Blog #7 - "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is written by a man named Ambrose Bierce. I think that this was may favorite of the stories or speeches that we have had to read so far. It was a very sad story with a sad ending, but I have to say I thought it was super interesting. The story is about a man named Peyton Farquahar, who lives in the South and is a plantation owner. While sitting on a rustic bench with his wife, a soldier passes by and gives them news about the war. The soldier tells Farquahar that the opposing soldiers were planning to invade soon. The soldier then tells Peyton of his idea to blow up the bridge in an effort to stop the invasion, or at least put it off. Now, Peyton Farquahar was not very involved in the war effort, but he wanted to be very much. He felt that it was his duty to do this so that he could help the South.

He agrees to go with the soldier and blow up the bridge. However, in an attempt of doing so, he was caught. But, it was stated that, "any civilian caught interfering with the railroad, its bridges, tunnels or trains will be summarily hanged" (Bierce). All of that, was really just the background information. Most of the story actually goes along by describing what Peyton is imagining. The whole thing is about his "great escape" that never really happened. It was very sad that it did not end good, but I thought that it was very well written and a very interesting concept. It is awesome to think that all of that can be thought out in just a split second, and in such great detail nonetheless. It also had a lot of good historical information in it. So between all of the history and the psychological aspect, I really enjoyed ready "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge."


"Fiction: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." Fiction: Welcome to The EServer's Fiction Collection. Web. 15 Feb. 2012.

Blog #6 - "Letter to his Family"

I think that this letter that Robert E. Lee wrote is very interesting. He wrote this letter for his son and in the letter it includes many life lessons that are still taught today. For example, Robert E. Lee states, "If a friend asks a favor, you should grant it, if it is reasonable; if not, tell him plainly why you cannot; you would wrong him and wrong yourself by equivocation of any kind." (Lee). I thought that this was very interesting, and this quote stuck out at me as I was reading it. I thought that this was interesting because Mr. Lee is saying that if you are capable of doing your friend a favor, you should do it. And if you are not capable for any reason, then you should tell him exactly why you cannot. I think this stuck out to me because nowadays, I think we get kind of lazy and we choose not to do things just because it is inconvenient for us, even though we are perfectly capable of doing that favor.

Another quote that I picked out was, "If you have any fault to find with any one, tell him, not others, of what you complain; there is no more dangerous experiment than that of undertaking to be one thing before a man's face and another behind his back" (Lee). This is also something that very much still happens today. Mr. Lee tells us not to talk behind someones back, but he also tells us that if we find fault in someone to tell them because that is way better than passing it on. Based off of this, Robert E. Lee sounds like a pretty cool guy and it sounds like he stands for a lot of good things."We should live, act, and say nothing to the injury of any one. It is not only for the best as a matter of principle, but it is the path of peace and honor" (Lee).




"Robert E. Lee Letter to His Son." Www.sonofthesouth.net. Web. 13 Feb. 2012

Blog #5 - "And Ain't I a Woman?"

The speech "And Ain't I a Woman?" is by a lady named Sojourner Truth. I really liked her speech and I think she makes some really good points. This speech was considered to be her most famous. It is a really powerful speech, which is probably why it is one of her most famous. I think it is also very popular because many other women can relate to what she is talking about as well. In this speech Sojourner Truth talks about how women do not have as many rights as men during this time. Even though, many like Sojourner Truth worked just as hard. For example, she explains in her speech,"And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man--when could get to it--and bear the lash as well and ain't I a woman?" (Truth).In this statement, she is basically talking about how she has worked just as hard as a man, and can also eat like a man, but she does not have the same rights as them, and is not as respected as they are either. She also makes some other very good points in her speech.

The very first part of her speech, she starts out by saying, " That man over there say a woman needs to be helped into carriages and lifted over ditches and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helped me into carriages or over mud puddles or gives me a best place. . ." (Truth). I think that some of her speech is about women in general, but this statement however, really has to do with race. She talks about how a man thinks that a woman should be helped and somewhat "respected", but Sojourner Truth says that she has never been helped over a mud puddle. This is because black women were not always treated the same as white women. I really enjoyed this speech and she sounds like a very smart lady.



"Sojourner Truth's Aint I a Woman Speech!" Women Writers: A Zine. Web. 13 Feb. 2012

Blog #4 - Swing Low Sweet Chariot, etc.....

I really liked reading these songs or poems, or whatever they were originally. I have heard "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" before. Back in the South, African Americans would sing it while they were working on the plantations. Out of all the songs they could have sung, this was a very popular one. After looking at the lyrics though, I realized why they would have chosen a song like this one. This is a pretty old song, and in the song, it refers back to Jordan, which is the river that Christ was baptized in. It is a song of hope. A hope that one day, "A band of angels comin' after me,Comin' for to carry me home" (Swing).
Another song is," Go Down, Moses." Unlike the other song, this one talks more about the actual mistreatment of Hebrew slaves during Biblical times, whereas Swing Low Sweet Chariot was simply the hope of coming home, this one sort of tells what happened to them. This song is about when God commands Moses to go to Egypt and tell Pharaoh to "Let My People Go!" I really love Mose's story. I think it is very powerful and amazing. Anyway,for example, the line, "Oppressed so hard they could not stand...Let My People Go!" (Go). However, both of these songs I believe have the slavery issue in common. Both of them relate to that, the only real difference is the time period that it is in.
The last song is "Keep Your Hand on the Plow." I love this song the best I think because it is one of those songs that can be so meaningful and inspiring. For example, I like the line that says, "When my way gets dark as night,I know the lord will be my light," (Keep). This song is basically saying that even when things get hard or confusing, if you "keep your hand on the plow," you will always be okay. I think that is a very comforting thought. That is why people love it so much.

Blog #3 - Calvary Crossing a Ford

Before I write anything in this blog, I would just like to define the word "ford". I did not know what a ford was and neither did a lot of people so just in case anyone reads this blog and doesn't know what a ford is, it is defined as, "A shallow place in a river or stream allowing one to walk or drive across" (Dictionary). I actually really liked reading this. Calvary Crossing the Ford is by Walt Whitman, who was actually a nurse in the Civil War, which I didn't know until today. That also makes a lot of sense that he would write something lie this. So anyway, in this poem, Walt Whitman talks mainly about how American soldiers are walking and crossing over streams, or a ford. I really like this poem because you can interpret the meaning really any way you want. But, really I needed some help figuring out what it could mean at first. For example, it says, "Scarlet and blue and snowy white,
The guidon flags flutter gayly in the wind" (Whitman). I think that this is talking about the American flag that proudly waves in the wind. That shows some patriotism. I also think that the soldiers seem pretty peaceful despite being at war. They were proud to fight for their country, even though the war was not very peaceful. Both Emerson and Whitman believed in freedom. They both talk about how our freedom is important and they both disliked slavery very much. However, I think that Emerson talks more about individual freedom, or the freedom of one person or group rather than our freedom as a country and coming together. Like I said, I think this poem could be interpreted in many different ways, but that is what I got from this poem and I thought it was a good poem to read. As far as Emerson and Whitman go, I think that they had many of the same views.




Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 09 Feb. 2012.

"Cavalry Crossing a Ford - Walt Whitman (1819-1892)." Books & Literature Classics. Web. 09 Feb. 2012.

Blog #2 - The Gettysburg Address

At the time, the Gettysburg Address did not seem to be as important or successful as it is now, at least according to Lincoln it seemed sort of like a failure of a speech. Senator Charles Sumner even stated that Lincoln had said to him, "the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here.(Lincoln). Little did Abraham Lincoln know that one day this would be one of his most famous speeches. As I read this speech, I picked out some things that I believe Abraham Lincoln and Ralph Waldo Emerson had in common. One of the things that I noticed was that first of all, they were both very much against slavery. That was not the only thing though, as Emerson grew up, he gradually gained a reputation of being a thinker and a speaker (Wayne). As we already know, Lincoln was also considered to be those two things as well. Both Emerson and Lincoln, and even Thoreau also had basically if not anything else, one thing in common and that was freedom. All of them wanted freedom, the only difference was that Abraham Lincoln wanted that for the whole county and not just individually.
This is just a matter of opinion, not a matter of fact, but I think that they probably spoke very differently in their speeches and things as well. From all that I have read, Lincoln just seems to have a very different personality from Thoreau or Emerson. For example, unlike Lincoln, Thoreau would just say that he was against things, rather than accepting that the problem was there and trying to fix it (Wayne). which is sort of what Lincoln did. He would try and fix them. Other than these little things that made them different, I think that really they stood for a lot of the same things. Another thing that they had in common, was their view on common sense. "But, in a larger sense,..." (Lincoln).




Lincoln, Abraham. "The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln." NetINS Showcase. Web. 04 Feb. 2012.



Wayne, Tiffany K., ed. "Emerson, Ralph Waldo." Critical Companion to Ralph Waldo Emerson: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2010. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Blog #1 - Douglass & Emerson

Frederick Douglass was a very smart man. However, often he as seen as a man that was "raised in a condition that denied any intelligence in him and punished his attempts to explore it's potential" (Dorbolo). Frederick Douglass was also very much against slavery and had written many books or autobiographical works. It is said that Douglass's writing always led to one major point in the end, and that was always the awareness of the evils of slavery (Dorbolo). I thought that it was very interesting how Douglass viewed the importance of language and how it very much relates to freedom. He said it related to freedom because "it is the medium of social connection among individuals".I think that Douglass was a pretty smart guy.

Both Frederick Douglass and Ralph Waldo Emerson did agree with each other on many things, however, there were some other point of views that made them quite different from each other. For example, Ralph Waldo Emerson was very much about all of the soul, matter, and spirit. For example, "Matter and spirit are not opposed but reflect a critical unity of experience"(Brewton). Douglass on the other hand, sounded more like a thinker. At least that what it kind of sounded like from the reading. However, both of them seem like very thoughtful people. There are also some things though that make them very similar as well. Such as, they both believed that people learned best, or should learn from their own experiences. They also both seemed like they were very independent, thoughtful, and intelligent men. Although they tend to seem pretty similar people, the way Douglass talks in his speeches or books does I think sound differently then Emerson. I think the reason for that is simply because Douglass was so passionate about getting the word out that slavery was an evil thing and that he so much wanted people to realize his point of view, so I feel like he was a little more driven.



Dorbolo, Jon. "Great Philosophers: Frederick Douglass." Oregon State University. 2002. Web. 04 Feb. 2012.

Brewton, Vince. "Emerson, Ralph Waldo [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web. 04 Feb. 2012

"The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro by Frederick Douglass." History Is A Weapon. Web. 06 Feb. 2012