Chapters whatever to such and such

I dunno about these chapters man... To begin, I don't like how it went from Jurgis' life to to this strong argument on socialism so quickly and obviously; not only am I left unsatisfied on what is going on with Jurgis and his family, but also the book has gotten quite boring. Socialism seems to be a pretty good idea, but then again, the author is only providing us with all the good aspects of Socialism, so i'm not really able to see a downside to it. I'm happy for Jurgis and Elzbeita for discovering it though. Jurgis seems to be pretty excited about it and since then he has been able voice his mind in meetings. Since Jurgis found Socialism, Jurgis' life has been going good even though he is living in a mainly Capitalistic society where his neighbors go hungry his family dies. This argument is the strongest of all because it goes beyond mere facts and shows the readers an example of a real life situation where everything that can go wrong, does.

The Jungle Chapters 27 & 28

In chapter 27 the major event is that Jurgis is reunited with Marija. He meets an old friend on the street while begging, and she tells Jurgis where Marija is living downtown. I think that this chance is too small to be coincedence and that its great! It really makes me happy when Jurgis decides to go visit her. Even though his main reason is probably because he needs a home, this action shows a little bit more of the old Jurgis, and I like that hes coming through. Too bad Marija had to resort to becoming a whore to help feed Elbeata and her kids, but sometimes hard times have to resort to that, and since Marija is sending money back, I think it was a wise decision. They all get arrested by the police, but I thought this was odd because later in the day they just continue what they were doing, which made no sense.Marija is sort of trapped there now, but isnt everyone in packing town really?
The argument for Socialism is coming on strong now, as can be seen when Jurgis goes to this meeting thing where a man preaches about all the crime and swindles, and all the flaws in a Capitalistic society. Really simply, he was talking about how "the man" was holding them all down. Less simply however, he speaks about how the laborers do the work, and the rich prosper from it and keep us down and pretty much everything that has happened wrong in Jurgis' life since he came to America. Jurgis agrees and is moved by this. That's 'bout it.

The Jungle Chapter 26

At the beginning of the chapter, Jurgis, for the most part, gives up his life of crime in order to "lay low" for awhile. He has a job as a pig skinner and is getting paid well; He's getting paid 3 dollars a day! I think this is pretty swell. He may have been making alot as a criminal, but now hes earning money without breaking the law. Either decision would have been fine, perhaps open for discussion maybe?
The strike by the union really worked well for Jurgis, because there were more job openings and they were paying more to loyal workers. This allows Jurgis to become a foreman in the packing plant. This is really good for him, which is sort of the first time he has advanced in society. The strike threatens to end this, but doesnt which was a great releif.
Also, he has people to watch his back now for the first time since he left his family. Mike Scully and his people are watching out for him. When Jurgis lands in prison again one of his fellows takes $300 of his money, but at least he gets him out of jail by persuading the judge that he's a good man.
Jurgis lands in jail for this third time because he beats Connor again. Sinclair said Jurgis was filled with blind rage, and I was too! I was hoping that Jurgis would jump at him and beat him up, and i was glad that he did. Connor was to blame for Ona's death, and Connor deserved it and more for that i beleive. I feel the same emotions that Jurgis does when he discovers Connor is a friend of Scully, because I too wanted Connor to get beat up, but then i regreted it afterwards as Jurgis did.
Things arent going great yet, but at least its not tragedy after tragedy, so thats pretty cool. Ready to present... Yea... :D

The Jungle Chapters 21-23

All seemed to being going well in Jurgis' life for once, and like Mr. J had put it, another tragedy came too conveniently. When the streets flooded after a long rain, his child fell in and drown to death. This was probably the worst thing that has happened so far in the story I think, and its really horrible. Jurgis saw the body, and walked until he was out of packing town and in the country. He then became a "tramp" and started living life happier, and at this point it was going well for Jurgis, which only means something bad is going to happen.
Questions:
1) Since Marija could not stop Antanas from going outside, why did she not go out with him and supervise?
2) Where are Mariga and Elzbeta now?
3) Why did the family not move out to the country sooner?

The Jungle- Thanksgiving Break Read

A sure lot happened in this 130 or so page read we were assigned. Things looked bright at first, when they all had jobs, less the younger children and Teta, and they were making the rent and interest, and had a little left over for food, but none to spend leisurely. I found this to be saddening and hope never to live like this, but soon this life seems much better in comparison to their life a few chapters later. Events transpire and they start to starve, some characters die off, and they end up losing the house and everything they've worked for here in America.
Now that most of the characters have jobs in different places of the packing industry, they begin to piece together all the swindles and crime the industry has committed. They soon know exactly what is wrong, all the while slowly dieing inside from exhaustion. With this there are few options. The father was so worn out through this he caught a sickness and eventually died from it. Ona's brother Jonas was said to have taken his pay and left without warning, though it is possible this is the industry hiding an accident. This is how things start to go downhill and when Jurgis is sent to jail, its like an, i dunno, snowball effect.  The family has no money, no food, and when Jurgis becomes free discovers no home.
This is an awful life to live, just living to survive everyday, and I'm not sure whats worse, dieing of exhaustion and starvation, or living well knowing your loved ones are dieing. Jurgis questioned this while he was in prison.
In the final chapter, something happens that changes Jurgis' world forever. Ona, while delivering her baby, passes on and in Jurgis' arms. At this point I'm not sure what Jurgis is gonna do, since it seemed as if he was living for Ona. Also i have come to not like this story at all. Tragedy after tragedy, i cant take it. Its so sad and I'm quite sure its not gonna change. I'm still interested, just maybe a happy ending would be nice.
Questions-
1. Is there no law or safety inspector in the area?
2. Who was that lady at the end anyways? How could she have helped Ona?
3. Why did the judge send Jurgis to jail with the only evidence being Connor's word? That doesnt seem right...
4. Why on earth would Jurgis bite a chunk out of Connor's face? Thats weird..
5. How could America let people live like this? Thats rediculous.

A Farewell to Arms

I began reading "A Farewell to Arms" by Earnest Hemingway. I chose to read this novel because last trimester I read another one of his novels, and was interested to read more of his work. The story is about a war through the eyes of an American in the Italian army who drives an ambulance. I know from reading the back cover that this is taking place during world war I, but that’s pretty much all I know about the war.
The main character is an American, but joined the Italian army since he was in Italy at the time and knew Italian. He told this story to a Miss Barkley, the so called future wife of his friend and roommate, lieutenant Rinaldi. Miss Barkley was engaged to another man before, but he was killed in the army. Miss Barkley became a nurse when he enlisted hoping that someday he might come in with a bullet wound in the shoulder, saying how romantic or picturesque that would be, but he never did come home.
I thought that was a little sad and it begin to shows how war hurts people. At least Miss Barkley has found someone else, but he is enlisted as well as a surgeon, so things might not change, but get worse. The book has a slow beginning but once it gets started I think it will be interesting and I look forward to that. I also think war stories are interesting to read about, because with action usually comes with war as well as drama, which both are very interesting to read about. So good book I think. Also I like Hemingway, so yea, its going to be good.

The Jungle ch. 4-7

I thought that at the beginning of this reading, that things were going good for the family. They now had the necessary jobs to sustain themselves and own their own house. They were upset that the deed said rental, but if they make their payments the house will be theirs nonetheless. Their jobs bring home the bacon, but it doesn’t seem that anyone enjoys them other than Jurgis. He spoke with others who have been working harder that said that they hated their jobs and their bosses, and therefore life for them was miserable. That’s too bad for them, but at least Jurgis is content. He shows up, does his work, gets paid, and goes home, minding his own business. This is a quality that he thought would get him places in America and so far has, but later he begins to realize that his type doesn’t move up in the world at all.

                Not only are their jobs not what they were cracked up to be, but their house deed and something in it that they did not discover until it was too late. Interest was to be paid and resulted in Ona and one of the children to get jobs. The agent didn’t tell them about this, which was wrong and was another way to swindle these people. That’s how you move up in America, and the characters are soon learning this.

                Generally stories only get worse at this point, and seeing as new things keep arising, I predict more will soon. Mr. J mentioned that some characters die, which means things definitely will be getting worse for the family as Sinclair describes the evil of the meatpacking industry and begins to bring in the idea of Socialism.

Questions/Comments

1.       Why did Antanas, being an older member of the family, buy in to hating his job much faster than younger Jurgis?

2.       Was there a “minimum wage” back then?

3.       How did the health inspectors miss how unsanitary the plants were? Or was there a different definition of sanitary back then?

4.       With little money they’re making, how do they even afford food for everyone living in that house?

5.       Comment: I don’t think it was right for the real estate agent to not tell them there would be interest on the house.

Argumentative Essay *Central Argument*

I chose topic 6 i beleive. I am going to argue that slavery is dehumanizing for everyone involved, specifically the slave and slaveholder. This is what my cental argument will be. I will try to convince my reader that slavery is bad by showing them that it is a dehumanizing thing. My brainstorming has ideas and details, but it will need to grow a little more for it to start becoming an essay.
I will focus on first desribing to the reader that it dehumanizes the slaveholders, providing evidence and examples of this. The slave is directly involved and will support that idea, and then I will smoothly start talking about the slave himself, and use the slaveholder as evidence of that, and provide a summary and closing statments to get the reader to agree with me.
This was a very extremely brief summary of how my essay will go, but it's a start, like what will point me in the right direction as I begin to write my essay.

Narrative of the life and times of Frederick Douglass: Final Chapter

I am glad to finally read about Frederick's freedom. All through the narrative I knew it was coming, but now its good that it's finally here and he doesnt have to go through the hardships of slavery any longer. I really wish he would have gone into more detail about his escape, because it was either not discussed, or I missed it. But it didnt seem that it happened all that suddenly. Officially he did become free suddenly, but he unofficially became free before then because he slowly gained more freedoms as a slave. He had jobs, and actually made money. This is completely different from other aspects of slavery, and I'm suprised he was able to do this. Douglass said he exerienced the difficulties of both a slave and a free man, but did not recieve the same benefits as if he was free.
At first life was hard when he was free, not being able to trust anyone, and living in the fear you could be taken back at any moment, it must have been horrible. But Douglass finally met a man named Mr.Ruggles, who was able to help him out, along with other runaway slaves. Douglass later got married and moved away with her and finally experienced the way a free life should be experienced with difficulties finding a job included. To bring these narrative reactions to an end, i thought Douglass did a great job in his life story argueing for the side of the north. I'm glad we were able to read this and get a better understanding of the life of a slave.
Comments:
1) I wish Douglass would have gone into more detail on his escape.
2) I'm glad Douglass was able to find a person like Mr.Ruggles in a time where he really needed it
Questions:
1) Why did Douglass trust Mr.Ruggles?
2) Why didn't Douglass' master try and search for him?

Chapter 10 Review

In chapter 10, frederick Douglass finally made an attempt or at least a plan to escape, which made me glad that his escape is coming. I was bummed when someone found out, probably because one of the slaves had told their master. It was probably because he got cold feet, but still, why would he tell? I don't know, but whatever the reason, it ruined their plan. All the others were able to return to the plantation, but Douglass was sent back to one of his former masters, Mr.Hugh. His old mistress who taught him to read was sympathetic again to him after he was beaten severly. Its these small things that make Douglass' life all that much better.
Questions:
Why would Douglass continue to work if his profit was continually taken away?
Why does his desire to be free grow when he finally gets a decent master?

Frederick Douglass Chapters 8, 9, & 10

The whole while I was reading this section I was thinking of the saying "It gets worse before it gets better." I think that now that its getting worse and worse, it can only start to get better for Douglass. Now he is actually talking about running away to be free, rather than just dreaming about being free. The next step will be the actual action of him escaping, and the result will be freedom. That's what I think the story is leading up to.
I don't all that much like Covey, because he's cruel, but that doesn't set him aside from all the other slave holders who were equally cruel to their slaves. Overall, I don't like any of the slave holders with the exception of the woman who taught him to read. That is until she turned into a vicious slaveholder like all the rest. His actual owner who oversees Covey seems to be the best however. He was fair to Douglass aside from whipping threats, but that's common culture, and he seems the most reasonable. I was glad Douglass could go to him for help.
Comments & Questions
Chapter 8
Comment: His master dying brought Douglass new opportunity.
Question: If his grandmother was "free", why didn't she just leave that place?
Chapter 9
Comment: I don't like any of his masters so far, especially Thomas.
Question: If slaves were property, why wouldn't the slaveholders take care of their stuff?
Chapter 10
Comment: Good for Douglass! Standing up against Covey mad me happy.
Question: Why was Douglass not punished for rebelling against Covey?

Comments and Questions Chapters 5-7

Blake is my partner
Chapter 5:
     Comment 1: I am happy that he was able to leave the plantation and be a house slave.
     Comment 2: I felt sorrow for him having to live on the plantation in the winter with minimul clothing.
     Question 1: How did he survived through the winter with nothing but two shirts and a sack?
     Question 2: Why was he okay with leaving his siblings behind?
Chapter 6:
     Comment 1: I'm glad he could finally see the good in white people and realize they weren't all bad.
     Comment 2: It was a disapointment that she wasn't that nice for long.
     Question 1: Why were the city slaves treated better?
     Question 2: I understand why she stopped teaching, but why did she become cruel after all?
Chapter 7:
     Comment 1: I am glad he finally learned to read and write.
     Comment 2: This really is the start of Douglass' escape and career as a writer.
     Question 1: How did he obtain the books?
     Quesiton 2: Why would the mistress go against her husband and teach him how to read and write?

Slaves are people too!

It is common today to know that african-americans are people just as much as anyone else, but this wasnt as common a beleif back then. Slaves were thought of as property, or tools, no more than a shovel today. They were even less than a pet goldfish is in today's world. Thank god that changed, and people finally started realizing that EVERYONE is equal and should be treated as such.
It is hard to beleive that they couldn't see them as people. They looked and acted nearly exactly the same as the rest of the population. Like in chapter 6, when they were fed the mush, they eat when they're hungry. And they scream when they're whipped, and show sadness in their expressions when a loved one has died, just like everyone else. They thought and felt, like evryone else, they are people too.
Frederick Douglass as a child sought for knowledge and wanted so badly to be able to read and write. A longing found in people, not animals nor objects. And once he read he was able to generate his own thoughts and feelings about what he read, and dreamed of freedom. All traits of a human being, a person.

Amistad Reaction

This is much worse than what i had imagined while reading Frederick Douglass. From the sounds of it, getting there looks much worse than actually being a slave. I'm not sure what i'd do, jumping off the boat seems like the best option to me. It would be much better, i think, to drown than to experience the horrors of the ship ride, and then to live the life of  a slave until the day I die.
However if I had a baby, I'm not sure what I would do... They would have their whole life ahead of them, but what kind of life is it? It might be better to put them out of their misery, and jump off the boat with them, but i would fell terrible and probably couldn't follow through with it. Since I'm not experiencing it, it is hard to know what I'd do, and even harder if I was aboard the ship.
I was wondering while watching this, why would the US make a law to not allow slaves from Africa, if they were just going to get around it and know of it the whole time?

Frederick Douglass Chapters 2, 3, & 4

I thought what Douglass described was horrible. I knew things like this happened as a slave, but I never thought about it or imagined how horrific it all was. He hasn't even begun to describe the hard work they went through each and every day, and it still is awful. I am glad this isn't going on today. What makes it worse is that all of this was witnessed as a child. He had to deal with his family dieing everyday, and still go out there with minimal clothing and do his duties.
The story of the man that was shot and killed for standing in the water and not getting out disturbed me. Also of the girl who was beaten to death because the child she was babysitting cried. This upset me because not only is killing wrong, but to lose a life for these reasons is just terrible. Whipping was bad enough for punishment for stupid things, but death is definitely not okay.
This also inflicted fear in all the slaves and demolished all hope they had in their overworked bones. They were tough though, to have less than adequate food and clothing, to work as they did, and do watch as their peers were beaten and killed right before they're eyes.

Frederick Douglass Chapter 1

The purpose of the letters of introduction would obviously be to introduce you to "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" and to chapter one. It allows you to know what the narrative will be about before you jump right into it. You will know that he was a slave before eventually becoming free, but the introduction tells you that this is what it is about, and that it is a reliable source because he has actually met Frederick Douglass.
 From chapter one i can't tell if it is chronological order yet, but it may be since it was mainly about him as a child. Often times that format can be boring, but is helpful when trying to learn more about the person. I can tell from the first chapter that this book is not gonna be all that happy, and is going to be filled with hardship. Douglass already spoke about being separated from his mother and of her dieing, so I can tell the story is only going to get worse, most likely right before it gets better. The "getting better" meaning when he becomes free.
But still the purpose of him writing this wasn't because it had a happy ending, because with all he's been through, there will be no happy ending. He still has not yet met or even known who is father was, known his actual name, or been able to get the imagery of his aunt being whipped right before his eyes out of his head after all those years.
This narrative is the transition from westward expansion to the civil war, and so far i think this will be a good read seeing as it was during the time, and by a person involved with slaves and the civil war.