The Perplexing Question

Claude McKay has a very powerful way of describing different moments through out his different poems. He uses very specific syntax to convey his emotions and experiences. In his poem, If We Must Die, he ended with a very powerful phrase, it states, "Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack, / Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back" (707). These last two lines show his determination to fight back, regardless of what the situation is. McKay's poem The Lynching, is also a work that describes pain and suffering. He starts of the work by stating "His Spirit in smoke ascended to the high heaven" (707). It writes it in a way that implies that he is already dead before he is actually lynched. I am just curious about why he has to write in that way? Even though all of his work is so beautiful, he almost writes with a constant negative outlook on life. I know he is writing in a very rough time, especially for African American's, but what about having hope? It couldn't hurt every once in a while to write something that could give many people an idea of how the future could be rather then the horror that it was during that time. There are many other perplexing questions throughout both of these works, but his intentions is what had me the most perplexed.

The Aha! Moment

This may sound strange, but I have always loved the Aha! moment in books and movies; especially when it is totally unexpected. I really enjoyed reading The Wife of His Youth, by Charles Chestnutt, because that moment was very unexpected. As I have reflected on my reading of the short story, I have come to realize that there are so many little clues that point to the fact that the old slave women is actually the wife of Mr. Ryder's youth. The most obvious clue is in the title; it should have been a red flag that this women was his wife when she showed up asking him if she new her husband from her youth, but even then it didn't click. Other clues also begin to pop up, but they are significantly more subtle. Mr. Ryder mentions the fact that he had never married, but the fact that he was still "single" could have implied that he was almost holding onto something, and that fact connects to Liza's statement of "He wouldn' marry no yuther 'ooman 'tel he foun' out 'bout me. I knows it". The interesting part was that Liza was correct; even though he thought he was in love with Mrs.Dixon, he still dropped everything and went back to the wife of his youth at the end. The end is where the true Aha! moment occurs; from that moment, every little detail makes sense. I believe that moment of ultimate understanding was more gradual in Frances Harper's poem, Learning To Read. At least to me, I could tell that the narrator had ambition and was going to learn how to read, know matter what. The narrator explained how slaves would learn how to read through hearing the children spell. From that, they were able to out words together and learn how to read. The narrator's determination to read is ultimately shown in the last three stanzas. Harper writes "But as I was rising sixty / I had no time to wait. / So I got a pair of glasses / and straight to work I went, / And never stopped till I could read / The hymns and testament". Those few lines are the true Aha! moment in Learning To Read. They show determination and persistence, two very admirable qualities. Both works leave readers on their toes through out the work, regarding the meaning of the work as a whole.

Yesterday and Today

Today, many people would consider it is technology that helps the world turn. We depend on it to do our jobs, homework, relax, and simply communicate to others easily and efficiently. I consider the years between 1864 and 1914 to be pivotal to funny understand how technology has come to be. As soon as 1864 hit, new household tools, ways to communicate, forms of entertainment and methods of transportation were being invented and hitting the market. Today, we can't imagine walking into a room and not being able to turn on a lightbulb; it is also a crazy thought to think if the airplane wasn't invented during this time, we could still be using boats to travel to foreign countries. These technologies help people do a specific task in the most efficient way; I believe technology is all about efficiency. The iPhone is an example that relates to our need to be as efficient as possible at all times. On this one device, we have all we could need to help us to our job, wherever in the world we might be, it is the ultimate form of convenience. I'm sure people were in total awe when the first typewriter was invented in the 1860's; to them, that would have been the ultimate source of ease. There is one problem that usually begins to occur when technology becomes such an important part of our modern life, people start to become lazy and dependent on their devices. Motion pictures are a fantastic form of entertainment, but what happened to having quality time with someone instead of just watching a movie? It is the same way with cars; many people, including myself, have learned to become completely dependent on their cars and the thought of walking is horrifying. I completely believe is is technology that helps the world go around. It is here to help use do everything at the best of our ability. If it wasn't for the creation of the telephone, we wouldn't have cellphones. Because of this, the work of the past has, and will continue, to greatly influence the future,

The Civil War

      The Civil War was a time of great loss, and ironically triumph, in American history. As everyone knows, this great war evolved from a simple disagreement regarding the use of African American slaves; the North did not believe in slavery, but the South did. When Abraham Lincoln began his Presidency, he began to push the movement of ending slavery; this eventually led to the Civil War. In Piatt's poem, Arlington Heights, she talks about the Arlington National Cemetery and everything the soldier's went to to get to their initial resting place. The ironic part is that the cemetery is on the estate of Robert E. Lee, and the first monument was erected as a memorial to 1800 Union soldiers. Piatt states how "They saw the dust, they join'd the moving mass / They answer'd the fierce music's cry for blood / Then straggled there and lay down in the grass" (1382). Piatt explains how these men joined the cause and fought for what their culture believed in. In the case of Piatt, it was against slavery.

     Many people could argue that Lincoln's quest to end slavery was not a positive thing for our country. In the process of ending slavery, this war managed to end, damage, and severely change the lives of many people, but that was not the beliefs of William Cullen Bryant. In his poem The Death of Lincoln, Bryant explains how Lincoln was a noble man "Who perished in the cause of Right" (1381). Bryant explains, how in his lifetime, Lincoln managed to gain a nations trust and and free the slaves from immense bondage. In the way of beliefs and views, Bryant and Piatt supported the same cause.