Thursday May 26th:

Individuality is a gift that we all have and it’s something that individualizes us. In Emerson’s story “Self-Reliance” suggest that one should follow their on instinct and common sense rather than following the popular crowd or what other people think to be right. As reading this article I found a couple of parts that I really enjoyed.  The first one was where Emerson states “ I hope in these days we have heard the last of conformity and consistency” “ Instead of going for dinner, let us hear a whistle from the Spartan fife”. I think this means that forget what is popular or common and go your own way, develop something new and start a new habit instead of doing the same thing over and over. I think that he just used the description of going for dinner because that is something common we all do and more people could relate to it. The second part that I really liked was “Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life’s cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another, you have only an extemporaneous, half possession. This line is very powerful because Emerson is telling us to look upon ourselves and find what defines us from others, pick that out and put it to use instead of looking at what others have and wishing we had that. We are all made different and are given different talents so we should cherish this and use what we have. This story really makes me realize how grateful I should be with what I have been given and make the best out of it!

The second reading for today was by Walt Whitman “Story of Myself”. Whitman expresses that we should all stay true to ourselves and uses our individuality. Whitman thinks that there is nothing better that being yourself and staying true! Whitman quotes “ I resist anything better than my own diversity. This is a very interesting line because Whiteman is saying that anything that comes his way, he lets pass because he only wants to use what he has to offer. I found this to be a little tricky to understand but I think that overall Whitman really wants us to be our own person and be true to ourselves.  

“The Story of an Hour” seems to get better every time I read it. Louise, a woman with heart trouble has discovered that her husband was killed! She immediately is saddened but after a few minutes she begin to realized the freedoms that she will now how. She continues dreaming about how things will be different because she says “Free! Body and soul free!” I find this very ironic because in most cases people would be quite depressed with the loss of a family member but in another way I understand Louise because she has felt as if she has never lived due to the way Brently treated her. I think that Louise realizes that she will be by herself and she doesn’t want to continue to live.  Louise has spent so much time lusting over the fact she is finally free from her husband, when she sees him walk in the house and he isn’t dead she is shocked and immediately has a heartattck. I find it ironic because Louise lived her life as a free woman for one hour and then it came to an end. I think that Chopin affirms the notion of individuality because she sees herself and the things she has and then looks at life in a different perceptive when she determines how life will be without Brently.

Questions: Do we sometimes look past what makes us an individual and lust someone else’s individuality?

How hard would it be to focus on what separates us from others and start being our own person?

These readings remind me of 10^th grade because we spent a lot of time reading short stories and I remember reading these passages in class.