Steve Epting
AP English
The Minister’s Black Veil Literary Response
In this story, The Minister’s Black Veil, a minister is preaching to his congregation. This minister, Parson Hooper, is not like any other minister that directly talks to his or her congregation. Hooper preaches with a black veil over his face. “….it seemed to consist of two folds of crape, which entirely concealed his features, except his mouth and chin, but probably did not intercept his sight, further than to give a darkened aspect to all living and intimate things.” This simple piece of fabric means so much throughout this story. My questions, while reading the passage, were what does the veil represent?; is the minister trying to hide something?; what does the congregation think about this?
There is no direct relationship between the minister and his congregation. The veil represents a brick wall blocking a relationship the minister could have with his congregation. The people in the congregation are not getting the direct contact that they need from a minister. The communication process is failed because of loss of eye contact. This black veil was a force, holding the congregation from getting more involved with different things.
The minister’s black veil also represents that the minister is may be trying to hide something. He may have a face defect, or he may have stage fright and the veil is helping him to be able to speak in front of a crowd. There also might be bad things that Hooper had done in the past and he doesn’t want the congregation to know that that is him. “Did he seek to hide it from the dread being whom he was addressing?” The black veil shields his personality, making the congregation view him as a mysterious character.
While listening to the minister speak, the congregation is longing to know who the minister is. “….that they longed for a breath of wind to blow aside the veil, almost believing that a stranger’s visage would be discovered, through the form, gesture, and voice were those of Mr. Hooper.” That line, form the story, means that the congregation was so desperate to know who the covered minister was that they would just want him to blow his breath, just to get a glimpse of the side of his face.
For the duration of the story, the simple piece of fabric meant so much. It had different meanings of how people portrayed the minister and how the congregation just wanted to see the minister’s face. “Yet the pale-faced congregation was almost as fearful a sight to the minister, as his black veil to them.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Young Goodman Brown Literary Response
Steve Epting
AP English
Young Goodman Brown Literary Response
In this passage, the author tells a story of a man named Goodman Brown. He was sent on a journey that would take him a day to fulfill. When Goodman got started, he was a little uneasy about the surroundings. He was uneasy about the sounds and he kept having ideas about what could be behind the tall, wide trees. In the story, I think the author is trying to say that you have to go through some scary and strange things to get through your journey.
“ It was all as lonely as could be; and there is this peculiarity in such a solitude, that the traveler knows not who may be concealed by the innumerable trunks and the thick boughs overhead; so that with lonely footsteps he may be passing through an unseen multitude.” This was how Goodman Brown was feeling during his journey. He had a very cryptic feeling during his “errand”, as Brown called it.
Even though Goodman had a companion on his journey, he still felt scared and he missed his wife Faith. His fifty year old traveling partner was unnamed throughout this passage. The two travelers hiked this long, distant, and aching journey with a staff to support their walking. It is later established that the traveling companion was a friend of Goodman Brown’s family.
In the passage, the traveling companion is not named and it is not stated where the journey is or why they are going on the journey. The author is speaking through the text and is saying, you can make it through the long journey ahead. Even though you are hurting, even though it seems like it will never end, and even though you are very tired and you want to quit, you can make it through. This is the main message throughout the story because Goodman Brown was going to give up. He was scared of what was around him in the woods, he was tired, and he also missed his wife very dearly. The main reason of the story was to inspire someone to never give up.
AP English
Young Goodman Brown Literary Response
In this passage, the author tells a story of a man named Goodman Brown. He was sent on a journey that would take him a day to fulfill. When Goodman got started, he was a little uneasy about the surroundings. He was uneasy about the sounds and he kept having ideas about what could be behind the tall, wide trees. In the story, I think the author is trying to say that you have to go through some scary and strange things to get through your journey.
“ It was all as lonely as could be; and there is this peculiarity in such a solitude, that the traveler knows not who may be concealed by the innumerable trunks and the thick boughs overhead; so that with lonely footsteps he may be passing through an unseen multitude.” This was how Goodman Brown was feeling during his journey. He had a very cryptic feeling during his “errand”, as Brown called it.
Even though Goodman had a companion on his journey, he still felt scared and he missed his wife Faith. His fifty year old traveling partner was unnamed throughout this passage. The two travelers hiked this long, distant, and aching journey with a staff to support their walking. It is later established that the traveling companion was a friend of Goodman Brown’s family.
In the passage, the traveling companion is not named and it is not stated where the journey is or why they are going on the journey. The author is speaking through the text and is saying, you can make it through the long journey ahead. Even though you are hurting, even though it seems like it will never end, and even though you are very tired and you want to quit, you can make it through. This is the main message throughout the story because Goodman Brown was going to give up. He was scared of what was around him in the woods, he was tired, and he also missed his wife very dearly. The main reason of the story was to inspire someone to never give up.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Literary Response
Steve Epting
AP English
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Literary Response
In the story, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, the author Harriet Jacobs shows that the slave girl’s family was very hard working. Her father was a skilled mechanic, her grandmother was a household slave that took care of her mistress and also did midnight baking to help fund her business, and her mother was a hard worker as well, even though she died when her daughter was six. Also, the author shows a contrast in the two slave houses that the slave girl is in. She shows that one slave house is better than the other.
When the story opens, the slave girl starts to talk about the different jobs that her family members did in order to earn pay. Both the grandmother and the father have the same idea while working. The idea is for them to earn and save enough money to buy their children back because they were all separated. “The business proved profitable; and each year she laid by a little, which saved for a fund to purchase her children.” It was often hard for them to save enough money because, their masters or mistresses asked for loans and the slaves trusted them enough to give them the money they asked for.
There was also a contrast in between the two homes that the slave girl was in. In her first home, her mistress loved her unconditionally. The slave girl did anything that her mistress asked her to do. The mistress treated her so well because she promised the slave girl’s mother that they would never suffer for anything. The mistress taught the slave girl how to read, spell, and she taught her the precepts of God’s Word. The mistress’s main teaching, to the slave girl, was “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” The slave girl was faithful to the mistress, but the story gave an opposing quote to that; “But alas! We all know that the memory of a faithful slave does not avail much to save her children from the auction block.”
After the mistress dies, the slave girl was sent to another house. This house was very different in terms of morals and how they operated with slaves. When the slave girl got to the new house, she says that the family gave her cold looks, cold words, and cold treatment. The slave girl was not used to this harsh treatment. She had bad news when she got to the new house as well. She finds out that her father has died. Also, the family has views that teaching a slave child to feel like they are a human being is blasphemous doctrine.
In conclusion, the author shows that the slave girl’s family is hard working and the author also shows the contrast between the two slave houses. This story is appealing to ethos, and the author is showing the feelings of the slave girl. “We shall have to stay here all our days; we shall never be free.”
AP English
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Literary Response
In the story, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, the author Harriet Jacobs shows that the slave girl’s family was very hard working. Her father was a skilled mechanic, her grandmother was a household slave that took care of her mistress and also did midnight baking to help fund her business, and her mother was a hard worker as well, even though she died when her daughter was six. Also, the author shows a contrast in the two slave houses that the slave girl is in. She shows that one slave house is better than the other.
When the story opens, the slave girl starts to talk about the different jobs that her family members did in order to earn pay. Both the grandmother and the father have the same idea while working. The idea is for them to earn and save enough money to buy their children back because they were all separated. “The business proved profitable; and each year she laid by a little, which saved for a fund to purchase her children.” It was often hard for them to save enough money because, their masters or mistresses asked for loans and the slaves trusted them enough to give them the money they asked for.
There was also a contrast in between the two homes that the slave girl was in. In her first home, her mistress loved her unconditionally. The slave girl did anything that her mistress asked her to do. The mistress treated her so well because she promised the slave girl’s mother that they would never suffer for anything. The mistress taught the slave girl how to read, spell, and she taught her the precepts of God’s Word. The mistress’s main teaching, to the slave girl, was “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” The slave girl was faithful to the mistress, but the story gave an opposing quote to that; “But alas! We all know that the memory of a faithful slave does not avail much to save her children from the auction block.”
After the mistress dies, the slave girl was sent to another house. This house was very different in terms of morals and how they operated with slaves. When the slave girl got to the new house, she says that the family gave her cold looks, cold words, and cold treatment. The slave girl was not used to this harsh treatment. She had bad news when she got to the new house as well. She finds out that her father has died. Also, the family has views that teaching a slave child to feel like they are a human being is blasphemous doctrine.
In conclusion, the author shows that the slave girl’s family is hard working and the author also shows the contrast between the two slave houses. This story is appealing to ethos, and the author is showing the feelings of the slave girl. “We shall have to stay here all our days; we shall never be free.”
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Frederick Douglass Literary Response
Steve Epting
AP English
Frederick Douglass Literary Response
We all know that Frederick Douglass was a famous slave abolitionist. But many people don’t know what he had to go through in his life. Frederick had gone though a lot of issues such as dealing with abuse and going through a phase where he was controlled to think that he didn’t deserve any of the best things in life. Douglass was “brainwashed” by his master to think that he did not deserve to have an education. This is one of the main things that cause Douglass to become one of the greatest slave heroes in history.
As a child, Frederick Douglass was treated as a regular human being, not as an animal. His mistress quickly turned from a kind woman to a cold hearted woman. He was starting to get beat for things that were simple and unimportant. The most frequent thing that he was beat for was being suspected of having a book. Then, the verbal abuse started to kick in. The master and the mistress started to express to him that he was only a slave and he didn’t deserve an education. Douglass had such a zeal for learning that he would sneak and read different books.
After a while Douglass started to think to himself that he did not deserve an education. The text says, “As I writhed under it, I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing.” His way of thinking got so bad that freedom didn’t sound good to him anymore. He started to wish he was dead; he had thoughts about killing himself, and regretting his own existence. Everything in his life began to be so bland and every aspect of life lost its specific color.
In conclusion, Douglass had to go through a lot of things mentally. He went through all of the abuse and pain and that made him a historian. Education was very important to Frederick Douglass and he wasn’t given one; so he did what he had to do to get one that he yearned so desperately for.
AP English
Frederick Douglass Literary Response
We all know that Frederick Douglass was a famous slave abolitionist. But many people don’t know what he had to go through in his life. Frederick had gone though a lot of issues such as dealing with abuse and going through a phase where he was controlled to think that he didn’t deserve any of the best things in life. Douglass was “brainwashed” by his master to think that he did not deserve to have an education. This is one of the main things that cause Douglass to become one of the greatest slave heroes in history.
As a child, Frederick Douglass was treated as a regular human being, not as an animal. His mistress quickly turned from a kind woman to a cold hearted woman. He was starting to get beat for things that were simple and unimportant. The most frequent thing that he was beat for was being suspected of having a book. Then, the verbal abuse started to kick in. The master and the mistress started to express to him that he was only a slave and he didn’t deserve an education. Douglass had such a zeal for learning that he would sneak and read different books.
After a while Douglass started to think to himself that he did not deserve an education. The text says, “As I writhed under it, I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing.” His way of thinking got so bad that freedom didn’t sound good to him anymore. He started to wish he was dead; he had thoughts about killing himself, and regretting his own existence. Everything in his life began to be so bland and every aspect of life lost its specific color.
In conclusion, Douglass had to go through a lot of things mentally. He went through all of the abuse and pain and that made him a historian. Education was very important to Frederick Douglass and he wasn’t given one; so he did what he had to do to get one that he yearned so desperately for.
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