Dreams

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.

-Langston Hughes

Native American Lit.

TEARS OF A NATION

I met a man of many colors

And a tear was upon his cheek.

"Old man" I ask, "why do you cry

With such an agonizing weep?"

"Oh child" this man he says to me,

"My heart is broken in so many ways

That I believe this day to end

Will find me out stretched and far within

The encompassing earth of sin."

I sat down beside this man

And asked him "do not cry.

For what you think is so bad

That life will pass you by?"

He looks at me with such sad eyes.

And weeps ever more.

He holds his hands out to me

And alas, I do see

The anguish of his heart.

For his hands were different colors

One is red and the other white,

A leg he unclothed for me

Was as yellow as could be

And his other leg as black as night.

"I am the father of the world.

In case you do not know.

And my children have grown apart

And fight among themselves.

For when they do not get along

My arms and legs and hands and feet

Destroys the very life of me.

My hands of red and white

Will not feed this face of night.

And my legs of black and yellow,

Will not stand beneath this body

And support my heart and soul.

For they argue far too much,

And now I have grown old.

So here I sit in this haven

Of unwelcomeness.

And when this day ends,

A father I will not be.

For my children of many nations

Have forgotten how to care for me.

-Unknown

Reflection:

When Reading this poem what really stuck out to me was that the author uses an old man which represented "Father Earth". In this poem the author shows compassion for the old man, and shows that people are slowing destroying their on existence through violence. The author also states that the old man will not be a father any more (Earth), because he will die from brokenness because if his children (Humans).




Dear Diary,

We have reached the new world and there are many new and interesting things around us. As I was exploring the surroundings today I found a Young woman with yellow skin. Though we first were afraid of each other soon we were trying to overcome of language differences. She knows a bit of my language from "white man" that have come before us.

Later, before I decide I must go the lady read a few of peoples poems with me. The one that stood out the most to me was one she called "Tears of a Nation". It spoke of and out man who was really father of the earth (I think that means Jesus), and he was being broken by the violence of his people. It reminds me of a conversation between Jesus and a child before he was crucified. Maybe these yellow skin People are so different from us?

Puritan Era

Anne Bradstreet






To my Dear and Loving Husband


If ever two were one, then surely we.

If ever man were lov'd by wife, then thee.

If ever wife was happy in a man,

Compare with me, ye women, if you can.

I prize thy love more than whole Mines of gold

Or all the riches that the East doth hold.

My love is such that Rivers canneot quench,

Nor ought but love from thee give recompetence.

Thy love is such I can no way repay.

The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.

Then while we live, in love let's so persever

That when we live no more, we may live ever.


Reflection:
As I read this poem what really catches my eyes is the unconditional love this woman seems to have for her husband. She says that she prizes the love of her husband over anything including any riches or gold. She also shows the depth of her love to her husband when she says, "My love is such that rivers cannot quench". She concludes her poem by saying even when they are no longer physically alive their love will still be alive.




Dear diary,

Today I have heard another poem. This one was written by a woman named Anne Bradstreet. In the poem she speaks of her unconditional love for her husband. Diary I wish I had a love like this in my life, the woman in the poems seems to be completely satisfied with her love and it is beautiful how shes writes about it. She says that she cherishes their love more than having mines of gold or any riches. This must be something so magical diary because I know it would take some kind of magic to make me give of that for a man.

OLD AGE
MY memory is short, and braine is dry.
My Almond-tree, doth flourish now,
And back, once straight, begins apace to bow.
My grinders now are few, my sight doth faile
My skin is wrinkled, and my cheeks are pale.
No more rejoyce, at musickes pleasant noyse.

Reflection:

In this poem of old age Anne Bradstreet speaks of an almond tree that doesn't flourish, meaning that her hair is turning gray. This poem so a very negative view of going on such as when shes says "My Memory is short, and my brain is dry". This poem show the complexity of growing older and the physical and mental changes that happen.

Dear diary,

Today I have heard another poem. This one was written by a woman named Anne Bradstreet. In the poem she speaks of her unconditional love for her husband. Diary I wish I had a love like this in my life, the woman in the poems seems to be completely satisfied with her love and it is beautiful how shes writes about it. She says that she cherishes their love more than having mines of gold or any riches. This must be something so magical diary because I know it would take some kind of magic to make me give of that for a man.

Edward Taylor

Huswifery by Edward Taylor

Make me, O Lord, thy spinning wheel complete.
Thy Holy Word my distaff make for me.
Make mine affections thy swift flyers neat
And make my soul thy holy spool to be.
My conversation make to be thy reel
And reel the yarn thereon spun of thy wheel. Make me thy loom then, knit therein this twine:
And make thy Holy Spirit, Lord, wind quills:
Then weave the web thyself. The yarn is fine.
Thine ordinances make my fulling mills.
Then dye the same in heavenly colors choice,
All pinked with varnished flowers of paradise. Then clothe therewith mine understanding, will,
Affections, judgment, conscience, memory
My words, and actions, that their shine may fill
My ways with glory and thee glorify.
Then mine apparel shall display before ye
That I am clothed in holy robes for glory

Reflection: In this poem Taylor uses vivid imagery to compare the making of a robe to the way that god molds us as people. Taylor paints the picture to the reader making them see or feel exactly what he is saying; "pinked with varnished flowers of paradise" or "Then mine apparel shall display before ye That I am clothed in holy robes for glory". It is obvious that; Taylor has a strong connection with his writing which stands true to the Puritan Era because he glorifies God in such a way that end the non-believe are moved by this deep compassion that Taylor has for God.

Dear Diary,

The poem Huswifery by Edward Taylor was excellently written, the write takes something beautiful and glorious in life that has a creator and uses it as a template of gods works on people. It is personally hard for me to understand the comparison because weaving is not exactly my cup of tea, but in the same since if I were to write or mimic this poem I would used a subject I could relate that has a beautiful and glorious result too; such as horse back riding, or possible painting or singing.

Slave Narrative- Olaudah Equiano

"I received such a salutation in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my life: so that, with the loathsomeness of the stench, and crying together, I became so sick and low that I was not able to eat, nor had I the least desire to taste any thing. I now wished for the last friend, death, to relieve me; but soon, to my grief, two of the white men offered me eatables; and, on my refusing to eat, one of them held me fast by the hands, and laid me across, I think the windlass, and tied my feet, while the other flogged me severely. I had never experienced any thing of this kind before"

Reflection: It seems that many people may question the reasoning behind Equiano writing his narrative because they are so brutal and distasteful that it could almost make you sick. But, I think that he uses knowledge of vocabulary to give an image of just that. He wants people to understand what they had to go through so that it doesn't happen again, or even for people simply to get an understanding of the behavior and inhumanity of people. Equiano is able to make the reader feels as if they are there beside him, feeling what he is seeing, hearing, tasting and smelling what he is smelling; "I received such a salutation in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my life: so that, with the loathsomeness of the stench, and crying together, I became so sick and low that I was not able to eat".

Dear Dairy,

The Narrative of Olaudah Equiano have influenced my opinion in the passage greatly. I have before heard of the cruelty of the men on the ships but what I have read from him shows an all time low for people. The brutality of the situation with the saddening fact that this is about people enslaving and treating other people like they are are animals or merchandise; I actually believe that most animals are treated with greater respect than these poor blacks did. It infuriate me that a person could be so cruel and cold to another human being.

The Revolutionary Period

"Give me Liberty or Give me Death" - Patrick Henry

There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free--if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending--if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained--we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us! They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength but irresolution and inaction?

Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us.



Reflection:

For me I thought that this speech was nothing more than some normal guy talking about wanting a war and complaining about taxes; but as I have read the speech I see the though process that Henry put into this speech along with language that shows deep personal connection to what he is talking about: "Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country". Henry uses his speech as a tool to show people what he believe is the only option for "his" country to prosper and have freedom. This speech shows that as a public speaker Henry is standing up for what he thinks is right whether others are on his side or not; "I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death". Henry also gets his audience emotionally attached to what he is saying by point out how naive the people are being in terms of how Britain is treating the country; "Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne". I believe that this Henry is an amazing public speaker who greatly influenced the minds of the American public.

Dear Diary,

Today I heard Patrick Henry's speech "Give me Liberty or Give me Death" and though I have a very sceptical opinion on if we should go to war or not this speech was excellently done and much than convincing enough to make me agree with him. I have before wondered if this war against Britain is necessary because they have been a kind of mother ducking to the forming of the States showing us what to do and supporting us. Now taking a closer look at the situation after this speech I have decided that the abuse in which we have endured such as over taxation; is more than enough reason to go to war.

"The Crisis"- Thomas Paine

"Not all the treasures of the world, so far as I believe, could have
induced me to support an offensive war, for I think it murder; but if a thief breaks
into my house, burns and destroys my property, and kills or threatens to kill me,
or those that are in it, and to "bind me in all cases whatsoever" to his absolute
will, am I to suffer it? What signifies it to me, whether he who does it is a king or
a common man; my countryman or not my countryman; whether it be done by an
individual villain, or an army of them? If we reason to the root of things we shall
find no difference; neither can any just cause be assigned why we should punish
in the one case and pardon in the other."

Reflection:

In Paine's The Crisis he has a very strong opinion that war need to be done. Thomas Paine has a powerful voice and shows his disgust by saying "Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but "to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER," and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth". This shows that Paine believe that the taxation and the binding of the state's rights is a mark of slavery from the British. Thomas Paine uses this influential passage to show people why they must stand up and fight against the "tyranny" of Britain's King. He strongly implies that there need to be an US revolt against Britain when he says
"Not all the treasures of the world, so far as I believe, could have induced me to support an offensive war, for I think it murder; but if a thief breaks into my house, burns and destroys my property, and kills or threatens to kill me, or those that are in it, and to "bind me in all cases whatsoever" to his absolute will, am I to suffer it? What signifies it to me, whether he who does it is a king or a common man; my countryman or not my countryman; whether it be done by an
individual villain, or an army of them? If we reason to the root of things we shall find no difference; neither can any just cause be assigned why we should punish in the one case and pardon in the other"; This statement basically say that he is against savage war but he geniously compares war to someone breaking into you house, burning it and destroy and even threatening death what would you do? He uses pathos in this statement by using analogies that people can really relate to and say hey he has a point if someone was to brake in my house and do that I would want my revenge, which is exactly what Paine wants his reader to feel.

Dear Diary,

The war seems to be inevitable, there are many journalist writing of their opinions trying to convince people to think like them. There is one man that particularly has caught the attention of almost any person keeping up with the latest on this pre-war, journalism. He has proven through his piece "The Crisis" that he is a very powerful writer and has greatly influenced the minds of many people I know. As for me I completely agree with him that revolt is late coming but better than never. I only wish that our dependence on Britain was not so strong, this would most definitely help get many more supporters of the war. May god have his will in this matter.

Personal Extentions

How are you working to live out your American Dream?What do you do when you hit an obstacle?

Response: I am working on my Dream by being at Isaac Bear Early College, ever since I could remember I have wanted to be an Equestrian Vet; but there is a small dilemma my uncle applies for vet school and it took 10 years for him to get accepted. By going to Bear I have the opportunity to speed up that process by graduation high school as a Sophomore in college, this I believe gives me a large advantage over most students applying for vet. school. I also, have been working at my dream by trying to be around horses; though my family does not have the means to own large amounts of horse nor the experience to care completely for them I have been working closely with a friend of mine who was in the Olympics and is widely known for horse training and riding, she has taught me many things that help me to understand more and more about them and is helping me to work toward my dream of being around and caring for horses as an occupation.

When I hit major obstacles on my journey to my Dream I simply try to pick myself up as quickly and efficiently as possible so that I can't get back to doing what I love to do.




Interviews:

What is the American Dream to you? How have you lived the American dream or How are you living it?




Name: Kendra

Age: 17

Response: I am only 17 years old so how do I define the "Dream" when I haven't the experience to judge. I believe it could be money Because what do you do when you turn 16? You get a job, then go to college to get a better "Higher Paying" job. America thrives on our economy therefore living the so called "American Dream" in my opinion has to do with power thus it comes from money.





Name: Kim

Age: Early 40's

Response: The American Dream to me is having the freedom to follow any dream or goal. In other words I think that the American Dream differs from person to person. My dream as a child was to have a happy home with a loving husband, children and animals and have a good connection with God. AS a teenager the "Dream" stayed the same but I added friends and travel to it. As a young adult I realized health and money were needed. In my middle ages I have wonderful husband I have been with for 25 years, three beautiful healthy daughter and a 6lb. dog that is truly my daughter's but live in my house with us and I love her. I have a great church, I have travel all over on vacations and missions trip and I have made great friends. I cannot ask for much more and to me that is the American Dream the promise of life and love. I might be nice to have a little more money but all in all I am living my American Dream, and I think that until I have passed on I will be living it because I don't believe you can fulfill something unless you haven't any more time to try.



Name: Charlie

Age: 50

Response: I simply am a middle class working man, I pursue the American Dream and out of my hard work I have a nice house, a good wife and healthy happy children. In my opinion I believe that without people like me in the the middle class there would be no American Dream, middle class workers provide that Dream for themselves and others.

Half Hanged Mary

(”Half-hanged Mary” was Mary Webster, who was accused of witchcraft in the 1680’s in a Puritan town in Massachusetts and hanged from a tree - where, according to one of the several surviving accounts, she was left all night and the buried in the snow. It is known that when she was cut down she was still alive, since she lived for another fourteen years.)

7pm

Rumour was loose in the airhunting for some neck to land on.I was milking the cow,the barn door open to the sunset.
I didn’t feel the aimed word hitand go in like a soft bullet.I didn’t feel the smashed fleshclosing over it like waterover a thrown stone.
I was hanged for living alonefor having blue eyes and a sunburned skin,tattered skirts, few buttons,a weedy farm in my own name,and a surefire cure for warts;
Oh yes, and breasts,Whenever there’s talk of demonsthese come in handy.

8pm
The rope was an improvisation.With time they’d have thought of axes.
Up I go like a windfall in reverse,a blackend apple stuck back onto the tree.
Trussed hands, rag in my mouth,a flag raised to salute the moon,
old bone-faced goddess, old original,who once took blood in return for food.
The men of the town stalk homeward,excited by their show of hate,
their own evil turned inside out like a glove,and me wearing it.

9pm

The bonnets come to stare,the dark skirts also,the upturned faces in between,mouths closed so tight they’re lipless.I can see down into their eyeholesand nostrils. I can see their fear.
You were my friend, you too.I cured your baby, Mrs.,and flushed yours out of you,Non-wife, to save your life.
Help me down? You don’t dare.I might rub off on you,like soot or gossip. Birdsof a feather burn together,though as a rule ravens are singular.
In a gathering like this onethe safe place is the background,pretending you can’t dance,the safe stance pointing a finger.
I understand. You can’t spareanything, a hand, a piece of bread, a shawlagainst the cold,a good word. Lordknows there isn’t muchto go around. You need it all.

10pm
Well God, now that I’m up herewith maybe some time to killaway from the dailyfingerwork, legwork, workat the hen level,we can continue our quarrel,the one about free will.
Is it my choice that I’m danglinglike a turkey’s wattles from hismore then indifferent tree?If Nature is Your alphabet,what letter is this rope?Does my twisting body spell out Grace?I hurt, therefore I am.Faith, Charity, and Hopeare three dead angelsfalling like meteors orburning owls acrossthe profound blank sky of Your face.

12 midnight
My throat is taut against the ropechoking off words and air;I’m reduced to knotted muscle.Blood bulges in my skull,my clenched teeth hold it in;I bite down on despair
Death sits on my shoulder like a crowwaiting for my squeezed beetof a heart to burstso he can eat my eyes
or like a judgemuttering about sluts and punishmentand licking his lips
or like a dark angelinsidious in his glossy featherswhispering to me to be easyon myself. To breathe out finally.Trust me, he says, caressingme. Why suffer?
A temptation, to sink downinto these definitions.To become a martyr in reverse,or food, or trash.
To give up my own words for myself,my own refusals.To give up knowing.To give up pain.To let go.

2am

Out of my mouth is coming, at somedistance from me, a thin gnawing soundwhich you could confuse with prayer except thatpraying is not constrained.
Or is it, Lord?Maybe it’s more like being strangledthan I once though. Maybe it’sa gasp for air, prayer.Did those men at Pentecostwant flames to shoot out of their heads?Did they ask to be tossedon the ground, gabbling like holy poultry,eyeballs bulging?
As mine are, as mine are.There is only one prayer; it is notthe knees in the clean nightgownon the hooked rugI want this, I want that.Oh far beyond.Call it Please. Call it Mercy.Call it Not yet, not yet,as Heaven threatens to explodeinwards in fire and shredded flesh, and the angels caw.

3am
wind seethes in the leaves aroundme the tree exude nightbirds night birds yell insidemy ears like stabbed hearts my heartstutters in my fluttering clothbody I dangle with strengthgoing out of me the wind seethesin my body tatteringthe words I clenchmy fists hold Notalisman or silver disc my lungsflail as if drowning I callon you as witness I didno crime I was born I have borne Ibear I will be born this isa crime I will notacknowledge leaves and windhold onto meI will not give in

6am

Sun comes up, huge and blaring,no longer a simile for God.Wrong address. I’ve been out there.
Time is relative, let me tell youI have lived a millennium.
I would like to say my hair turned whiteovernight, but it didn’t.Instead it was my heart:bleached out like meat in water.
Also, I’m about three inches taller.This is what happens when you drift in spacelistening to the gospelof the red-hot stars.Pinpoints of infinity riddle my brain,a revelation of deafness.
At the end of my ropeI testify to silence.Don’t say I’m not grateful.
Most will have only one death.I will have two.

8am
When they came to harvest my corpse(open your mouth, close your eyes)cut my body from the rope,
surprise, surprise:I was still alive.
Tough luck, folks,I know the law:you can’t execute me twicefor the same thing. How nice.
I fell to the clover, breathed it in,and bared my teeth at themin a filthy grin.You can imagine how that went over.
Now I only need to lookout at them through my sky-blue eyes.They see their own ill willstaring then in the foreheadand turn tail
Before, I was not a witch.But now I am one.
Later
My body of skin waxes and wanesaround my true body,a tender nimbus.I skitter over the paths and fieldsmumbling to myself like crazy,mouth full of juicy adjectivesand purple berries.The townsfolk dive headfirst into the bushesto get out of my way.
My first death orbits my head,an ambiguous nimbus,medallion of my ordeal.No one crosses that circle.
Having been hanged for somethingI never said,I can now say anything I can say.
Holiness gleams on my dirty fingers,I eat flowers and dung,two forms of the same thing, I eat miceand give thanks, blasphemiesgleam and burst in my wakelike lovely bubbles.I speak in tongues,my audience is owls.
My audience is God,because who the hell else could understand me?Who else has been dead twice?
The words boil out of me,coil after coil of sinuous possibility.The cosmos unravels from my mouth,all fullness, all vacancy.

1. What Types of people were vulnerable to these kinds of charges during this period?
a. People who lived alone, with blue eyes, tan skin, unusual remedies, women (breast)
2. Define Trussed:
a. to tie something up tightly
3. How is she similar to a flag being raised?
a. She is hung up in the air for people to see
4. Who are the bonnets? Why are they afraid?
a. Other women, they are afraid of what will happen to themselves and maybe afraid of her
5. What Favors had she done for these women?
a. Cured babies, and helped deliver babies
6. What could happen if they try to help her? What would “rub off”?
a. They may also be hung, Maybe the rumor of being witches
7. What are her feelings toward God right now? How do you know?
a. She is livid, She seems to be mocking what god stands for Grace, Faith, Charity and hope
8. How is death like a crow? A judge? A dark angel?
a. Like a crow waiting for her to suffocate so it can feed, a judge about to convict someone for life, or a dark angel just telling her to let go of life and stop fighting it
9. What is she trying to convince herself to do?
a. Trying to convince herself to left herself die, to stop the pain to just let go, just to stop fighting what seems to be inevitable
10. What two different kinds of prayers is she talking about? What is HER prayer?
a. ***********Her pray is for her not to die, for God to have mercy
11. Why is the wording here so deliberately awkward? What is the poet trying to show us?
a. So that you can sense her dying, she is showing how she is slowly giving into death or maybe how it felt for her to talk, like she had to pause and start again
12. What does she see as her only crime? What is the significance of the repetition of the word “born/borne”?
a. Being born
13. How long has she been hanging?
a. For 11 hours
14. Why is the sun no longer a simile for God?
a. Because before this the sun was something beautiful and delightful but something that stings her eyes and reminds her of how long she has been hanging
15. How might the townsfolk have felt when they found her still alive?
a. Scared, Fearful
16. Why does she say this?
a. Because before she could say there was not abnormal about her, no witch like qualities but now she was hung for half a day and is still alive, she “will die twice”, and also now the towns people are more likely to believe that she is a witch, and she probably is a little crazy like witch as in mean or hateful
17. How do the townsfolk feel about her now? Why?
a. They are afraid of her, because if you hang someone you believe to be a witch (or anyone) and they survive you would think they will also get revenge. Also, id you hang someone who “might” be a witch and they survive that would seem to be full proof that they are.
18. How have things changed since her hanging? How has she changed? What is her mental state?
a. She has a different outlook, she eats flowers and feces, and mice, and she speaks in tongues to owls and God. She seems to have gone insane