Langston Hughes' Theme and Versimilitude

What is one theme Langston Hughes creates? How does the verisimilitude foster the theme?

Langston Hughes focuses on the marginalization of blacks in order to create unity among the forgotten race. In "I, Too," Hughes states that he is the "darker brother," describing not only his nationality but also the unnoticed, racial discrimination in America. Furthermore, the poem centers on the idea of breaking the monarchy of whites; by envisioning--hoping that people will see blacks as a part of "America." Many blacks relate to this experience: their ancestors were kidnapped from their homeland and forced into a life of heartless orders and metal chains. In his other poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," Hughes mentions the major rivers of the world like the Euphrates, the Congo, and the Nile to show that black history is as ancient and rich as the "human blood in human veins;" their culture is crucial to America's past but a compete enigma to the naive Americans. Hughes' poems brought forth a debate many feared to argue. Titled the Poet Laureate of Harlem, Langston Hughes represented the wants--the yearnings--of black Americans, creating verisimilitude in his poems, whether it be through his first-person accounts of a Negro pianist making the "poor piano moan with melody" or recounting the command-obey relationship between a slave and his master. It is the "Weary Blues" or the singing "America" or the deep "rivers" that unite the scattered black sheep: the first stimulus to the inevitable Movement.

Great Gatsby Rhetorical Précis

In the great American novel The Great Gatsby (1925), F. Scott Fitzgerald claims that the lavish life brought by money is not as wonderful as it seems. Fitzgerald supports this by contrasting the characters' wealth with their completely unappealing personalities, by describing the unhappiness and annoyance between the characters, and by ending the novel in tragedy to exemplify that money does not bring true joy. The author's purpose is to inform the dangers of living excessively so that others do not fall into the trap of wealth. The author writes in a sarcastic tone for young Americans in the 1920s (and onwards).

F. Scott Fitzgerald coined the term "Jazz Age" for the 1920s to describe the wealth and carefree personality of that period, and this is obviously shown in The Great Gatsby and his other works of literature. His stories usually accentuate the wealth that his characters have like Gatsby's yellow car and Tom's stable full of top-notch horses. Another characteristic that Fitzgerald highlights is a human-being's imperfections, an example being Gatsby yearning for the past instead of accepting the present. Also, Fitzgerald crushes our joy and motivation--our dreams. Like in The Great Gatsby, like in "Winter Dreams," the characters (which represent people of the 1920s) are left dissatisfied in the end. Whether it be the failure to marry that girl or to achieve the American Dream, Fitzgerald brings us to reality that sometimes, dreams are not completely fulfilled and only wishes unanswered.

Larry Wu, You Are Right

After finishing The Great Gatsby, I realize that Larry Wu of our own class was right this whole time: "People are greedy." I want to think that we have goodness in all of us--to look out for others and live in harmony--but that is clearly not true in The Great Gatsby. 

First, who steals a married woman from her husband? I guess there is somewhat of a loophole there as Daisy is not happy with her marriage with Tom, but then I have to question why she does not get a divorce or why she picks Tom over Jay Gatsby in the end. She is just another money-grabbing woman, switching from man to man. She is greedy. 

And after Jay Gatsby is shot, no one comes to his funeral. Even though Nick earnestly tries his hardest to gather a respectable amount of people for Gatsby's final party, no one comes. After the constant parties that Gatsby held, or the numerous favors that he did for people, no one comes. Daisy does not come even though Gatsby committed his whole life to her. Also, Gatsby was going to take the fall for Daisy, but the bullet got to him first.

In a world driven by money, people are greedy. As Daisy denies Gatsby when he asks her to marry him because he is too poor, as Gatsby rises up in the social ladder but still gets rejected by Daisy, greed is the undeniable trait of human kind. Larry Wu, you are right.

HP=EK

My life should have started with drums. The booms--quiet at first--slowly crescendo, intensifying the importance of the birth of this One boy. This boy is the chosen One. As my mother was giving her all in the hospital, as I came into the world, as I nearly died with the umbilical chord around my neck, the drums give its final slam and SILENCE! Only the heartbeats of everyone in the room--now plus One--carry the rhythm of life. Later that day, I was given the Elder Wand, a diploma from Hogwarts, and some Butterbeer.

"Harry Potter was just a boy who lived. Like all of us." 
                                                       -NIKKI GIOVANNI, "Sanctuary: For Harry Potter the Movie"

I have started to realize how much Death is around me. Lingering on the news, or playing around in the Philippines, It is an unrelenting force, only stopping to see the ones afflicted. Sometimes It comes by and takes someone I know--It nearly took me when I was a baby. And I'm just here, "[living] and [telling] the story" (33-34). If I am like Harry Potter, am I destined to save the world--to stop some nose-less figure from enslaving mankind or hook up with my best friend's sister? I am the boy who lived, and it is proven through my struggles. Harry Potter failed countless potions classes as I bombed a couple of tests before; Harry Potter went to a school filled with monsters as I went to school which indubitably has bullies. We all have the ability to save the "vanishing Savannah" (97-98), whatever that Savannah may be, and like Harry Potter who triumphed over the worst villain of all, we have to find out how we are going to do it.

"I'm just the boy who lived and in living I have to find my way."
                                                        -NIKKI GIOVANNI, "Sanctuary: For Harry Potter the Movie."

Punctuation is Important. Period.

Despite the constant disagreements to the rules of writing, punctuation is the foundation of all literature in any time period, and without it, the meaning and order of a certain prose or poem is lost.

Punctuation and writing go hand-in-hand: even if changing times call for a change in the rules of literature, punctuation will always be a prevalent player in any form of writing. Emily Dickinson, a revolutionary poet of America, used the dash in order emphasize certain words or phrases. Like in her poem "I dwell in Possibility--," which solely uses dashes, she separates phrases like "--for Doors--" (Source C) to show the symbolism in her poem and also to contrast the windows mentioned in the line before. Dickinson's dashes provided a feel that a period nor a comma can not; her specific use of the dash allowed for a completely different meaning to be interpreted. Also, in "Semicolons: A Love Story," Dolnick mentions William James uses the semicolon to keep the "'stream of thought from appearing... as a wild torrent" (Source E). Because of punctuation, order is kept. As periods and commas supplied this order before, semicolons did the same for William James, showing the change in times but the same applicability of different punctuation marks. Despite these examples, people say that punctuation gives up creativity for "more precision and exactitude" (Source D). For Elizabeth Austen in her poem "On Punctuation," she is against the "dogma of the period" (Source B), flowing every line together in one stream and in essence, proclaiming her creativeness--her style--for her lack of punctuation, but this is not the case for other writers. Andrea Gibson uses Twitter as a "testing ground for her more developed writings"  (Source F). Posting only a few words, she uses Twitter to get feedback and later incorporates it into her poetry, where a single punctuation mark "is enough to destroy the whole work" (Source D). This signifies that, yes, punctuation can have its limits in writing, but it can also have its own beauty in a concise manner. In all, literature is built upon punctuation, the figurative foundation of literature; every comma, period, semicolon, or dash carries its own meaning and has a everlasting importance in the unity and message of a piece of writing. 

This Is Not a Disney Story.

In the last few chapters of The Scarlet Letter, Hester never gets the European vacation she always wanted, Roger Chillingworth fades into dust, and Dimmesdale exposes his naked chest to the world and yells out his sin until he dies. Did anyone get his or her happily-ever-after in this book? Where are the feels like the ones I got at the end of Toy Story 3? Woody goes with Andy; Buzz and friends are passed down to another kid. It is hopeful--it is a new beginning. Hawthorne, on the other hand, does not give such a satisfying ending but one where everyone dies. Who got their happily-ever-after?

For Chillingworth, his death can be seen as a happy one. Obsessed with the identity of Pearl's father, Chillingworth changes from a man of knowledge to an ugly demon smiling and chuckling evilly at everyone's misfortune. Hester and Dimmesdale's sin ruined his life, but once the secret was out, the Leech lost his host and "was left with no further material to support [himself]" (255). Chillingworth died as an accomplished man, succeeding in his sole goal and free from the Devil.

Hester's life sucks, even to the end. She is never free from her scarlet letter and does not get to live the rest of her years with Dimmesdale, her true love. Instead, Dimmesdale dies, she lives with the same guilt and shame from the scarlet letter until her death, and her sin follows her past death onto her tombstone ("'ON A FIELD, SABLE, THE LETTER A, GULES'" (259)). It is sad that Hester, the pitiful character that tries to dutifully protects the identity of her partner, never gets her happily-ever-after.

Dimmesdale's ending is, in truth, a happily-ever-after. He confesses the sin that has been burdening his chest for years and dies a God-fearing man. He does not have to deal with Chillingworth's evil presence nor his double life of pastor by day and sinner by night. He is a free man, but it is hard to say if he would have been happier if he lived and left with Hester to Europe. Ignoring the fact that Chillingworth would have followed them, Dimmesdale and Hester would have that classic ending where they happily grow old together. Once their decision was made, Dimmesdale said he was "made anew" (198) and this is the "better life" (198). If everything went perfectly--and Dimmesdale decided not to confess and bail on the plan during the ceremony--. Hester and Dimmesdale would have had their happily-ever-after.

The only loser in this story is Hester, which demonstrates her strength and perseverance, but these aren't Disney endings. These three characters, all loved or hated, all reach some serenity in their deaths. Hawthorne's genius way of showcasing their ends truly prove the realness and consequences of a secret.

I Pity the Sinner

Eve took a bite of the apple--this was the first sin. Ruining the perfection of humans, letting sin manifest itself in every human onward, Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden and had to fend for themselves. These two were God's beloved creations, tainted after the original transgression, and now, after possibly tens of thousands of years, does this sin make any difference in our lives? Many would say they don't feel the effects of this sin, nor think about it, nor believe it. Is time enough to forgive a sin?

In the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne builds pity for Hester, the sinner everyone is talking about; she is publicly shamed, cast out of the Puritan society, and stuck to raise a child alone. But why would Hawthorne want us to pity a sinner? She is an adulteress; she cheated on her husband; she is a sinner. Even if she did it for love, is she justified? If my neighbor (bless that grandma) cheated on her husband because she loved someone else, would that be okay? Like the Puritan society, we would label her an adulteress and shun her. "Regardless of your reason, you cheated," my teachers would say. Why should I pity a sinner?

"Forgiveness," Hawthorne will answer. After years of guilt and inner-torture, Hester is slowly accepted back into society. People start to realize her selflessness and pureness in her heart--they see the actual person instead of the sinner. As years pass, like Adam and Eve's first sin, it is slowly being forgotten in a way. Though I believe true forgiveness comes from God, is Hawthorne trying to say that sin is forgiven over time? Only time will tell.

Rich

Entering my second year of high school, I was fearful for my GPA. It was my first year with AP classes, and I was going all out: AP Chemistry, AP Calculus BC, and AP U.S. History. Also, I can openly admit I do not deliver the best work compared to my peers nor do I try as hard; nonetheless, I had to keep up. I had to challenge my intellect and slowly strangle my social life and sleep away (everyone knows that grades are inversely proportional to the amount of sleep a student gets). Of course, I had a decent amount of sleep in the beginning of the year so my grades weren't as high, but once I realized the amount of time people were putting in to these AP classes, I changed my ways. Now, as I review the frustrations I had throughout my sophomore year, I realize that the true currency of life is effort. 

Grades in school are indubitably important but overrated also. Students rank each other based on their grades, and students act different to others that are supposedly not as smart as themselves. This illusion of what a grade means is completely wrong. A test is supposed to test you: that 100 is not a prize-winning cod waved around in the air for everyone to see. People only see the number and not the calculations leading to the answer. No one sees the effort. 

It used to bother me how easy it was for some people to understand a concept so easily or get by without studying or asking questions. It made me question why I couldn't achieve as much as they did as quickly. People say that you shouldn't compare yourself to others, but in an environment where grades can buy a reputation, where grades are what people value most, how can we not notice who is more prosperous than everyone else? In this situation, David Foster Wallace says it best in his "This is Water" commencement speech: 

"Worship your intellect, being seen as smart, you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. But the insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they're evil or sinful, it's that hey're unconscious. They are default settings."

I learned that I have to see past the number and realize that success comes with a little work. I have to realize that it takes time and commitment to be good--great--at something. Whether success comes along or not, I think there is some value in effort.

Our Forgotten Independence

Independence. Freedom from the control, influence, support, aid, or the like, of others. This is what Americans in 1777 have fought for. Their minds were clouded with thoughts of oppression from the King, and they gave their whole heart to break away. Tar and feathers. Boston Massacre. Boston Tea Party. Today, these people are heroes. Starting this country and making the Declaration of Independence, they changed the world and started the amazing subject of American history. The King is out of the picture and America is off by itself. A while later, the Articles of Confederation failed because there was not enough power in the central government, and the Constitution apparently fixed this. It seems like the opposite today, though. There is too much government; there is too much federal power. That is just my opinion.

I think people forget about their independence--I know I do. I could have been a slave in some underdeveloped society, working all day and getting nothing in return. It is truly a humongous, great, giant honor to go on Facebook and do my daily shenanigans, unlike in China where it is banned. Instead of working the fields, I am on the computer for the same amount of time. Someone had to fight for this right, and I think it was a right worth fighting.

The Me in Name

Edward. Ead means wealth, fortune, or prosperous, and weard means guardian or protector. My parents tell me that a pastor gave me that name when I was a baby. This has to be significant, right? I was given a name awesome enough to fit my awesome character; I must have a future filled with wealth, fortune, and prosperity.

In The Crucible, one's name is synonymous with his reputation. For me, I had a huge reputation to hold ever since I was a baby. Basically, I had to be a king and take care of my loyal parents. This did not happen. Everyone in my family labeled me as the cry baby, the trouble maker, the kid no one wanted to take care of. It was really hard to keep my white reputation because my sister was the perfect child. While I was crying, she would be silently sitting. While I ran away from my aunt at the mall, soon to be leashed, my sister calmly held hands with my mom. I would cry for hours when I was hungry or cry for hours when my mom left me or cry for hours if I did not have my PowerRangers backpack with me at all times. My name was ruined by age 3.

But in truth, I didn't ruin my name. My sister did. Sike. Really though, I never had a reputation in the first place. I built this annoying, devilish persona from babyhood to now, and no one considered me a guardian anointed by a holy man. I was shaped by those words into the awesome person I am today. The point I'm trying to get at is a reputation is built; it becomes your identity. Your name is not just some grouping of letters but a bag containing the essence of your being.

Modern Day Witch Hunts

What is the Witch Hunt today? In Salem, it was the actual women that were working alongside the Devil. Miller was inspired to write The Crucible because of McCarthy's hunt for Communists in the 1950s. In modern day, we are hunting down our competitors. 

In school, there is so much competition around. There are people that want to be the best in academics, sports, and music. No one wants to be the loser or the one that is not good at anything. This can lead to some hysteria like in Salem.

By definition, hysteria is an uncontrollable outburst of emotion and fear. The craziness started in Salem once people thought there were witches in town. Abigail catalyzed the hysteria by acting out visions and forcing people in tight situations where blaming the Devil seemed to be the only way out. To compare, there is so much worry and importance in grades. I have seen people get frustrated with school or cry over a bad grade or completely melt down because of all the stress. School is hysteria. If talking about athletics, people compare themselves to others, ranking their teammates on ability. A team knows its strongest and weakest players, and from this, I would not be surprised if judgments arise. 

In the end, it is all a competition. Students are trying to get into a certain school or be the best, stressing themselves. Students have a goal to beat their peers. This is the modern day witch hunt.

Times Have Changed

It pains me to see the church and Christianity shrouded in hate because of the Westboro Baptist Church. Being a church-goer from the age of 1, the church has always been a second home. It was a place to play and a place to learn--a place of safety. I never saw my church go out into the streets and shove the word of God down someone's throat. I never saw my church picket funerals or damn unbelievers to Hell. This isn't a church. My church helps the homeless. My church goes on missions to Haiti or some other impoverished area and host a fun activity time for kids, implementing God and Jesus whenever.

In Jonathan Edwards' sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Edwards uses fear, stemming from his vivid, fiery imagery and accusatory tone, to cause a change in the hearts of unbelievers. The sermons I hear these days are no where near as powerful as Edwards'. Jonathan Edwards focuses his attention on the wrath of God and Hell, while preachers today focus on Heaven and how good God is. The times have changed and the Westboro Baptist Church are still living in the 1600s.

This church is labeled as a hate group. Using fear to show people their sinful ways, the Westboro Baptist Church has only tainted the image of Christianity. We aren't extremists trying to dictate the beliefs of others--at least, I'm not. I strongly believe in an open mind to all religions, speaking my part when the time comes. Practice whatever religion you want; I don't see anything wrong with that.

The Lone Edward and Kid Fistfight at School

There I was, standing around this pole outside my school, waiting for the bus to take me home. It was just like any other day of 1st grade: heading to school in the morning, making all the kids laugh, and leaving the place that I owned with an iron fist. But on this day, there was a slight change to my schedule; this guy in the 2nd grade came up to me. He called me Chinese and kept pushing at it. I roared, "I'm Korean!", rushed at him, and did what any sensible 1st grader would do. The memory is a bit blurry in my mind, but I do remember biting his arm! The day after, my principal sat both of us down and told me I could not go to the next two recesses. I cried the whole time as I sat in my desk thinking about my cannibalistic attack. It was not a good day to die. It was not a good day to die.

This was my first experience with stereotypes, and it was a pretty dumb one to be mad about. I know that there are many Asians in the world, each with their own characteristics, but we still have the same general look. In addition to that, there are over 1 billion Chinese people in the world! With those numbers, the chances that this Asian is Chinese are pretty plausible. I understand this mistake, Person-I-bit, and I am sorry for the scar that I left you.

As Sherman Alexie gave light to how Indians actually are, I feel the need to do the same with my race. Generally, I had no problems with stereotypes; it actually seems like they're true most of the time. I surrounded myself with the Chinese kids in my grade, and they were the cream of the crop: straight A students, magnificent musicians, and nervous nerds. These are my friends. On the other hand, there is me. I always thought I was the outlier. I never got the highest grade nor was I amazing at the violin. I remember getting last chair, the worst position in Orchestra, in 7th grade. At least I had a likable personality.

I built a standard for myself through the all those Asian stereotypes. I want to be smarter--better. There comes a point though, like Sherman Alexie's experiences, where I shouldn't be defined by a stereotype or the lack of meeting one. People worry too much about how everyone else is doing, and this leads to the generalizations that we all know. The focus should be on ourselves. This simple act to fight the stereotypes will make a bite into this society constructed on generalizations.

Uncle Ben Has Got the Power

How much power does an individual wield?

"With great power, comes great responsibility." These words, spoken by Uncle Ben to young Peter Parker and every kid known to mankind, echo the true meaning of power. Power is the influence, either good or bad, one has on a person or persons. From this statement, the amount of power someone possesses completely depends on the actions of the individual. 

In all honesty, I believe that everyone has power: from all the leaders that lived to the people at the bottom of the social ladder, but there has to be a reason why we recognize presidents and prime ministers--even dictators--to have so much power in their hands. What did they do? Well, in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer, the leader of Tom Sawyer's Gang, shows the power he has over the neighborhood kids. Taking these kids into a cave, he only allows them to join his gang if they "take an oath, and write his name in blood" (Twain 10). To accentuate how serious Tom's club is, the Gang has to "kill" (Twain 10) families; their only business is "robbery and murder" (Twain 11). Tom has the power--he does not mess around. His influence over Huck and friends is quite incredible, and with every command that Tom makes, the kids do not argue against him. His power did not fade either because Huck still follows Tom's orders during Jim's rescue even though a simple lift of the bed and a climb through the window would have been enough. Tom's organization, speeches, and sly-talking, along with his attracting personality, help him to become the leader he is recognized for. He is a man of power.

The most obvious example of power is Adolf Hitler. I have to ask how this man who we unarguable label as pure evil grew to rule Germany. During the time, I do know he promised to bring back Germany to its former glory. Hitler inspired millions in his campaign for reform, and in the process, he blamed the hopeless state of the country on the Jews. He sure had everyone fooled when he would make a speech for European dominance while in the background. systematically killing six million Jews. He sure had some power to convince everyone he would lead Germany to the top--of course, leaving Germany in near ruins at the end of World War II. And even now, his influence lives: antisemitism still exists and Hitler's unforgettable actions have left an imprint on the history books.

The power someone wields is directly related to the person's influential ability. Tom Sawyer and Hitler are both convincing and generally attract leadership. The line that separates them is their actions. Tom is the good guy who always looking out for his Gang while trying to get the most fun out of it, in contrast to Hitler, who had it all but was consumed by such great power. Uncle Ben knew that when someone has the abilities to make a change, it takes a great deal of care and knowledge to make the right decisions.