Blog Post #4

“The Tenth of January” by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps is a very touching, tragic story that brought up many emotions and reactions that I haven’t felt from a piece of literature in a long time.  While all the parts of the story were great, reading about the actions of Richard Cross are what really kept my interested.

                Dick is introduced in the story as a hard working young man who just came from his father’s farm to the city in search of work and a place to stay.  It puzzled me why a young man like Dick would immediately become so closely bound to Asenath when nobody else wanted her, but in the story when it said “[. . .] he for the first time saw what she was [. . .] his blue eyes widened [. . .] a pity like a mother’s had crept into them [. . .]”, it became painfully clear that Dick only stayed with Asenath out of a since of obligation.  This observation is further solidified when Asenath see’s Dick with Del Ivory on the river bank where it is obvious that there’s something going on between them.  I figured Dick stayed with Asenath so as not to hurt her by leaving her for Del, and while this isn’t a very good base for a relationship, Dick knew how much he meant to Asenath and all she did was give him love in return, so that was at least something.  For the time being, I thought Dick was a respectable guy.

                Through al her ups and downs Dick stuck by Asenath and it seemed as though he was a genuinely good person.  But all that changed with the collapse of the mill.  When Dick pulls Del from the rubble, he completely forget about the girl still stuck in the burning debris, the girl that was able to get out of bed every morning because she had him in her life.  When Dick ran Del to the hospital and left Asenath “tombed alive” in the furnace, I had never been so infuriated with a character in a story.  To just leaver her there like that was awful and unforgivable.

                Phelps was able to take a character I was rooting for the whole story and make me despise him in just one paragraph.  And while this did anger me, it really highlights the skill of Phelps writing and makes “The Tenth of January” a story I won’t soon forget. 

Blog Post #2

Sometimes I can take for granted all the resources at my fingertips.  In just a few seconds I can pull out a phone or a laptop and read about things that happened half way around the world.  Reading about the printing press really made me appreciate the resources I have and made me think about how different life would be if this one invention hadn’t been thought up.

                Without the printing press the technology we have today could be years behind.  We might not have cell phones, satellites or even the ability to read about what’s been happening in our country.  Without the communication abilities we have today, so much of our world would be different.  Leaders of the world couldn’t communicate, businesses couldn’t form and our economy might still be based solely off selling crops like tobacco.

                Not only would our technology be near non-existent, but America may never have formed.  Writings such Thomas Paine’s Common Sense were very important in the molding of America.  With no printing press there would be no way for these pieces of literature to influence and inspire the colonists.  Without this inspiration the colonies may never have broken away from British rule and form the U.S. 

Blog Post #1

When thinking about the American identity, I admittedly catch myself having a slightly negative outlook.  When asked in class what words came to mind when thinking about Americans, I thought of things like “lazy”, “spoiled”, and “ungrateful”.  It’s not that I think all Americans represent these qualities, but watching the news and hearing about all the crime and low-class people that populate are country, it’s hard to see those citizens that still represent the kind of character our nation was founded on.

                In “The New Colossus”, Emma Lazarus talks about the freedom and opportunity our nation can provide to anybody, no matter their background.  While this is a beautiful thing and is a quality unique to America, it’s balanced out by “Unguarded Gates”, written by Thomas Bailey Aldrich, where he talks about the concern he has with letting just anyone into our country, knowing that there will be people that would choose to waste it liberties America has to offer and instead become a cancer to society.  Langston Hughes, who wrote “I, too”, was such an optimist that even through all the oppression he went through, he could still look to a brighter future.  While this is an outstanding quality to have, it doesn’t change the fact that there are still racists refusing to let go of the past.

                It seems that in every aspect of the American identity there are extremes.  No matter how outstanding  someone is, there is still someone out there who is equally awful.  And although my definition of American identity hasn’t changed, it’s now altered.  I do see those upstanding people that will keep our nation going, but I still recognize those people that don’t deserve all the opportunities laid out in front of them.