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.

Female Gothic

Friendships between women always seem to be important at first in these stories. They se friendship at first sight, and begin doing everything together. In the end they seem to always get betrayed by these friends or a man comes in between them. Some friendships are never to be made from the jealousy of a man between the two women. In Jane Eyer the lady constanlty discounts governances because she sees Rochesters liking and taking interest in Jane. In Lois the Witch the once thought family becomes her accusers especially Prudence. Mannaseh seems a little crazy and says Lois may be a witch but should not be held accountable for it. He is the only one that gives hear any direct comfort. You see and the story kind of gives you hope that the cinderella story will unfold in Losi the Witch when she talks about Hugh Lucy twoard the end. She is hoping he will come save her, but as we found out he was too late. This not they typical Cindarella story, but still has many of the same features. In Northanger Abbey she ens up marrying Mr. Tilney in the end, even though she is not rich, and does not meet his father's criteria. He seems to hypothetically save her from John Thorpe, who is not a gentleman, or knoght in shining armour per se. In Jane Eyer i can already predict that Rochester will fall for her even more and they will mary or something to that nature. In a sense he has already saved her from the orphange boarding and given her a new life.

I see several prejudices in Lois the Witch. At the beginning they speak if how the French/Canadians hate the Americans and are known to hire pirates and even kill. Also it speaks of the American Indians in the beginning when the boy kills the one behind the tree, and how they are very dangerous. There is also a lot of prejudice twoard Lois as they keep saying "English Girl" through out the story. This may of given them even the more reason to call her a witch, because she is not one of them.

Women who speak there mind are often thought of as trash or witches as in Lois the Witch and Jane Eyer. They believe it is improper for a woman to say how she really feels and that men have some sort of authority on the decisions they make. If not they are shunned and as in Lois the Witch gave them another reason to convict her of being a witch. In Jane Eyer even though Rochester is falling for her, he calls her a Witch whenever she speaks her mind, and when she was in his way at the beginning.

Value of Novel Reading

I think the there is value in novel reading. I think, as displayed in Northanger Abbey, certain novels can help one learn the right and wrongs, or the proper of society. I also think that any reading can help develop one's vocabulary, and improve proper speech. I do think that your mind cannot wander to far in the novel because reality is stretch somewhat to keep interest and to entertain. However, I do believe in many novels there are lessons learned, and you could learn from mistakes of certain characters.

They say they teach us history to help us understand why certain things happened and to help do things differently in the future. I think many novels are derived from the current events of which it is written. In a sense the novel is a history lesson with fictional characters added to it. It brings the history lesson to a more personal level, and actually gives the reader feeling and emotion to what is going on. If you match that to what is currently going on in society when the book as written, I believe you would be able to better justify your feeling and emotions toward the society you live in. I think that is one reason Uncle Tom;s Slavery was written. Not only to fulfill are ignorance on slavery, but to put some emotion and empathy behind it. It was written so we could actually get an image of how the slavery affected African Americans, not just stating the facts as a basic history lesson would do.

Dr. J and Mr. H

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to is obviously a Gothic story. As mentioned there were no castles, but through Stevenson's creepy description of London it was obvious that it displayed a Gothic setting. The talks of flickering lights and the for in the empty streets also describes gothic seeting. Also descriptions of "the door" just made it seem creepy and build a feeling of suspense wondering what will happen behind the door. He describes the building and the door as "a sinister block of building," "it was two storeys high; showed no window, nothing but a door in the lower strorey and a blind foreheas of discoloured wall on the upper; and bore in every feature, the marks of prolonged and sordid negligence. Not only that Mr. Hyde could be represented as a doppelganger of Dr. Jekyll. The tranformation of Jekyll into Hyde is also another charateristic of a Gothic story.

I think one reason this seems as if it were a detective novel is for starters the title. "The Strange Case" was often used in many detective novels such as Sherlock Holmes. Also the way Mr. Utterson went around town questioning people and wanting to see Hyde for himself also laid out a detective setting to the novel. He interviewed sever people like Dr. Lanyard and Poole to learn more about Hyde. He also tried to learn what he could from Dr. Jekyll. After the murder he went searching for Hyde, questioned Dr. Jekyll, and searched fr Hyde. He had Mr. Guest analyze the letter where they saw a resemblance in the handwriting.

Castle of Otranto

From a female perspective women had no rights and no choice during this time period. They were told what to do, and when to do it. There marriages were ordered by their fathers, and had not input on their feeling toward the choice. I believe that is normal from this time period, but Walpole did not seem fond of it. He showed how the women really felt and tried to rebel against the sexist ways. As when Matilda set Theodore free, or Isabella running from Manfred to avoid marrying him.

Chivalry seems to be very important during this time period. As Theodore helped Isabella escape several times and then mistakenly injured her father. She began to fall for him through his heroic gestures. Chivalry was even shown somewhat through Matilda as she set Theodore free and gave him a suit of armor. Feelings and emotions were greatly expressed as Hippolita seemed very sensitive and had a passion for all. Manfred only carried emotion for his son, but truly was only after carrying out his bloodline.

I think Walpole was not very fond of unquestioned allegiance of King and country. He wanted to be able to voice his own opinions and ideas and did so through his writings. I suspect that during the 18Th century freedom of speech or opinions were strongly opposed. He did not think it should be whatever the King says goes, I believe he thought everyone should have a voice. He depicted this in the Friar, Isabella, and Matilda's opposing wishes to Manfred's.

I see several morals in the tale. First is Karma. As we all know this means what goes around comes around. I saw this in the way Manfred treated everyone especially Theodore. In the end he lost a son and a daughter and led to the discovery that Theodore was a descendant of Alfonso. The haunting tried to warn Manfred several times, but he ignored them. Which could be another moral within itself. Follow rules and warnings to help avoid danger and chaos.

I think the conclusion shows marriage was highly recognized as the norm back then. If the one who you wish to marry passes you must find a replacement briefly. It was an important social norm and probably displayed some sort of status and the type of person you are.

I do not know much about Shakespeare, but from what the preface said and watching a little bit of Hamlet yesterday it represented it a bit. It had the ghostly warning and people slain for power and the marriages.

Overall I think this was a good story. It had me constantly wondering how it was going to end. If Isabella would end up marrying Manfred, and if her father was going to return to save her. It also had me wondering who Theodore was from his first appearance. You could conclude that he had some importance from the the way he was brought into the story. When Manfred did not kill him near the beginning, I knew he carried a bigger role somewhere down the line.

About me.

My name is Wes Bailey. I am a senior and graduating in December. I currently work for Frost Bank, and upon graduation plan on staying there, but moving to the corporate finance side.

I am originally from Burleson, Texas which is 15 minutes south of Fort Worth on I35. A lot of people recognize Burleson as the home of Kelly Clarkson or Babe's Chicken. I lived there all my life and graduated from Burleson High School in 2005.

After high school I went to TCC aka Tarrant County College to knock out some of my basics and save a little money. I transferred to TCU in 2007. During high school and the beginning of college I worked for Bailey's Feed Hardware and Automotive. It was basically a local hardware store owned by my father in Mansfield. I also worked for a friends tan salon in Crowley, and Home Depot Landscape Supply in Fort Worth which was obviously a division of Home Depot that is no longer around.

I have never been a reader especially when it comes to fiction. I read the newspaper and sometimes magazines, but that is usually as much as it gets. All of the text books I have to read for all my classes over the years have exhausted any desire to read for fun. I do not know anything about Gothic literature. I am interested to see hidden meaning and understand the current events in which the books were written.

To Mrs. Lynda Davis. I have read and agree to the terms in the syllabus.