Week 9, Weekly Analysis, Thurman

Literary Elements:
Characterization: is used throughout this passage, it is used a lot for the characters of Emma Lou and Hazel Mason. Emma Lou was an African American girl from Idaho, who came from a upper class family. She leaves home to go to college at the University of Southern California, which is primarily a white school but many upper class African Americans are also enrolled. Emma Lou is in search for friends at school with her same skin color and is hoping that she can be treated equally as everyone else. Characterization is use by giving us a brief description of Emma Lou's background, her search for fellow colored classmates, her disappointments, struggles and how all of these events leads to the change of her views and expectations.
“..in the colored social circles of Los Angeles, Emma Lou was certain that she would find many suitable companions, intelligent, broad-mined people of all complexions, intermixing and being too occupied otherwise to worry about either their own skin color or the skin color of those around them.” pg 438

Themes: Discrimination: Emma Lou is trying to go to school in a different state and area then her hometown, looking for equality for an upper class African American, in a school that is primarily white.
“Besides being disappointed at the drabness and lack of romance in college routine, Emma Lou was also depressed by her inability to make much headway in the matter of becoming intimately associated with her colored campus mates.” pg 442 This selection from the story tells me that Emma Lou really went to college to look for colored campus mates and the education was not her main focus, she was good at it, but it did not make her happy. After Emma Lou’s first year of college she returned home for the summer, discouraged and depressed, her college experience was not what she wanted it to be. “There was no place in the world for a dark girl.” pg 446 Emma Lou could not escape the challenge of being born a dark skinned girl.

Context: Through out the passage, there are signs of discrimination and inequality.  Although, this was a college that allowed African Americans to be students, they were not treated equally, still felt uncomfortable and not apart of the college experience. Unfortantally, still today many years later there is still discrimination, races that are treated unfairly and do not feel welcomed.

Reading Notes B, Week 9, Fisher

The First Oyster by M. F. K. Fisher

Miss Huntingdon’s School for girls: 75 boarders, 25 woman

Mrs. Cheever: uncomfortable, lonely, college graduate, super-lady, cook, snubbed by her colleagues

Christmas Party: oysters served, exotic:

“got one with surprising neatness into my mouth”

“The oyster in was still in my mouth. I smiled, with care, and stood up ..”

“The oyster seemed larger. I knew that I must down it, and was equally sure that I could not. Then, as Olmsted put her thin hand on my shoulder blades, I swallowed once, and felt light and attractive and daring, to know what I had done.”pg 571

“If I could still taste my first oyster, if my tongue still felt fresh and excited, it was perhaps too bad. Although things are different now, I hoped then, suddenly and violenty, that I would never see one again.” Pg 574

Old Girls’ Day – warn day in June, fun party, good food. “mean to all but the Seniors, who had to be nice to the returning alumnae.” Pg 568 “For moment, at least, in the year, we were greatful to her for our deliciously full mouths.” Pg 569

Southern California: climate considered tropical 

Demitasses – a small coffee cup  

The literary devices used in this story were characterization and point of view. The author used characterization as ways to describe how Mrs. Cheever appeared, thought and felt. The author also used point of view to describe how she and others viewed Mrs. Cheever in the different settings throughout the story.

This was not one of my favorite stories to read in the book, the story did not really spark my interest. The only thing that thought was interesting and funny was when she had the oyster in her mouth and described it. My father and husband enjoy oysters and I think they are gross, so it was funny to read her point of view of the oyster and eating it.

Reading Notes A, Week 9, Thurman

Emma Lou was a young girl who came to California to go to college at the University of Southern California from her hometown of Boise Idaho. “..in the colored social circles of Los Angeles, Emma Lou was certain that she would find many suitable companions, intelligent, broad-mined people of all complexions, intermixing and being too occupied otherwise to worry about either their own skin color or the skin color of those around them.” pg 438 This quote describes how Emma Lou felt about wanting to meet others that had the same skin color has her own but they also needed to be from a higher class, which she felt they would have because of attending the same college as her. Finding others that were the same colored face as her was difficult.

Emma Lou ended up meeting two girls, Hazel Mason and Grace Giles. Hazel from Texas, her father became wealthy due to oil being found on his land. Hazel was not the type of person, Emma Lou wanted to be around, she was not pretty, was loud and embarrassing, she even tried to leave her but they ended up as friends. Grace was also a student at the school, but was not on campus often, because her classes were located off of campus. These three girls were not popular and not invited to campus events or parties, they mainly stayed with each other off campus.

“Besides being disappointed at the drabness and lack of romance in college routine, Emma Lou was also depressed by her inability to make much headway in the matter of becoming intimately associated with her colored campus mates.” pg 442 This selection from the story tells me that Emma Lou really went to college to look for colored campus mates and the education was not her main focus, she was good at it, but it did not make her happy.

After Emma Lou’s first year of college she returned home for the summer, discouraged and depressed, her college experience was not what she wanted it to be. “There was no place in the world for a dark girl.” pg 446 Emma Lou could not escape the challenge of being born a dark skinned girl.

Week 9 Progress

 1. Review. 

How do you feel about your progress so far?  

I feel very good about my progress so far, I am very happy with the grade I have at this time. One of my fears when I was thinking about returning to school, was I what if I failed? I can happily say that I am not failing and have the motivation needed to transfer and graduate. 

What are the class assignments that you enjoy the most? 

Honestly, I am enjoying the readings, I have never been a huge reader. During my younger years of school reading, was difficult and I lacked motivation. In this class I have enjoyed most of the readings, some of them I have to re-read them to help me understand it better, some I have not been interested in and have been hard to read, and others I love and don't want the reading to end. 

Are you using any of the extra credit options?

I have used a few of the extra credit options, but since I have been able to stay structured and focused, I have been able to complete almost all of my assignments. 

 

2. Look forward.

Are there any changes you want to make for the second half of the semester, in terms of your participation in the course? 

I like the first half of the semester, it was challenging in the beginning, but then I have gotten used to the format and expectations. I think reading a free choice book is change enough. 

Any mistakes or possible challenges in finishing you want to avoid? 

none at this time. 

Something new you want to try?

Reading the free choice book, is something that I am excited to start and complete by the due date, I can't remember the last time I read a book from start to finish. 

Topic Brainstorm, Week 8, 3 Possible topics

Topic 1: Love, work, freedom, etc. Then choose two selections and discuss how that subject is discussed in those selections.

Love: During our readings there has been lots of stories about love, falling in love, love of family, love of culture, love of landscape, and love of one’s self. I the theme of love can be found in many of these stories. I want to compare two stories and discuss how they both have the theme of love and the different ways love is shown.

Topic 2: Think about a theme you see running through your life. Choose a reading that you think also discusses this theme. Explore connections between how the theme play out in your life, and how the theme gets played out in the reading.

In the beginning of this class, when I selected this topic for our first analysis, my reason was different. Before I said that I did not see a theme from the readings that were similar to my life, however now that we have read so many more I can relate or connect with some of the stories. There has been a few themes that I can relate and connect with. As I continue to read the next few weeks, if another one presents it’s self then I will choose this topic.

Topic 3: From a piece of fiction choose a female character on whom to focus, and create a project.

I would like to choose a female character from a story because I would like to see how the author creates, describes, and has the female play a part in the story. The female role will show how the author feels towards woman and can be a reflection how they feel in real life. Females did not often have a main role in a stories, they were not treated as equal as they are now. Different authors have different views and I will be able see how this author views woman.

Literary Analysis, Week 8, From Martin Eden

The passage from, From Martin Eden, by Jack London, left me feeling very sad because a passage went from childhood memories of being beat up for years and not giving up to Martin earning everything he could have wanted, but gives up on life. London used many literary devices in the passage.

The first literary device was flash back, Martin was in his apartment and frustrated that his writings were being returned from the publishers. He then shared his childhood memories about being bullied and beat up on and off for many years, which ended in a huge gang fight that left him with a broken arm and so angry that he could not stop punching his attack, Cheese-face, he had lost control of himself. These memories tell moments when he was as young as six years until he was eighteen and how these moments made him a fighter in life and not give up.

The second literary device used was conflict, London writes about how Martin is having inter conflict with himself, later in Martin's life, when he becomes famous for his writings and has a lot of money, but he talks about how unhappy he is in life and he does not like to be around others. He goes to the doctors because he feels like something is wrong with himself, he is told that he is psychical healthy. "It was his "thinking machine" that had gone wrong, and there was no cure for that except to get away to the South Seas." pg 366 He boards the Mariposa and is a first class passenger, something he had wanted in the past and thought would be so great, but he was still unhappy. "There was no satisfaction in being awake." pg 367 Martin was miserable, nothing around him made him happy.

Lastly London uses irony and suspense as literary devices. One evening Martin picked up a volume of the Swinburne and he found himself interested and happy. "That was the meaning of it all: he had been drifting that way all the time, and now Swinburne showed him that it was the happy way out."pg 369

"Life was ill, or rather, it had become ill-an unbearable thing. "That dead men rise up never! That lined stirred him with a profound feeling of gratitude. .... When life became an aching weariness, death was ready to soothe away to everlasting sleep."pg 369. Martin climbed through the porthole in his room and went into the milk sea and drowned himself.

Martin gave up on life, he was not happy and although he became a successful writer, he was not happy, the money and all the things he wanted and was able to have were not enough for him in the end.

From Martin Eden, Jack London 356-371

Reading Notes B, Week 8: Jeffers

Robinson Jeffers pg. 407-413 poems about the California landscape, granite, and hawks. Jeffers used many different literary devices in his poems.

Continent’s End:

Literary device: Setting –

“when the earth was veiled in late rain, wreathed with wet poppies, waiting spring,

The ocean swelled for a far storm and beat it’s boundary, the ground swell shook the beds of granite.” pg 408

Tor House:

Literary device: Imagery –

Jeffers uses imagery in this poem, when describing the landscape and the possible changes that will occur as time passes on.

Hurt Hawks

I

Literary device: Suspense –

“The broken pillar of the wing jags from the clotted shoulder,….. and pain a few days: cat nor coyote.”pg 410 Jeffers is talking about a hawk with a broken wing and is he going to survive and get better, or get eaten by a predator.

The Purse-Seine-

Literary device: Plot –

Jeffers is describing fishermen fishing for sardines. Going into the waters at night, spreading the net off of the coastal waters; Monterey, Santa Cruz, New Year’s Point or Pigeon Point when they see the “lakes of the milk-color light on the sea’s” pg 411. The fishermen bring up the nets full of the sardines, sea-lions come to watch.

Carmel Point

Literary device: Simile –

Jeffers describes a beautiful landscape, “unbroken field of poppy and lupin walled on clean cliffs;” and how it is destroyed by all of the homes. He says no to forget the beauty that surrounds us, “Safe as the endless ocean that climbs our cliff….. We must uncenter our minds from ourselves.” Pg 413

Week 8, Reading and Writing

Looking back:  

How are the reading and writing assignments working for you?  

The readings are going well, I have noticed that I have a hard time with analyzing the poems, I enjoy reading other class members analysis of them, they help me understand them better.

The first few weeks I was struggling with the readings and then analysis them, however after I had my meeting, and did a few more writings, they started to get easier.

What has been your favorite reading so far?

About the House Girl

Are your reading notes helping you each week with your story post?

Yes the reading notes really help because I am writing information that will help with the analysis. I choose parts of the passage I liked or stood out to me and then analysis them. I have also been thinking and choosing some of the literally devices used in the passages.

Have you discovered any new reading/research strategies?

This is all been a learning experience for me, since I have not been in school for 11 years. I am using a lot of the information and links you have provided and have also searched the internet for additional resources.

Are you happy with your class project? 

I feel like it was ok, I really appreciated the feedback given to help improve the project. I did not receive any feedback for the final submission and did not make any changes or submit the last submission. I really don’t have a good reason; I just wasn’t able to focus on it to add any additional edits.

What do you consider to be your biggest accomplishment(s) in your writing for this class?

I would consider this whole class and all of the writings an accomplishment, I had never started, published or posted on a blog before. I feel great about this class and the writings, I am able to submit them ahead most of the time and be happy with them.

Looking forward:

Is there anything you want/need to do in order to get more out of the reading and writing experiences in this class?

Looking forward, I am getting so much out of this class, everyone’s responses are helpful and encouraging, I am just embracing this class and all of the experiences I am gaining from it.

Reading Notes A, Week 8, London

The passage from, From Matin Eden, by Jack London, left me feeling very sad. The passage started with Martin in his apartment frustrated that his writings were being returned from the publishers. He then share his childhood memories about being bullied and beat up on and off for many years, which ended in a huge gang fight that left him with a broken arm and so angry that he could not stop punching his attack, Cheese-face, he had lost control of himself. These memories tell moments when he was as young as six years until he was eighteen and how these moments made him a fighter in life and not give up.
The passage then goes to later in Martin's life, when he becomes famous for his writings and has a lot of money, but he talks about how unhappy he is in life and he does not like to be around others. He goes to the doctors because he feels like something is wrong with himself, he he told that he is psychical healthy. "It was his "thinking machine" that had gone wrong, and there was no cure for that except to get away to the South Seas." pg 366 He boards the Mariposa and is a first class passenger, something he had wanted in the past and thought would be so great, but he was still unhappy. "There was no satisfaction in being awake." pg 367 Martin was miserable, nothing around him made him happy.
One evening Martin picked up a volume of the Swinburne and he found himself interested and happy. "That was the meaning of it all: he had been drifting that way all the time, and now Swinburne showed him that it was the happy way out."pg 369
"Life was ill, or rather, it had become ill-an unbearable thing."That dead men rise up never! That lined stirred him with a profound feeling of gratitude. .... When life became an aching weariness, death was ready to soothe away to everlasting sleep."pg 369 Martin climbed through the porthole in his room and went into the milk sea and drowned himself.
Martin gave up on life, he was not happy and although he became a successful writer, he was not happy, the money and all the things he wanted and was able to have were not enough for him in the end.

Week 7, Weekly Analysis, Closed End,

In the Land of the Free, by Edith Maud Eaton, takes place in San Francisco. A Chinese couple were living in the San Francisco, the wife, Lae Choo, returned to China to give birth to their child, The Little One. Her husband, Hom Hing stayed in San Francisco and continued to work as a merchant, he owned a store and they lived above it. Lae Choo and her son had stayed in China longer than they expected because Hom Hing’s parents were ill and she needed to take care of them. Hom Hing had never met his son, who was 20 months old. Lae Choo and The Little One arrived under the Golden Gate bridge aboard, Easter Queen. Hom Hing met his son and as they were leaving the ship the family was stopped by two men with the intials U.S.C. on their caps. The Little One did not have any papers and none of the papers about Lae Choo had mentioned anything about a child, because he was not born when the papers were filed. Against the parents will they had to hand their son over to the men, until they could get approval from the government to let the child in to the US.

The next day Hom Hing when to get his son, when he returned home, he did not have his child. Lae Choo was devastated.

One literary device used was suspense, Easton had me wanting to read faster to see how and when was Lae Choo, going to get her son back. This is shown in the story with the following quote. “Her food she takes only when I bed her and her tears fall continually. She finds no pleasure in dress or flowers and cares not to see her friends. He eyes stare all night. I think before another moon she will pass into the land of spirits.” pg 326. As a mother I cannot even imagaine having my baby taken from me for so long, from what started as a day turned into 5 months and then 10 months.

The second literary device used was tragedy, this is shown when after 10 long months Lae Choo was able to get her son from the missionary where he was taken care of. She was so happy to see him but he did not know who she was when he saw her. “But the Little One shrunk from her and tried to hide himself in the folds of the white woman’s skirt. “Go ‘way, go ‘way!” he bade his mother.”pg 329 As I was read this last quote and then end of the story in our book, I felt so heartbroken for Lae Choo. After all of those months, tears, sleepless nights, Lae Choo just wanting to hold her son again and when the moment comes he rejects her. This is a true tragedy for this mother. 

Reading Notes B, Week 7, Baum

In the story From Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, by L. Frank Baum, imaginary is used as the literary device.
Characters:
Dorothy: main character, young girl, arrived on a train from San Francisco to Hugson's Siding, it was several hours late due to the earthquakes. She was there to meet back up with her uncle Henry, so they could return home to Kansas. Uncle Henry was visiting with his brother in law Bill Hugson.
Zebedia (Zeb) was Bill Hugson's nephew and a second cousin to Dorothy. Zeb and his horse, Jim, had been waiting for Dorothy to arrive at the train station.
As the Dorothy, Zeb, and Jim were returning to the Hugson Ranch, earthquakes started again and the ground was splitting apart, the earth opened right in front of them but they did not fall in. However the second time the earth split right under the horse and buggy. "Suddenly there was a rending, tearing sound, and the earth split into another great crack just beneath the spot where the horse was standing....the animal body fell into the pit, drawing the buggy.."pg 350 As I was reading this I was imagining the scene in my mind, as the author was describing the fall I could see it in my mind. "...Jim's big ears turn to violet and the other to rose...she looked at Zeb, whose face was blue and whose hair was pink.." pg 352 Dorothy realized they were not in danger but she was going on another great adventure, as she had before. The three of them landed safely on a roof, in the middle of a large city.
I was not a huge fan of The Wizard of OZ and not even sure I watched the whole movie, but after reading this short section of this sequel, I want to watch the whole movie and read this book. Baum really has me as the reader wanting more because he uses imaginary very well in his story.

Reading Notes A, Week 7, Eaton

In the Land of the Free, by Edith Maud Eaton, takes place in San Francisco. A Chinese couple were living in the San Francisco, the wife, Lae Choo, returned to China to give birth to their child, The Little One. Her husband, Hom Hing stayed in San Francisco and continued to work as a merchant, he owned a store and they lived above it. Lae Choo and her son had stayed in China longer than they expected because Hom Hing’s parents were ill and she needed to take care of them. Hom Hing had never met his son, who was 20 months old. Lae Choo and The Little One arrived under the Golden Gate bridge aboard, Easter Queen. Hom Hing met his son and as they were leaving the ship the family was stopped by two men with the intials U.S.C. on their caps. The Little One did not have any papers and none of the papers about Lae Choo had mentioned anything about a child, because he was not born when the papers were filed. Against the parents will they had to hand their son over to the men, until they could get approval from the government to let the child in to the US.

The next day Hom Hing when to get his son, when he returned home, he did not have his child. Lae Choo was devastated.

After 5 long months, Lae Choo was withdrawn from everyone, and Hom Hing felt his wife would die if she did not get her son back. “Her food she takes only when I bed her and her tears fall continually. She finds no pleasure in dress or flowers and cares not to see her friends. He eyes stare all night. I think before another moon she will pass into the land of spirits.” Pg 326 A young man, who was a lawyer, brought a letter from the government but it said the same as before. The young man said he would go to Washington to get the needed papers for Hom Hing to bring his son home, but it would cost him $500, he would not take anything less and the couple had no money. Lae Choo gave him all of her jewelry in exchange for her son.

After 10 long months Lae Choo was able to get her son from the missionary where he was taken care of. She was so happy to see him but he did not know who she was when he saw her. “But the Little One shrunk from her and tried to hide himself in the folds of the white woman’s skirt. “Go ‘way, go ‘way!” he bade his mother.”pg 329

Revised Project 1, Winnucca

The culture and traditions described in the story, From Life amount the Piutes, are very similar to the Paiute tribe's.

Traditions are described in the story, such as children being raised with respect for their parents and each other, cultural gatherings for young girls and boys to meet each other, and the traditions practiced for when a girl becomes a woman. The story also describes how a husband is chosen, process of when a boy becomes a man, woman and men treated equally, and how they hunt for food. Within the story Piutes culture is described by the type of clothing worn, types of housing, religion, and many other details about the tribe.

The author, Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins, was a Northern Paiute author, activist and educator. She became an advocate for the rights of the Native Americans after her band was attached by the US cavalry, who killed 29 Paiutes, including her mother and extended family. The author used the literary device of imagery she describes the traditions and cultures in great details I am able to envision them in my mind. The author also uses theme, the story describes the life of the Piutes, as another literary device.

Paiute tribe had two major bands called the Walpapi and the Yahooskin (also known as the Snake Indians. There locations of the Paiutes were divided into three groups; Northern Paiute of California, Idaho, Nevada and Oregon, next Owens Valley Pauite of California and Nevada, and lastly Southern Paiute of Arizona, southeastern California, Nevada, and Utach.

The Paiute tribe is very close as a tribe and the family unit is very strong, including the elders in the family the ones that made family decisions. "The Great Basin Paiute tribe lived in temporary shelters of windbreaks in the summer or flimsy huts covered with rushes or bunches of grass called wikiups. The materials used were sagebrush, willow, branches, leaves, and grass (brush) that were available in their region." https://m.warpaths2peacepipes.com/indian-tribes/paiute-tribe.htm
"For their winter or more permanent houses, the Paiute placed willow poles in a circle and either leaned them together at the top, making a cone-shaped dwelling, or bent them in a dome shape.  The poles were covered with mats woven from tule reeds, when they were available, or with bundles of long grasses tied together.  There was a smoke hole at the top, and an entry door covered with an animal skin." https://factcards.califa.org/cai/paiute.html#top

In the following I am going to compare the text with information that I was able to verify is a part of the Paiutes culture and traditions:

"Our young woman are not allowed to talk to any young men that is not their cousin, except at the festive dances, when both are dressed in their best clothes, adorned with beads, feathers, or shells..." pg 255 The Paiutes also had many ceremony dances, such as the Bear Dance and the Sun Dance. The most popular dance was the Ghost Dance, which was created in 1870 to re-establish the peace and rid them of the "white men." "Paiute clothing for both the men and women was adorned with fringes and feathers and jewelry made from beads and shells." https://m.warpaths2peacepipes.com/indian-tribes/paiute-tribe.htm

"On the fifth day the antelopes were charmed... and looking sleepy and under a powerful spell." pg 261 In the story it is described in great detail, how the one tribe member has the charm to put a spell on a herd of antelopes and the process takes 5 days, once the herd is under the spell they are all killed and used for food and clothing. "Leaders of communal hunts usually had power—for antelope, always."  https://www.everyculture.com/North-America/Northern-Paiute-Religion-and-Expressive-Culture.html#ixzz5hB5IGXxy

Lastly before a girl became a woman in the story, she had a twenty-five day tradition that included the grandmothers, two friends, they lived in a separate teepee for the three young girls. A girl had to gather and stack five piles of wood as high as she could three times a day, could only bathe every five days, and was not allowed to eat meat, this was done before the young girl could enter into "Womanhood."  "...for young women at the time of their first menstrual period, and the other for young couples expecting their first child. In the menarche ritual, the young woman was isolated for four days. During this time, she observed taboos against touching her face or hair with her hands, eating animal-based foods, and drinking cold liquids. She also ran east at sunrise and west at sunset, and sat with older women of the tribe to learn about her responsibilities as a woman. After the four days of isolation, a series of rituals were performed to bring the menarche ceremony to a close." https://www.everyculture.com/multi/Le-Pa/Paiutes.html#ixzz5hB8OJNHS The story was similar to the actual tradition but in the story it lasted for twenty-five days, however it only lasted four days in the real tribal culture.

The context of the story describes the culture and traditions of the Paiutes tribe. I enjoyed reading this story because it describes and educates me on the Paiutes culture. I also had to research the Paiutes tribe and read the facts to confirm most of the details of the story are true and accurate. Culture is something I am interested in and trying to understand more about, for example, why do we loose our cultural traditions? In this story, it is clear that this tribe wants to stay together and keep their traditions but they wanted to diminish and shrink their tribe instead of multiplying it because they believed their daughters were not safe.

I believe the author is telling a story about her tribe and is using the information to keep they history alive for them, with this story we are able to read and understand what her life was like as a child and how the culture of his tribe influenced her as she became an adult. Winnemucca also compares and describes how her tribe was different from the "white men." Indians do not swear, - they have no words for swearing till they learned them of the white men." pg 254 This was a great story and kept my interest, but most of all I really enjoyed reading about the cultural traditions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Winnemucca

Thocetony (Sarah Winnmucca) "From Life among the Piutes" pg 254-261

Reading Notes X, Week 6, Norris

From the Octopus pg 372-383

Characters:
Presley - Main character
Bronderson - friend of Presley killed by the "monster"
Caraher - friend of Presley
Vanamee - friend of Presley
Angele - wife of Vanamee
S. Behrman - owner of the largest elevator on the shipping docks to load the bulk wheat onto the ships. He did this to save money, in materials of the sacks and the labor of men.

Places:
Caraher's Place - Saloon
Long Trestle - farm/property; silence, desolation, abandonment
Annixter - farm/property; silence, desolation, abandonment
Los Muertos - farm - wheat fields
Quien Sabe - farm, wheat fields
Port Costa - town where the train brought S. Behrman
Swanhilda - ship, with the large holding "hold" for the bulk wheat to be elevated into from the largest elevator owned by S. Behrman.

It was the season after the harvest, and the great earth, the mother, after it's period of reproduction, its pains of labour, delivered of the fruit of its loins, slept the sleep of exhaustion in the infinite repose of the colossus, benignant, eternal, strong, the nourisher of nations, the feeder of an entire world. pg 373

"Death and grief are little things," he said. "They are transient. Life must be before death, and joy before grief. Else there are no such things as death or grief. These are only negatives. Life is positive. Death is only the absence of life, just as night is only the absence of day, and if this is so, there is no such thing as death. There is only life, and the suppression of life, that we foolishly, say is death. pg 374

"Evil is short-lived. Never judge of the whole round of life by the mere segment you can see. The whole, is in the end, perfect." pg 375

But the WHEAT remained. Untouched, unassailable, undefiled, that mighty world-force, that nourisher of nations wrapped in Nirvanic claim, indifferent to the human swarm, gigantic, resistless, moved onward in its appointed grooves. pg 383 

Reading Notes B, Week 6, Muir

From the Mountains of California pg 298-307

This passage describes the beautiful landscapes of California from the beaches to the snow covered mountain ranges.

• Go where you may within the bounds of California, mountains are ever in sight, charming and glorifying every landscape. 
• only one valley, and two chains of mountains
• Coast Range on the west side, the Sierra Nevada on the east
• the waters of which have only one outlet to the sea through the Golden Gate
• own climate, soil, and productions - each different landscape; coast, mountains and valleys all have their own climate and produce different things but all in one state.
• Central Valley, glowing golden
• the Sierra should be called not the Nevada, or Snowy Range, but the range of Light
• Sierra range is described as 500 miles long, 70 miles wide, 7000-15000 feet tall. 
• Yosemite kind are made up of rocks mountainous in size, partly separated from each other by narrow gorges
• grandest forest trees, the Sequoia, king of conifers, the noble Sugar and Yellow Pines, Douglas Spur
• described animals, reptiles; lizards, large numbers of ants, crows, ravens, rabbits, coyotes. 
• Avalanches are described in the High Sierra during the winter. it booms and roars like thunder, and makes a glorious show as it sweeps down the mountain-side
• North half of the range is mostly covered with floods of lava ad dotted with volcanoes and craters. 
• Mount Shasta, a colossal volcanic cone
• Mount Whitney only granite
• The great granite domes a mile high, the canos as deep, the noble peaks, the Yosemite valleys, these, and indeed nearly all other features of the Sierra scenery, are glarcier monuments. 
• Yonder let us spread broad sheets of soil, that man and the beast may be fed and here pile trains of boulders for pines and giant Sequoias. 

I enjoyed reading Muir describe California and how all of the landscape and different climates we have because of the glaciers that were here before. They have given the mountain ranges, valleys, coast, and every beautiful view in between. 

Reading Notes A, Week 6, Markham

God made men in His own image, in the image of God mad He him. –Genesis

 

The Man with the Hoe

..the weight of centuries he leans, Upon his hoe and gazes on the ground, the emptiness of ages in his face, And on his back the burden of the world. Who made him dead to rapture and despair, A thing that grieves not and that never hopes pg 294

 As I read this section of the poem, I envisioned a man working in a field of some type of crop, the man is hunched over using his tool to get his required job done. He does this with no sense of excitement, joy, or with dignity. You can tell with his posture and the emptiness look on his face he is unhappy.

The poem then goes on to question if this is the world that God made, envisioned, and wanted?

How will you ever straighten up this shape; Touch it again with immortality and the light, rebuild in the music and dream pg 295.

The poem then asks God to come and save the world and bring it back to the way he envisioned it.

 

The Sower

Who is it coming on the brown slop, pg 296

Flinging their foolish glory on the air – He hides their nakedness, he give them bed, and by his alms their hungry mouths are fed. Pg 297

This poem is describing a empty dirt hill, that is then planted with seeds and once the seeds grow the hill is no longer empty. With the seeds that grew into plants or crops, they are now able to feed the people that are hungry.  He is then described as a “Earth-god,” someone that is here on earth and able to help feed the hungry with the land, seeds, and crops that are grown.

Project 1, Week 5: Write a piece in which you explore: What does this story teach us about history? - Winnemucca

What is the Paiute tribes culture and traditions?

In the story From Life among the Piutes, the setting is described as children being raised with respect for their parents and each other, cultural gatherings for young girls and boys to meet each other, and the traditions practiced for when a girl becomes a woman. The story also describes how a husband is chosen, process of when a boy becomes a man, woman and men treated equally, how they hunt for food. Within these traditions the story describes clothing, types of housing, religion, and many other details about the tribe. All of these cultural traditions are described in great detail.

During my research on the Paiute tribes, I was able to locate most of these cultural traditions and confirm a majority of the smaller details are the same. The Paiute tribe is very close as a tribe and the family unit is very strong, including the elders in the family the ones that made family decisions. "The Great Basin Paiute tribe lived in temporary shelters of windbreaks in the summer or flimsy huts covered with rushes or bunches of grass called wikiups. The materials used were sagebrush, willow, branches, leaves, and grass (brush) that were available in their region." https://m.warpaths2peacepipes.com/indian-tribes/paiute-tribe.htm
"For their winter or more permanent houses, the Paiute placed willow poles in a circle and either leaned them together at the top, making a cone-shaped dwelling, or bent them in a dome shape.  The poles were covered with mats woven from tule reeds, when they were available, or with bundles of long grasses tied together.  There was a smoke hole at the top, and an entry door covered with an animal skin." https://factcards.califa.org/cai/paiute.html#top

In the following I am going to compare the text with information that I was able to verify is a part of the Paiutes culture and traditions:

"Our young woman are not allowed to talk to any young men that is not their cousin, except at the festive dances, when both are dressed in their best clothes, adorned with beads, feathers, or shells..." pg 255 The Paiutes also had many ceremony dances, such as the Bear Dance and the Sun Dance. The most popular dance was the Ghost Dance, which was created in 1870 to re-establish the peace and rid them of the "white men." "Paiute clothing for both the men and women was adorned with fringes and feathers and jewelry made from beads and shells." https://m.warpaths2peacepipes.com/indian-tribes/paiute-tribe.htm

"On the fifth day the antelopes were charmed... and looking sleepy and under a powerful spell." pg 261 In the story it is described in great detail, how the one tribe member has the charm to put a spell on a herd of antelopes and the process takes 5 days, once the herd is under the spell they are all killed and used for food and clothing. "Leaders of communal hunts usually had power—for antelope, always."  https://www.everyculture.com/North-America/Northern-Paiute-Religion-and-Expressive-Culture.html#ixzz5hB5IGXxy

My lastly before a girl became a woman in the story, she had a twenty-five day tradition that included the grandmothers, two friends, they lived in a separate teepee for the three young girls. A girl had to gather and stack five piles of wood as high as she could three times a day, could only bathe every five days, and was not allowed to eat meat, this was done before the young girl could enter into "Womanhood."  "...for young women at the time of their first menstrual period, and the other for young couples expecting their first child. In the menarche ritual, the young woman was isolated for four days. During this time, she observed taboos against touching her face or hair with her hands, eating animal-based foods, and drinking cold liquids. She also ran east at sunrise and west at sunset, and sat with older women of the tribe to learn about her responsibilities as a woman. After the four days of isolation, a series of rituals were performed to bring the menarche ceremony to a close." https://www.everyculture.com/multi/Le-Pa/Paiutes.html#ixzz5hB8OJNHS The story was similar to the actual tradition but in the story it lasted for twenty-five days, however it only lasted four days in the real tribal culture.

The context of the story describes the culture and traditions of the Paiutes tribe. I enjoyed reading this story because it describes and educates me on the Paiutes culture. I also had to research the Paiutes tribe and read the facts to confirm most of the details of the story are true and accurate. Culture is something I am interested in and trying to understand more about, for example, why do we loose our cultural traditions? In this story, it is clear that this tribe wants to stay together and keep their traditions but they wanted to diminish and shrink their tribe instead of multiplying it because they believed their daughters were not safe.

I believe the author is telling a story about her tribe and is using the information to keep they history alive for them, with this story we are able to read and understand what her life was like as a child and how the culture of his tribe influenced her as she became an adult. Winnemucca also compares and describes how her tribe was different from the "white men." Indians do not swear, - they have no words for swearing till they learned them of the white men." pg 254 This was a great story and kept my interest, but most of all I really enjoyed reading about the cultural traditions.

Thocetony (Sarah Winnmucca) "From Life among the Piutes" pg 254-261