The American Dream

The American dream was a set of beliefs that shaped the “American mind”. There are three central assumptions: America as a New Eden, A Belief in Progress, and Triumph of the Individual. In the belief of America as a New Eden, people believed that America is a land of beauty, bounty, and unlimited promises. A Belief in Progress is a belief that is about “optimism”, people believe that life will keep getting better and people are always moving toward an era of greater prosperity, justice, and joy. Triumph of the individual is where people believe in the importance and ultimate triumph of the individual. These optimistic beliefs are shattered by the horrible impacts of the World War one and the economy crash. Americans believed world will become a better and better place, and nothing really bad will happen. They believed that America is the perfect place for a perfect society; it is beautiful, bountiful, and full of unlimited promises. But every society has it’s own flaws and shortcomings. The major flaw of the American society is the issue of slavery. The American dream was once battered by the civil war, and now the World War I batters it again. 

Better Things?

I think technology doesn’t necessarily bring better things, or make/let us do better things. “Men travel faster now, but I do not know if they go to better things”. I think this quotation is very meaningful. Even though cars let us travel faster than horse carriages, we don’t really do a lot of good things. Cars pollute the environment, and many criminals use cars to commit crime. People in the past don’t have a lot of technology, so their lives are simple. People now use technology everyday; a lot of people pay their full attention to the technology and ignore other people. The downsides of the development of technology are clearly stated in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. The people don’t think because they’re constantly watching or listening to a piece of technology. They fail to notice even when their neighbors disappear. Technology makes our lives more convenient, but relying on technology too much could lead to very bad consequences.

On Impulse

Being a person who doesn’t really think before he acts, I often do things on impulse. When I’m in elementary school, I was often tempted by my fellow “good friends” to do something that they promised would be “cool”. Of course I gave what they said a try, and paid heavily for it. One time in sixth grade, my friend asked me if I could kick an iron pipe on the wall and actually turn it in another way. I was reluctant to try because I feared that I would get into trouble (past experiences), but then my friends said it would be fun, and plus I’m a chicken if I don’t do it. So I did it, and the pipe broke, and water sprayed everywhere. As a reward, the teacher gave me the privilege to stand on the side of the classroom for the entire day. After that incident, I began to think more before I act. I always picture possible consequences before I do something I’m not really sure about doing. You can often see people that committed crimes on impulse on the news. Those people are usually very regretful of what they’ve done.

Romantics vs. Realists

The Romantic writers differ with the Realist writers in many different ways. The most significant difference is both their beliefs and writing style. The Romantic writers belief that people can find beauty and truth in exotic locales, the supernatural realm, and the inner world of the imagination. Romantic writers write in a style that idealizes things, because they think that there are already too much pain and sadness in the world. The Realist writers believed that people should “stay real”; they reject the idealized, larger-than-life hero of Romantic literature. The avoid writing about heroes or people from nature (Romantic hero), they focus more on writing about people from cities and lower classes. I think the Romantic movement kind of acted as a propaganda for war, people were filled with emotion and were determined to fight heroically, they thought that the war is holy and magnificent. Instead, the war turned out to be horrible, and many people died. I think the Realism movement was created because people think it’s better to “stay real”.

Think about...

• How and when did American writers and poets respond to the Civil War?
American writers responded to the war by inventing Realism and Naturalism.
• What are the basic characteristics of realism?
Realism explains why ordinary people behave the way they do. It rejects idealized, larger than life heroes of the Romantic literature; it also provides detailed depictions of ordinary characters and realistic events. Realist writers tend to focus their stories on characters from cities and lower classes, they avoid using exotic, sensational and overly dramatic descriptions of their story. They also use everyday speech patterns to reveal class distinctions, and they focus on the ethical struggles and social issues of real-life situations.
• What did the naturalist writers believe?
The Naturalists writers believe that human behavior is determined by heredity any environment, and that human beings cannot control their own destinies.

You’ve Com a Long Way, Baby

In Kate Chopin’s story, A Pair of Silk Stockings, the main character is called Mrs. Sommers. The story describes how Mrs. Sommers inherited 15 dollars one day, and decides how to spend the money. Mrs. Sommers carefully planned out the use of the money, so she can spend the money on everything she wanted. She decided to spend on things she never done before. She bought things that were considered luxurious in her time: silk stockings, and pretty shoes. She then went to a very good restaurant for snack instead of going back home to eat. After the snack, she went to the theater for a little entertainment. All the things that she did reflected her life and how she lived. She was very timid at first when she went into the classy restaurant, which showed that she have never eaten in a place like that before. We can see get a glimpse of her life in the theater, too.  “There were many others who were there solely for the play and acting. It is safe to say there was no one present who bore quite the attitude which Mrs. Sommers did to her surroundings. She gathered in the whole – stage and players and people in one wide impression, and absorbed it and enjoyed it.” The “many others” that were mentioned in the sentence are the rich people who go to the theater often. Mrs. Sommers tried to take in everything she can because she rarely goes to the theater. Just like how we curiously look around when we go to a foreign country. I think Mrs. Sommers’s life is better yet similar to that of the handmaids in the Handmaid’s Tale, Mrs. Sommers and the handmaids all can’t do a lot of things because of their situation. On the other hand, Mrs. Sommers life is very different to that of the women in our modern society. Women in our society are free to do anything they wish, and can even do jobs that are originally designed for men. 

A Reprieve

After I started high school, everyday of my life became very similar. Wake up, go to school, come home, study, do homework, play violin, sleep. Everyday is the same and it gets very tiring doing the exact same thing everyday. Even weekends are similar to each other. On Saturdays and Sundays I always wake up at 9, and I study, to homework, then play violin. The only difference from weekdays is that I get to sleep later, and also get to play basketball. This boring routine feels like a cage that locked my mind up. When my life becomes too boring, I usually do something else to escape from the monotonous cycle. For example, I play computer, listen to music, or just sit around and ponder about life. Most adults escape from their boring life by going on a vacation, they go to places where there aren’t many people, so they can get a good rest. I think watching movies or reading books is a good way to escape from reality, when you watch a movie or read a book, you get absorbed in the plot, and you kind of imagine yourself being in the story with the characters. 

I Exist

A man said to the universe:
“Sir, I exist!”
“However,” replied the universe,
“The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation.”


I think the quotation above from Stephen Crane’s novel is suggesting that human is insignificant, compared to the whole world. The quotation accurately portrayed the feelings of Americans after the civil war. Before the Civil War, the United States of essentially an idealistic, confident, and self-reliant republic. During the Civil War, a LOT of Americans died, almost all men who went to war from that generation died. The shocking and painful results of the war changed the American’s opinion about war: war is something terrible. By the number of casualties in the Civil War, Americans realized how easy it is to take a human’s life, and how insignificant their life is compared to the world. I think Stephen Crane is trying to say: Humans are not so great and powerful, they are actually very weak and insignificant.

Power

In The Handmaid’s Tale, the power relations between some people is very clear, and not that obvious between some people. The relation between the general and the handmaid is very clear, the general has the ability to “get rid” of the handmaid, or punish them, but the handmaid’s can’t do anything to disobey the general. The same works with the general’s wife. The relation between handmaids and marthas are also pretty clear. The marthas can tell the handmaids what to do and what not to do, the handmaids can only listen and execute the orders. I think the power relations between the police and handmaids are pretty clear, too. The police can kill the handmaids if the handmaids look suspicious, but the handmaids can’t do anything. One power relation that is not very obvious is the relation between Nick and the handmaids. Nick has the power to get the handmaids into trouble. Nick likes to “flirt” and make eye contact with the handmaids, but if the handmaids were caught responding to Nick’s flirtatious actions, they will be punished and even killed. Another relation that is not so obvious is the relation between the general and his wife. I think the wife has the power to influence the general, thus getting some handmaids into trouble. For example, if the general’s wife dislikes one of the handmaids, she can tell him to get rid of that handmaid.

Slanted Truth

I think “Tell all the truth but tell it slant” might mean to tell all the truth to people, but tell it in a way that people could accept it. For example, if a boss is firing their workers because of the depression, the boss probably won’t tell the workers: “I’m kicking you out because I don’t need you, you’re only going to drag down the company.” The boss would probably tell the workers the “slanted truth”, so that the workers won’t want to kill him. The boss will probably say: “you have worked for this company for a long time, and you have been a very good worker.” After the boss said this, he will continue with: “But recently, the depression has reduced the company’s profits by a huge amount, and we can’t afford to keep so many workers in my company.” Then the boss will get to the point: “I am very sorry, but I have to lay you off.” Telling the “slanted truth” and telling the direct truth will result in a different reaction from the person being told. I think Emily Dickinson’s way of telling the “slanted truth” kept her from being ostracized by her society, since the society that she lived in is very strict and forbids any kinds of activities that the people consider sinful.