The Hill- Spoon River Anthology

I read "The Hill," which is an excerpt from the "Spoon River Anthology." I found it a very disturbing story. Usually things associated with nature seem to be calm and understanding, but this story was very different. The hill was a big symbol in this story. It ultimately represented all the people who died. All of the writer's family and friends had basically died a tragic death and were "sleeping on the hill." I almost wonder if the hill represents like hell because of the tragic deaths they all died from, or if it represents heaven because they are peacefully sleeping  on the hill. The fact that the setting is Spoon River, Illinois, which is our state, has a more personal effect because he includes Abe Lincoln and historical instances that are significant to the state.

When I tried to compare the work of this particular excerpt with those of Thoreau's ideas, I could not really make a direct connection between the two. I find Thoreau's philosophies were more words that were spoken and he made people listen. This story on the other hand was just like telling people about what happened. Like he was wondering where all the people around him had gone. I just did not find that there was really a connection between the two stories because they both have very different topics and viewpoints. In Thoreau's story he was close to death and he realized and accepted it because he was fighting for something he believed in. In this story though, many people had already died and there was nothing really significant about it other than the fact that hill represents the death and the author represents the ongoing life. The hill in itself is significant because it shows the variety of people who are on the hill. There are kind-hearted people and fighters, and alcoholics, and musicians, and veterans, and yet each one died a different death, tragic in their own way, and they are all together on the hill as one.


Masters, Edgar L. "1. The Hill. Masters, Edgar Lee. 1916. Spoon River Anthology."Bartleby.com: Great Books Online. Bartleby.com. Web. 29 Feb. 2012. <http://www.bartleby.com/84/1.html>.

Two Views of the River Blog

The memoir by Mark Twain shows the point of view from an average person looking at the river, and then from the view of himself looking at the river. All the things in the river used to mean something to him. The sun, the moon, the water, and the surrounding areas all had characteristics that meant something deeper than just their appearance. In the story, Twain starts to look at all of the things surrounding the river as symbols instead of just scenery. This was also a story about romance though too. He viewed the river with a sense of passion and now that he has come to realization of what these objects mean, he says all the romance is gone(Twain, Mark ). I think that the character in this story had lost a loved one or someone very important to him. I think that he used to come to the river and he was so happy that all he saw was the scenery and how beautiful everything looked. I think that once he lost someone he loved, he would go to the river and criticize the scenery and look for the hidden meaning instead of what he saw on the surface.

I think the views in this story are not really similar to those of Thoreau, but they are like those of Walden, who used a lot of nature. This story uses nature to incorporate different meanings. For instance, the sun means that there will be sun tomorrow, the floating log tells that the river is slowly rising, a slanting mark on the river is a reef that will swallow someones boat sometime in the near nights, and the old dead tree with a single branch is reaching its point of death (Twain, Mark). I think in these instances, he has anger behind his words. When he talks about the dead tree and how no one would be able to survive by this river without that landmark, it seems like he is slowly losing hope.

Overall, I got a sad feeling from this story. It started off so well, and then all the beauty was lost and the mood changed. I feel the character in the story was once a very happy person, but slowly became sad. Even though it is not completely evident why, there was some sort of romance lost in his life that made him lose the beauty in the other aspects of his life. It is a really powerful story and it shows that the romance with his special person was very powerful and real.

Twain, Mark. "Two Views of the River." Glencoe Literature. the Reader's Choice. New York, NY: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2000. 504-05. Print.

The Red Badge of Courage Blog

"The Red Badge of Courage" was a different story. The detail was so overpowering that the illusions the reader gets are so vivid. I found the story somewhat disturbing. The story starts out with this guy who is basically on a mission. His thoughts are veering off from him as he is in the Civil War. He is fighting when all of a sudden he gets hit in the back of the head. He was mistaken for the enemy and hit by someone of his own troop. His first act in the war was running because he was scared. He was a coward at first in this story and overcome by the powerful feelings that come with the war atmosphere. After he got hit in the head, many people thought he was wounded. He was not wounded with a battle scar, but by the mark of his own stupidity when he ran away from the fight rather than with it. When he starts to run again, he gets this overwhelming feeling. He runs into the fight, not really taking care of himself, and begins to shoot his rifle. He fires freely and many times, creating a cloud of smoke. As he emerges from this cloud of smoke, he now begins to feel foolish. He had just killed so many people by shooting his rifle carefree. His act of bravery though in this scene helped his troops though. So the Red  Badge of Courage in this story is the wounds he gets when he runs into the war firing his rifle at the oncoming people running towards him. The very last sentence is the most powerful line in the story because the part where it says "the swirling battle phantoms which were choking him, stuffing their smoke robes down his parched throat," is one of those feelings that no one really gets to experience unless they are engaged in this war. 

I think that this story is not like the views of Henry David Thoreau because Thoreau believed that acts of violence were not necessary and that there was always some other way to solve the problem. Thoreau had more power in his words than he had in his actions. Stephan Crane, though, thought that violence was the answer in the end. When he completed his act of courage, even though he did not have that great triumphant feeling, he had helped someway in the war. I think the views are different mainly because of their outlooks on violence and when it is necessary to take action and when it is necessary to back off and just let things be.

Crane, Stephan. "The Red Badge of Courage." Glencoe Literature. By Jeffrey D. Wilhelm and Douglas Fisher. New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2009. 492-93. Print.

The Story of the Hour

"The Story of the Hour" is refreshing, but tragic. The main character in the story has a heart condition. With a heart condition you really do not know how long you have to live. Her family and friends all know that her husband has died in an accident, and they are figuring out the best way to tell her, without sending her over the edge. Like any woman would be, she is very upset. She goes up to her room alone and locks the door. She cries to herself and she prays, mourning the loss of her husband. She then has this reoccurring voice in her head that says "free" and "free body mind and soul." These powerful voices that she hears coming to her give her a sense of reassurance. The mood in the story quickly changes. The woman becomes happy. She wishes for a long life, and she stands to unlock the door. She held her head high and for a moment she was the strongest person. She walked down the stairs with her sister, and when they reached the bottom, a guy named Richard was waiting at the bottom. He had not heard of the accident of the husband. The woman then drops down, dying of a heart attack. Her heart condition was what gave her strength and it ultimately killed her.

I find the story very powerful because the woman found strength in one of the darkest times of her life. She got a sense of hope and freedom. She was very strong anyway because of her heart condition. She knew that life could be long or life could be short, and she did not let her heart condition get in the way of her life. She found a new light with the acceptance of her heart condition and the dying of her husband. She felt free.

I find the word free in this story is used kind of freely. I am not too sure if she was sad at first that her husband had died, but she got happier because she realized she was free from him, or if she felt free and hopeful that she would see him again when eventually her heart condition would bring her back to him. Either way the story reflects romanticism because it shows how life really is. There was no sugar-coating anything in this story. It was a good example of explaining the process of death and grieving. I do not think her views were like Thoreau's though. She was very calm and accepted things how they were whereas Thoreau was a motivational person and looked for change everywhere he could.

Chopin, Kate. "The Story of the Hour." Glencoe Literature. By Jeffrey D. Wilhelm and Douglas Fisher. New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2009. 554-55. Print.

O Pioneer Blog-Willa Cather

Well, "O Pioneer" was shorter than I thought it was. It was very short and did not provide a lot of detail. The family in the story is in a lot of despair because there is a drought and there was a loved one that died, which made everything harder for them. Reading some of the background history, I find that the father was only forty-two years old and he was sick and dying. He had three four children, one girl and two boys. He debated for a long time, considering one of the boys would be his most obvious choice when was trying to find out who he should leave the family farm too. He decides in the end to entrust the farm to his daughter, Alexandra. After three years of doing a good job, there is a bad drought. The family becomes pioneers basically and they lived off the land and struggled to grow enough food. The times were hard and ultimately the remaining children wished they could go and live with their uncle who owns a bakery in Chicago. My favorite line from the excerpt in the story is, "A pioneer should have imagination, should be able to enjoy the idea of things more than the things themselves." To me, that quote says that they know what they have, but they have hope for what they could have for the future. So, they are very motivated. I think that their ideas are like Thoreau's mainly because of their motivation. All of them were motivated for the future to change and they wanted to have a better outlook on life. Even though they both went through struggles, they never once gave up hope, and that is a common theme they share. The dreams of Henry David Thoreau and the children in "O Pioneer" are strong. Even though they did not create the problems they were handed, they made the best out of them that they could and took their future into their own hands.

Cather, Willa. "Willa Cather O Pioneers! Criticism." ENotes - Literature Study Guides, Lesson Plans, and More. Enotes.com. Web. 16 Feb. 2012. <http://www.enotes.com/o-pioneers-criticism/o-pioneers-willa-cather>.

Willa, Cather."O Pioneer." American Literature. Columbus: Mc-Graw Hill, 2009. 488-489. Print.

An Occurence At Owl Creek Bridge

The beginning of this story is the even that is being foreshadowed to. The second and the third parts of the story are what makes up why Farquhar is about to be hung by two infantry men. The beginning scene is very vivid and detailed. As he is hanging from a noose waiting for the the sergeants to stop of the platform, he starts getting these thoughts while he is watching the stream below him. He sees a log and envisions him being that log, floating up stream and into safety where he can be with his family again in safe grounds. So, at first, the reader feels really bad for this man because they do not know why he is being hung. In the second part the audience learns a little bit about the history of Farquhar and how he had gotten to the hanging. Then, the third part is back to the hanging where the platforms are released, and the noose breaks sending Farquhar down into the steam. Multiple gun shots are fired at him, and he avoids them all, eventually being plunged onto land where he can run to safety. He runs back to his house to meet his wife, when he is suddenly shot in the back of the neck and died. This story is very sad. I do not like the story line at all. The views of this writer are based on lots of details and the audience almost has to figure out the story for themselves. The opinions of Thoreau though are basically stated. Thoreau knows his opinions and he speaks them wisely. I almost feel like Thoreau is a man who makes his own luck and when he wants to see something change, he does. I think that Ambrose is the same way. He gets into sticky situations, just like Thoreau did when he was put in jail, and they both find a way to get their points across and still be saved from whatever is causing them harm. I think that when comparing them, they are the two most significant writers that I have seen so far that have completely different stories, but overall they have the same concepts and are fighting for the same things.

Bierce, Ambrose. "An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge, by Ambrose Bierce; I Page 1." Page By Page Books. Read Classic Books Online, Free. Page By Page Books, 2004. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. <http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Ambrose_Bierce/An_Occurrence_At_Owl_Creek_Bridge/I_p1.html>.

And I ain't a Woman? and Letters to his Family blog

"And I ain't a Woman" by Sojourner Truth is a very moving poem. I think she is comparing the difference between blacks and whites and the how people treat them. A man says a woman is supposed to be helped and carried, but she never receives that treatment because of her race. The white women always get the special treatment, and the special places. The blacks on the other hand receive no speical place and she had to watch while her 13 children were sold into slavery (Sojourner, Truth). I think her speech is sad. It is also very moving though because her points are so true. God came from a woman who bore him. There would be no God if it was not for that woman (Sojourner, Truth). In her eyes, she should be receiving the same treatment, and she is right because all woman should be created equal. I think her views are similar to Thoreau because they were both against this cruelty and they both wanted equal rights. Thoreau had more of an effect becasue during the time, he was a male and people listened to the male more than a woman, and his imprisonment and his civil disobidience made a statement. Sojourner Truth did make a statement, but only in her words. Not many people would listen to what she had to say because she was a woman and because she was black. I find the story very inspiring because she fought for what was right and she wanted equal rights as the other woman, because they do not understand what she is going through. The views of her and Thoreau and Emerson are the same because they all believed in individualism and standing up for what was right, even if they stood alone. All three views are one in the same because they all had similar journeys and just wanted to be heard, but they were also against slavery too, and Sojourner Truth was born a slave.

Truth, Sojourner. "Sojourner Truth's Aint I a Woman Speech!" Women Writers: A Zine. Womenwriters.net, 14 July 1998. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. http://www.womenwriters.net/domesticgoddess/truth.htm.

Spiritual Songs Blogs

"Swing Low Sweet Chariot" is an African American spiritual song in which a slave is singing. The slaves are all waiting for the "Chariot" or higher power to set them free. The song is written by the negro community prior to the beginning of the Civil War. It is also know as a negro folk song. The chariot represents freedom, or it also can represent God shining down from the heavens to bring the slaves up to him, where they are free. The slaves are envisioning their freedom by seeing things around them, for example the Jordan River. The views of this song and Henry David Thoreau are very similar. They both were obviously against slavery and they believed that there should be freedom. Henry Thoreau was different because he fought for it, and the slaves did not really fight for it, but they hoped for it.

"Go Down Moses" is another African American spiritual song that the slaves sung as they were working and also during the prayer times. It is a song about freedom of the slaves who are just waiting for that day where Moses goes down and they will all be saved. Egypt in the song could stand for the slaves states that were present before the Civil War (enotes). I think that the views of this song and Henry David Thoreau are the same because again the song is about slavery and both the groups of African Americans and Thoreau were against civil disobedience and cruelty or violence, both which came along with slavery. The views are different in the fact that the slaves mainly rely on God and they use a lot of references towards the bible whereas Henry  Thoreau relied more on his opinions and his individualism during the time.

The last song, "Keep Your Hands on the Plow," is another African American spiritual song. It was also during the time of slavery prior to the Civil War. Basically in the first stanza of the song, a hand is being placed on the bible, is how I took it, and God is leading them. It says keep holding on to the plow, which I think means keep hoping. The slaves never lost hope because all they wanted at the time was freedom. Again this song and Thoreau's ideas are similar because they both were against slavery and violence. They were both very anxious for change. I did not really find any differences in the two opinions.

"Go Down, Moses Text of the Poem." ENotes - Literature Study Guides, Lesson Plans, and More. Enotes.com. Web. 10 Feb. 2012. <http://www.enotes.com/go-down/text-poem>.


Keep Your Hands On The Plow - GospelSongLyrics.Org." GospelSongLyrics.org - Lyrics and Music to All Your Favorite Gospel Songs. GospelSongLyrics. Web. 10 Feb. 2012. <http://www.gospelsonglyrics.org/songs/keep_your_hands_on_the_plow.html>.

"Swing Low Sweet Chariot." Enotes.com. Enotes.com. Web. 10 Feb. 2012. <http://www.enotes.com/swing-low>.

Calvary Crossing a Ford- Walt Whitman

Cavalry Crossing a Ford is written during the time of the Civil War. Walt Whitman did work as a nurse at the time of the Civil War. The "Cavalry" may represent one of the Cavalry troops that Walt Whitman may have noticed, but we do not know because the story is not written in first person. The perspective of the story is unique. A ford means a shallow river. So basically a Cavalry troop is crossing a shallow river during the time of the Civil War is the main scene of the story. The weapons flash in the sun. The author then tells the reader to hark, or listen to the musical clank of the soldiers, whose feet are becoming in sync and could also be the sound of their guns.

 During the Civil War, the troops were fighting for slavery. Even though the actual poem does not mention slavery, since we know it is during the Civil War time, we can already just assume. Henry Thoreau was very against slavery. He did not believe in violence like that, so in a sense the two are connected. Henry Thoreau also did not approve of the government, and the army is a big part of the government. So, Henry Thoreau did not have a very good view of the troops. He thought highly of resistance to violence, so fighting and things associated with the war did not please him.

Walt Whitman on the other hand is different because his story is all about the Cavalry troops, and even though the reader, or the narrator of the story, is an innocent bystander just watching, there is no downgrading comments against the troops. The reader simply just watches and can view the scene that is being presented. I think that the two are different from each other simply just because their view of government. Henry Thoreau's works are usually very opinionated and deal with his opinions and his thoughts. Walt Whitman though shows a non-individual side. He does not include personal opinions and he just lets the reader image things for themselves. He simply just tells a story through his works.


Cavalry Crossing a Ford Study Guide - Walt Whitman - ENotes.com." ENotes - Literature Study Guides, Lesson Plans, and More. Enotes.com. Web. 10 Feb. 2012. <http://www.enotes.com/cavalry-crossing>.

Whitman, Walt. "Cavalry Crossing a Ford - Walt Whitman (1819-1892)." Books & Literature Classics. About.com. Web. 10 Feb. 2012. <http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/wwhitman/bl-ww-calvary.htm>.

The Gettysburg Address-Abraham Lincoln

In the Gettysburg Address, I think that there is a different viewpoint than that of Henry David Thoreau. Abraham Lincoln was a obviously a big part of government, considering he was president. He tried to make changes to the government, which is what Thoreau hoped would happen. In the first line, "all men are created equal" is a strong quote. Looking at previous stories like Fredrick Douglas, who was a negro and did not believe that all men were created equal and that the liberty and freedom that we received was not for him, makes me have a different view on this story. They both represent Thoreau's philosophies but in very different ways. Abraham Lincoln's words were very powerful. He found ways to create equality between all people. He laid a part of the battle field to those who gave their lives for the freedom we still have. The main difference between Thoreau's words and Abraham's words are Thoreau had a lot of power in his words whereas Abraham had a lot of power in his actions. Thoreau was not in a government position and he did not have the power to make the changes he wanted to see, but he was able to speak his words and get people to listen to him. Abraham Lincoln was in a government position so he was able to put words into actions, but he did not think words were as important. His quote, "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here," shows that his words may not be important, but the battle that happened is important and the people who lost their lives will be remembered for a long time. The philosophies between the two philosophers are very different from each other I think mainly because how different they are in society and how other people see them. I think though that Thoreau paved the way for Abraham Lincoln because he changed the government and was able to put Thoreau's ideas into actions with the power in political government he held. Thoreau was also against violence. He accepted it, but he was against it. Abraham Lincoln was not for violence, but the war was something that needed to be done in order for government change and change in society.

Lincoln, Abraham. "The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln." NetINS Showcase. Abraham Lincoln Online. Web. 08 Feb. 2012. <http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm>.

The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro

Well after reading the story, and comparing it to Henry Thoreau's philosophies, I think they are very similar to each other. Thoreau was all about civil disobedience, which in short terms resisted the government. He was also all about standing up for what you believe in, even if that means standing alone. In Fredrick Douglas story, it was told from the point of view of a negro who is looking at the meaning of The Fourth of July to him. He believes that the country, which is 76 years old, is just starting out. It is a baby, compared to other nations who number their years by thousands. Fredrick Douglas kept saying things like "your country" and "your independence" where he was not really including himself. I found this interesting because of the viewpoint that he has. Not only does he think that the nation is young, but that the Fourth of July does not really apply to him. I think this is where he opposes the nation, kind of like how Henry Thoreau opposed the government. He is still stuck in that stage where freedom is ours, but the punishment of being a slave is still put on him. The fact that we celebrate the holiday is disgusted by him because we are basically celebrating how we treated the slaves, and in the end we still gained our freedom. My favorite quote that I came across states, "May he not hope that high lessons of wisdom, of justice and of truth, will yet give direction to her destiny?"(Douglas, Fredrick). Basically from that quote I took the thought that the nation is still in its younger stage and has a lot of room to change. In this room to change comes a lot of experience. Fredrick Douglas has high hopes for this because he does believe the national "holiday" is not made for him because he is still given injustice. It was the British that we gained freedom from while he was gaining freedom, or rather yet escaping the slave camp that he was in. It is a very emotional story. I think it makes us look at the things that the government has done and the changes that the nation has made that has impacted many people of many different races. It helps put into perspective that the past cannot be changed, so somehow there has to be hope in the future; something needs to make up for all of the wrongdoings of the past. 


Douglas, Fredrick M. "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro by Frederick Douglass."History Is A Weapon. History Is A Weapon. Web. 07 Feb. 2012. <http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/douglassjuly4.html>