Frederick Douglass - from "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro"

Very many of the works of Frederick Douglass fall in the category of Realism. In this small section of on of his great works, "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro," Douglass goes well beyond the simple level of reflection on the day-to-day events and norms of the social system he lived in; in fact, he incorporates sections of the ideas of Realism directly in his writing and word choice. "Realism is the attempt to depict life as it actually exists, not as the author wants it to be in the present or the future, or imagines it was in the past" (Werlock). Douglass' realism in this story serves a powerful purpose as he tries to convey the fruitlessness of celebration for African Americans on the Fourth of July. Douglass is upfront about the subject, and it shows that he is passionate enough about his people to imply a sense of stupidity about which African Americans should celebrate the day. Essentially, Douglass states that white people are allowed to falsely celebrate the Fourth of July for their "freedom," despite its being stolen, in the sense that we merely ran away from our original English heritage, but African American people should and can not celebrate a freedom on the day because they, still being in technical slavery, are bound by their masters (Douglass, 337). No matter how African Americans of the time celebrated the Fourth of July, Douglass puts those people to shame for having the audacity to deliberately defy what they were fighting for and to make mockery of the efforts of salvation of rights to the enslaved population. Such bold accusations were quite common in thematic structures of Realism works because showing the harsh reality pushed more people into action than did simply implying a fact that could just as easily be taken out of context. What is possibly the most powerful connection Douglass has is at the end of his first paragraph when he says, "This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn..." (Douglass, 337). Not only does this refer to the obvious fact that he does not believe in the African American celebration of the Fourth of July, but he is also implying a call to action for the government and religious leaders. He wants for the government to realize the moral wrong that is being carried out by allowing African Americans to join in the celebrations. It is not a day of thanks for them, but it should be a day of sorrow to mark when their fate was sealed into slavery because America then would have its own decisions to make, and slavery was one issue that was accepted at the time of creation of the country, on July fourth, 1776. Furthermore, religious officials should be weeping for the injustice being served by the wrongful celebration of the day because it was their job to see the world in the same perspective, one in the alleged "eye of the Lord." They were the messengers of God, but they had failed by allowing segregation and slavery to continue. Psychologically speaking, Douglass finds it impossible - unprecedented! - to allow such a naturalistic travesty as slavery to unfold; Douglass speaks of the white man's vanity in his thought of national liberty, heartlessness in rejoicing, and mockery in claims of equality because he thinks the nation is now "free" (Douglass, 337). Both the American Dream and Hero in his speech are given from the lack thereof, in which the American Dream is being let down and a Hero is never present (Douglass). A sort of hatred of his audience is even heard in his voice at his closing words, "There is not a nation on earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour" (Douglass, 337).


Works Cited

Douglass, Frederick. "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro." American Literature. Comp. Jeffery D. Wilhelm. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 337. Print.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= Gamshrtsty0575&SingleRecord=True. 11 Feb. 2011

Realism Project: Regionalism

"Local color or regional literature is fiction and poetry that focuses on the characters, dialect, customs, topography, and other features particular to a specific region" (Campbell). Regionalism is mostly thought of as a combination of American Romanticism and Realism because of its frequent stray from the ordinary to "distant lands, strange customs, or exotic scenes" and retention of the original accuracy of the human being through small, yet unknowingly important details (Campbell). Regionalism also incorporates a lot of "reliving the glory days," which hints at the Romanticism era of literature. Furthermore, there are many small details about the land and area that show signs of Realism (Campbell). The end of the Civil War brought the beginning of this new time period, which was very popular with those removed from old seats of power, including Midwesterners, African Americans, immigrants, and women as opposed to those in seats of power, such as white urban males, who were judged as realists (Campbell). Many critics have also argued that the Regionalism period played a major contributing factor in the reunification of the United States after the end of the Civil War (Campbell). Also, Regionalism created the identity of the new America after the war and at the end of the 1800s (Campbell). Usually, the setting of a Regionalism work involves nature, like Realism and Naturalism, and the difficulties and restrictions of nature; many settings are in totally remote or inaccessible locations that would more than likely not occur in real events (Campbell). Outside narration was also popular in Regionalism works, and the narrator was typically a well-educated observer who learns something by watching the characters' misfortunes from a safe, yet sometimes ironic, distance to avoid wrongful intrusion (Campbell). The narrator often acted as the middleman, working as a sort of interpreter between the "languages" of the rural citizens in the story and the urban audience to whom the story was told (Campbell). It has also been concluded that the stories of Regionalism have plots that go nowhere and are boring in nature because most plots revolve around tales of the community and its normal routines (Campbell).


Works Cited

Campbell, Donna M. "Regionalism and Local Color Fiction, 1865-1895." Literary Movements. Dept. of English, Washington State University. 20 Jan. 2011. Web. 10 Feb. 2011.

Realism Project: Naturalism

Naturalism is frequently placed in the same category as Realism because of the concentrations on the "now" as opposed to what could be or what will happen. "The term Naturalism describes a type of literature that attempts to apply scientific principles of objectivity and detachment to its study of human beings" (Campbell). Apart from its adopted brother, Naturalism adheres to a more philosophical meaning than Realism, referring to that characters are studied through their interactions and relationships with nature and their surroundings (Campbell). Due to this altered point of view, Naturalism writers were able to create an idea that the rules of human existence could be understood and possibly manipulated (Campbell). So, to prove this idea, Naturalism writers set up a system much like the Scientific Method for writing their novels, including observations of human instinct, heredity, and living environments to help better their understanding of human characteristics. Thus, the characters of Naturalism works are lower class and uneducated, and their lives are controlled by the forces of human characteristics and past experiences (Campbell). But, in this world of low expectations, the writers found the qualities of man usually associated with the fantastic, heroic, or adventurous, including such acts of violence or passion involving feats of bodily strength and resulting in desperate moves which wind up repaying the character with death (Campbell). Most of these characters live in urban or slightly suburban housing areas and go through journeys of wilderness or subtle, subconscious wilderness. Themes dealt with despair and the high chances of failure in everyday life in that characters often found that their individuality led to their inevitable demise (Campbell). Naturalistic writers thought that by studying the habits and actions of everyday people, they would better understand what the rules are that control their lives on Earth (Campbell). These "scientific observations" conducted by the writers gave them enough information to personify man as the nature-driven, instinctual pig it is. However, these writers did not think about the variances among the social classes, races, and origins of people that would create large diversities in their stories, but the Naturalistic writers concentrated only on the lower class (Campbell).


Works Cited

Campbell, Donna M. "Naturalism in American Literature. " Literary Movements. Dept. of English, Washington State University. 27 Jul. 2010. Web. 11 Feb. 2011. .

Realism Projoct: Realism

According to the definition as found on dictionary.com, realism is an "interest in or concern for the actual or real, as distinguished from the abstract, speculative, etc." As profoundly obvious as that is, this literal definition does not quite reflect this section of American literature because it was truly more full of finding oneself in the world by searching for the American Dream, which, at the time, was to grow wealthy in knowledge through some plan of greatness, usually ridiculously confounded and self-destructive in the end (Campbell). Realists were consistently trying to broaden their moral boundaries and highten their inner senses (Campbell). Growing deeper below the American Dream lies Realism's "hero," who was not so much one of today's heroes but was an everyday citizen, looking to increase their capabilities of learning from past experiences (Campbell). Before this period in American literature, many writers were either of the higher class or wrote about the higher class, whereas Realism writers wrote about normal people in everyday situations (Campbell). Society did, however, play a small part in much of Realism writing. Since these writers stayed away from the higher class, they were also able to to see the troubles faced by the lower class, such as living without a home and being unable to buy the necessary food and clothing for a simple family, and they felt sorrow for having seen such diversity in the lives of various citizens. Most tales in Realism writing were made to be plausible, that is that they were realistic enough to be believed and were possible to have happened (Campbell). And, much unlike many other previous writers who had used a more poetic style of writing, Realism writers wrote in the same style they spoke, called the natural vernacular. Finally, Realism was only possible because of the boredom with the drury, monotonous, and seemingly endlessly repetitive styles of the Romanticism era, which was focused on tales of love and fantasies. Scientific advancements were rising all around and eventually integrated themselves into literature, creating a realistic view on the world, called Realism.


Works Cited

Campbell, Donna M. "Realism in American Literature, 1860-1890." Literary Movements. Dept. of English, Washington State University. 21 Mar. 2010. Web. 24 Jan. 2011. .

"Realism | Define Realism at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com. Web. 24 Jan. 2011. .

Journal #34

Being the ACT essay grader I obviously am, there are a few things you should know about properly writing a professional grade argumentative essay for ACT. The first part of superior writing is planning out the sections of the topic that you want to write about. Always make sure to choose a side you wish to support and stick to that throughout. However, one important thing to also include is a counterargument to prove that your side is the better decision. What I like to see, being the ACT essay grader I obviously am, is no more than about three paragraphs. It makes my job much easier because I am then able to blow through all the bad essays and give out somewhat more accurate random scores. For instance, if you write three paragraphs, it is almost guaranteed you will receive a five or a six. Personally, I am not in the job to screw over all the high school students looking to get into college, but I enjoy helping out those young adults because I understand what is going on in that stage of life. It really is pretty scary, I know, but I will be here for you. Also, the next important part of the essay writing process is proofreading and revising what you have written, as long as you have enough time. That is another difficult part of the writing portion - time management. Basically, write the first version as fast as possible, and go back to revise it later if you still have time. Unbenounced to many ACT test-takers, we do not really follow the rubric. As I said earlier, I base my grading mostly on length and how easily I can read the words. If I find grammatical errors, that usually lowers the score about a point. It is few and far between that I give lower than a three, though. This is mainly because they are able to write at least a page of somewhat decent work, and I am pretty good with that because, also as I said, I am not in the business to hurt a future college student's dreams.

Journal #33

Well, seeing that I am too lazy to think of an original object or idea that came out of Springfield, Illinois, I suppose I will just write about the example given, the horseshoe. There is a place on sort of the other side of town called Darcy's Pint that serves such amazing horseshoes. I think they are said to be the birthplace of the horseshoe. Now, for those people that may not know, a horseshoe is essentially an open-faced cheeseburger with french fries. They take a piece of bread and put it on the plate - just simple white bread. Next, they add on two hamburger patties, cooked to beautiful perfection. Then, they add on handfuls of freshly cut french fries. Finally, they ladle on a whole bunch of melted cheese, like Cheese-Wiz. It is traditionally served up to the customer on a clean white plate, hot, steaming, and ready for the sharing. It is pretty much a combination of cheese fries and a hamburger, all in one dish. There are many other restaurants around here that offer numerous variations of the classic hamburger horseshoe, such as chicken strip, pork tenderloin, turkey, ham, and even vegetarian, along with many others. The horseshoe has also spread to various states. I know some people in Missouri, Oklahoma, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Tennessee, and even California who have at least heard of the classic hamburger horseshoe. By the way, I am not sure if I have said this, but the chicken strip horseshoe is the best. A small-town bar & grill in Pleasant Plains serves an awesome version of this one. You can really get fairly creative with the horseshoe. I have seen bacon bits on top, the french fries replaced with pretzel sticks, and even a high-end and high cost horseshoe with lobster and something else on top. Basically, horseshoes are just so creative and delicious. They are so simple and full of warm goodness that I can barely type this without thinking about it and getting hungry. Mmmm...

Journal #32

Over our last winter break, my family took a weeklong vacation onboard the Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Dawn. Having never encountered such strange vacationing as always having an option of something to do at all hours of the day, we as a family decided it would be something new and exciting to take part of. On Christmas morning, we had all our bags packed and were ready to leave for the 9:30 flight out of the local airport. We were all tired from having to wake up before the crack of noon, so my first thoughts of the trip were of being forced to spend time with my brother, who had just returned from Australia only two days prior. I had always observed him to be an ass, especially when we are on vacation. On board, he and I fought over who gets the bed that was not right up against the wall, who should decide which place to eat, who gets to decide what activities we should do on each day, but, thankfully, we were all pretty much allowed to choose our little events to our own liking. For instance, I could go see the magic show with my mom, while my dad was in the casino, and my brother could also be swimming in the pool. So, in this case, we would have been separated by six decks or about six stories, or roughly 60 vertical feet. But, during the time we spent together as a family in ports of call or at dinner, I think I did a fair job of putting aside my secretive deep hatred for my brother and was able to get along with him fine. He was only joking when he said most of the mean things he did, I soon realized. When I looked at most of them from the side, not being in a position within the joke, they were funny, to a stretched end and if I maintained an open mind. He did not come off as his usual self, but he acted fine, much like I would expect him to, which was really okay. It seems as if I do not have to dislike him at all, but I was building up all the mean things he said into one large wall of loathing. I suppose I would like to take another vacation as a family, one that we all can enjoy.