Evan's Blog

"Continent's End", Robinson Jeffers Pg 407-413 The basis of this story is talking about the end of what is seen as the continents, hence the title.  It starts talking about the equinox, the equinox is "the time or date (twice each year) at which the sun crosses the celestial equator" also, day and night are of equal length. They are at what sounds like a beach, there is granite that is being sprayed by the ocean. Could also be a cove of some sort. it talks about the long distance travel, and how he has gotten older with age the span of the Continent is even further than the span of the ocean, it is doubled. 

"Anonymous Chinese Immigrants" pg: 354-355 This starts off saying that there are over a hundred poems on the walls. Im not sure if this is literal, or more of a metaphor.  Commiserate: express or feel sympathy or pity; sympathize. Travelers want to sympathize, but it does not seem to be effective.  In the second section it talks about how quickly time passes, the person is "somewhat young" but time is "passing ever so quickly, in the blink of an eye" In the last passage it is saying its a summer like first month of the new year. So it is a new year, however, it feels more like summer than anything else.  It seems to be Chinese new year from what I can tell, it is talking about New Year scrolls that decorate the houses. 

Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, pg 347-353 This starts off with setting the scene of being in San Francisco, and how the train from San Francisco is late. On the train it described a little girl rose, she was carrying a wicker suit0case in one hand and also had a covered up bird cage.  This little girl ended up being Dorothy, a character we are all very familiar with. Someone starts asking her about her birds, but it turns out to just be her kitten, Eureka. It then goes to her talking to someone else, and someone who is riding a horse. As they are riding the horse, out of no where, a the ground splits right under the horses feet.  It then starts to talk about the Glass City. She seemed to have passed out, but they in turn were still falling once she came back. Dorothy then realizes after falling for a while that she, as far as she knows, is in the middle of the earth, and it is definitely confusing for her. 

These notes are on " The Californian"  by Gertrude Atherton, pg 311-320 It starts speaking of someone named Magdalena, who was someone who failed at every point and expected the author to fail. Later it speaks of these loud ringing of bells. This may be due to the fact that her bedroom was extremely close to a school.  Helena often had a weird way of entering the house, she would climb a pillar of the balcony. Helena is trying to convince her to see the fire, she is refusing to see the fire at first, but Helena is not taking no for an answer. she know's she would love it. Helena talked about her weekly allowance, which was $5, which was looked upon as not a lot of money, especially by Helena.  The way this story is described, it seems that this takes place in San Francisco. They are talking of market street, and taking transportation that is known by San Francisco.

The story I chose to do my analysis on is The Man with the Hoe, by Edwin Markham. First and foremost, I want to talk about the literary device of Character. This story does an absolute amazing job of building character. It starts with a man and a hoe. However, it then starts creating this vivid imagery of his life. It speaks of this, assumed, farmer who looks empty, and carries the weight of the world on his back. It then shows his sorrow, and the pain he feels in his life. He is pleading to god, asking if this is what he wants, and why. If this doesn't describe a character, and build vivid imagery of a character, then quite frankly I do not know what does. The theme of this story is the sorrow people can carry. With burden after burden, people began to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. The heavier the weight, the more empty and hopeless the people become. I think if anything, this story can explain how we have to let ourselves drop this sorrow, for it can be extrem...

There are many stories that are important to our history, stories that truly define what our culture is and was. California as a culture is very unique, and there is no better story that defines our culture than, "A Frontier Lady" by Sarah Eleanor Royce. This story is important for a few reasons, that is that it could be considered an artifact of history, it teaches us several things about history, and it contains information about California and the gold rush time period of California that a history textbook just couldn't. The reason it is better than most text books is because it is a first hand account, it is the hardship this Frontier Lady has to face, along with her family. The cold snow, and the long travels, all told from her point of view. The first important thing about this story I want to talk about is the fact that it could be considered an artifact of history. I first think it is important that I define what an artifact of history is meant to be. An artifac...