Week 3 Thoughts:

Again, Dr. Labor's course helped greatly for this reading assignment. I went into the reading much more knowledgeable about certain topics such as deism and transcendentalism as I would have been otherwise.

Nathaniel Hawthorne - Honestly, I enjoy everything that Hawthorne writes, INCLUDING The Scarlet Letter (even though my appreciation was not present my sophomore year in high school, the first year I read it). The Birthmark, I think, is my favorite of his writings. Its purpose is to teach mankind the kind of point that I wish everyone knew inherently: not to change a good thing. It frustrates me the way society feels that nothing is perfect the way it is and that it must be changed, even though it may function completely fine, as the wife did for her husband. But the story serves to show that no one knows just what they have until they've lost it.

Edgar Allen Poe - While I enjoy reading Poe, I rarely truly understand it. I find his rhyme schemes and clever word usage great and fun to read, but a lot of his deeper meanings is often lost on me. I think my favorite Poe was the one we did not read, but I can't even remember what that one is...only that we didn't read it. I do like Annabel Lee, though, largely because of the way Annabel Lee rolls off the tongue...

Thoreau/Emerson - In high school, I read 'The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail' and I keep hoping that I'll be able to read it again in college, but no such luck yet. However, because of this book, I always find Thoreau and Emerson both amusing and interesting at the same time. I think that their outlook on how important nature is to everyone is something new and different and might be something that people should adopt nowadays. While I often find Thoreau's writing a little dry, Emerson's writing is deep and rich and more enjoyable, to me.

Whitman/Dickinson - To me, you can't really find two poets more opposite than Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. They both write about things that the common man would be familiar with, but Whitman focuses largely on himself (especially in Song of Myself), while Dickinson focuses on things in the outside world. My favorite Dickinson poem goes 'I'm Nobody, who are you?' It really strikes a chord with me, and should with others as well, because I'm sure we all feel like we are nobodies sometime or another, and might need to work on figuring out who we are.

Week 2 Thoughts:

Anne Bradstreet - Having read Anne Bradstreet last semester really helped understanding it this semester. Because she is writing in Puritan times, her poetry greatly revolves around the family and religion, which were the most important things going on in the time period. However, it's still rich in meanings and writing, despite the fact that the poems are over 300 years old.

Mary Rowlandson - Mary Rowlandson's story always makes me nervous, because I, of course, can't put myself into the same situation that she was in. She had prejudices against the Indians, so of course her experience was going to be filled with reluctance and hesitation with them. It troubles me how she treats her children through the ordeal, but again, I can't put myself into her position.

Jonathan Edwards - I have to say that reading something other than "Sinners in the Eyes..." by Jon Edwards was very refreshing. He is undoubtedly an amazing writer, and it shows clearly in his Personal Narrative. Although the religious discussions make me uncomfortable at times, it's a large part of his life and it's so obvious that he takes it all very seriously and personally that it's hard not to be very interested in the topic.

Many of the other works I read last semester in Dr. Labor's American Literature part 1. However, I did not read any Phyllis Wheatley. I found her works very intriguing as well as very informative. I learned some things about African American culture that I did not know before.