Journal for Sa

The reading for today is The School Days of an Indian Girl. To begin, this reading is a bit confusing a person without background to the passage such as myself. This explain I will reiterate that the passage is confusing.
The main character, who I assume is Sa, must withstand many trials and aggravation  of herself as she intends a school that she makes very apparent is not the kindest place to be.
This story could be read as a story of racism and the imposing of will and values on the youth of a culture. I would agree with this reading as the main character endures losing her hair and having to learn the routines of a new and strange land after being taken away from her mother.
Speaking of the snatching of the protagonist from her mother I think I should mention that the actually occurrence is not detailed within the story and thus I would claim this is a very important fact to be noted. I cannot say for sure if the mother loved the protagonist as the mother is said as having "never made a plaything of her wee daughter" and standing motionless when said daughter exhibited extreme fright at a man who entered the home. This said I think it can be said with a good amount of certain that the protagonist loved her daughter. What the latter means for the storytelling is clear as the mother is often compared to the adult figures at the school.

Journal for Mary Antin

The reading for today is a passage from The Promised Land by Mary Antin. Antin is an immigrant to the U.S. from Russia and this story tells about some of her first thoughts and experience about the story. I find it interesting that this story may come off as a pro America writing, but it can also be read as a testament to the racism in the country at the time.
Also Antin presents a very touching scene between her sister and herself and how her sister was the one chosen to work while Antin was the one chosen to go to school. I think this scene is important, because it adds a dose of reality to the American dream as Antin discovers that an education may be the only way an immigrant can progress in life; but a free education is not always obtainable by all. This story contains many subtext that can be extracted though close reading such as the slum conditions Antin had to live in, the lost of identity she may have had to sustain, the racism of the citizen, and her disagreements about religion and what it meant for her father.

Journal for the Yellow Wallpaper

The journal entry for today is about The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The short story seems to be partially inspired by the time that Gilman was sick and was unable to write and went through a situation much like this one. The problem with the character within the Yellow Wallpaper is that she is feeling ill and while it would be presumed that she is adult enough to care for her own well being her husband, a medical doctor, has complete control over her. I think that the yellow wallpaper in the story actually represents this control that the main character's husband has over her. As the wallpaper peels away the main character seems to be more insane, but the end of this journey seems to be reached when the main character peels off all of the wallpaper and apparently has managed to escape the control her husband has over her.

Journal for William Dean Howells

The reading for today is Editha by William Dean Howells. To be clear I think that the female protagonist was very naive and impressionable. I see the usage of propaganda during the time and how the character falls for it, but I do not agree how she feels her husband must fight in the war to show his love for her. I feel more for the male character as his beliefs are being compromised and he feels as though he is being forced to choose between his beliefs of non aggression and his love for Editha. I think that this is a thoughtful story. The story is a moral questioning about the good of war it would seem and the costs of it and also a stab at the unenlightened thoughts of many people about war during the time.

Journal for "The Goophered Grapevine"

The reading for today is "The Goophered Grapevine" by Charles Waddell Chestnutt. This a frame story. To begin the frame narrator is nameless, does not have his race discussed, and the story does not dwell much on him. I find this actually peculiar since a story coming from a time where race is such an important would be expected to make some mention of the race of the narrator. I also find it curious that in the story the character that seems to be duped the most is apparently a white man. I like how this story goes against the normal race stereotypes and breaks away from them.

Journal for "At the Station"

The reading for today is "At the Station" by Davis. This story is a slow moving tale set in a town where nothing happens, but the train coming through twice a day. This story is really just for entertainment value it felt like and unlike the early stories this story has no twists. Perhaps the fact that it has no twists is what makes this story so strange in comparison to pass readings. As a reader the story is a very believable one which I think shows the movement of story writing from sentimental fiction in the past. I think it does require some suspended belief but this is a story that I liked and I like how the diction managed to show the slow moving lifestyle of the people in the town.

Journal for Louisa May Alcott

Today's reading is "My Contraband" by Louis May Alcott. Immediately into the story it can be seen the influences of Alcott's life on her writing. The main protagonist is a single female nurse, a position and status Alcott held in her life. Also the nurse's feelings of attractions to the 'contraband' shows Alcott's approval of interracial marriages. This story goes against the set boundaries of taboo of Alcott's time such as slaves being treated as persons, interracial marriages, and etc. In the story Alcott uses the protagonist as a white person showing respect towards a slave and treating him as an equal. Alcott shows the righteous and humanity of blacks when a black woman in the story takes her own life after being raped. By having a black woman do such a thing it shows how the righteous and humanity of blacks was on par with that of whites.

Journal for Alice Dunbar-Nelson

In reading Alice Dunbar-Nelson's "The Carnival Jangle" it is a bit surprising how in the span of so few words she displays the festive nature of New Orleans and displays a character that, while not having obvious reasons for their actions do exhibit the live life persona commonly associated with those of New Orleans.
In "Little Miss Sophie" the story like "The Carnival Jangle" also ends sadly. It is a bit telling that in both stories the protagonists can be said to be women who have much trust or love for a man they meet. I cannot say if this is a staple in the works of Alice Dunbar-Nelson but I am curious as to why this is the case in these stories.
Also the contrast in the adjectives in the stories is worth noting as "Little Miss Sophie" uses somber adjectives like miserable, sad, small, dark in contrast to "The Carnival jangle" which, while set during a celebration, uses brighter brighter adjectives like wild, bright, white, and merry.

Journal Entry for Kate Chopin

The stories required for reading by Kate Chopin are "Desiree's Baby" and "The Story of an Hour". In reading "Desiree's Baby" the first thing I notice is the blurring of race lines. The face of the characters is not explicitly said though the last sentence of the story clearing gives the race of the male protagonist. Also in this story unlike many of Chopin's other stories the conflict is not about the wife trying to juggle freedom versus martial status. It is more so a story of the male protagonist fighting a battle within himself about his race. Which brings up my question of why Chopin had this conflict and why did she end the story in such a way that no conflict seems resolved?
In reading "The Story of an Hour" this story returns to the more common concept of the wife's conflict with her freedom in marriage. However, the story creates an appearance as though a wife cannot possibly be happy while in a marriage because the will of the husband will always be imposed upon the wife.