Overhead

They walk past. Their pants hang. They speak a language known, natural, glorified, but primarily composed of the trash found in the nearest recepical. They raise praise and claim with their hands those who they know nothing about. They view the way they act as....normal; something of greatness, of honor and respect. They are not alone in their views, for most of the known population views it as normal. They are, what They make, Themselves, to be.

Meaningful Passage

“The room inside looked like the mouth of an alligator- gaped wide open to swallow something down.” Janie expresses this thought soon after Tea Cake disappears with her money and Janie is left there, feeling abandoned and not knowing what to do with herself, but what can one draw from this quote? It may seem to some as an interjection of slight humor into the story by the author just to lighten the mood a little, but this quote can mean a lot more than what it seems.
By just scratching the surface of this quote one can infer a quick meaning from it. Janie’s room resembled that of the mouth of an alligator, wide open, filled with nothingness, ready to replace the nothing with something and swallow it down. Janie, just recently running away with Tea Cake, likely did not take much with her seeing how Tea Cake was eager to provide for her, therefore, their newly moved into room, would not be fully furnished now would it? This is symbolized by the nothingness inside the gator’s mouth. This can be an accurate inference of the quote, but one can take it much further than this. Alligator’s are known for their many teeth, used to clamp down on; hurt their prey. It is likely that whatever was in Janie’s room at the time, as empty as it might have been, could have been sources of pain for her. Now Janie was in the state of mind that Tea Cake had ran off with all that she had owned, and she was feeling pretty awful at the time. Anything and everything located within the room at the time of all of this occurring could have reminded her of Tea Cake, the source of her pain, like a person being attacked by an alligator. The teeth of that alligator that bite into the flesh serve as a constant reminder of the current source of pain.
What about when the alligator actually swallows its prey down? What would it be like, assuming one were able to be alive in an alligator’s stomach? It would likely be cold, dark, and lonely. This is where Janie ended up in her realization of what she thought was really happening to her. First comes the pain of the teeth; where one now knows that one is in trouble and there may be nothing one can do; where one feels helpless. And then comes the cold, dark, loneliness of the innards of the alligator; the place where one ends up; the place where one sits and is miserable of the current situation. When something such as this happens, one ends up sad and upset, wondering what is next; like being in a cold dark room. Janie, now believing that she was abandoned and deceived by Tea Cake was now here, in this awful place.

Capital Punishment

As a spiritual person, I derive most of my morals from the bible itself. I am “an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth,” kind of guy. Therefore, I believe that if one commits murder, one should most definitely be put to death.
Like I pretty much mentioned already, I am a strong believer in the bible. In the first book of the bible, Genesis, God told Noah that “anyone shedding mans blood by man will his own blood be shed.” In the Ten Commandments given to Moses to be given to the Israelites, God commanded that there should be no murder. Also in the Law of Moses was the one stating that if two men were to “struggle,” or fight around a pregnant woman, and either the unborn baby or the woman was killed, the man responsible for the incident should be put to death. It’s from the bible instances like these, that I derive my personal morals. Therefore, I believe that if one commits murder, one should be put to death, just like it was back in those Bible times. So am I for Capital Punishment? Yes I am. This is my moral aspect of the whole thing. As far as things go such as how the person should be put to death, it really makes no difference to me. If the murderer put one to death for no particular reason, without mercy, and killed someone not caring how painful or how unpainful it was, who is to say that we shouldn’t treat the murderer the same way. In bible times it was done nice and easy, nothing fancy. People were “stoned,” to death, or pelted with stones until they succumbed to their injuries. So a nice and simple way of execution would be acceptable by me.
According to my morals and my personal views, Capital Punishment is acceptable. If one commits a murder, one should be put to death, just like God commanded his followers to do back then in bible times. So just like the “eye for an eye,” if one kills, one should pay for his murder with his own life.

Trifles

The story, Trifles, is one resembling that of a murder mystery. What is different about this one although, is that this mystery is not solved by the Sheriff, but in fact is solved by the reader putting two and two together. This adds to the overall symbolic and visual elements of this story.
The thing that proves most interesting about the story is the title Trifles. From the start, the title doesn’t mean anything significant, until the reader reads on throughout the story. The word trifle, means anything little and small; insignificant. Throughout this story, two of the main characters’, two women on the murder scene, rummage through the now widows things who just lost her husband, and dig up little small insignificant things; trifles. What is ironically symbolic about this is the fact that these little trifles, is what goes on to solve the whole murder mystery.
The sheriff involved brings the two ladies along to help him and the county attorney get a better overview of things, seeing that one of the ladies was the murder victim’s wife’s neighbor. As they dig throughout the newly widow’s things, they bring up little insignificant things such as a quilt, a bird cage, old spoiled fruit, etc. Undoubtedly this is where the author pulls his title from, but after the two ladies retrieve all of these items, without saying the newly revealed truth to each other, the reader can figure out on his own what happened here. The two ladies reveal a bird cage, and eventually a dead bird, which seemed to have been strangled, just like how the widow’s husband was found. This is a reflection of Mr. Wright’s gruesome end. Ample detail of the kind of person Mr. Wright is supplied within the story, and one can visualize his lifestyle while reading the story, which adds to the overall visual elements that this story projects. Mr. Wright is described as a “hard man,” one who could have likely been seen as someone with a lack of feelings; uncaring. One also learns while reading that the Wrights had no children. Another reflective detail presented by one of the two ladies suggests that she had a still born child, therefore to replace the couples “lack of children,” they had a bird, something to take care of like one would a child.
From what’s presented by more visual elements supplied to the reader, one can infer, that the bird one day was chirping; singing, making a lot of noise. Mr. Wright, eventually ticked off by this infernal noise, strangled the bird. From yet another reflection about one of the ladies childhood cat that was killed by a neighborhood boy, one learns of the fondness Mrs. Wright had for the bird, and one can feel the broken heartedness she had when she found her bird, that was like a child to her, dead; strangled by her husband. From this revelation, the two ladies find out what really happened here, but surprisingly go through everything possible to conceal it from the Sheriff. More visual elements are conveyed here to the reader, as one can picture with the details given, the length at which the two ladies go through to conceal the dead bird, and along with it, the truth to what really happened on this murder scene.
Throughout this story, there are many instances of visual elements conveyed to the reader to help better picture what is going on within the story, symbolism as one can see from connecting the title with what is found within the story, and reflections, or allusions to things that actually took place based on things found on the murder scene within this story. These elements all define the character of this particular story, and make it one interesting read.

W.E.B. Du Bois The Souls of Black Folk

In Du Boise’s the Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois uses logos to bring out his points. He also though, lacks detail within his story. Although this does make the text a tough read, it does show logically Du Boise’s thoughts and points that he was trying to make.
Du Bois logically brings out within his story his argument that the black folk, is one to be recognized just as equally as all the other races. He says this in the manner of: “After the Egyptian and Indian, the Greek and Roman, the Teuton and Mongolian, the Negro is a sort of seventh son.” The way he puts his thoughts together on the page is as to get an explanation of what he was thinking. This does take some extra meditation on what is being said, but once the reader grasps the concept, it makes sense. He uses long sentences which also make a challenge to the reader to be able to comprehend, but they help to drive his point further. He talks about how the “training of the Negroes,” or the blacks receiving their education would be vital to the black race becoming like the others. He doesn’t place much emphasis on this fact, but he does slip it in towards the end of the passage.
The tone of this passage is like that of a wakeup call. Du Bois was trying to show his fellows what was happening around them. He was trying to show them what was to come, and how he felt about what he believed was to come. This type of tone adds to the feel of the story. Since it is logical in manner, a serious tone would be needed in order to meet the logic that is presented within the story.
One thing that one sees while reading Du Boise’s work, is that he lacks in detail. Detail would make this an easier read for his audience. It would help his audience to pay more attention and be able to grasp what is being presented to them. Yet the lack of detail here in Du Boise’s story is what makes it hard to read, or hard to pay attention to. If it had more detail, it would likely be easier for his audience to grasp what he was saying, and his views on the Negro people.
In the Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois uses logos, or logic, to bring out his points. His serious tone to his subject further enforces the logic put forth by it. Although his lack of detail does make it a harder read for his audience, if one reads and meditates on what he is reading, Du Boise’s logic begins to make more sense.

Booker T. Washington's Signs of Progress Among The Negores Lit. Response

Booker T. Washington’s, Signs of Progress among the Negroes, mainly uses two rhetoric devices. His pathos establishes an emotional connection with his audience. He uses logos in his explanations of his beliefs. These devices help better the audience’s understanding of the text, and make it a reading the audience can take to heart so to speak.
Washington’s main purpose for this passage is to show the progress among the Negroes, especially in the matter of education. He tells a story within this text which better establishes the sense of pathos. Washington talks about a young black boy who lived and worked on a plantation. The plantation owner, feeling sorry for the boy, would toss nickels and dimes at him every time he would ride by. Eventually, after the boy saved up the money he was receiving from Mr. S----, the plantation owner, he used it to go to school and get himself an education. This story brings Washington’s view into perspective for his audience. It establishes an emotional connection with the audience, because very likely Washington’s readers felt for the boy who wanted to get himself an education, even though in the south, it was illegal to teach black slaves. Even when this law was outlawed, those who were involved in the teaching of black people were greatly mistreated. This is what leads one to believe why Washington does not use the plantation owner’s full name, Mr. S----. He does this to protect his identity, likely because of how much teaching blacks was hated. This gets the reader involved, because now the reader thinks in his own mind, what he would have done in this situation. As we see later within the passage, Mr. S--- had forgotten about the boy after he left for school. When the boy wrote to him in a letter he just threw the letters away. But when the boy showed up and paid Mr. S---- his money back with interest, Mr. S---- was impressed. He was impressed to the point that he opened a school on his plantation so his blacks could get an education and turn out just like the boy that went to school. Now the readers more involved emotionally with the story. They likely want the school to succeed, to teach more blacks living and working on the plantation. And they were likely joyful once they learned that the school eventually did get its success and did teach many Negroes.
Washington further discusses how far the Negroes have come, and how far they can go. One great point which he brings this out is where he says: “Perhaps the most that we have accomplished in the last thirty years is to show the North and the South how the fourteen slaves landed a few hundred years ago at Jamestown, Virginia, now nearly eight millions of freemen in the South Alone are to be made a safe and useful part of our democratic and Christian institutions.” Washington obviously sees something here, and his logos, or his logic, helps convey his thoughts to his audience. He sees where the blacks have come from, as he brings out the fourteen slaves that landed in Jamestown, and now the eight million freemen in the south. And he now sees that they can go somewhere greater, through the use of education. “So long as the whites in the south are surrounded by a race that is, in a large measure, in ignorance and poverty, so long will this ignorance and poverty of the Negro in a score of ways prevents the highest development of the white man.” So as long as the Negroes remain uneducated, they will stay in their current state, but when they become educated, like the young boy in his earlier illustration, they can and will take themselves to bigger and better places. It’s this logic that helps the audience to understand Washington’s point.
In this passage Washington uses both pathos and logos to convey his ideas. His pathos helps establish an emotional connection with his audience, as in his illustration with the young black boy who sought his education, and his logos shows his logic in how he is thinking, which better helps the audience to understand his points and ideas. It is these two aspects of his writing that brings the reader to a greater knowledge and understanding of what Booker T. Washington was trying to express.

Disturbia Character Analysis

Mr. Turner definately brings the maniahcale aspect of a villian to the story of the movie, Disturbia. This characteristic of his helps to better the movie and make it more supensful. His tactics are realistic. An example of this would be how he laid low through out the whole first part of the movie, but once he realised his problem, his problem being the main character and his friends out to expose him, he was determined to deal with it; to make his problem go away so to speak. His whole way of operation throught the film is very realistic, and brings the "edge of your seat" aspect to the audience.