anne

Now, before I write my researched Anne Hutchinson speech to tell to a whole crowd of people huddled around her towering statue, I am going to muse a bit on Anne herself and maybe discover some tidbits of opinion in my head on what I think about her. She was, first and foremost, a rebel. A coldblooded, do whatever she feels like American rebel. I love this attribute from her because it really signifies American values, which are the ability to stand up for what is right. She is often called a feminist, among the first. While I do think that women were not treated as well as they should have been at the time, my view of colonial women's rights really is muddied by my inability to truly be there. I feel that she was not at all a feminist, because feminism really did not exist yet and she never made a fuss about being female, she again just stood up for what she knew was right. I also think that in her case John Winthrop was to blame in most of her conundrums. He saw her as a threat to his power and knew that to keep the job he always seemed to have a knack for losing, he would have to oust her from her rebellious decisions and banish her through his power in the church. These ideas really are merely my ramblings, and I can't wait to develop them more as I write my dialog to teach a crowd about Anne Hutchinson.

Home from their Homeland

Edgar T Williams, JC of Hoyme Hall

Familiar strangers

Unrecognizable

Before the ice breakers

And their home fashion

They could never, will never

Look like oles

From their actions

As freshman on campus

They each talk different

A remnant

Of what they grew up with

Unfamiliar with uf’da.

Some knew upperclassmen

The pretty ones

That knew all

They wore sweatshirts and T-shirts

With armed lions

But didn't know

What that meant

Their gaze was lost

Their faces showed no sign

Of direction or understanding

For they had seen so many new things

In so little time

It was a peculiar notion

That each one

Would become

An Ole

That's my half and I'm uploading the whole thing now.

Roanoke

Paul Johnson's narrative on Roanoke was very interesting, and really gave me the most I know about Roanoke to date. Roanoke was one of the first colonies established in America and was left to live on its own for 2 years. John White left the colony and returned, finding nothing but carved words and some rotten boxes. I can not even imagine the chilling feeling of his return, with, how Johnson puts it, "When they landed the next day, White found no sign of his daughter or granddaughter, or anyone else." Man. And what I find even more surprising is Americans, after centuries of technological improvement in archeology, still can't come to a precise conclusion on what exactly happened at that place. What did the words Croatian mean? Will we ever figure out what happened? I think that if we really tried to trace the genealogy of native Americans, I feel that is the only way to determine if the most popular theory of the colony will be proven. America's greatest mystery? We may never know.

Paul-Helge Haugen's Poem

As I read this poem on a very beautiful Sunday, I was reminded of Ellis Island during immigration times and then The Jungle, a book about the horrible poverty one immigrant had to face. This whole month and year I will be having a mental argument about the origin and resolvability of poverty, so whoever happens to be reading this should strike up a conversation with me anytime. Polarizing my thoughts with others is one of the main ways I personally evolve my belief system. But anyway, here is how I felt about Home from America. With Haugen's diction I really can see that when immigrants return home from their living in America, there is an almost recognizable American identity that developed after coming to America. Haugen describes his relatives as odd looking and having weird accents where they speak their r's very oddly. His syntax is very effective to a point where I can visualize him telling me this while he sits in an armchair, smoking fine tobacco out of a handed down pipe. His imagery really caught my attention as well, where he says things like "they wore suits    with thick shoulder pads," and "when they looked at us    their glance was foreign." He writes in an odd dactylic teremeter fashion that makes reading all the more entertaining. Oh, the struggles they must have faced, as I could never know their true sorrow.

Commentary on FDR's Four Freedoms

            Near the end of Franklin Roosevelt's four freedom speech, I found this line very interesting when looking at our current views on American imperialism. FDR says,  "In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms." 

           In our current culture, we put down the ideas of spreading American values. I often wonder how Americans would respond to a speech like this now. It really makes a parallel to the Tea Party now, where there are a group people worried about their freedoms but it is very unpopular and looked down on by the media. How important are our freedoms now? What is it going to take for America to wake up and realize that we are losing our freedoms left and right, from the patriot act to a smoking ban? I must comment that I don't necessarily agree with the Tea Party, but I find it incredible that people in America can still get up and protest for what they believe in. It makes me very happy to see it, and I hope more people who disagree with what is happening get up and try to change life. The future of America is going to be very interesting indeed.

The Freedom of Thought.

In the 21^st century, there are freedoms that we hold that we take for granted. Some of these freedoms are obvious, such as the freedom of speech or the freedom of following any religion one pleases. But there are other freedoms that many people do not identify that are very, very important to our current American society. The freedom that comes to my mind as being currently extremely important to all is the individual freedom of thought. Now, one may say that the freedom of thought is an innate freedom and there is no entity or authority that can take that away, but I would have to disagree. Often times in different societies ideas can truly be repressed, whether it is the majority blocking the opposition or an extreme situation like the “1984” Thought Police, who punish you under suspicion for acting against the authority. In America, we have the freedom of thought and that is really what makes us who we are and what we stand for. An object that signifies this freedom is a laptop computer. A laptop portrays this freedom many different ways. An innovative invention, computers are solely the result of great minds being allowed to think of how to build a computer that is faster and more efficient for the consumer. Another aspect of a computer and the internet for that matter is the ability to express one’s thoughts to the whole country without repercussions or loss of privileges. A computer also may show the freedom of thought by being a tool for learning and improving your beliefs and thoughts.