Jeong #2

Mark Twain is the father of American Humor. His stories have the cruel sense of current day American humor. Movies such as Bruno depicts Twain's humor perfectly. Modern humor consists of making fun or taking pun at gays, celebrities, and the military. Twain had a way of making the topics of his time. Writing about the Mississippi River was the setting of most of his stories. He grew up in the south and wrote of the south. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Fin had the setting partaking along the banks of the Mississippi River. Twain made fun of anything and everything he could. He writes of the western expansion and tells stories of the men slaying buffalo and getting chased by them, fictional tales of a man who loves betting and wins. The "news" of Mark Twain's era were subject to his criticism. He wrote with such swag that he was published throughout the world and was known for his "Americanism." It was Anne Hutchinson who had the first poems published, Ralph Waldo Emerson who sought for American culture, Edgar Allen Poe who defined short stories and made America known for its writers, but Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) was the father of modern day humor. He is the one responsible for all modern day humor. Comedians are the fruit of TWAIN.

HOW TO TELL A STORY

How to tell a story by Mark Twain was probably the best reading that I have read in either semester of American Literature class. For a few reasons, it was funny, true, and short and to the point. I dont want to make any assumptions but It seems as if Mark Twain was the father of modern day comedy and humor, he breaks down the two ways to be funny and the two different types of jokes that can be used to tell a story. Being Humorous or comical. In modern day you can tell the difference between the two types of stories, that comics use. Comedians like Dane Cook use a comical way of telling a story, as you already know what is basically going to happen and already lays it out for you. Other comedians such as Bill Cosby make you sit wait and listen and have to think to understand the point of his story or joke, which in the end is funnier than the blunt upfront comedy. Mark twain gives 2 good examples in the short writing that break down the difference between the two, and you immediately see the difference. Also, this was not a 10 page story or a poem that had to be disected to understand. THat is why I enjoyed this reading more than any other so far.

Life on the Missississippi

This book tells the story of his life on the river. One of the main part towards this story is he started out as a cub pilot under his mentos ,Horace Bixby.This is off the thing that I like because Horace Bixby is teaching him. Then he gets his own licence and starts to poilot on his own experiencing many adventures and meeting interesting people. I like this because it tells me I can do what i want to do if i leasen to the right people. I realy did not like how the story Ends , because in May 1861 the civil War came and he had to make his last trip from New Orleans to St Louis.Then the Union Army to transport troops.

The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

Here is some back ground on this story. Twain started writing during the California Gold Rush. The miner's stories helped him along in the start of his career. By the way, he didn't strike it rich. The stories brought him success as a humorous and satirical writer. In "The Notorious Jumping.....", the main character Simon Wheeler really brings color to the story with his digression from Rev. Leonidas Smiley to rambling about Jim Smiley, a horse, a dog, and a jumping frog. He is telling one thing then he goes off on a tangent when he is reminded of something. The reader never gets a full character development. I think Simon Wheeler is one of those people that likes to hear himself talk, and does that to get attention. I really enjoyed this short story . The humor really caught my attention. This story takes me back to the past, and I imagine the uncivilized lifestyle of the Western settlers and miners. The stories are so crazy that it reminds me almost of a tall tale, or it is at least an extreme exaggeration of an actual event. The people back east probably had no idea, except from maybe some newspaper articles, of what was really going on out west. Not only this was some form of news, it was also entertainment. The reason it became so popular, because it was not like some of the boring European stories and poems (like the stuff we read in class), but it was fresh, funny, and new.

Jeong #1

Emily Dickinson's poems go through many different phases as they go on. In the beginning her literary works seem to parallel to her state in life. In poem 49 she feels poor. I believe she is emotionally lacking love or companion ship in this phase of her life. As poem 130 illustrates that she is looking into her past and longing to be freed. As the poems start to mature it seems as if she is giving her life to the lord. At first she is hesitant to fully devote herself to God. In poem 214 she is in a state of euphoria off the air she breathes. In that state of euphoria she mentions that she will be happy until the end of days referring to the "Sun." As she writes on she starts to write more and more about the Lord. Poem 249 she is rowing in Eden and following her heart for the blind search for love. With the Lord being mentioned in the poems her poems move towards a gloomy morose stage lingering on the idea of death. She was one of the first "emos" of the United States. She writes of her mentality being in a horrid stage. She feels a funeral in the brain, and all hell is let loose in the infinite labyrinth of enigma. Her mind is puzzling and dark. Emily Dickinson through the poems that I have read, is like an artist. In the beginning of her career (hobby for her) she is writing like other poets of the time. As her writing matures it achieves a style of her own. The slant-rhymes gave Dickinson's works a unique genuine style to her works of her time period making it stand out from others.

God in her onway -324

I believe that she thinks that nobody can not help her at all with God. The reason why she think like this because people realy do not understand her. she believes that she do not need God and she will fine GOD in her own way. She believe that one way by staying at home. The part I really do not understand is instead of tolling the Bell, for Church, Our little Sexton-Sings. Then i found out what Sexton means then it made secne with the rest of what she was tying to say.

Emily Dickinson over Whitman

So far my class and I have only read and gone over Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson and out of the two I personally enjoy Emily’s work more than Walt’s. Even though Whitman’s poem are more up beat and seem to have more of a positive voice to it, Emily seems to have this air deepness in her poems and I like that. Also she seems to enjoy life and the beauty it has. In some of her poems she talks about how she comes across god or experiences a divine feeling out in nature like in, “Winter Afternoons.” This poem describes the beauty in the mountains of the Himalayas and that no matter what we do we can’t affect this.

She’s very deep in all of her poems; it doesn’t matter what she talks about wether it be a divine experience to experiencing love or even sorrow. Some people say she is a very depressed poet but what I see is the longing for love and affection like in her poem “If you were coming in the Fall.” I see how people could get the idea that she is all doom and gloom because at first glance I thought she was talking about woe is me to be alone and have no one here with me. After reading through it several times I started to get more of an understanding of it and what it truly was saying. What she was saying was if she knew when the one she loves was coming to visit she would wait for him, counting down the days/months/years it would take for him to arrive but since she doesn’t know the waiting is tearing her up inside. She describes what true love is in a way by saying no matter how long it takes I will wait for you to come. To me Emily Dickinson’s work is all about perception and the outlook of the person who is reading it. Dickinson is not all about sorrow and death, even though she mentions it a lot in her poems, she is the one who is just thinking outside the box and talking about real life issues or events in another manner.

Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson is said to be a sort of recluse. But personally I think she was just high on life, so to speak. Through a couple of poems of hers that I have read, she seems to be quite content with being her own biggest fan and loving nature and God. In her poem numbered, “249,” she writes of her true love being God; of course, everyone interprets each of these examples I am about to give differently.
“…To a Heart in port—
Done with the Compass—
Done with the Chart!
Rowing in Eden—
Ah, the Sea!
Might I but moor—Tonight—
In Thee!”
She is obviously looking for love- maybe not her true love, but some sort of love. However, she has given up looking, “Done with the Compass, Done with the Chart!” but if one was to look closely, they would notice that the capital “T” in the word, “Thee.” This gives the impression that she has found her love in God, and that tonight- each night rather- she will be spending her time with Him.
The second poem makes the speaker, or Emily Dickinson, seem to be drunk. But on what though?
“I taste the liquor never brewed—
…Inebriate of Air—am I—“
This is very deep in my opinion. She is drunk off of air? No, my friend; she is drunk off of life! The liquor which was “never brewed,” and her being “Inebriate of Air” leads the reader to think she is in love with nature, and that it is her own brand of heroine.

Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson’s poems are very deep. It takes more than the usual once or twice over to pick up her intended message. When I first read the assignments from her, I was greatly unimpressed. I thought it was poor writing and confusing. However, once we started breaking down the poems in class, I realized how much she puts into each one. There was a deeper meaning behind every one and I was completely oblivious. I began to appreciate her writing much more.

In her poem “Success is counted sweetest”, she speaks of winning and losing. This poem relates well to the audience because everyone has had time of triumphs and times of defeat. She does a good job bringing the memories of these times out in the reader. In “Wild Nights”, she uses capitalization and punctuation to her advantage to express excitement and emphasize the energy of the poem. She speaks of wild nights or a good time with a friend but we know from her previous poems that her idea of a good time is just breathing in the free air and being around nature. She speaks of tasting “a liquor never brewed”, and being “inebriate of air” in her poem 214. This just shows she needs no outside force to enjoy life.

Vigil Strange

"Vigil" by Walt Whitman is a a a short story describing the feeling of person that lost his son/comrade one night. this story is very depressing because it tells how how a father lost his son in a battle that they fought together, and how the father found his son lying dead. later in the story it tells how the father covered his son in blankets and buried him in a grave. this is a very depressing story because of the truth laid out in the story. Walt Whitman was a a war nurse during the civil war and therefore saw many fathers lose sons and have to bury them there on the blood stained battle fields where they died wrapped in the blankets that was used to keep them warm during the cold nights when they were sleeping or standing watch looking for enemy movement.

Emily Dickinson "67"

About a year ago I accomplished something that set me free from any doubt on my ability on being a soldier and how far I could push myself. At the age of twenty-one I began and completed my first marathon but I did so in army fatigues and with a forty pound rucksack on my back. The grueling twenty six miles, Mountain Man March, would take from me four toenails but give me the pride of knowing I had done something that most soldiers wouldn't even dream of completing.

In the pom "67", Emily Dickinson states that "Success is counted sweetest by those who never succeed". In agreement, I support Dickinson with the hopes that everyone will take this poem in to considerateion and extract what I myself learned from it. When a veteran retires from the military, he looks back at all the great thing he has accomplished. Just as I did, you can find all of the hard work you poured into what you wanted has taken you where somewhere you never thought you could go.

As he defeated-dying-
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Burst agonized and clear!

This states that those who win over and over again only know success and will feel the sting of loss more so than a man who has felt defeat more often. Humility is the key to a successful career and for one that seeks much to gain and learn. A man who can take a crushing failure often and only come back to try once more will hold victory to his own heart more so than any other.

The Dalliance of the Eagles/Wild Nights Whitman/Dickerson

I really enjoyed reading these poems on Walt Whitman and Emily Dickerson. Whitman more of a poet that writes free verse poetry. I really tuned in on the poem the dilliance of the eagles. Whitman i think was basically outside one day close by a road by a river and all of a sudden glances in the sky and recognizes two eagles. Two eagles seem to be in a tussal over something maybe a female eagle, because in the poem i read that two eagles tightly together,wings flapping fiercly they where going after it. Maybe one of the eagles didnt make it so later on in the poem last line in the poem on page 983 it says (she hers, he his, pursing). So yes the females eagle sees that one eagle is still on his true flight to mate with her because he was the last eagle out of two to still flying victorious. I enjoyed the writtings of dickerson poetry but the one that really caught my eye was wild nights. I think it wasnt emily who was the one in this poem. She could be just narrating this one, Emily tells use the wild nights that a certain peron had with someone. That someone to me i thnk shes talking about was the sea. Wild nights they may have had on this sea maybe drinking, fishing, or probably just out on a big boat shooting in the skies. this poem just showed alil of what was going on but it caught my interest.

The Dalliance of the Eagles

In The Dalliance of the Eagles a man walks down a river road and sits down to take a rest. He then observes two Eagles as they intertwine in each other’s claws and then began to fall and let go of one another. What the man has seen are two Eagles which are mating. He has such an incredible imagination that every detail of the two eagles is brought out, which is why I like this piece of poetry so much. The first thing I noticed was the Imagery in the poem; he does such a great job of setting a picture in the readers mind. The description I like best is when the author says “The clinching interlocking claws, a living, fierce, gyrating wheel, Four beating wings, two beaks, a swirling mass tight grappling, in tumbling turning clustering loops, straight downward falling”. Right away my mind begins to race as it sets an image of two eagles interlocked in one another’s claws diving towards a river. Whitman then ends the observation as he describes the air being “motionless” and then the Eagles fly “upwards again on slow-firm pinions slanting, their separate diverse flight”. The description of the air being motionless adds that special touch to the image in my opinion.

Welcome to ENG 252 04

Welcome to the ENG 252 04 blog!

Posting guidelines:

You may leave a blog post on any of the readings that we’ve read for that week. Blogs are due on Fridays for MWF classes and Thursdays for TTh classes, and comments for each blog will be due on the following Wednesday for MWF classes and the following Tuesday for TTh classes. Each blog post should be at least 200 words, and each comment should be at least 100 words (excluding quotes, if any). If you wish to write more than the minimum, you may certainly do so.

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7 points

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