Final Blog

i really enjoyed the class better than expected to be honest. I like the combo of movies and books it helps see the difference but still conveys meaning. Some of the stories were hard to read and understand, but realize there is a meaning behind them. I got a new view behind literature, especially gothic to see the hidden messages that are being conveyed about the authors feelings. I really learned a lot. I appreciate it. My favorite part was Fight Club of course. one of my all time favorite movies. i did not realize all the meaning behind it before, and the class helped me see that. Thanks Mrs. Davis!

3 Stories

In these three stories there are many crazy women. In a Rose for Emily she is grotesque but only really to the reader. No one else can see that she is crazy and what she has done until the end. They all see her as the southern belle and highly recognized. There is also the classic creepy houses we have seen in all the stories we have read. What would a gothic be with out one. All the stories also had women struggling against authority and mainly male dominance. This may have been an image of womens struggle in society at the time. To this day there are glass ceilings where women and minorities could not go any higher at some point. Back then the glass ceiling was male dominance or their husbands. Women lived through the male decisions.

Jean-ah Poquelin

I think this story represens a southern gothic is several ways. First Jean's old house is described as old and creepy, and the setting just gives a dark feeling. Also the battle with authority as within all gothics. The setting was taking place in the time after the civil war where there was a lot of resistance to the government. This could illustrate some of Cables actual feeling toward the government himself. There is also a lot of change it says at the beginning how fields are becoming roads and roads becoming streets names after Bourban princes. It was the "new" America coming in and changing the ways of the old south who many struggled with, and it seems as if Cable personallt struggled with it himself. It was a stand against the new government.

Charles Chessnutt

I think that slaves are shown as a commodity in both stories. I think it really shows in The Sheriffs Son. He talks about how he sold the lady and her son (which was the prisoner) for a good deal of money. Even though it was his own son he was part African American and new he could make some money since African American and "white" races were not acceptable. In Goophered Grapes he talks about how he pays Julius and it out weighs what Julius was making. I think he bought the land and saw Julius as a commodity to tend to the grapes because he knew them well. I think Chessnutt feels like people downgrade black/white relationships and are not socially acceptable. I think he tried to counteract a lot of the stereotypes by making the once enslaved seem like good guys and helpful educated people. He made them see like they are friends and try to help out. In Sheriffs Son the one African American character went and warned the sheriff so that he could prepare for the mob.

Our Nig

I think Harriet Wilson wrote this fictional book for a lot of the same reasons, I stated in my "Importance of Novel Reading" blog. If she would of wrote a simple autobiography or just a historical book it would of been dull and boring to some. By writing it in fiction she creates character that show emotion and people can really get a feel for what the enslaved were going through. As I said in the other blog it is still a history lesson but we get to see it through the eyes of a human being experiencing it face to face. I am not for sure why she wrote it in 3rd person, but my guess is she did not want it to be opinions and thought coming directly from her. Whcih also has to do why it was lost. She was stuck in a time where women could not speak out especially African American women. It was brought back in 1983 after all the major civil rights movements maybe to give her, or African Americans a voice, and let people feel the emotion she went through. I think the story has the gothic background first and formost because the girl is kept in the attic. This is a important feature in many of the gothic novels. Those who are "different" or "crazy" get put in a dungeon or attic secluded from others.

House of Usher

I do not think Madeline was dead when she was put in the coffin. After looking up the definition of catalepsy, I understood that she was virtually frozen in her posture while laying in the coffin at first. I think it is a mystery if she was murdered. One way of thinking is they really thought she was dead since she was frozen in place, but also Usher states he heard the noises for days so that makes me think the negligence killed her. Catalepsy seem to be a strange diseases and Usher already a mad man did not know how to handle it. So I think he murdered her in a round about way. It was a tough story to follow, but it was interesting when the friend was reading the book and as he would describe what was going on, he would hear a similar noise.

Young Goodman Brown

I thought this story was very difficult to understand what was going on. From what I can tell the guide is like his soul or a ghost of his father or grandfather, but also represents the devil luring him deeper into the woods to find this meeting. It states that "he bears a considerable resemblance to him." He convinces him to go on by explaining he knew his family and helped his father and grandfather. He also says he is well acquainted to the town and the governor. All of the people that Goodman Brown met along the way were people he knew well. They were all people from his church that he knew and seemed in disbelief to see out in the woods. He also saw his wife Faith who was also among the corrupt in the "witch meeting." Goodman yells at Faith to "resist the Wicked one," and it seems to be the end of the spell, and the next day Goodman felt as if he dreamed the whole thing. To me this kind of represents if you have Faith you can resist the devil.