt in the song is symbolizing the confederate states in the Civil War(Go Down Moses). The songs are similar to Henry David Thoreau because the song is about slavery and freedom. Thoreau wanted the freedom. Slavery was controlled by government which is not okay with Thoreau because he likes civil disobedience.

"Go Down, Moses Text of the Poem." ENotes - Literature Study Guides, Lesson Plans, and More. Enotes.com. Web. 10 Feb. 2012. .


Keep Your Hands On The Plow - GospelSongLyrics.Org." GospelSongLyrics.org - Lyrics and Music to All Your Favorite Gospel Songs. GospelSongLyrics. Web. 10 Feb. 2012. .

"Swing Low Sweet Chariot." Enotes.com. Enotes.com. Web. 10 Feb. 2012. .


"Keep Your Hands on the Plow" is one more African American spiritual slave song much like the other two that they would sing while trying to make the time pass. They were all prior to or during the Civil War. In the poem a hand is being placed on the bible and God is leading them to freedom. All of these songs are about freedom and how that is all they wanted. A lot of the literary pieces from slaves during this time are going to be about freedom because that was something that controlled their whole life. It was basically a deciding factor for all the decisions they made because slavery and what they were allowed to do and what they were not allowed to do was going to dictate all of the slaves decisions.

Calvary Crossing A Ford

Calvary Crossing A Ford is about a group of soldiers crossing a river...hence the title Calvary crossing a Ford. This sort of goes against Henry David Thoreau because he did not like government. He was all about civil disobedience. The army was part of government because government controls army. Thoreau even went as far to call them robots. Whitman wrote a whole poem about an army(Whitman). Also most of the poems by Thoreau and Emerson during the Transcendentalism period were about self and about one person because the Transcendentalism period valued self worth over intuition(Quinn). This poem is all about a group of people, and those group of people are also people that Emerson and Thoreau did not like because they were "robots". During the time this poem was written Whitman the writer of this poem was a medic in the civil war. So he would of seen something very similar to this poem if not the exact scene. Most of the Transcendentalism period writers did not appreciate government especially Thoreau. Walt Whitman must of had some sort of respect for the government because he technically worked for them. He is not very similar to all of the other writers in this time period. However, I have heard that later in his writings he gets more into the typical themes of transcendentalism and writes more about self other than groups. He changes a lot in his writings and does more of typical piece of the time period. I think I like Whitman's works a little bit better than Thoreau's and Emerson's because I do not always agree with their idea of civil disobedience. Especially the whole idea of hating the army and calling them robots. Just because they are in the army does not mean that they are robots. They are actually doing a lot of good for our country, fighting for our freedom. It is a little messed up that they could look at people that I have a lot of respect for in that way.


Quinn, Edward. "Transcendentalism." A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Terms, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= DLLT1007&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 26, 2012).
Whitman, Walt. "Cavalry Crossing a Ford - Walt Whitman (1819-1892)." Books & Literature Classics. Web. 10 Feb. 2012.

Reflection The meaning of July Fourth...

To be an active member of society and in government during the time of the civil war and slavery, it was pretty much understood that you were white. However, there have been many hard hitting intelligent African Americans that were quite active during those times. Fredrick Douglous was one of those people. He was very opinionated and definitely stood up for what he believed in. He gave one very infuential speech that we were supposed to read titled "The Meaning of July Fourth for a Negro". I think Douglas wanted all of the people to take a bit of a deeper look into this holiday that we celebrate every year. Today this holiday is a time where you watch red and blue fireworks and eat hotdogs and just celebrate and hang out with your family and friends. Back then when our independence was just won I think that it was a much bigger deal, especially for the white population. During this time they were definitely superior to the blacks. The whites were celebrating their independence because they were seriously free, however what did the blacks have to celebrate at this time? They were not free in most states, they were slaves. They were not able to do whatever they pleased like the whites got to. This holiday was pointless for them, they did not have anything to celebrate. He starts out "The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. They were great men too" (Douglass). I do think Douglass did believe that the signers were those two things, but I also think he was using some wisdom and intelligence, both themes of transcendentalism(Quinn). He wanted to get some people's attention. A lot of what Emerson and Thoreau did was take a deeper look into things, take it that one step further. This is exactly what Douglass was trying to get people to do when writing this piece. He knows what it was like he wanted everyone else to understand. I have a lot of respect for this man.

Douglass, Frederick. "The Meaning of July Fourth For the Negro." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Africans in America. Web. 07 Feb. 2012.


Quinn, Edward. "Transcendentalism." A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Terms, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= DLLT1007&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 26, 2012).

The Gettysburg Address

The Gettysburg Address is one of the most famous speeches in the history of our country, the United States of America. It was given by one of the most famous presidents our country has had, Abraham Lincoln. This speech is given after the civil war has began. Basically in the country at the time they have their freedom, and government is good and all that, but each and every day men that fought so hard to be free are fighting again against men of their own kind...It is not really fair. However, Abraham Lincoln commemorates and gives this battle land to those whom have lost their lives fighting for our country. Many powerful statements are made this day. "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced” (Lincoln). Lincoln wants everyone to be remembered for the good that they did, and I agree. Yes, Lincoln is a political figure and Thoreau and Emerson did not really believe in government, and basically thought they could do no good, but in this case I think Abraham Lincoln made a very strong right choice and I think this is a time that maybe these two men from the Transcendentalism period would appreciate a government figure because only someone who had great self wisdom would dedicate something like this and give this speech with such poise. Self Wisdom is also a characteristic from this time period known as the Transcendentalism period(Quinn). Most of the time in the literary period people were strong and valued themselves and I think most of the people in the time period were intelligent. I think Lincoln embodied all of these things quite well during his presidency, including when he gave this speech. He was a very strong intelligent man, I know a lot of people may not agree with that statement, but that is my opinion and I think he was a great president.

Lincoln, Abraham, and Roy P. Basler. "The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln."Net INS Showcase. Abraham Lincoln Online. Web. 08 Feb. 2012.


Quinn, Edward. "Transcendentalism." A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Terms, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= DLLT1007&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 26, 2012).