Literature Course Works Summary - Essay Example

The Ultimate Test I. The unique sense of self of an individual develops over a period of time and is proven by two writers namely, Frederick Douglass and Leonard Kriegel. Both writers wrote autobiographies to illustrate the means that resulted to who they have become as a person. The article written by Frederick Douglass (141-143) is entitled, How I Learned to Read and Write. The narrative highlights how he was able to read and write when he was a slave. His mistress deprived him of education for as Douglass (141) stressed that the mistress deems that education and slavery are incompatible with each other. Hence, for him to be able to read, he made friends with all the little white boys that he met on the street while doing errands, gave them bread which he got from the house in exchange of teaching him how to read the book he always carried with him when he goes out of the house to do the chores assigned to him (Douglass 142). However, being able to read, he then understood the horrible situation before him that he is entitled to be a slave for life (Douglass 142-143). Though some Irish men whom he had helped in unloading a stone suggested that he escaped his unpleasant condition which he pretended to neglect thinking that he might only be tricked to do so and be caught by these white men to be returned to his master in exchange for a reward (Douglass 144). Rather, he focused on learning how to write by copying the letters that ship carpenters wrote on the timber to designate to which part of the ship it was intended (Douglass 144). After learning the letters L, A, S and F, he would tell every boy he met that he knew could write that he could write as good as that boy who will not believe him; hence, he would show him the four letters he had mastered and would ask the boy to beat that (Douglass 145). Likewise, the boy would write letters that he knew and this would be a great chance for Douglass to learn new letters (145). He also copied the Italics in Webster’s spelling book (Douglass 145). Eventually, the son of his masters named Thomas started going to school and was learning how to write, he then wrote a variety of copy books which he set aside after being able to show it off to the nearby neighbors; thus, Douglass utilized the spaces left in the copy book and copied what little Master Thomas and that aided him in writing (145). In the other narrative entitled, Taking It, tackled how Leonard Kriegel was able to battle polio which he acquired when he was eleven (376). He struggled with the complication of the disease and came to the point of walking very haltingly on steel braces and crutches (Kriegel 376). His father urged him to become a man and to face this difficulty with courage and determination which he also realized upon reading the words of an entrepreneur William Einhorn that said “And I cannot take it but I take it” (Kriegel 376). So, he explored ways in which he could overcome the disease but still he was unable to go back to the normal life he had before the disease struck him; nevertheless, he was able to grasp the true essence of manhood, that is, to be tough, resilient, independent, and able to take whatever obstacle is thrown ahead of his path to call it quits with whatever disease, suffering or problem one is constantly facing (Kriegel 378). The author of this paper deemed that individuals should be determined to face life’s struggles just like what the two prominent authors had confronted. As a child, I also pursued to learn things on my own just like Douglass for both of my parents were working then so that I could go to school; I watched television shows that had lessons on the alphabet which I copied to and practiced reciting and writing every day. For some, this situation would rather be difficult for nobody would be there to teach you things that you need to learn and just like Kriegel, I faced and took my situation with courage and determination and now, I am reaping the fruits of my hard labor. II. Three of the many poems that employed the use of metaphors are A Poison Tree by William Blake (109), Harlem by Langston Hughes (240) and The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost (241). The poem entitled, A Poison Tree written by William Blake uses the concept of a poison tree to imply anger (109). He mentions the anger for a friend and for an enemy and how each was treated (Blake 109). Usually, one easily makes peace with a friend and forgets about one’s anger; however, that is not the case for an enemy for usually an individual is unable to express his anger to his foe so that anger is nurtured by the one feeling it (Blake 109). The speaker of the poem also exhibits that he is a deceitful one who pretends to be friendly to his enemy, someone hard to trust for he is a dangerous person scheming against the one he is angry with (Blake 109). Finally, the speaker of the poem showed satisfaction at the end of the poem when he was successful at overcoming the enemy as expressed by the lines, in the morning glad I see, my foe outstretched beneath the tree (Blake 109). The other poem that utilized metaphors is the one written by Langston Hughes entitled, Harlem (240). The dream deferred used by Hughes is used to label something that one was unable to achieve or simply a frustration (Harlem 240). Something good that leads to something unpleasant is used to describe defeat of unable to fulfilling one’s dreams like a raisin which is sweet but then eventually dries up when exposed in the sun; likewise, when endeavors to achieve a dream, the means of fulfilling it may be hard but it gives one a sense of being that he or she was able to perform ways that could lead to the realization of that endeavor (Harlem 240). However, all the efforts seem to be useless whenever one is deprived of that dream. The speaker of the poem here shows regret if he will be unsuccessful in achieving his dream; thus, he visualizes how the feeling of defeat would be compared to once this happens. Another poem that uses metaphor is the poem written by Robert Frost entitled, The Road Not Taken (241). This poem uses two roads to denote choices in life, there will come a time that an individual must decide what option he will prefer (Frost 241). He may look back on the decision with regret or with triumph as noted by the line “I shall be telling this with a sigh” when he is already experiencing the effect of the decision he had chosen (Frost 241). The speaker of the poem here at first is reluctant on which decision he must take; however, in the end, he implied that the choice he made really made a great impact to his life. It just goes to show that the speaker is a risk taker as denoted by the line “I took the road less travelled” (Frost 241). III. The trials that confronted women are the typical issues discussed in narrative accounts and stories. Such issue is presented in the different works like A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen (153-229), Vengeful Creditor by Chinua Achebe (266-279) and Growing Up Hidden by Linnea Due (379-380). In the work of Henrik Ibsen entitled, A Doll’s House, the female protagonist is Nora Helmer who faced the different situations that confronted women (153-229). Her husband Torvald Helmer became ill previously; hence, she was forced to copy the signature of her father to be able to get a loan and pays it secretly on her own as she tells her friend Mrs. Linde who is now a widow (Ibsen 153-229). His husband then was to be promoted at a bank while a bitter bank employee named Nils Krogstad who collects the payment for debts attempts to blackmail Nora to be able to secure his job at the bank for he is faced with the fact of losing his job, she then tried all the means for Nils not to be fired from work (Ibsen 153-229). She then became vulnerable to harassment when she asked the help of Dr. Rank who became too flirtatious with her and expressed his desire to love Nora more than her husband; her problem was resolved with the help of Mrs. Linde who was a past love of Nils, Nils then had a change of heart and decided not to blackmail the Helmers anymore, unfortunately, Torvald discovered Nora’s secret and became furious at her but then when he learned that Nils will not blackmail them anymore, he said that he already forgives Nora (Ibsen 153-229). From the beginning, Nora was not treated by her husband as someone equal to him, he treated her as his doll hence the title of the work and when this problem of Nora transpired, she realized that her marriage to him was not established on love so to be able to uplift her situation as a woman, she left her husband and children to be able to discover herself (Ibsen 153-229). Conversely, in the work of Chinua Achebe entitled, Vengeful Creditor, women here faced difficulty such as the character of Veronica, who will be the baby-nurse of the Emenike family (266-279). Veronica was unable to avail of the free education that the government then was promoting for the government had a shortage of funds so she was encouraged to work for the Emenike family for the promise that they will send her to school; however, this promise did not materialize so frustrated with this, Veronica decided to take revenge on the family by making the baby drink red ink (Achebe 266-279). Women like Veronica are easily vulnerable to being tricked and manipulated by others, unfortunately, though at times, they resort into taking matters into their own hands and often the result is even detrimental to them just like with Veronica, she was beaten badly by Mrs. Emenike (Achebe 266-279). On the other hand, in the work of Linnea Due entitled, Growing Up Hidden, the narrator in the story was hiding her real identity from others thinking that people will not accept her for this so she became like the other girls and wore make-up and pretended to have an interest with boys (379-380). She had concealed her true identity as a lesbian for several years but in the end, she realized that she must recognize the truth and stop lying about her true identity so she admitted her real self when asked by her college president if she was a lesbian though she may face being force to leave the institution (Due 379-380). IV. The course was able to provide the author of this paper with new insights regarding life. The author was able to know about the work of the writer Leonard Kriegel (376-378) through this course. At times, I also face situations that seem to demoralize me for the reason that the demands of such situation is so difficult, it seems that I am a candle waiting for its fire to die out. Individuals are often confronted with situations too difficult to handle but the Kriegel (376-378) helped me realize that particular situations should be faced with courage and determination, one should take the situation and learn to deal with it even if one tries to deny the predicament at hand, such problem will always hunt down the person and time will come even though if that individual tries to avoid it, he will have to face it sooner or later. Another work that interests me upon undertaking this course, the poem by Robert Frost (241) really had an impact on me. Life always poses that individuals make certain decisions about certain aspects and during specific points in his or her life. I was also asked to choose between two roads which I will choose to travel towards my end goal. I had also been the traveler at this point torn which path I should take; I am hesitant to choose knowing that once I had decided then there is no turning back. At times, I felt regretful of the decision I had chosen saying to myself that I should have picked the other option; nevertheless, I realized that individuals should be accountable with the decisions they make and it would be better for one to think several times before coming up with one. It is also necessary to think if the benefits outweigh the negative effects of a certain option, I also learned to consult others who I think are more knowledgeable than me for I presume that they could guide and enlighten me about what option I must choose. I had also realized that certain choices may not always be the easy ones to make, at one point or another, an individual may hurt someone because of a decision that person has to make but if it would be deemed beneficial to many, I had to choose that one. It also struck me that life and decision-making entails one to make sacrifices. Works Cited Achebe, Chinua. Vengeful Creditor. 266-279. Blake, William. A Poison Tree. 109. Douglass, Frederick. How I learned to read and write. 141-145. Due, Linnea. Growing Up Hidden. 379-380. Frost, Robert. The Road Not Taken. 241. Hughes, Langston. Harlem. 240. Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll’s House. 153-229. Kriegel, Leonard. Taking It. 376-378. Read More