madeline

Ahh the first semester of sophomore year is finished. This year has been good but there has been quite a lot of work so far ( not in English particularly).  I like the pace we have been going in English. We don’t really rush on anything and take our time when discussing things. I like that most of the class is based on discussion and isn’t so uniform.  I think Ass. Captain and I have done a lot to spice up the class room and we will continue to take on this responsibility next semester. We will keep our class in line.

After reading chrissy’s blog on slave narratives, I agreed with so much of what she said that I wanted to read the same one.  I read about John Jacobs and I looked more closely at family dynamic for slaves.  This aspect of a slave’s life sometimes gets looked over because the torture, hard work and quest for freedom are overpowering.  Thinking about a slave’s family really made me depressed.  I take for granted the fact that I actually live with my family.  I can’t imagine having to worry about whether I am going to be sold somewhere different from my family or having to watch my father be sold elsewhere. If I was a mother I don’t know what I would do.  As if slaves were not physically getting abused enough, slave owners had to split up families to emotionally abuse them as well. These slave narratives are really interesting to read because they show some of the emotions that textbooks can’t really capture.

After I read Ass. Captains second race blog I found I agreed with a lot of what she said. She talked about what we had learned in American History about poor whites that didn’t even own slaves wanting to keep slavery in tack. They wanted this not for economical reasons but for social. They liked that even though they were trashy and poor that they would still always be better that blacks. By freeing blacks it would really make them the bottom of the totem poll which they did not want. I feel like Huck’s father is one of these people. He is incredibly racist which probably feeds from his own insecurities. Its kind of ridiculous that people would want to so strongly oppress a group of people to better themselves.

Throughout Huck Finn there are a million examples of satire.  In the first few chapters the book shows great examples of racial and religious satire.   In chapter 4 Huck talks about praying before meals and how he thinks its ridiculous and just makes the food cold.  He doesn’t understand what mumbling something before eating accomplishes.  Another shocking thing for me to read what Hucks fathers reaction to learning that some blacks could vote.  He said that he would have voted if he were not so drunk but after finding out that blacks could vote he wanted to have nothing to do with voting. This is biting his nose off despite his face and makes no sense.  This showed how close minded and ridiculous some Americans can be.  I think twain really hits some key points that people need to hear about.

            Basically talking about
Americas situation over seas makes me incredibly frustrated. I am a very opinionated person especially when it comes to politics.  I absolutely hate that we are in a war right now but I don’t feel educated enough on the subject to actually debate about it with someone.  I want our troops out but I can see how they are needed there and that no good would come of pulling them out now.  The fact that I don’t have a strong, fact based, opinion really bothers me.  With most other political debates, I can argue until the other person understands or gives up. This is not the case with
Iraq. I have no argument except that I am unhappy. I strongly dislike the Bush Administration and in particular Dick Cheney.  This was before I even found out that his company is ripping off
America by charging troops a ridiculous amount for oil.  If he is the vice president shouldn’t he being doing what’s best for the country and not for his own company?  I think he’s horrible and greedy leader that might as well go shoot another guy.  

http://www.aclu.org/racialjustice/racialprofiling/index.html 

I definitely believe that there is strong racial profiling in
America.  My family is Greek and most of my cousins are very swarthy.  Right after 9/11 every time he went through an airport security line he got pulled aside.  People get racial profiled everyday and I am sure that whether we try to or not we make our on judgments based solely on race at times. Its an awful truth and something I wish wasn’t a reality.

I personally really enjoy satire. I think it’s a really effective way to get points across with out being too forward.  Its shows what’s actually going on in real life situations that may be a little exaggerated for affect.  I think this is why a lot of authors use satire to try and get their messages out there and let them be heard.  I saw the movie Borat, which I thought was really funny but at the same time really disturbing (and I am not talking about the wrestling scene which I watched sitting next to both my parents).  My mother hated the movie because it upset her too much.  Looking at all the problems that the movie pointed our really mad her sad at the sorry state which
America is in.  Satire is an effective way to make people aware of the surrounding but sometimes not everyone understands.  This just leaves them feeling uncomfortable (as everyone did while reading about eating babies).  But maybe not understanding it right away makes its even more effective when you finally understand it.

This poem definitely relates to Grant Wiggins.  He is a teacher and everyone in the black community has great respect for him.  They all value his opinion and take into consideration what he says.  Miss Emma says he was the only person she count ask to try and make
Jefferson feel like a real man. He was the only person that had a shot at getting through to him. “When you were a teacher in the black community in those days, you were a person of great respect–even when you’d go downtown to buy clothing on good credit or something.”  Being respected in the black community didn’t transfer over in the white community.  Even the highest black was lower than any white.  When Grant talks to any white person he had to make eye contact only when the white person permitted it, and always say “Sir” at the end of his sentences. “Now, if you got “out of your place,” you’d still be in trouble”.  When they say “out of your place”, I think they mean mingling with white people. It was a sad state, but reality.

This poem definitely relates to Grant Wiggins.  He is a teacher and everyone in the black community has great respect for him.  They all value his opinion and take into consideration what he says.  Miss Emma says he was the only person she count ask to try and make
Jefferson feel like a real man. He was the only person that had a shot at getting through to him. “When you were a teacher in the black community in those days, you were a person of great respect–even when you’d go downtown to buy clothing on good credit or something.”  Being respected in the black community didn’t transfer over in the white community.  Even the highest black was lower than any white.  When Grant talks to any white person he had to make eye contact only when the white person permitted it, and always say “Sir” at the end of his sentences. “Now, if you got “out of your place,” you’d still be in trouble”.  When they say “out of your place”, I think they mean mingling with white people. It was a sad state, but reality.