What did you find yourself agreeing or disagreeing with? Write a 300-word message to Ms. Silko responding to her essay, "Border Patrol State." Share personal experiences or factual evidence to support your points. 


While reading the essay written by Ms. Silko I began to have a lot of differing feelings.  I could almost understand where she was coming from, yet I still felt like we do need stronger boarder controls.  I did agree with the fact that the boarder control has too much power over some situations and that they do abuse the power they have been given but all they are ultimately trying to do is to protect this land and not allow people to come into it illegally.  I do agree with the fact that boarder patrol is too extreme with native americans because they are citizens and do belong here, as much as an American does if not more because we stole the land from them and claimed they did not know what they were doing and needed us to teach them, which is not true.  I also agreed with her on the fact that boarder patrol show blatant racism toward individuals who look something other then Caucasian, which is not okay at all. Being that I am a 5 foot all, brown hair, blue eyed, Caucasian and there is no denying that I have not suffered the accusations that some people who are of a different race or ethnicity have endured.  My only personal example of feeling some kind of rejection of this form was that I spent the great majority of my childhood moving from state to state.  I over 8 different schools my entire educational career before I graduated high school and every time I began a new school everyone new I was the "new kid" I almost felt like I was a zoo animal being judged for where I came from or for being a little different, like I was constantly being scrutinized under a microscope every single day until they got used to me and learned a little bit about who I was.  I can understand how Ms. Silko felt standing on the side of the road being judged and assumed that she did not belong in this country.  So, my feelings toward this essay go back and forth because I understand how she can feel dehumanized but I also realize we do need stronger boarder control to stop the people who come over and want to take what does not belong to them.

My Backpack (11/15)

If you were a soldier in Lieutenant Jimmy Cross’s unit, what would you carry? Why? Write about 300 words. 


I am glad this was the question asked for our blog today because while I was reading the story I found myself pondering this exact question.  I have a lot of very close friends who have been over to Iraq so I can understand how the people on the other side watching your loved ones walk away feel.  You never truly know if they will be coming back but all you can do is pray that return to you safely.  Now back to the question asked, first and most importantly I would bring pictures of my family, boyfriend and my friends because they mean the entire world to me.  I also have 2 tiny charms, one is a breast cancer ribbon and one is a sapphire that both signify my parents, I would find a special place to put them in my backpack.  A toothbrush would be a necessity to me because I feel like that would help me keep a feeling of being clean.  I would also want to keep an extra set of clothing to change and something to keep me warm at night.  Some other items to help keep me clean would be important to me and powder for my socks so I can keep my feet dry.  A bible to stay connected to  my faith and a couple books to read just to pass time if we had some down time.  Also, I would remember to save every letter I was sent.  I know that I possibly brought too much and my backpack would be heavy but I just do not know if I could narrow down my entire life into one backpack. I know I would have a hard time deciding on what to put in my backpack.

Not an American Dream (11/8)

Zitkala-Sa's writings are about her life on the reservation and then in the white man's world. Explore in 200-300 words how her story is (or is not) one of the American Dream coming true. Use a specific sentence from the text to prove your point and quote it in your posting. ANALYZE the text; don't summarize.
"Then I lost my spirit. Since they day I was taken from my mother I had suffered extreme indignities.  People had straed at me.  I had been tossed about in the air like a wooden puppet.  And now my long hair was shingled like a coward's!  In my anguish I moaned for my mother, but no one came to comfort me.  Not a soul reasoned quietly with me, as my mown mother used to do; not I was only one of many little animals driven by a hearder."  I do not believe Zitkala-Sa's story about being in the white mans world is an American Dream come true.  First off, she is forced to go be in the white man's world and being forced to do something is not what the American Dream is about.  She is taught nothing but is expected to understand this language that she does not speak and follow rules she does not understand.  The American Dream is about feeling like you are apart of something and that you belong, like you are making a difference.  Zitkala-Sa does not feel this way about the situation she is in.  She feels excluded, misunderstood, and controlled; almost like she is owned by the pale face people.  They cut her hair to make her more like the white people and they punish her for things she does not understand that she did wrong.  Her only small victories that are some what a representation of the American Dream is when she break the jar while smashing the turnips so none can be served for dinner.  It is her way of being in control of something in her world, which is a small part of the American Dream, being able to control your world.  Also, when she returns to the reservation she still is not living the American Dream because she does not feel like she belongs "even nature seemed to have no place for me. I was neither a wee girl nor a tall girl; neither a wild Indian not a tame one. This deplorable situation was the effect of my brief course in the East, and the unsatisfactory "teenth" in a girl's years."  She return now and is able to read and write, she has some "American" ways about her which makes her different from her people and not able to fit in with her own people.  Zitkala-Sa does not experience the American Dream in either situation she encounters in both the worlds she lives in.

Do African American's feel like American citizens? (10/27)

After reading Pauline Hopkins' “As the Lord Lives, He Is One of Our Mother’s Children” (242+) and Claude McKay's poems (704-709) write a 300-word blog to explore a perplexing question of your choice.*If you are responding to a classmate, don't just agree with them -- engage in a dialogue. Raise a question or disagree. Take a risk!


As I was reading the selected readings for today, I found myself constantly questioning about how African American's actually felt about living free in America.  Were they bitter about what had happened to them, were the frustrated that "Whites" still did not see them as people, were they sad about what they have had to endure, were they happy to finally be able to be their own person and not have to do what someone told them to do and fear being beaten for no reason.  Claude McKay's poems painted a picture of them experiencing some bittersweet feelings, but also contempt. A quote from the poem "America" was what really made me question this it said "Although she feeds me bread of bitterness, And sinks into my throat her tiger's tooth, Stealing my breath of life, I will confess I love this cultured hell that test's my youth!," it showed me the still had a lot of hatred for what happened to them but they still felt connected to America on so many levels because it is what they know. I guess as I read through all of these I was also wondering do african america's feel like they are "Americans." Even the titles of McKay's poems showed that he did not feel connected to America and that white folks still did not believe they belonged or should be citizens. I sort of got an answer to my question of do they feel like American's while reading "If We Must Die" because it showed that they will fight for what they deserve and they will one day be treated equal.

Aha! (10/24)

Read Frances EW Harper's poem, "Learning to Read" and Charles W. Chesnutt's short story, "The Wife of his Youth" (both posted in the Webliography). Then, in the white hot fever of inspiration, you record your own process of coming to a significant insight, realization, or understanding of the texts. Get it all down and record the moment of enlightenment in 300-400 words. 


I first began reading "The Wife of His Youth" I was a bit put out. The title itself didn't make me very interested.  I thought it was going to be like some of the other stories we have read where the husband feels almost entitled to his wife, like he owns her, for lack of a better way of putting it.  The more I read the more frustrated I became I felt like Mr. Ryder was starting to fit into the ideation of a man who felt entitled to things.  I felt like this while I read about how he planned to ask Mrs. Dixon to marry him.  He was going to make this grand gesture towards her without even knowing if she wanted that sort of things from him, plus she was a widow and as I remember from reading Gone With The Wind, aren't you supposed to be in mourning during this time and remarrying was almost like a mortal sin, but that doesn't have much to do with the point I am trying to make. I just did not have the best feeling toward Mr. Ryder, until Liza Jane showed up.  He seemed to change, his gentlemanly side started to show, he was kind and considerate toward Liza Jane.  He listened intently offering advice about her situation of her missing husband and honestly trying to help her.  As the ball began I still had no clue what way the story was going.  Then, all of a sudden, when Mr. Ryder began telling his story to his guests it all became clear to me.  I still was holding some disdain toward Mr. Ryder believing that he was going to ignore Liza Jane and pretend like he was not her husband and just send her on her way and marry Mrs. Dixon like he wanted.  Then out of the blue, for me at least, he went and told Liza Jane he was her husband.  All of a sudden, my feelings towards Mr. Ryder completely changed.  I came to realize after all my ideations of him he was a true gentleman, a genuine person who truly cared about the happiness of others.  He put his happiness and desire aside so he could be with his "slave wife" who is in all actuality is not technically his wife.  Even though he wanted to be with Mrs. Dixon, he could not deny Liza Jane who had been searching for him for 25 years.  Liza knew he was a good man and still loved her and he knew in his heart he had to do the right thing.  At that moment, Mr. Ryder became like a olden day Disney prince to me.

Contemporary Connections (10/20)

Read the Introduction to Vol. 2 (1-29) about the years 1865-1914. What contemporary connection do you see between today and the years 1865-1914? Is it in politics, entertainment, sports, or education? Explain the contemporary example and its connection to an issue or idea in the assigned reading. *If you are responding to a classmate, don't just agree with them -- engage in a dialogue. Raise a question or disagree. Take a risk! Write 300-400 words.


As I was reading this section I was trying to make connections between then and now, I suddenly realized that there are so many things that can be connected.  The time period from 1865-1914 was almost like the beginning of the modern society, so many things were being invented which we still continue to use, we have just improved the technology of these things over the years.  "The industrialization that led to the country's emergence as a world power was accelerated by developments in technology that also transformed virtually every aspect of life in the United States," that quote really hit home to me because it is nothing more than the truth!  One of the connections that I made between the reading and today's modern connection was between the invention of the lightbulb, the telephone, the typewriter, the radio, the motion picture, the automobile, and the airplane.  All of these things that were invented between this time period are still being used today just at a much different level then they were in this time period, now a days these things are being used for the entertainment of the American people. All these things were just beginning to make their debut into the every day lives of American people and now I know people cannot go a day without using almost all the things on this list.  With each of these products you see a transformation from the simple stage to the now technologically advanced contemporary stage. The lightbulb went from being a small light just lighting up a little area to know being able to be "green" and not using as many watts.  A telephone went from being hung on the wall and only calling people close to you, to being party lines, and then being able to call long distance, then calling across the world, and to the modern day cell phone were we are only a touch of a button away from talking to anyone we would like at any place in the world.  A typewriter became a tiny laptop you can use any where you prefer.  The radio went from being the place citizens used to get information about news and sports and entertainment to being a television that we spend countless hours in front of watching reality television and living vicariously through other people.  Motion pictures transformed into silent films into films like Harry Potter which include magic, flying, and the more phenomenal visual effects keeping us entertained for hours.  The automobile went from only going about 20 miles an hours to being able to drive at 250+ (around a racetrack of course).  The airplane is now being used to fly any where in the world and for commercial use to allow people to explore any place they can imagine. These are just a few examples of how these new technologies created in this time period have transformed our contemporary society into what we know today.   

Journal 8 (10/6)

I commented on Anne Marie McMichael