Entry A: William Bradford (1590-1657)

Biography:
William Bradford was born in Austerfield, Yorkshire, England in 1590. In 1609, he followed a separatist colony to Holland. He immigrated to New England on the Mayflower in 1620. Once there, he - upon the death of John Carver - was elected leader of the group of pilgrims in 1621. He served the colonists as governor for the majority of his life, with 30 reelections and 5 years as an elected assistant. He was a successful leader with little to no complaints and a friendship with the Native Americans. His colony was prosperous in fishing, trade and agriculture and he maintained a high level of religious tolerance for even religions other than his own. He died in New England in 1657.

1. Thesis for Of Plymouth Plantation:
In an excerpt from William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation, although the Puritans experience hardship in their voyage to America, in their initial arrival, and in their dealings with the Indians, they still maintain the reverence to God and to one another [their initial reason for fleeing England].

2. Passage:
"After some deliberation had amongst themselves and with the master of the ship, they tacked about and resolved to stand for the southward (the wind and weather being fair) to find some place about Hudson’s River for their habitation. But after they had sailed that course about half the day, they fell amongst dangerous shoals and roaring breakers, and they were so far entangled therewith as they conceived themselves in great danger; and the wind shrinking) upon them withal, they resolved to bear up again for the Cape and thought themselves happy to get out of those dangers before night overtook them, as by God’s good providence they did. And the next day they got into the Cape Harbor where they rid in safety."
3. Reflection: This passage impressed me because it proved how determined the pilgrims were to reach their original destination. They could have stayed where the weather was fair, but instead decided to keep going to reach Cape Cod's shore.


4. Diary Entry: I am writing from the point of view of the boastful man in the beginning of the story. I chose a standpoint form which he is beginning to question God's existence, a possibility for why the other passengers believed that God chose to smite him.

September 7, 1620:

Dear journal,

I have grown weary from all of this traveling and in turn have become extremely irritable. I have found myself losing patience with those complaining of seasickness and even threatening to throw them overboard. I like to believe that we can make it to the New World, but I am beginning to lose hope along with my patience. How could God make us suffer this much? I don't understand it. Other passengers keep urging me to pray and praise God. Why would I continue with something that hasn't gotten us anywhere in the first place?

September 9, 1620:

Dear journal,

I've fallen ill. Many on the ship are telling me that I probably won't make it. A few are criticizing my questioning of God, saying that He will smite me for my ignorance. At this point, I am not sure if there is a God. I have yet to see his mercy on this voyage and I don't believe that we ever will.

5. Political Cartoon:

Reflection: Mexican immigration to America is similar to the pilgrims' initial voyage to the New World, absorbing the culture that surrounds them. The main image of the cartoon is an outline of America, filled in with the design of the Mexican flag. It exaggeratedly demonstrates how immigration from Mexico has overthrown some American customs. Another image is the trash can in the corner with the American flag in it. This portrays how the meshing of cultures can lead to the disposal of one, usually the original. The image is a modern version of what the pilgrims' immigration did to the Native Americans' culture.

Entry B: Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)

4. Poem Reflection:

I am especially impressed by Anne Bradstreet's poem "In Regards to Her Children." Her ability to maintain the extensive metaphor of her home being a nest full of birds is an example of her specialty of metaphoric conceit. Her use of diction made is possible for the reader to understand her fears regarding her children leaving home. That amount of connection is difficult to achieve in poetry or any form of writing and she did it well.

5. Diary Entry:

July 10, 1666:

Dear Diary,

My heart aches, for I have just witnessed the destruction of my house. It burned to the ground, taking with it all of our worldly belongings. I try to remind myself of God's just hand and how this pleased him, but I have trouble. He will get us through this, he must. I shouldn't miss ,my possessions, but my children's baby clothes, my wedding dress, and all of our heirlooms were ruined... God will get us through this. We will be okay. He will remember to help us. We are not his first priority and that is understandable. He will remember us.

Sincerely,

Anne Bradstreet

6. Political Cartoon:

Reflection:

Women have been struggling for a more prominent opinion in politics, and the recent election drew even closer to their ending goal. The cartoon is a picture of a perturbed-looking woman in a business suit saying, “Forget Obama! If Hillary isn’t on the ballot, I’m stayin’ home!” and Senator McCain saying, “Great! Perhaps I can interest you in an apron,” holding up an apron labeled “McCain: Keeping women in their place.” This represents how often women are discouraged by the difficulties they face in order to achieve a valued opinion in politics. Anne Bradstreet endured a similar ordeal in Puritanism. Due to her religion, she could not express her true feelings without angering God, just as how many men were irritated by the development of women’s rights.

Entry C: Edward Taylor (1645-1729)

1. Thesis: In his poem “Huswifery” Edward Taylor uses diction, rhyme, and literary conceit to connect the care one shows toward maintaining one’s house with the care one should show for maintaining one’s soul, and through this simple comparison, he hoped to show the devotion required to gain God’s grace.

2. Reflection: In “Huswifery”, the component that impressed me the most was his use of literary conceit throughout the poem and the seemingly random comparison. At first glance, housework is one of the furthest things from gaining God’s grace. After reading the poem, however, it is exposed how housework is related to cleansing one’s soul in order to gain acceptance into Heaven. The poem walks the reader through the different stages in the way that one would make a coat.

Entry D: Jonathan Edwards (1703-1751)

1. Imagery:

One of the main uses of imagery in this poem is the image of fire. Jonathan Edwards mentions fire and Hell multiple times to instate a sense of fear within the reader.

Example: "That world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you. There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God"

Another image that is used slightly less is the mention of spiders. Edwards uses the simile of a spider's web withstanding a falling rock to portray the relentless and unstoppable descent of a sinner into Hell.

Example: "would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider's web would have to stop a fallen rock."

The third and final repetition of imagery is in the application of water. He mentions thunderclouds, floods, and other things involving water that inspire fear or anxiety in a person.

Example: "There are black clouds of God's wrath now hanging directly over your heads, full of the dreadful storm, and big with thunder; and were it not for the restraining hand of God, it would immediately burst forth upon you."

3. Passage:

"O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath s provoked and incensed as much against you, as against many of the damned in hell. You hand by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder; and you have no interest in any Mediator, and nothing lay down of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment."

4. Images:

5. Reflection:

I chose these three images as more literal impressions of the poem. I used a picture of marshmallows over a fire as an analogy for sinners being held over the fires of Hell, content and unknowing of God's role in their safety. Second, I used a picture of a broken spiderweb to show how frail and weak the spiderweb is, as well as how little God would have to do to drop you into Hell. The third picture I chose is of a flood, an event that most people fear.

My group's image:

Entry E: The Slave Narrative

Political Cartoon:

Reflection: Freed African-Americans in America faced much greater turmoil than they did when bound by slavery, for whites opposed any rights that were given and openly discriminated black people. The first image in the cartoon is two cowering African-Americans, one holding a baby, under a skull and crossbones that is labeled, “The Lost Cause. Worse than Slavery.” This shows how, even after slavery, black people in America were confronted with levels of strife and conflict that their rights were considered to be less than those that they were given as slaves. The second image is a KKK member and a man labeled, “White League” shaking hands with an eagle surrounded by text saying, “The Union As It Was. This is a White Man’s Government.” This represents the rest of America’s malice towards former slaves and its resistance to their citizenship. Blacks in America were not given many rights, and even those that they were given were opposed by many white citizens.

Essential Question: Olidah Equiano came to this country by force. He was taken from his country and sold in America as a slave. He didn't actively pursue the American Dream, but once he arrived he had to work strenuously in order to survive and acheive a higher level of influence.

StoryCorps Interview

I interviewed my grandfather, Ralph Yun-Soo Kahn.

Montage

Reflection:

This moviemaking project has shown to me the seemingly repetitive order of events throughout history. By watching and researching examples of genocide and cultural oppression, I was able to see the similarities between the three major instances that I used in my montage.

A.

IA. The section of American Indians fighting white settlers.

B. This part of the montage displays the first example of genocide in history. It acts as a segue into the other two events in the movie, being the first and least developed instance.

IIA. The section of the Holocaust.

B. This is a major example of cultural oppression/annihilation that is well-known by the modern world. Its crude images that are contrasted with innocent German children show many people the other side to the Holocaust, a side that they hadn’t known before. Not many people consider the Germans’ side of this event, a side that they believed to be just as innocent as the Jews considered themselves to be.

IIIA. The section regarding the genocide in Darfur.

B. This is the finale to my montage, because it is taking place in the present. It is an issue that many people know about, and therefore can understand the clips. As opposed to the Germans, being relatively unaware of the actions that they’re armies were taking to eradicate Judaism, the Darfurians know what dangers face their daily lives, but they continue to smile and dance and remain hopeful in a time of strife. I believe that this is the most developed form of cultural oppression, and therefore put it at the end of the montage.

B. My montage follows the timeline of especially well-known examples of cultural oppression. It begins with white settlers fighting the Native Americans, moves to the Holocaust with the Nazis persecuting the Jews, and finally ends with the genocide that is taking place in Darfur.

C. Through the montage, a message of dual-sided misunderstanding is conveyed. In every instance portrayed in the video, there are two points of view shown: the American Indians and the settlers, the Nazis and the Jews, the Sudanese and Darfurians.

D. I feel frustrated that all of these problems in the world would have been and would be solved so easily, if one side took the time to listen to the opposing side’s point of view (as well as vice versa). So many issues could be solved in such a simple manner, and all of this fighting would have been unnecessary.

E. Contrasts between the two sides of war and fighting exemplify the message that is being portrayed in my video. An example of this is when German children who have been raised as Nazis are shown right after/before clips of concentration camps.

F. I used it when contrasting innocence and violence in both the Holocaust and the genocide in Darfur.

G. It really illustrates the underlying message more clearly. By showing how both sides of a battle see the battle as two completely different things, it is easier for viewers to see how the issues were approached in that time period.

H. I used Meant to Live by The Vitamin String Quartet. The Vitamin String Quartet is a quartet of string-musicians who cover popular songs as well as write their own. I chose this song because, not only does the original have a strong impact on the subject, it has a certain aspect of violence and sadness in it. I used the string cover so that the lyrics would not be too distracting from the images.

I. The music is relatively fast with urgent beats. It reflects the images of violence, while the string factor of the song compliment the sorrowful clips of the movie.