Castle of Otranto

The Castle of Otranto is a story filled with all types of chivalry and romance. The two are promoted throughout the text. For instance one type of romance and chivalry are the fact that the death of Manfred's son Conrad has heightened his feelings for Isabella, Conrad's wife. Due to the untimely death of Conrad, Manfred is afraid that his name and family's rule will be over unless he has an heir to his throne. Manfred reacts desperately and takes likes to Isabella and chooses her to bear him an heir to his throne, basically leaving his wife in the wind because of her sterility.
Another case in the text that promotes romance or heightened sensitivity to feelings and emotions is when Isabella meets the peasant while on her attempt to escape Manfred. The peasant is willing to put his life on the line due to his uneasiness towards Manfred and his rule in order to assist the terrified Isabella. the peasant states, "I value not my life, and it will be some comfort yo lose it in trying to deliver you from his tyranny." (page 27)

The Goophered Grapevine

First off, I thought The Goophered Grapevine was very amusing as it humored me a few times. Chestnut introduces Julius as a nice person who is willing to help the narrator. I think Chestnut does this to identify the with the stereotypes of the common black person at this time. Julius' heavy Southern accent and broken English persuades the reader and the narrator that he is not an intelligent person. I think this is part of the performance in which Julius is putting on for his white audience. He may not speak proper English or seem very bright but, truth of the matter is, he has created this story to fend off people from buying this land. Meanwhile he enjoys the benefits of eating and making profit off the grapes in the grapevine. Although his story does not keep the narrator from buying the land, it goes to show that Julius was not as dumb as he was presented to be.

Novel Reading

After our discussion about Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey in class, and watching the movie, I have mixed feelings about novel reading. On one hand, I think it is healthy for the mind to feed your imagination with the contents of some novels, while on the other hand, I think using your imagination too much can get you in trouble (as it did Catherine). I do see value in reading novels. Novels can provide lots of information and point of views that other forms of literature do not provide. In one week alone, I have learned new things and now I find myself being interested in Gothic novels. Novels teach us much about society mainly because it's characters and situations are that of actual people. When reading novels most can find similarities in these characters and situations, which makes them seem close to that character. This allows you to learn from that character.

terms of syllabus

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introduction

Here is just a lil intro about me.

im a 22 year old college student from New York. i really dont like to read but i think bloggin is cool. i may pick up a few magazines but no books, unless they're for class lol. im in to sports. well not all sports, mainly basketball and football. im a very laid back person with a cool personality so check my blog out!!!