Zitkala Sa's impressions of an indian childhood

After carefully reading this selection, I feel that sa's trying to say that all these wonderful experiences she had will now be tarnished as her culture gets snatched away from her. This story is a heartbreaking truth that needed to be exposed. Since this was written such a long time ago, i'm sure it was shocking. I think that Zikala might have written it with these intentions in mind as well.

As the white men began trying to fase out the Native American culture, sa might have felt the need to tell everyone about it. Her detailed telling makes me sympathesize with the Native American condition and I feel as though that that might have been a part of it's purpose. Regardless of her ethnic backround, the story still tells like an autobiography that is attempting to give us a detailed glimpse into her life.

This story may very well have put a question mark in people's heads about the attempted assimilation plan America had for its natives. Its a disturbing account that disgust me at times. By her writing this story she may be trying to tell white people about what what the culture is about. Maybe shes showing them her culture and then posing the question: " Now that you now its beauty, do you still want to commit genocide? Do you still want to pretend like my culture never existed? Do you still want to fase it out and assimilate us?"

Washington VS DuBois

After reading about what both Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois had to say concerning the best possible future for black people, I have to say that their positions seem to differ dramatically. Booker T seems to be suggesting that the only way for blacks to rise up in society is to be trained as skilled workers via trade school while Dubois is encouraging blacks to make a better, more financially stable life by attending universities and aspiring to have careers not just jobs.
Washington’s views also propose a union of the two races-black and white. Based on what I read, I would say that he believes that in order for blacks to succeed, they must rely on whites. He is basically advocating for their inferiority by promoting such a theory. It seems as though he is saying that there is no other way for blacks to emerge from poverty than to ride on the backs of whites for support. He also supports blacks giving up certain liberties in order to be at peace with the whites and assimilation at any cost. In suggesting that blacks start at the bottom, it may imply that they need not strive to reach the top.
Dubois, on the other hand is saying the exact opposite. He respects the legacy of Booker T. Washington and respects the man but is not fond of his ideals. They appear to be quite barbaric to Dubois. They also seem to contradict other previous statements made by Washington. Dubois is saying that blacks need to move forward. They need to create their own lives with no dependency what so ever on the white man for help. He believes that in order to do this, blacks mustn’t give up their political rights or the civil liberties. His opinion sponsors universities as the best place for blacks to go if they ever wish to truly be free, independent citizens.
Although these men had completely different views on how blacks should live their lives, their purposes are the same. They both seem dedicated to wanting to help their people become better. Perhaps Washington’s stance reflects his time spent as a slave and maybe Dubois is a man of the future. Either way, they used their literary works to help bring up reform in the black communities.

Henry James' "Art of Fiction" summarized and applied to Edith Wharton's "Souls Belated"

Though, quite complex in it’s content, I got the just of what James was talking about in his critical essay. I am not a huge fan of fiction but Unlike James I believe fiction is necessary. He spoke about “good” novels and “bad” ones and about how fictional stories have happy endings. I thought that he made fun of the genre for having those sorts of endings but I think that that is a great thing. Non-fiction doesn’t always have happy endings. The end realistically which often entails a not so happy ending. It’s nice that an abundance of fiction novels end in happy ways. Those endings lend to those types of readers and shouldn’t be criticized for their believability. After all, it is fiction and the reader knows this going into it. Fiction provides happy endings for all those who yearn for it and enjoy reading it, since it rarely happens in real life.
Most of this critical essay is too critical but I agree with a lot of it. You can’t teach someone how to write a good novel, it’s a natural given gift. The process is not a cinematic as painting a picture or sculpting a sculpture. There shouldn’t be rules to writing and I feel James is supporting this idea. He believes that experience is necessary for writing yet he disagrees with a disturbing remark made by Mr. Besant. The comment that this man made regarding lower middle class writers and them sticking to the realm is despicable. The whole idea of fiction is to imagine you in a whole other world. It’s about fantasy. If someone who is of lower class wants to write to escape their own reality, let them. They shouldn’t be viewed as less of a novelist, as James implies they should.
James, to his credit, adds the aspect of observing as a great tool of a writer. I feel that based on this essay, it would be safe to say that James is not a huge fan of fiction. I could be wrong but that’s what I concluded.
It was difficult for me to apply James’ ideas to Wharton’s writing because it disinterested me greatly. I couldn’t care less about a fictional story such as this and I think it was unrealistic. Who speaks to each other like that anyway? I noticed how Wharton used the character’s actions to describe them. By not giving us their physical features, it made it a fictional story. It allowed us as the reader to imagine the character. This element seemed to be mentioned in James’ critical essay. This work of fiction definitely supports James’ idea of writing from experience is much more enjoyable and bearable to read.

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