Week 5, Analysis, Literary Analysis: De Burton

"The Squatter and the Don," Maria Amparo Ruiz De Burton pg 244-253

Literary Elements: 

Don Mariano Alamar was a Spaniards that owned land and cattle in San Diego, although the Mexicans thought their claims to their land prior to the Treaty of Guadalupe in 1848 (A Treaty that was thought to be created in the spirit of peach and friendship) was going to remain, however the laws did not protect the land owners, "but in reality to destroy cattle and ruin the native Calfornias." pg 248. Don had already lost some of his land to Mathews and Hagar, two squatters, who left and decided to bring a few more men to squat and claim land that does not belong to the US. Darrell was one of the squatters, Don knew about and thought that he was no longer claiming land. Through out the story Don believed Darrell was a man that knew he was taking land from him, he assumed the worst about him and told his family.

William Darrell (The Squatter)living in Alameda County, took over Spanish people's land in Napa and Sonoma Counties, (Squatter's Sovereignty) he became rich and promised his wife he would only claim land that belonged to the United States. He went to San Diego to claim land that he believed belonged to the US, however it belonged to Don Mariano Alamra.

Themes: 

I believe that Darrell did not know he was taking Don's land and if Don would have approached him they could have discussed the misunderstanding. Don did not believe he could stand up for his family and land. I believe that this makes him a strong but weak man. Strong because he does not want to cause any issues or fight with other's since he believes the law is not on his side. However I also believe he is weak because he is not fighting for his land and his family, he is allowing others to push him out.

Context: 

I researched the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 1848,  which was described in the story. The information I found, follows the information in the story, it was a "peace treaty," and was suppose to ensure safety to the land of the Mexicans that had exciting property rights, but it was not honored. 

Articles VIII and IX ensured safety of existing property rights of Mexican citizens living in the transferred territories. Despite assurances to the contrary, the property rights of Mexican citizens were often not honored by the U.S. in accordance with modifications to and interpretations of the Treaty.^[6][7][8] The U.S. also agreed to assume $3.25 million (equivalent to $94.1 million today) in debts that Mexico owed to United States citizens.

The residents had one year to choose whether they wanted American or Mexican citizenship; Over 90% chose American citizenship. The others returned to Mexico (where they received land), or in some cases in New Mexico were allowed to remain in place as Mexican citizens.^[9][10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Guadalupe_Hidalgo,

Reading Notes Part B, Week 5, Bierce

Moxon's Master, Ambrose Bierce pg 235-243

When I started to read this story I was confused and it was hard to follow. When I completed the passage I envisioned a Frankenstein creature as the machine chest player.
The following quote helped me connect the content from Moxon's conversation to his invention. "Was all his talk about the consciousness and intelligence of the machines merely a prelude to eventual exhibition of this device.....upon me in my ignorance of it's secret?"pg 241.
Moxon created a machine and was playing chest, once Moxon won the machine had a negative reaction to loosing, which could lead to his idea of it being conscious and can think for itself, as he described the vine following the stake in the soil several times, until it gave up and went it's own way.
Moxon did not seem to fear the machine man, even after there was a struggle and blood was on him after going into the "Machine Shop". I feel like maybe he was testing the machine man to see what his reaction was going to be, but unfortunately the machine was stronger than him, which lead to his death. He should not have done this without his assistant, Haley, present, maybe things would have ended differently.
Moxon's friend, the one telling the story, was a very curious, smart, and brave man. I also think he knew something was wrong when Moxon returned from the "Machine Shop" with blood on him. When he returned to the house and no one was answering the door, he could have turned away but instead he was curious and went inside to check on his friend and tried to save him when he was being attacked. He risked his life for Moxon and went up against a machine man, he knew nothing about. Thankfully he was saved by Haley. I wonder what happened tot he machine man?

Reading Notes Part A, Week 5, De Burton

"The Squatter and the Don," Maria Amparo Ruiz De Burton pg 244-253

Main characters:
William Darrell (The Squatter)living in Alameda County, took over Spanish people's land in Napa and Sonoma Counties, (Squatter's Sovereignty) he became rich and promised his wife he would only claim land that belonged to the United States. He went to San Diego to claim land that he believed belonged to the US, however it belonged to Don Mariano Alamra.

Don Mariano Alamar was a Spaniards that owned land and cattle in San Diego, although the Mexicans thought their claims to their land prior to the Treaty of Guadalupe in 1848 (A Treaty that was thought to be created in the spirit of peach and friendship) was going to remain, however the laws did not protect the land owners, "but in reality to destroy cattle and ruin the native Calfornias." pg 248. Don had already lost some of his land to Mathews and Hagar, two squatters, who left and decided to bring a few more men to squat and claim land that does not belong to the US. Darrell was one of the squatters, Don knew about and thought that he was no longer claiming land. Through out the story Don believed Darrell was a man that knew he was taking land from him, he assumed the worst about him and told his family.
In the end Darrell claimed 320 acres of Don's land as Don and his family watched from their home, and said nothing. "There would have been bloodshed then. Now tears only flowed, silent tears of helpless discouragement; of a presentiment of impending desolation." pg 253
I believe that Darrell did not know he was taking Don's land and if Don would have approached him they could have discussed the misunderstanding. Don did not believe he could stand up for his family and land. I believe that this makes him a strong but weak man. Strong because he does not want to cause any issues or fight with other's since he believes the law is not on his side. However I also believe he is weak because he is not fighting for his land and his family, he is allowing others to push him out.

Take Stock, Week 4

Happy Sunday!!!

I am update with my assignments and ready to start week 5. Let's get started.>>>>>

Project Action Plan, Week 4: Winnemucca "From Life among the Piutes

Project Topic: Choose one short story or novel excerpt. Write a piece in which you explore: What does this story teach us about history?

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

I will be writing a Literary Analysis for my project.

Setting:
Piutes tribe: children being raised, respect for parents and each other, cultural gatherings for young girls and boys to meet each other, the process of when a girl becomes a woman, how a husband is chosen, process of when a boy becomes a man, woman and men treated equally, how they charmed antelopes.

Themes:
Children are taught to be good, love everyone without being told.
Respect for each other and traditions: no swearing, no talking bad about each other.
Believe in cultural traditions: charming antelopes (put under a "spell")

Context:
The context of the story describes the culture and traditions of the Piutes tribe. I enjoyed reading this story because it describes and educates me on the Piutes culture. Culture is something I am 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. pg 256
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 now get 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

EC, Week 4, Reading Notes X: Winnemucca

I decided to read the extra credit reading to help me find my story for our Project. I was reading blogs and seen an Analysis from Kimberly Arce and it sounds like a great story to use. 

This story is about the Paiute Indians. It was very interesting to learn about their tribe's culture and traditions. I really enjoyed that they are taught to be good. They use the "coyote," for sayings, "Oh, it is only coyote," pg 254 and as a symbol in their culture as something, "stands for everything low." pg 254 The Paiute's did not swear until they learned it from the "white men." "The worst they call each other is bad or coyote." pg 254-255. It was interesting to learn that the girls were not able to speak to the men, unless they were at a festive dance, one annual dance was called, "Festival of Flowers" in the spring. Once the girl became of age to marry, the grandmother's would take care of them, the men that were interesting in marrying the girl, would sit at the end of her bed quietly and would leave when the girl would get up from her bed and move next to her mother. The girl was not pressured by her parents to choose a man. 

The boys would not be able to hunt large animals until they turned 15 or 16, and they could not eat anything they killed until they had a certain ceremony. 

Woman were well respected in this tribe and nothing was keep from the men or woman. The woman took care of their husband if he was wounded or killed. Some woman would even replace their husband's in war if their husband's were killed. 

The tribe captured antelopes by "charming" them or putting them under a spell, the process was very detailed and if anything was out of place, it would not work. 

EC, Weekly Review, Week 4, Reading Blogs

I am taking one other class, Sociology 17: Introduction to research methods. This class is going well, it is one night a week from 6:40-9:50pm, I go to class after work. We have been talking about our research project and thinking about topics. I would like to know, why we loose our cultural traditions?
I decided to research this topic because I am half Chinese and growing up we did not celebrate the traditional traditions very much. Now that I am an adult, my 7 year old daughter has became interested in the Chinese traditions. This year we celebrated the Chinese New Year on Feb 5, and my daughter decided that every year she wants to go to her favorite Chinese restaurant. We also made traditional almond cookies for her class and I read her the history of the San Francisco Chinese New year celebrations. Some fun facts I learned is, the celebration of Chinese New Year last 15 days, they celebrate with a lot of big and loud fireworks. San Francisco is having their parade this Saturday, Feb 23 and it will be on tv if you want to watch it and can not see it in person.
My daughter asked me what we are learning in class, so I told her about my research topic and she was very happy and interested.
Once I get more information on the project, I will be have to decide which is the best research method for this topic.
Tonight I have class and am excited to get more information on our project so I can get started.