James' Space

"Bastard Out of Carolina"

2006-05-03T15:12:00.000-07:00

In Chapter 20, we see that Bone actually takes a stand for herself when she confronted Daddy Glen. She tells him what she feels about him, and then tells her that she doesn't want to come home with him. Bone also mentions that she doesn't want her mother to have anything to do with her. In response, Glen decides to attack Bone and tells her that she is always in the way. Her mother helps put an end to the attack. I think that it might have been a bad idea to get him angry, but she didn't have a choice. Also, I think that Bone was very brave to stand up to him after all that he has done to her. Personally, If I was in her own shoes, I might have done the same thing. As a matter of fact, I did reveal my thoughts about someone I disliked, but nothing bad happened to me as a result.

"Bastard Out of Carolina"

2006-04-27T17:55:00.000-07:00

I'm Sorry this is late. The first few chapters of this book were very interesting. What I found to be very interesting was the scene where Bone's stepfather raped her. What makes this interesting is that we don't usually see these rape scenes in the readings in the class (With the exception of "A Streetcar named Desire"). But what makes this interesting to me is that an 8 year old girl is raped by her mother's husband while her mother is having a baby. As we discussed in class, it isn't clear why he rapes her, but he does anyway. I think he was so nervous, he wasn't thinking clearly and just raped Bone. I've seen people act strange and nervous when they are going to have a baby. Why do you think he raped her?

Poems

2006-04-18T21:12:00.000-07:00

The poem that I really liked the most was "Into the Stone". I liked it because it made alot of references to nature. It took me a while to think of some possible meanings of what the poem was all about. I thought that the poem was about slavery and the abolition of slavery. I think that the sunrise represents the dawn of a new era. Also, when they mentioned animal eyes becoming human, I think that they see that black people aren't animals, they are humans. I don't think it's right, but that's how I came up with that conclusion. What do you think the meaning or message the poem gives?

"A Streetcar Named Desire"- movie

2006-03-29T16:09:00.000-08:00

Up to this point in the movie, I enjoyed it. The movie helped clarify what I read in the book a bit. I think that they did a good job showing off the scenery and characters. However, I think that stories in a movie form makes the stories seem... limited. When you read a story, there is an unlimited amount of ways to imagine what the characters look like and what the setting looks like. What is also limited is some of the things the characters say or do.

Hurston and Wright

2006-03-15T13:19:00.000-08:00

I found both of these essays to be very interesting, because of how they both show the positive and negative sides of being black. What I really found to be interesting was how Wright talked about the violent acts near the beginning of his essay. He did say that he didnt want to fight and he ended up doing that. It reminded me of the peaceful protests the black people did to eliminate segregation laws and to be equal to whites.

"Delta Autumn"

2006-02-21T23:22:00.000-08:00

In this section of the book, In a way it is almost like the section "The Bear." However, the difference is that they are not hunting for bears and the setting takes place somewhere between the mid 1930's to the mid 1940's because they mention something about Hitler. This section is mainly about a huge hunting trip. In a part of "Delta Autumn" the narrator goes on to mention or flashback to the plantation and how they had it at one time. Then they also mention Sam Fathers. I feel this was important because it makes it in some way just like "The Bear." Also, the woman also discovers more about her heritage through her uncle who was Isaac.

"The Bear"

2006-02-15T17:16:00.000-08:00

In the begining of this Chapter, it starts out with the main character going hunting with the other characters, Major de Spain and Sam Fathers. Also, in the second section of the chapter, it seemed as if Sam was interested in a dog called Lion. The dog was very wild and untamed.
However, Sam did not want to tame it, he wanted Lion as is. Lion went and attacked another dog they had called "Old Ben".

Desiree's Baby

2006-02-05T23:28:00.000-08:00

Kate Chopin's story, "Desiree's Baby," has its similarities and its differences from what we previously have read. It has its similarities in the sense that they mixed the french language and the english language like the stories "At the 'Cadian Ball" and "The Storm". Alos, this story was written some time after the abolition of slavery. However, it is different in the sense that the story takes place in Texas and not in the southeast and mid-atlantic states. The story was mainly about a woman coping with the fact that she is not white like she thought she was and how she really is "cursed with the brand of slavery".

John Pendleton Kenedy Blog

2006-01-26T10:25:00.000-08:00

Before the excerpt from John Pendleton Kennedy's Swallow barn, they mention his life and how a part of it was spent on a plantation in Virginia, even though he grew up in Baltimore. Then Kennedy mentions that slavery "was a moral good or a necessary evil for the south as a whole." Then they go on saying that, "Kennedy acknowledged that slavery could spawn occasional malcontents." It tells me that he was aware that slavery does have it's pro's and con's. However, he was fair and impartial. In the first chapter, Kennedy describes the setting with great details. Also, the surrounding areas are described in detail. The second chapter however describes the slaveowner Frank Meriwether. He is described as a handsome gentleman who is married and is a kind master. This story was made before the Civil War.