Uncle Tom's Cabin-4

     When I think about life I believe that no matter what one changes about them selves their roots will always remain the same.  St. Claire must explain this to Ophelia and I really think that it is a good and important thing to realize.  He explains that although someone might try to change, their origins will never change.  This is common for many people today, even though there are a lot of opportunities in life, one cannot change where you come from.  Another major theme of the book is the divisions between upper and lower classes.  Not only does it surface in the novel but it also is evident in the bible, factory, chimney sweeper, and most recently occupy wall street.

Uncle Tom's Cabin-3

     In class one day we talked about Uncle Tom in comparison to George and I found this to be a very interesting conversation.  One thing we talked about was nobility, both of these characters in my mind are noble in different ways.  Both of them are loyal to the people in their lives that they care about and the causes fight against, although Tom cannot do much for his cause because he is still a slave.  Both George and Uncle Tom are honest in the most genuine sense of the word, however much it might hurt them.  Both of these characters are submissive and culture often doesn't look too fondly on that.

Uncle Tom's Cabin-2

     I want to think about slavery and Christianity a little more especially when it comes to Tom's journey and new owners in New Orleans.  St. Claire is a good man and treats Tom with the respect that he deserves, while Mrs. St. Claire finds her own misguided idea of Christianity and the world's view on slavery.  St. Claire has his doubts about slavery, yet he continues to take part in it.  When I see St. Claire I do not see his faults but I see a good man, at least compared to his wife, who loves his daughter and treats Tom fairly well.

     My perception of St. Claire is that he is far more open minded about slavery then Shelby.  I kind of see him as a liberal in today's society.  He sees the problem as it is and understands the cultural forces that compromise the good that could happen in the world.

Uncle Tom's Cabin-1

     Reading this novel brought out a variety of emotions and this caused me to read it from different emotional perspectives.  One of these is a sentimental view.  When I think about what it means to be sentimental my first thought is memories and how easily they can come flooding back, both good and bad.  Also, I think about love and the people that I love, along with that the attachments that I feel for the people that I love.   But in order to think about the book for what the author is trying to get across means that we cannot leave out the connections and relevance that the books examines.
    This novel went against the cultural norms of the time and looked deeper into human morals, the message against slavery, and the theme of slavery itself.  While reading the novel I noticed the different identities of the characters, as well as insight into human nature.  Finally I noticed a strong theme of Christianity and slavery pertaining to what the two have in common.

The Purloined Letter

     I do not believe that I have ever seen Sherlock Holmes but I can see that the elements within the Purloined Letter shares a lot of commonalities the first Sherlock movie.  We talked in class about the references to creative perception like Emerson and Thoreau.  Because by looking at the natural world  we can learn truths about life and various other things.  Nature is a reoccurring element within a lot of things that we have read over the second half of the semester.  I find nature to be an inspiration for creative ideas and what is nice is that there are always new elements to look at.

Edgar Allen Poe: The Raven

     Edgar Allen Poe has a unique way of making something that is very disturbing, a poetic masterpiece.  One of the ways he does this is within his poetic style.  He uses tools like alliteration, internal rhyme, and repetition.  Poe is one of my favorite poets because he uses these tools to create something unique and memorable.  The ideas that Poe plays with that create these disturbing emotions in the writing are mystery, the unknown, and the supernatural.

          I like the way the story of the man and the raven seems so vivid and it really pulled me in with the compelling nature of the narrator's mental state.  As I read this poem I found it very accessible because the idea of love and loss is something most of us feel.  The ideas in this poem cannot be dated, however, there are a few exceptions including language, references to palaces(Athena).  When I think of the raven I seen him as a demon and the evil within the narrator's mind.     

             

Nathanial Hawthorne (Scarlet Letter 4)

     In Chapter 10: The Leech and His Patient, we learn more about Dimmesdale and Chillingworth.  They have a very strange relationship.  Dimmesdale immediately comes off as a hypocrite because of his ideas of sin and his own sin.  Dimmesdale puts aside his recognition of sinfulness throughout their conversations.  There is also a sort of recognition about the supernatural.  There is a sign in the the sky of the A/RT, representing Hester's skills as an artist.  This leads to different interpretations of what the A could stand for.  There is also an idea that the imagination could be used to spell out what is being said about the A.

     It can seem almost easy to bring out creative perception within the imagination, which offers a lot for the reader to look at.  A quote in chapter 13 really stood out to me, it says, "The letter was the symbol of her calling.  Such helpfulness was found in her, - so much power to do, and power to sympathize,- that many people refused to interprest the scarlet A bu its original signification.  They said that is meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman's strength."  I found this an amazing quote and I could see that over time people were beginning to see past her sin to the strong person that she really was.