Frederick Douglas“…however long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when I could be called a slave in fact.”

what is significant about the distinction he makes here between “a slave in form” versus “a slave in fact”?

“…however long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when I could be called a slave in fact.”

 

I feel that being a slave “in fact” is more of the epiphany he encounters when he gets physical with Covey the “snake” overseer. At that moment in time they are in the same level. He has stood up to that who is his boss/master and has stood his ground. By him standing up to his punisher he is no longer a slave “in fact” because he has now crossed a different line setting him apart from the common slave. As for the slave “in for” he still remains “that” slave because he still possess no real identity, by not having a last name, no father and the obvious which is not being completely “free”.  In truth he remains a slave but internally he is not a slave, not a pushover and not someone’s door mat.

Frederick Douglass Comparison with Walt Whitman

Frederick Douglass was a writer who was ones a slave and then became a abolitionist leader. He is well know for his autobiographical story which details his life as a slave as well as his thoughts about what freedom truly looks like. I have seen a similar story line in a Spanish soap opera by the name “La esclava Blanca”, it is about a white girl whom is raced by slaves and learns to love them and sees them as equals. In this soap we can see that slaves are made to think that as slaves they are living a good life. Since they are “provided” with the essentials which is food, shelter and clothing.  And if they were free they would not have that. Frederick Douglass also points this out in his story as slave owners would allow them to follow their rituals so that they were content and wouldn’t revolt. He was taught to read by his owners wife until the slave owner found out and put a stop to it. By accident when his slave owner caught his wife teaching Frederick to read, he committed the mistake that empowered him. He told his wife that if he was to teach the slave to do anything other than to serve his owner then he would become of no use to him. Meaning that if you had an educated slave his purpose and ambition would be greater and would not be content with the life he currently holds. Although Frederick was no longer on the hands of a teacher for him to learn, he made it his mission to learn to read and that propelled him to become educated.He looked for freedom until one day he managed to dress up as a sailor and boarded a train heading North towards New York a free state. His story can be in a way compared to Whitmans “A song to myself” because Whitman attributed freedom with nature and Frederick Douglass saw freedom as being unrestrained by society nor slavery. Douglas was driven to learn and had an ambition to live a different life in which he could help others. Both of them ambition to learn from either life experiences or nature and both will always be intertwined.

Emerson and Whitman Connection “The Grass Scholar”.

The part of the reading i chose to compare in the “American Scholar” by Ralph Emerson was

” The first in time and the first in importance of the influences upon the mind is that of nature. Every day, the sun; and, after sunset, night and her stars. Ever the winds blow; ever the grass grows. Every day, men and women, conversing, beholding and beholden. The scholar is he of all men whom this spectacle most engages. He must settle its value in his mind. What is nature to him?”

This resembles a lot of the reading by Walt Whitman (” Leaves of Grass”

-For one, I believe that it has  do with the comparison and the impact of nature in both of their pieces. In The American Scholar, Emerson uses nature to compare the freedom that writers feel when they are one with nature. Before one is to know oneself, one is to first discover the relationship between man vs nature. Nature definitely influences writers. For instance if i am in my room writing about nature or even trying to compare these to literature pieces i would have a more difficult time because i have to picture myself in nature to write about nature. Where as i am now at the park surrounded by trees, flowers and other plants. It is the difference between a book worm and the individual who observes all of what nature has to offer from first hand.

They also both are in search to find what nature really means. Whitman questions what really is grass and he deviates the unknown meaning to rather describe that grass signify many aspects of life we do not really understand. He writes about grass being like the tongues of the dead buried beneath us.

 

127 HOURS

I had a difficult time thinking about a contemporary subject to blog about. But i have decided to write about the film 127 hours by Danny Boyle.

This is a Biographical survival drama that most definitely involves nature. This is based on a true story of a canyoneer Aron Ralston who becomes trapped by a boulder in an isolated slot canyon in Blue John Canyon, southeastern Utah, in April 2003. He went on a hike trip as many others he had gone to.  Aron meets a couple of hikers he shows them around and later parts ways with the hikers, and continues his hike through a slot canyon in Blue John Canyon.

While climbing down, he slips and falls, knocking loose a boulder which flattens his right hand and wrist against the wall. Unable to move the boulder, he tries calling for help but realizes that he is alone. He has his camcorder with him and starts to video tape his ordeal, he also has a pocket knife with which he plans to use to chip away at the boulder to try to get lose. And finally he rationalized his food and water to get him through this difficult time.

Days after being trapped, Ralston considers using his pocket knife to cut himself free, but finds the dull blade unable to cut bone.He starts to hallucinate and finally makes a drastic decision of amputating his own arm. The film is hard to watch at times, but it shows you that you do not need a physical person to cause another person harm. NATURE can also play a role. He is able to get rescued and does not let his “disability” hinder him from continuing his hobbies of climbing and starting his own family. He knows never to defy nature but reserves great respect for it.

September 1st 2016

Hello Professor and Fellow Classmates ENG 258

Hello Professor Hanley Classmates

This is my first ever BLOG post, At least one in which it’s required for class. Now in days with many social media websites we can all be considered authors. Whether it be a Tweet, Snapchat, Facebook or Instagram post when we push send or publish we have become content creators.

Let me begin by telling you a little about myself. My name is Alfredo Orellana and I am a graduating Senior at SFSU. I transferred from a Vocational school that you might have heard of since it was all over the news the past year or so. HEALD COLLEGE. I graduated from Raoul Wallenberg High School in 2012 which makes me 22 years old and a former Bulldog. I applied to many Universities while in high school and got in to a few. Unfortunately, money was not a luxury I had. With my mother being a single mother of 3, I did not want to add the burden of my expenses on top of her own responsibilities. I know what some may think, “did you not apply to FAFSA”? I most definitely did, but unfortunately it was not going to cover all of my expenses, as we all know school is very expensive. So what exactly did I do? Well I applied to HEALD COLLEGE the same year I graduated from high school and was there for a total of 16 months in which I earned 2 Associated Degrees. One that helped me obtain my first job which is Medical Assisting, and the second one that helped me transfer credits over to SFSU and become a Junior. With in 1 year of graduating from high school, I had managed to obtain a job at Kaiser Permanente as a full time medical assistant which is my source of income to pay for school (NO LOANS YAY!!) and other expenses . Till this day I still work here and plan to do so as along as I have to, before getting closer to achieving my goal which is to be a Medical Doctor. I plan to become an Internal Medicine doctor specializing in Epidemiology with an Emphasis in HIV and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis.  I have many plans for my future and I value my education, not only because I love to learn but also because I KNOW how much$$$ it is costing me. I hope I have not bored you, and feel free to approach me with any questions, whether it is about school, work or life.

Alfredo Orellana (Future Doctor)

08/31/2016

First blog post

This is your very first post. Click the Edit link to modify or delete it, or start a new post. If you like, use this post to tell readers why you started this blog and what you plan to do with it.