Extra Credit Blog

The story of Sissy is a very strange and complicated my prescriptive thinking like no other story I have read this semester. I feel that since this story took place during the 19Th century many viewed Sissy as a strange individual. The character that Sissy can be compared too is Capitola from The Hidden Hand. But not just because both dressed in the opposite sexes clothes. But I compare them to one another because they both seemed to be ahead of their time. Capitola was cross dressing because she had to work. In today's society she would have been seen as a working girl and would have been praised for her work ethic, and not get in trouble like she did. While Sissy was would have been welcomed in today's society even though he is so in touch with his metro sexual identity. This is seen in the story with Sissy doing countless deeds for the boys and girls of the neighborhood and enjoying it in the process. I also feel that Sissy would be an excellent constant on Project Runway because of his skill with clothing.

Another character that I feel you can compare to Sissy is Ellen for The Wide, Wide World. Both are very emotional people that seem to cry every chance that they get. "Oh mother! he cried,kneeling on the floor and hiding his face on her knee, I can't bear it, my heart is breaking. I must see Margie! I must see her! Help me to find her." (Kellogg. 552) This shows the kind of emotional side that Sissy has that is only rivaled by Ellen.Even though Sissy was quite different I did not feel like it completely changed my prescriptive thinking, because we are seeing it more and more in today's society. It is becoming part of the social norm in today's world.

The Luck of Roaring Camp

So far with all the reading we have read this semester I have found "The Luck of Roaring Camp" to be my favorite and most surprising story this semester. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and felt that it really broke away from the norm of the past two American baby stories we have read. In the other stories the baby represented a bad omen and was portrayed in a negative light. But in "The Luck of Roaring Camp" it represented a change for the better and a sign of hope to those who lived in roaring camp. "And so the work of regeneration began in Roaring Camp. Almost imperceptibly a change came over the settlement." (Harte. P.535) What surprised me the most about the story was the drastic change that the men of the camp went through when Tommy Luck became a member of their settlement. All the men in Roaring Camp were rugged individuals, who weren't found of strangers and so though that one woman lived in their settlement. But as soon as Tommy was introduced into their lives we saw Kentucky, Oakhurst, and others display a side we never knew existed in them. "Yet such was the subtle influence of innovation, that he (Kentucky) thereafter appeared regularly every afternoon in a clean shirt, and face still shining from his ablutions." (Harte. P.536) I also liked how readers were able to see how life in the west coast was during this time. Showing people in the east coast that live can be vastly different from theirs, but that they face the same challenges when it come to achieving the American dream. But what I really liked about the story was the affection that so many men displayed for a baby which was not very common for that time, and to me suggested to male readers that it is ok to love and show some tenderness every once in a while.

Gilman and Chopin

When it comes to whole perspective of changing are reading habits for short stories vs. an excepted long novel. I feel that this aspect is very true and I can see why readers beginning in the 20Th century started to make the short novel popular. To me the short story does what people like and that is instant gratification in a quick manor. In a time where everything is becoming fast paced the long novel doesn't have the appeal that a short novel has. With a short novel you still get the characters, intriguing story line, and the detailed setting like a long novel but in a much smaller capacity. As we saw with the story "The Yellow Wallpaper," we got a complete story with a main character, secondary characters (John & Jennie), setting (room with yellow wall paper), and the plot of a women's mental health deterring. We get all this in ten pages and still get a complete story.

But as far as how I approach it I don't find my reading habits changing at all when I encounter a short story. I approach it the same way I do with all stories, and that is with an open mind and interest with the characters no matter the length. I do have to admit that while almost all of my reading habits do stay the same I do find myself reading with more details in short stories. In Desiree's Baby I found myself reading in more detail because so much happened in so little pages. We go from Desiree being found as a baby to having a baby, to her having a husband and a home to not having either, and finding out that Armand is the one who is part black. It was a lot of information in such a little story that I had to read in detail to make sure not to miss anything. But as much as I like short stories I will always prefer a good long novel because you seem to get more out of a long novel when you finish reading it.

Little Lord Fauntleroy

I feel as though the author's gender has a major influence in how the story is presented for the reader to perceive and comprehend. Whether it be the characters or the underline meaning of the story the authors gender is very influential in creating the type of environment the author wants. In Little Lord Fauntleroy we see for the first time in are readings dealing with boys that he is well mannered, handsome, well dressed, and overall very mature for his age, which is completely different from other boy characters like Tom Sawyer and Ragged Dick. "he was so handsome and strong and rosy that he attracted every one's attention." (Burnett pg. 445) This shows the comparable difference in Cedric to Tom and Dick, I feel that this can be attributed to the author being a female. With the author being female I feel she made Cedric fit the role of what women want boys to be like. While we see with male authors like Twain and Alger made the boys in their stories more rugged and mischievous that followed the stereotypical male child during that time period.

As far as how the text changes when the reader finds out that an author is male or female I feel that gender factors into how the story is is developed in boys literature. With a male author you are going to see a more male ego driven story that depicts the boy as tough and cool not showing any type of compassion or feelings. While a female author writing about boys in literature will show a softer side that we don't identify with males whether it be through how they dress, their manners, their looks and other characteristics we don't see male authors doing with their male characters in this time period. We see in Little Lord Fauntleroy that Cedric personality is far different than the other male characters from previous stories and I fell it was described perfectly in class when someone called him the male version of Ellen Montgomery. But this can be attributed to the author being female because of the non traditional male characteristics that were given to Cedric. Overall though I feel that while gender of an author does have some significance in how the story is portrayed. Each author whether it be male or female has their own distinct style that makes their writing their own no matter their sex.

Tom Sawyer

In my posting this week I would like to address the difference in city vs. country, and weather or not Tom could make it in a city.We have read in Ragged Dick that the city is a exciting and a wonderful place, but one must work hard in order to survive in the streets. As we saw with how hard Dick worked just to have a decent amount of money to support himself. Tom on the other hand is far from ever being a diligent worker, " having to work-the very thought of it burnt him like fire." (Twain. P. 411) We see Tom does not have the ambition to be a dedicated worker. Tom also broke the perception that children who are raised in the country are behaved better. As we see with the amounts of trouble he causes his aunt and when he cheats and lies to get the bible. Which I believe would translate into Tom gambling,smoking, and mimicking the same wild side as Dick. But their is one thing that I feel that Tom posses that will allow him to thrive in the streets and that is his savvyness and ability to manipulate people.

The passage I would like to focus on is right after Tom gets most of the boys in town to whitewash the fence, "He had discovered a great law of human action, that in order to make a man or boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain." (Twain. P.414-415) I feel that Tom doing this is using his knowledge/manipulative ability to his advantage in order to get what he wants. This to me would translate into what I like to call "street smarts" and would allow Tom to find a way of surviving in the city. I also feel that this passage reflects just the type of person Tom is and that is always doing what is best for him. Which to me is an important quality to have in order to be independent and thrive in a city.

Ragged Dick

The roles of young girls and young boys in 19Th century American literature were vastly different and seemed to have different connotations when trying to teach young readers, weather it be boy or girl on what roles and behaviors society felt were acceptable. I feel that we have touched on the role society wanted young girls to follow with the domestication process, and how children literature intended for girls to become well mannered domesticated women. While literature intended for boys was to show boys that working no matter the occupation and level of income was seen as being acceptable and a way to contributing to society. When Frank is telling Dick that he should try and be somebody "if you'll try to be somebody, and grow up into a respectable member of society, you may not become rich but you can obtain a good position and be respected." (394) This shows how society viewed the working man as a valued member of society no matter his occupation and income, which is what society wanted young boys to understand. I also feel this mentality contributed to how much boys cared about their education unlike the girls who had to be educated. We see the way Dick talks with all the slang terms and his meager ability to read, "I ain't much on readin it makes my head ache."(387) which shows how little education was valued by young boys.

Another difference in children's literature portraying to boys and girls was the role of parents. With the girls we saw either the mother or a stranger play a significant role in helping girls in literature. Boys on the other hand had no parental supervision or guidance in their life, "he had a father living, but he might as well have been without one. Mr.Nolan was a confirmed drunkard." (349) This shows how little roles parents had in boys life and how they still were able to persevere without them, which showed boys they can succeed by them self and how they must maintain that role of being tough. I also feel a big difference between boys and girls in literature was the way they behaved. Girls were expected to be well mannered and well behaved, and always being "good". Boys behavior was seen as being a bit more rebellious and cool, with the only guideline being not to steal. We see this with Dick's idea of fun being able to drink,smoke,gamble, and play tricks on people. But even though these things are bad for children to be doing we still consider Dick to be a hero.

A Whisper In The Dark

The notion of insanity being introduced in the text makes you rethink how you perceive and comprehend how you read the text from that point forward. When you see Sybil struggling to cope with her new surroundings it makes you question how you would act in that situation and if you would be able to handle all that psychological turmoil that has taken its toll on her. The concepts of insanity also change how I read the story because the narrator (Sybil) is the one who is going insane. I was forced to feel and react to all the mental aspects and psychological battles that Sybil is fighting while in the insane asylum, which made me question if she was not already completely insane and if I could trust her thoughts. "I stretched my hands to them, crying with an imploring cry, Yes, I am quiet, I am hopeless." (Alcott pg.236) These were some of Sybil's actions that made it hard for me not to think she was not already insane.

I feel as though the mother and daughter relationship in nineteenth-century society literature was changed with the relationship of Sybil and her mother. Being that their relationship was established while Sybil is going insane and her mother on the other hand is already assumed to be insane. This is far different from the other text we have read were the mother daughter relationship was established on love and morals. I also feel as though Sybil and her mother still had that special love that a mother and daughter share even though it was under very dark and conflicting circumstances. Those circumstances were being able to fight through the insanity barrier and Sybil's mother warning her to escape, which was the foundation their relationship was built on. "I believed her dead, yet I had seen her, knew where her solitary grave was made, and still carried in my bosom the warnings she had sent me, prompted by the unerring instinct of a mother’s heart." (Alcott pg.240) This shows how there was still a loving relationship between mother and daughter with Sybil and her mother, it is just portrayed and received in a different manner by Sybil. Which is different from the traditional sense of a mother daughter relationship we have seen in other text.