Journal # 27

1. The Bean Tree deals with many examples of outsiders. This can be seen with all the main Characters in the book. Taylor grew up as a "nutter," but refused to act in the ways most girls did at Pittman. She was isolated among the other girls in that she tried to get good grades while the girls around her were getting pregnant. She was both an outsider to the "higher" class students and to her own group in this way. Taylor becomes an insider when she becomes friends with Lou Ann, Estevan, Esperanza, Mattie, and others, she gains support from all these people. To be an Insider, one must feel support from others in the "Insider" group. This group, composed of people different backgrounds, is what turned each individual into an insider. The feeling of an outsider often instills neglect, dependancy and nervousness as seen WIth Lou and Turtle. Turtle begins with a feeling of dependancy to Taylor and anything she could hold, to not let go, or see them disappear. Lou is nervous, she shows it with her son as she pays extra attention to him in the fear of losing him, neglect is also seen from her feelings as an outsider as she is abandoned by Angel.

2. The characters in The bean tree experience dynamic changess from human kindness after their more depressing history. Lou at first, is left depressed, lack of confidence, and always feeling that the world is out to get her. When she gets her first tastes of human kindness from Dwayne Ray, Taylor, and Turtle, she starts to open herself up and gain confidence back. By the end of the story, she gains enough self confidence and backbone to become the Manager at a salsa factory while at the same time, to have moved on beyond Angel. Taylor grows up with a hard exterior, like the walnutr shells she used to crack with passing cars. She;s tough and glum, with no purpose in life, but changes once she's thrown the responsibilities of Turtle. This time, she does not recieve human kindness, but gives it out to help the toddler. She starts to soften and care for others as well as becoming more compassioned for her outlook in life, when she left Pittman in her beat up car, she had no purpose; When she was driving home with Turtle, she had one purpose in life, to raise Turtle. Turtle is the most dynamic change in the book. She starts out weak, sick and quiet. She doesn't talk at all, msotly struck in fear and depression. Under the care of Taylor, Virgie, Edna, and Esperanza, she opens up into a talkitive and energetic toddler, shes beaming and bouncing around whever she goes.

3. Taylor started off sheltered in the rndown town of Pittman, her experiences with places outside of said town was through cartoons, Brocheures and old textbooks. Taylor learns the cold truth on Human Suffering. Her friendship with Estevan and Esperanza and her discovery of their lost daughter Ismene, as she learns that life can be overly cruel. She leans the complexity of love through her own encounter with Estevan, a man that she falls for, yet she can't have knowing that hes taken.

4. As We look throughout our entire journey through American Literature, everything is covered from poems to novels, all aspects of American life since the discovery of the United States has touched on what it was like to be an American. The hard, spartan life of the Puritans, in a vast new land, nervous and excited on what it may bring, the lives of Huck Finn, a Southern boy living in the 1800s South, the transcendentalists, harbinger of simple life and nature, to the lives of Willy, an American salesman living in the mid 1900s as a man who lived in the corruption of the American Dream; All covered the different styles of literature In America. The only part of America that was left out, was the modern time, the contemporary Literature that told the lives of modern America.

5. The book talks heavily on relationships, identity , diversity and the the drive by people to find the meaning of life. All the characters in the book, have some sort of dark or depressing History, moments where they couldn't possibly find a crueler example of the heartlessness in Humanity, but they all strive to live on and brave these Icy storms from people's hearts. Taylor goes to comfort Esperanza after her attempted suicide, despite her turmoiling emotions with Esteven , Taylor encourages Esperanza to weather the storm, "I guess the main thing I came up here to tell you is, I don't know how you go on, but I really hope you'll keep doing it. That you won't give up esperanza. I thought of that last night. Esperanza is all you get, no second chances. What you have to do is try and think of reasons to stick it out"(148). Taylor says here that staying strong can be the only reason to find meaning in their lives, as long as one realizes that they have one life to do what they want.

6. Akin to the diversity of people in America, there were numerous different viewpoints throughout the history of American Literature, while some remained constant, some were drastically different from the previous viewpoint. The Native Americans talked of freedom from oppression, how to live by Nature and not through materialism. The Puritans followed a very different Approach, to shun Nature, to live under the strict hand of God. The Romantics picked up a similar view to the Native Americans, to break from the shackles of the (then) modern Society, to live by Nature and seize the coming day. Realists' point of view depended on the belief that outside forces limited the freedom of a person, similar to the Puritans that god dictated their lives. Modernists like those from the Harlem Renaissance and The Bean Tree talk of Human freedom and diversity. What remain constant seem to be two polarized views, one of Freedom from oppression, the other stating that Freedom is an illusion, that our fate is dictated by someone else. What connects these however is the idea of Freedom of Humanity and independence, whether it really exists, connects to America's struggle of Freedom , from independence to slavery, the idea of freedom for all or a select few is reflected in the History of American Literature.

As hinted by my blog's theme, I'm Chinese American,(or half Taiwanese if you want to involve politics). The reason of me in America along with my Grandpa, uncles, aunts and parents can be summed up in three words, "we hate communism," my grandpa especially. Growing up in the Canto region of China, my grandpa worked as an engineer before settling down as a business man, owning several movie theaters showing the latest American movies. Then the communist party took over China. Communist do not like educated citizens, especially those that were wealthy through capitalist techniques. After most of his money was taken away, he escaped to Hong Kong, and applied his family for immigration. The journey to America was a difficult one, requiring him to leave one of his kids to the communist as a hostage to make sure that he still payed the communist government the money that he "owed." He eventually had all of his kids immigrate to the U.S

My grandpa left behind a familiar life in Hong Kong, hoping to find an education for his children. That was his American Dream, to make a better future for his kids. And he succeeded. He was under the protection of the U.S Government, so the communist forces in China wouldn't harm his family. He had to leave what was left of his business in China, and enter a new culture, but he wanted the best for his children. My grandpa still thinks the American dream still exists today, where one can work hard with an education to achieve great success, as shown by my Dad's generation(two doctors and a pharmacist). The concept of the American dream has not changed much at all, in fact, its reinforced today with competition for colleges increasing annually. My own American dream is basically the same, to get a good education to land a good job and live a comfortable life, preferably away from communism.

Journal #24 a worn path indeed

"A worn Path" depicts the story of a worn, but resilient grandmother by the name of Phoenix Jackson reach a town to pick up medicine for her grandchild. The reader is introduced to information about the grandchild but they have no idea if the Child is alive or not. Eudora Welty, the author of this story, states her opinion on the matter, explaining that she does not believe that knowing whether the Child had lived or not was relevant to the main part of her story. I for one, agree with Welty's opinion about the condition of the grandson. A story depicting the journey, not the destination shows how the knowledge of whether the grandchild survives or not is irrelevant For most of the book, the reader is not focused on the conflict with the grandson, instead they are focused on the struggle that Phoenix has to go through, her own personal journey. All the reader is supposed to know is that Phoenix loves her grandson. Her love for her grandson would not be diminished if he was dead or alive. Theres evidence that Phoenix would still have taken the journey to pick up medicine for her grandson, as she could use it to cope with the deck.

Journal #23: What happens in every run at Tennis practice (Stream of Consciousness)

Final stretch! Vision wavering, breath too short, cannot fall behind lead. I didn't know the sidewalk had so many bumps. Must not think about cramps, too late. How much farther? the courts are in sight! Its too far away, crud, another one passed me. Have to focus, one leg right after the other: Left, right, left, right. Must keep a stable breath, do I sound too loud? Woops, almost tripped, I bet it hurts a lot if I trip on the pavement-nope, gotta stop thinking that, got to focus on making it to the courts in one piece. Another one has passed me, My gut hurts beyond anything I have ever felt before. I knew I should have stretched before I ran, no my body is literally killing for that mistake. Or maybe it was that snack before I came here, but it was so good! Gotta stop thinking about food, not helping my gut. I'm so close now, I've reached the parking lot! Gotta lean forward a little, See if I can close the gap between me and 3 of my teammates up ahead. Woah, almost tripped again! So close now, got to avoid that car. Vision blurry, gut is aching, legs, so stiff, can't stop gravity from pulling me into the ground. I made it!

Journal Entry #22: Henry's Conflict

As I read the afterward by Joe Haldeman, on The Red Badge of Courage, I was provided with a unique insight on his idea of the plot and character development of Henry. He states that the plot of The Red Badge of Courage is simplified, but doesn’t criticize it, pointing out, that the plot is not the sole literary device that determines a good story as shown as he writes, “A strong plot is not necessarily a virtue”(156). I agree with Haldeman’s statement, the plot is simple; Henry is a soldier fighting in the Union Army in the Civil War as he copes with the realities of War and becomes a man, the plot is as simple as that, but a closer examination beyond the plot shows that the book is immensely more complex than. Haldman also talks about the prevalent use of irony in the book, something that I noticed, but to the extent that he points out. The use of Irony can be seen when Henry gets a wound from the butt of a rifle by a fleeing Union Soldier, fellow soldiers see the wound as a battle wound and show respect to Henry, who secretly reviles under the guilt of the truth. This is a significant example of irony used by Crane, to create an ironic tone to the Civil War Battles, which were previously romanticized by previous Civil war Novels as stated by Haldeman. Joe Haldeman’s criticism and analysis of The Red Badge of Courage startled me at first, but his statements make a logical analysis and review of the book ultimately make me agree with his analysis.

Of the two statements provided by Haldeman, I agree more with the second statement: that as Henry deals with his external conflict(the Civil War), he resolves his internal conflict that has plagued him and reveals his inflated pride. His internal conflict, his struggle over his own act cowardice, is not solved until the end of the story, where his external battles have been won, which lets him come to terms and accepting his previous, romantic behavior, “He found that he could look back upon the brass and bombast of his earlier gospels and see them truly. He was gleeful when he discovered that he now despised them”(154). Henry looks back at his previous behavior and his romanticized view of war with a slight disgust after seeing the error behind his ways. This was only possible if he actually saw the true light of war in battle therefore showing how Henry’s external conflict resolved his internal conflict.

Do we really control our lives? Every decision from our own and not by the people around us?Its a scary thought, to have all of one's decisions come from everyone else but themselves. Fate does control parts of our lives. As seen with our life lessons taught by our parents, I'm sure many of us still follow that advice, if not have our lives based around them. Death is another thing in fate we cannot control, a we know that no matter what we do, life ends in one way or another, its the final dimension in our lives that we cannot control. Other pieces of fate :where we are born, our parents, associates, and other things dictate much of our decisions. Sometimes what comes to us is what makes who we reshapes us to make certain decisions in life.

However, we are not slaves our fate, many aspects, personal aspects of our lives is still under our dictation. Early on, one is heavily influenced by others, but as you get older, you are less influenced by others and start listening to the voices in your head. Even influences, they remain influences, not dictators to your thoughts. We all have interests that we ourselves have, not by others, this is another part thats unique to one's self. Free will is not dead, but combined with Fate, instead of one remaining dominant over another, they both mix with their own influences on our decisions and lives.

Journal #20: "A Nation Reborn"

Quite a shocking and informational video, "God in America" -- Part III: "A Nation Reborn," Shows the religious aspects on the issue of slavery between both the North and the South. The North made fronts on how evil and sinful the institution was while the South tried to defend by claiming its a god supported institution, both sides had ministers to back them up along with verses on the bible. The civil war was like a religious crusade for both sides to determine once and for all, who really had god's support. As the war reached its latter stages, the North saw the war in a new way, that it was a punishment for two hundred and fifty years of slavery, and that god was truly on their side.

The great president,Abraham Lincoln, had went through his own religious moment in the Civil War. Troubled by his son's death, he used the Minister's eulogy as the guide to his spiritual decision to ban slavery. Doing so, he effectively set a new path and goal for the Union, as a religious crusade to banish slavery, and racial equality, which he helped set up the progress to do so. His new religious view of god, that God chose to have this war decide the fate of America and Slavery, changed America forever as blacks now had a chance for equal opportunities and freedom. What surprised me about Lincoln though, was how deeply he believed that god was making him suffer to help change America, Comparing him to an old biblical tale of how a man was forced to wonder how one with a connection with god must suffer. Lincoln can be compared very closely with Frederick Douglass, the Black Abolitionist with his view on god's support of abolishing slavery and the recognition that force must be used to free the blacks as Lincoln showed as he declared that Slavery must be abolished with the might of the Union Army as they rushed to defeat the south. A religious man that did many great things for his country, Abe Lincoln will be remembered how his religious views changed the United States forever.