Rev. Wiley
Posted onJanuary 13, 2009
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In class we discussed how many people in this book do not get the true meaning of life, even after death. AN example of this is Rev. Wiley. He goes on an talks about how he has conducted many revivals, baptized many converts and preached many sermons. He concludes the poem by saying that all those deeds were no greater than when he would save marriages from divorce. He goes on and talks about how the children benefit from his ”great” act. What he does not realize is how those kids suffer tremendously living with two parents who absolutely despise each other. The conflict that is caused staying in the marriage out ways the conflict that would happen if the two got divorced. IN society, we see many people live Rev. WIley. They believe that they are doing things that are right and true, but in actuality, they are hurting more than helping.
AD blood
Posted onJanuary 7, 2009
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Reading A.D. bloods piece gave us a little more information on the milliners daughter. We know that her name was Dora and that her and Reuban would sneak to the graveyard to do “unholy” things. We can infer that Blood was a police man of some sort. He refers to Justice Arnett and the case of Daisy Fraser. I went back to page 22 and it saw that there was a Harold Arnett. I wonder if these two may be related or one in the same. I feel like the scandal of Reuban and Daisy will only get more chaotic as more dead people come. Hearing Daisy’s mother speak paints us a better picture of what life was really like in this small town. It isn’t as innocent and boring as one may assume. We now know that Daisy disappeared and the people in Spoon River made up lies and tormented the mother. Small towns get away with a lot because people overlook their flaws. This book really shows you the other side of the story.
another book…
Posted onJanuary 6, 2009
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This style of writing is unlike anything i have read before. Each character only has a short excerpt to catch me and attract me to find its true meaning. The person that i found most interesting was Reuben Pantier. He talks about his long lost love, Emily Sparks. The voice the author gives to Reuben has real heart and emotion. ”The eternal silence of you spoke instead.” That line grasped me close to these two characters and i felt the love that these two had. It is evident that they would never be together, but her soul and her love would always stay with him. Even when he was with other women his soul stayed in spoon river where his dear love emily sparks resides. Reading Emily Sparks kind of ruined the vision i had of her. I pictured her as some sweet simple women that he could just not be with. Now i know that the reason they could not be together was because she was his teacher. Even in her words you can tell her love for him as well. Although her love seems to be different than his, they both shared a strong bond that only they two could know of. It amazes me how this author can switch back and fourth between characters and sound so different. His voice changes with each character.
11,12,13
Posted onDecember 16, 2008
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The courtship between Tea Cake and Janie is very interesting to see play out. This is Janies third relationship and this seemingly is good for Janie. She finally has found a man that respects her as a person. Though Tea Cakes charm woes Janie, she still feels like he might be using her for his money. He runs off whenever he wants but when he returns, he always puts a smile to Janies face. The story of Ms. Tyler doesn’t even stop Janie from doing what she wants. We can definilty see the change in Janie as she has gotten older. She is stronger now. With plans to sell the store and run off with Tea Cake, Janie talks about her Grandmothers “way”. She says that now she is to liver her own “way” without the burden of Jody or anyone holding her down. They get married and move to another small town. Still weary of Tea Cakes intentions, Janie hides money in her skirt. A week later, Tea Cake leaves early, saying that he is just running to get fish for breakfast. He doesn’t come back, and Janie discovers that her money is missing. When he returns with more money he made from gambling, he tells janie of the party he threw for the railroad workers. Janie is mad and upset that Tea Cake didn’t invite her. Tea Cake explains that he was worried that Janie might not be comfortable with the lower class people. Janie tells Tea Cake that from now on, she wants to enjoy everything that he does. Janie has finally started to full trust Tea Cake and tells him of her money in the bank. Tea cake doesn’t want to touch her money at all and wants to move to the everglades to get work. I can only imagine what happens next…
CH 8 9 10
Posted onDecember 14, 2008
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6-7
Posted onDecember 10, 2008
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In chapter six, we see deeper and deeper into Jodys tainted philosophies on women and the way they should act. We see numerous instances where Jody will tell Janie not to do something because of her status or because a women shouldn’t be hanging with “trashy people”. During this time, women were not treated as equals. In black societies one would think they would do less discrimination. Jody has become so pompous and powerful that he does not see the abuse he puts on Janie. But Janie stays quiet. Though filled with resentment, she bottles her feelings inside to stay respectful. Janie still is continuing to find herself and her meaning in life. She was drawn to Jody because of his power, but now that same power has restricted her from being herself. 7 years go by during this chapter and Jody slaps janie one day after an argument. I expected that physical abuse would make Janie react or do something but as she did before, she remained quiet keeping in her true feelings. In chapter 7 we finally see this built up emotion come out. While Jody is deteriorating he becomes more vicious and starts to get worse with the way he treats Janie. When Janie messes up in the store, Jody lashes out on her in front of the whole crowd. He comments on her incompetence and her looks. She couldn’t handle it anymore. She burst out of her silence and attacks Jody verbally belittling him in front of everyone in the store. I felt good for Janie when she said these thing but am worried what the consequences will be. I hope Janie does not have to deal with anymore abuse but feel it is inevitable. She is locked by marriage and can’t just runaway.
ch3-4-5
Posted onDecember 9, 2008
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In chapter 3 Janie is not feeling the love that she thought marriage would bring. She goes to her one guide in life and is told that she must accept Logan and that she should be happy she has security. Though today we view this as a superficial and immoral marriage, at the time it was necessary. These people were experiencing extreme poverty and if marrying a rich man helped you escape that poverty than so be it. Grandmother was trying to explain to Janie that she should be happy about her relationship but because Janie already doubts her marriage, it only continues to get worse and worse. Because her grandmother had experienced slavery and very harsh times, having an honest and well-off man was all the criteria needed for a good husband. When this “new” mysterious man from Georgia came into the picture, Janie starts a little fling. He dazzles her with his big dreams and good looks and she feels that she is in love. Because she is so unhappy with her husband, anything new will make her happy. Janie has never experienced real love and will have a hard time figuring it out. I feel that she will go through a lot of hardships with her quest to find love. After several fights with Logan, Janie leaves to marry Jody and set out for the new town Jody will buy I do not trust Jody and his lust for power and change. He is too hungry it seems and I feel that he will not be able to translate his dreams into reality and will hurt Janie along the way. When Jody and Janie go down to the town ofEatonville we can infer she is on cloud 9. How long will this last? After buying land, building stores and selling property, Jody becomes the mayor of this town. When Taylor asks Janie to give a short speech at his store Jody prevents her from doing so. This is my first clue that this relationship will not work. Jody says that wives shouldn’t make speeches. His opinion angers Janie, but she remains silent. I wonder how long this silence will continue. In chapter 5 we can see how the power hungry Jody has changed in Janies eyes. Because people in the town start to feel animosity towards Jody and his dominant actions, Janie is obviously effected. The townspeople wonder how Janie gets along with Jody. I believe the two rarely know each other. They both enjoy the idea of the other, but did not fully understand what a relationship should be based on. I feel that Jody’s dominant personality will one day make Janie breakdown. She is naturally a strong women, im guessing from her grandmother, and she will not be able to stay quiet for too much longer.
New Book!
Posted onDecember 8, 2008
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My first impressions thus far are very positive. This author depicts a social group that is not very well known in common society. People who lived in North Florida speak with a dialect like none other. In the beginning of chapter one i struggled, but as chapter 2 started flowing i caught on to its flow. I can understand why prominent black people of the time mistakenly interpreted this book to generalize their people with a negative connontation. From the start of this book, we have seen a bunch of lazy people gossiping. We can read their dialect and can infer that they don’t have a good education. Though this is sad, it was the truth. All the author was doing was depict what was really going on during these times. The way the author characterized the grandmother was phenominal. I can just picture her sitting there with that half frown on her face just talking up a storm using words like, JEESUS and Oh LAWD. The racism that was shown thus far seems to be minuscule and non-relevant in this story. Though during the times of this novel racism was a huge social issue, I feel that the author will stray away from that and focus just on the people of the book and their true character. Its almost comic how Zora Hurston narrates the dialogue. We first see this confusing dialect, then we are shown narration that could be straight out of any great novel of the time. This book has intrigued me from the start and hope that it can continue to do so…
ch 4
Posted onNovember 30, 2008
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In chapter 4, we learn more about Gatsby and start to see Nicks skepticism on Gatsby’s past. When they are driving to the city, Gatsby tells Nick about his past. He claims to be the son of wealthy, deceased parents from the Midwest. When Nick asks where in the Midwest did he live, Gatsby replies, “San Francisco.” We all know that this sounds a bit peculiar and so did Nick. Gatsby then lists a long and detailed set of accomplishments, such as, attending Oxford. When Gatsby was stopped for speeding, all he had to do was show the cop his white card and he was let of the hook. At this point of the book we can infer that something is not right with Gatsby. There is definitely some holes in his story. It is interesting to see how nicks first impression of Gatsby is so much different from the impression he had after this day. The lunch with Wolfsheim complimented my first prediction that Gatsby was involved in some sort of bootlegging. Wolfsheim is said to have rigged the World Series and has a shady side to him. The thing i did like about Wolfsheim is when he said his philosophy on death and what to do for the person after. He basically says that he treats people as well as he can when they are alive, but once they are dead he doesn’t need to anymore. I can understand this totally because if we do really care about someones death, we should have really cared about them when they were alive and treated them well. Once someone is dead, there is no more for us to do for them personally.
ch 3
Posted onNovember 23, 2008
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We finally have met the man, the myth and the legend, Mr. Jay Gatsby. The build up that Fitzgerald has created is quite pleasurable. The first two chapters built up the readers anticipation and in the beginning of chapter 3, we finally are relieved. “One of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it.” Usually first impressions don’t get compliments like that. Gatsby is unlike most mysterious millionaires. When he throws his famous parties, he does not actually attend them. He just stands and watches all the guests as they throw out all their stresses and enjoy a great party. Everything we know about Gatsby seems to be a little different. Its almost as if he doesn’t know what to do with all the money he has. After i ended this chapter, i had already started to make predictions. I believe Gatsby is a nice, genuine and smart man. I also believe he is hiding something and as we start to see Gatsby more and more we will find out his real story.
