11: Response to Mimi Heald

   I also found similar themes of noble death in "As the Lord Lives, He is One of Our Mother's Children" and "If We Must  Die," so I would agree that yes, this theme connected the two pieces. As soon as I read the description of death in "If We Must Die" as being surround by barking "mad and hungry dogs," I thought of "As the Lord Lives..." and the hanging of Jones. As the story progresses, we learn that Stone (also known as 'Gentleman Jim') fears being found and suffering the same death as Jones, which has haunted him since the day that it happened and caused him to go into hiding. He also comments that he'll "never be taken alive," which I interpreted to mean that he would rather be caught already dead by this angry mob than have to suffer the public display of brutal death that he had watched Jim endure. 


     Another thought that I had while reading these works was that their authors, Pauline Hopkins and Claude McKay, wrote them thirty years apart. This was sad in a sense that the extreme prejudice that was shown toward African-Americans at the turn of the twentieth century and portrayed in "As the Lord Lives..." was still continuing thirty years later when Claude McKay composed his poems, including "If We Must Die." This is an example of how a theme, in this case noble death, can be carried into the literature of the next generation. 

The Aha! Moment

When I first read “The Wife of His Youth” and “Learning to Read,” I thought that they had nothing in common. However, after thinking about the characters of both pieces, I had an Aha! Moment when I realized that they have more in common than I originally had thought.

Both works tell the stories of slave women who had a goal that they wanted to accomplish. Even when others commented on their age or the low likelihood that they would accomplish their goal, they both continued to press on and eventually reach their desired goals. Chloe from “Learning to Read” wants to learn to read, especially so that she can read the Bible. “Folks just shook their heads” and told her that she was “too late,” but she didn’t give up until she was able to read the Bible and hymns. Another ‘goal’ that she was able to accomplish was the sense of independence that she felt after she had learned to read and procured a house of her own.

The Chloe character of “The Wife of His Youth” is ‘Liza Jane. ‘Liza is a freed slave woman who has been searching for her husband for twenty-five years. She comes to Mr. Ryder, who she has been told knows most everyone in the area, to ask if he has heard of her husband, Sam Taylor. Mr. Ryder responds by reminding her that her husband my have died or she might not even recognize him because of the large amount of time that has passed since they’ve last seen one another. ‘Liza is still convinced that neither of these is true, and she is determined to find him. While the story does not say so explicitly at this point, it is implied that Mr. Ryder is the husband that she has been searching for, and this is confirmed at the very end of the story.

Both of these stories are examples of the strong determination that many African Americans, slaves and free alike, were required to have during this time period. Even though these works did not appear to be similar, a closer look revealed that the woman character from each displayed a quiet determination that can be admired even today. 

Information Revolution: Part II

            In the years following the Civil War, the newly united states of America were experiencing some definite growing pains, much of which were brought on by print culture. As before the Civil War, writers continued to push for social reform in the areas of women’s and minority rights, especially for newly freed African-American slaves and Chinese-American immigrants. Numerous advocates for social reform, such as Helen Hunt and Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins, sent their works to members of Congress or published them to promote their social reform agenda. Thanks to the invention of the linotype machine, dubbed by Thomas Edison as the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” these works could be produced and distributed more quickly than ever before. This new invention sparked an information revolution that the United States had never experienced before, and enabled anyone with an opinion to express themselves in a more widespread manner.

            In more recent years, the United States has undergone an information revolution in the form of technology. The Internet gives anyone who can get their hands on a computer to express their opinions and to read others’ opinions on almost any topic imaginable through websites, email, blogging, and social media. Whether you post your opinion in your Facebook status, follow your favorite political candidate on Twitter, or regularly blog about your personal views on a particular issue, there are numerous ways to connect with and reach millions of other Internet users around the globe.

            Citizens across the country have the opportunity to make a change through the Internet, and many social reform movements have been started or are kept running through Internet websites. Want to find out the latest on an upcoming election or what your friends are saying about a recent bill passed by Congress? Information is only a click away. Just as the United States underwent an information revolution brought on by innovations in literary ‘technology’ following the Civil War, today the United States is going through a similar revolution through the use of the Internet and social media.

10.5.11: Same Difference

Journal #8

            From reading their biographies, you wouldn’t think that Jefferson Davis and Henry Highland Garnet had much in common. Davis was a white West Point graduate who owned a cotton plantation in Mississippi and spent a number of years in both houses of Congress, resigned when Mississippi seceded form the Union, and was elected President of the newly formed Confederate States. Garnet was born a slave in Maryland and his family escaped to New York City when he was nine years old, where he would eventually enter the ministry through the Presbyterian Church. He was a proponent of the abolitionist movement, and was asked by President Lincoln to deliver a sermon at the House of Representatives. They sound so similar, right?

So maybe these two men aren’t so similar, but two of their writings, Davis’ Inaugural Address and Garnet’s A Memorial Discourse share many of the same basic ideas regarding the American dream. One of Davis’ main points is that “it is the right of the people to alter or abolish a government whenever it becomes destructive of the ends for which it was established.” He believes that as Americans, the South has the right to withdraw and set up a new government because their rights have been violated. Their opportunity to participate in the American dream has been threatened, and he feels that if seceding from the Union becomes the means for regaining those rights, then that’s what the South will do. Because the majority of Davis’ audience are Southerners who are also in the same boat, its likely that they rallied behind him in his stance.

            Garnet also feels that the rights of his people have been violated; only Garnet is referring to African-American slaves. In his speech, he acknowledges that many Northerners are wondering when the demands of the abolitionists will end. Garnet clearly answers, “When there shall be….no more trouble concerning the black man and his rights…when, in every respect, he shall be equal before the law.” Like Davis, Garnet feels that the rights of his people have been violated, and therefore they are not able to pursue the American dream. However, unlike Davis, Garnet may have been speaking to a group of individuals who did not feel the same way that he did, but judging from the determination that I could sense in his words and the clarity with which he chose them, I wouldn’t be surprised if he won a few of the Congressman over.

The term ‘American dream’ hasn’t necessarily been coined yet, but Davis and Garnet agree that the people they are representing have been denied their rights as American citizens, and they have formulated what they believe to be a solution. So are Davis and Garnet the similar after all? I’d say that they are. As leaders of their respective groups, they both have an understanding of what it feels like to be ‘left out’ of the American dream.