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You are on page 1/ 1835

interactive student edition

Literature
Glencoe

The Reader’s Choice

P ROGR AM CONSU LTANTS

Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, PhD


Douglas Fisher, PhD
Beverly Ann Chin, PhD
Jacqueline Jones Royster, DA
ACKNOWLEDGM ENTS

Grateful acknowledgment is given authors, publishers, photographers, museums,


and agents for permission to reprint the following copyrighted material. Every
effort has been made to determine copyright owners. In case of any omissions, the
publisher will be pleased to make suitable acknowledgments in future editions.

Acknowledgements continued on page R104.

Copyright © 2007 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Except
as permitted under the United States Copyright Act, no part of this publication may
be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database
or retrieval system, without prior permission of the publisher.

TIME © Time, Inc. TIME and the red border design are trademarks of Time, Inc. used
under license.

Send all inquiries to:


Glencoe/McGraw-Hill
8787 Orion Place
Columbus, OH 43240-4027

ISBN: (student edition) 978-0-07-845481-3


MHID: (student edition) 0-07-845481-6
ISBN: (teacher edition) 978-0-07-845492-9
MHID: (teacher edition) 0-07-845492-1

Printed in the United States of America.

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 027/043 12 11 10 09 08 07
CONSU LTANTS

Senior Program Consultants

Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Douglas Fisher, PhD,


PhD, a former middle is Professor of Language
and secondary school and Literacy Education and
English and reading Director of Professional
teacher, is currently Development at San Diego
Professor of Education at State University, where
Boise State University. he teaches English lan-
He is the author or coau- guage development and
thor of numerous articles literacy. He also serves
and several books on the teaching of reading and as Director of City Heights Educational Pilot,
literacy, including award-winning titles such as which won the Christa McAuliffe Award from
You Gotta BE the Book and Reading Don’t Fix No the American Association of State Colleges and
Chevys. He also works with local schools as part Universities. He has published numerous articles
of the Adolescent Literacy Project and recently on reading and literacy, differentiated instruc-
helped establish the National Writing Project tion, and curriculum design. He is coauthor
site at Boise State University. of the book Improving Adolescent Literacies:
Strategies That Work and coeditor of the book
Inclusive Urban Schools.

Program Consultants
Beverly Ann Chin, Jacqueline Jones
PhD, is Professor of Royster, DA, is Professor
English, Director of the of English and Senior Vice
English Teaching Program, Provost and Executive
former Director of the Dean of the Colleges of
Montana Writing Project, Arts and Sciences at The
and former Director Ohio State University. She
of Composition at the is currently on the Writing
University of Montana in Advisory Committee of the
Missoula. She currently serves as a Member at National Commission on Writing and serves as
Large of the Conference of English Leadership. chair for both the Columbus Literacy Council
Dr. Chin is a nationally recognized leader in and the Ohioana Library Association. In addition
English language arts standards, curriculum, and to the teaching of writing, Dr. Royster’s profes-
assessment. Formerly a high school teacher and sional interests include the rhetorical history of
an adult education reading teacher, Dr. Chin has African American women and the social and
taught in English language arts education at cultural implications of literate practices. She
several universities and has received awards for has contributed to and helped to edit numerous
her teaching and service. books, anthologies, and journals.

iii
ADVISORY BOAR D

Special Consultant
Dinah Zike, MEd, was a classroom teacher and a consultant for many years before she
began to develop Foldables™—a variety of easily created graphic organizers. Zike has written and
developed more than 150 supplemental books and materials used in classrooms worldwide. Her Big
Book of Books and Activities won the Teachers’ Choice Award.

Glencoe National Reading and Language Arts Advisory Council


Mary A. Avalos, PhD Nancy Drew, EdD Kimberly Lawless, PhD
Assistant Department Chair, LaPointe Educational Associate Professor
Department of Teaching Consultants Curriculum, Instruction
and Learning Corpus Christi, Texas and Evaluation
Research Assistant Professor, College of Education
Department of Teaching Susan Florio-Ruane, EdD University of Illinois
and Learning Professor at Chicago
University of Miami College of Education Chicago, Illinois
Coral Gables, Florida Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan William Ray, MA
Wanda J. Blanchett, PhD Lincoln-Sudbury Regional
Associate Dean for Academic Sharon Fontenot O’Neal, High School
Affairs and Associate PhD Sudbury, Massachusetts
Professor of Exceptional Associate Professor
Education Texas State University Janet Saito-Furukawa,
School of Education San Marcos, Texas MEd
University of Wisconsin– Literacy Coach
Milwaukee Nancy Frey, PhD Washington Irving
Milwaukee, Wisconsin Associate Professor of Literacy Middle School
in Teacher Education Los Angeles, California
William G. Brozo, PhD School of Teacher Education
Professor of Literacy San Diego State University Bonnie Valdes, MEd
Graduate School of Education San Diego, California Independent Reading
College of Education and Consultant
Human Development Victoria Gentry Ridgeway, CRISS Master Trainer
George Mason University PhD Largo, Florida
Fairfax, Virginia Associate Professor
Reading Education
Clemson University
Clemson, South Carolina

iv
TEACH ER R EVI EWERS

The following teachers contributed to the review of Glencoe Literature.


Bridget M. Agnew Melanie A. LaFleur Susan Winslow Putnam
St. Michael School Many High School Butler High School
Chicago, Illinois Many, Louisiana Matthews, North Carolina
Monica Anzaldua Araiza Patricia Lee Paul C. Putnoki
Dr. Juliet V. Garcia Radnor Middle School Torrington Middle School
Middle School Wayne, Pennsylvania Torrington, Connecticut
Brownsville, Texas
Linda Copley Lemons Jane Thompson Rae
Katherine R. Baer Cleveland High School Cab Calloway High School
Howard County Public Schools Cleveland, Tennessee of the Arts
Ellicott City, Maryland Wilmington, Delaware
Heather S. Lewis
Tanya Baxter Waverly Middle School Stephanie L. Robin
Roald Amundsen High School Lansing, Michigan N. P. Moss Middle School
Chicago, Illinois Lafayette, Louisiana
Sandra C. Lott
Danielle R. Brain Aiken Optional School Ann C. Ryan
Thomas R. Proctor Alexandria, Louisiana Lindenwold High School
Senior High School Lindenwold, New Jersey
Connie M. Malacarne
Utica, New York
O’Fallon Township Pamela Schoen
Yolanda Conder High School Hopkins High School
Owasso Mid-High School O’Fallon, Illinois Minnetonka, Minnesota
Owasso, Oklahoma
Lori Howton Means Megan Schumacher
Gwenn de Mauriac Edward A. Fulton Friends’ Central School
The Wiscasset Schools Junior High School Wynnewood, Pennsylvania
Wiscasset, Maine O’Fallon, Illinois
Fareeda J. Shabazz
Courtney Doan Claire C. Meitl Paul Revere Elementary School
Bloomington High School Howard County Public Schools Chicago, Illinois
Bloomington, Illinois Ellicott City, Maryland
Molly Steinlage
Susan M. Griffin Patricia P. Mitcham Brookpark Middle School
Edison Preparatory School Mohawk High School Grove City, Ohio
Tulsa, Oklahoma (Retired)
Barry Stevenson
New Castle, Pennsylvania
Cindi Davis Harris Garnet Valley Middle School
Helix Charter High School Lisa Morefield Glen Mills, Pennsylvania
La Mesa, California South-Western
Paul Stevenson
Career Academy
Joseph F. Hutchinson Edison Preparatory School
Grove City, Ohio
Toledo Public Schools Tulsa, Oklahoma
Toledo, Ohio Kevin M. Morrison Kathy Thompson
Hazelwood East High School
Ginger Jordan Owasso Mid-High School
St. Louis, Missouri
Florien High School Owasso, Oklahoma
Florien, Louisiana Jenine M. Pokorak
School Without Walls
Dianne Konkel
Senior High School
Cypress Lake Middle School
Washington, D.C.
Fort Myers, Florida

v
BOOK OVERVI EW

How to Use The Reader’s Choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x x x v i


Literary Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
Scavenger Hunt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

U N IT O N E Early America Beginnings–1800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4


Part 1: The Sacred Earth and the Power of Storytelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Part 2: Life in the New World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
Part 3: The Road to Independence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95

U N IT T WO American Romanticism 1800–1860 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .162


Part 1: Individualism and Nature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177
Part 2: The Dark Side of Romanticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .225

U N IT TH R E E The Civil War Era 1850–1880 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .314


Part 1: Resistance to Slavery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .329
Part 2: The Civil War: A Nation Divided . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .359
Part 3: A Poetic Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .393

U N IT FOU R Regionalism and Realism 1880–1910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .464


Part 1: Regionalism and Local Color. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .479
Part 2: Realism and Naturalism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .531

vi
B OOK OVERVI EW

U N I T F IVE Beginnings of the Modern Age 1910–1930s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .634


Part 1: Modern Poetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .649
Part 2: Modern Fiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .729
Part 3: The Harlem Renaissance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .785

UNIT SIX From Depression to Cold War 1930s–1960s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .852


Part 1: The New Regionalism and the City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .867
Part 2: The United States and the World. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .967

U N I T SE VE N
Into the Twenty-First Century 1960s–Present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1128
Part 1: An Era of Protest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1143
Part 2: Nature and Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1207
Part 3: Extending and Remaking Traditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1257

Reference Section

Literary Terms Handbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .R1 Glossary/Glosario . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .R64


Reading Handbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .R20 Academic Word List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .R86
Foldables™ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .R26 Index of Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .R89
Writing Handbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .R30 Index of Authors and Titles. . . . . . . . . . . . .R99
Business Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .R42 Index of Art and Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .R102
Language Handbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .R46 Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .R104
Test-Taking Skills Handbook . . . . . . . . . . .R61

vii
SELECTIONS BY GEN R E

Short Story The Life You Save May Be Your Own . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 913
Flannery O’Connor
The Devil and Tom Walker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
The Second Tree from the Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 927
Washington Irving
E. B. White
The Pit and the Pendulum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Edgar Allan Poe The Magic Barrel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 940
The Minister’s Black Veil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 Bernard Malamud
Nathaniel Hawthorne The Rockpile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 957
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373 James Baldwin
Ambrose Bierce The Portrait . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1013
The Celebrated Jumping Frog Tomás Rivera
of Calaveras County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482 Ambush. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1172
Mark Twain Tim O’Brien
The Outcasts of Poker Flat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504 SQ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1233
Bret Harte Ursula K. Le Guin
A Wagner Matinée . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518 Snow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1247
Willa Cather Julia Alvarez
April Showers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534 Everything Stuck to Him . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1268
Edith Wharton Raymond Carver
The Story of an Hour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546 Salvador Late or Early . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1298
Kate Chopin Sandra Cisneros
The Darling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552 Nineteen Thirty-Seven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1312
Anton Chekhov Edwidge Danticat
The Open Boat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 572
Stephen Crane Myth
To Build a Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593 How the World Was Made . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Jack London Cherokee myth retold by James Mooney
In Another Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 732 The Sky Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Ernest Hemingway Huron myth retold by Joseph Bruchac
Winter Dreams. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 742 How the Leopard Got His Claws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
F. Scott Fitzgerald Chinua Achebe and John Iroaganachi
Soldiers of the Republic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 768
Dorothy Parker
Proverb
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 774
Katherine Anne Porter from Poor Richard’s Almanack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Benjamin Franklin
Early Autumn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 846
Langston Hughes
Breakfast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 868 Novel Excerpt
John Steinbeck from Moby-Dick. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
A Rose for Emily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 876 Herman Melville
William Faulkner from The Jungle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628
A Worn Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 890 Upton Sinclair
Eudora Welty

xxviii
SELECT IONS BY GEN R E

Graphic Novel There’s a certain Slant of light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436


This is my letter to the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437
from Maus: A Survivor's Tale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 995 Emily Dickinson
Art Spiegelman
Lucinda Matlock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499
Fiddler Jones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502
Poetry Edgar Lee Masters
Prayer to the Pacific. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Richness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560
Leslie Marmon Silko Gabriela Mistral
The Summer of Black Widows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Douglass. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562
Sherman Alexie We Wear the Mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565
Upon the Burning of Our House, Paul Laurence Dunbar
July 10, 1666 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Richard Cory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567
To My Dear and Loving Husband . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Miniver Cheevy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570
Anne Bradstreet Edwin Arlington Robinson
To His Excellency, General Washington . . . . . . . . . . . 129 In a Station of the Metro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652
Phillis Wheatley A Pact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 654
Concord Hymn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Ezra Pound
Ralph Waldo Emerson The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656
To the Fringed Gentian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 T. S. Eliot
William Cullen Bryant The Red Wheelbarrow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 666
Old Ironsides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 This Is Just to Say . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669
Oliver Wendell Holmes William Carlos Williams
The Raven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242 Summer Rain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 672
Edgar Allan Poe Fireworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 675
Frederick Douglass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345 Amy Lowell
Robert Hayden Ars Poetica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 678
In Texas Grass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346 Archibald MacLeish
Quincy Troupe Eating Poetry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 684
Calvary Crossing a Ford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327 Mark Strand
I Hear America Singing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394 beware: do not read this poem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 686
When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer . . . . . . . . . . . . 397 Ishmael Reed
A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Gray
and Dim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
Beat! Beat! Drums! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
from Song of Myself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
Walt Whitman
The Lightning is a yellow Fork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
If you were coming in the Fall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423
My life closed twice before its close . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
The Soul selects her own Society. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
Much Madness is divinest Sense. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
Success is counted sweetest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
I heard a Fly buzz when I died. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
The Bustle in a House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432
Because I could not stop for Death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434

Mary Evans Picture Library


Study of Two Pears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 689 The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 974
from The Man with the Blue Guitar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 692 Randall Jarrell
Wallace Stevens The Gift in Wartime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1177
somewhere I have never travelled,gladly beyond . . . 694 Tran Mong Tu
anyone lived in a pretty how town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 697 The Asians Dying. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1182
E. E. Cummings Separation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1185
Chicago . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 699 When You Go Away . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1185
Grass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 702 W. S. Merwin
Carl Sandburg In Thai Binh (Peace) Province. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1188
Mending Wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 704 Denise Levertov
Birches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 708 Courage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1202
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. . . . . . . . . . . 711 Anne Sexton
Acquainted with the Night . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 713 The Fish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1208
The Death of the Hired Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 715 Filling Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1212
Robert Frost Elizabeth Bishop
My City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 786 Root Cellar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1216
James Weldon Johnson Theodore Roethke
If We Must Die . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800 Sleep in the Mojave Desert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1220
The Tropics in New York . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 803 Crossing the Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1223
Claude McKay Sylvia Plath
I, Too . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 809 The War Against the Trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1226
The Negro Speaks of Rivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 812 Stanley Kunitz
Langston Hughes Cottonmouth Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1251
Your World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 822 Daisies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1254
Georgia Douglas Johnson Louise Glück
A black man talks of reaping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 826 El Olvido (Según las Madres) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1276
Arna Bontemps Judith Ortiz Cofer
Any Human to Another . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 830 My Father and the Figtree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1280
Countee Cullen Naomi Shihab Nye
kitchenette building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 863 I Chop Some Parsley While Listening to Art
To Don at Salaam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 935 Blakey’s Version of “Three Blind Mice” . . . . . . . . . 1285
The Bean Eaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 938 Billy Collins
Gwendolyn Brooks The Man with the Saxophone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1324
Ai
Ending Poem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1329
Rosario and Aurora Levins Morales
Traveling Through the Dark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1347
William Stafford

Song
I Have Killed the Deer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Taos Pueblo Song
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
Go Down, Moses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

xxx
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC/Art Resource, NY
SELECT IONS BY GEN R E

Keep Your Hand on the Plow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334 from How the Other Half Lives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629
Anonymous Jacob Riis
A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1196 from The Perfect Hour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 762
Bob Dylan James L. W. West III
Stanzas from a Black Epic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 805
Drama Robert Hughes
The Crucible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1022 from Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 835
Arthur Miller Lawrence Raab
from You Have Seen Their Faces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 909
Erskine Caldwell and Margaret Bourke-White
Nonfiction and
from Hiroshima . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 999
Informational Text John Hersey
Essay from Dust Changes America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1122
How They Chose These Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Margaret Bourke-White
Walter Isaacson from Stride Toward Freedom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1147
from The Whistle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Martin Luther King, Jr.
Benjamin Franklin Choice: A Tribute to
from Nature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1153
from Self-Reliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Alice Walker
Ralph Waldo Emerson from Working: Roberto Acuna, Farm Worker . . . 1159
The Biology of Joy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 Studs Terkel
Michael D. Lemonick from Silent Spring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1230
from Woman in the Nineteenth Century . . . . . . . . . . 193 Rachel Carson
Margaret Fuller The Names of Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1290
from Civil Disobedience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 Louise Erdrich
Henry David Thoreau Thoughts on the African-American Novel . . . . . 1302
from In the Heart of the Sea: Toni Morrison
The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292 from Transfiguration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1346
Nathaniel Philbrick Annie Dillard
Slavery Under Glass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
Richard Lacayo Biography, Autobiography,
from Lincoln at Gettysburg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390 or Memoir
Garry Wills from The Way to Rainy Mountain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
from Walt Whitman: A Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416 N. Scott Momaday
Justin Kaplan from La Relación. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
from Emily Dickinson: An Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . 441 Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
Billy Collins from Of Plymouth Plantation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Life Along the Mississippi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494 William Bradford
Nancy Gibbs from The Life of Olaudah Equiano . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
from Arctic Dreams: Imagination Olaudah Equiano
and Desire in a Northern Landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608 from A Narrative of the Captivity and
Barry Lopez Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
from Stephen Crane: Tales of Adventure . . . . . . . . . . 615 Mary Rowlandson
Bettina L. Knapp

xxxi
from The Autobiography Letter, Journal, or Diary
of Benjamin Franklin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Letter to John Adams. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Benjamin Franklin Letter to Her Daughter from the
from John Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 New and Unfinished White House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
David McCullough Abigail Adams
from Walden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 Letter to His Son . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
Henry David Thoreau Robert E. Lee
from Long Walk to Freedom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 from Letters to a Young Poet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 682
Nelson Mandela Rainer Maria Rilke
from An American Childhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
Annie Dillard Speech or Public Document
from My Bondage and My Freedom . . . . . . . . . . . 337, 458 from The Iroquois Constitution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Frederick Douglass Dekanawida
from Mary Chesnut’s Civil War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360 from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God . . . . . . 88
Mary Chesnut Jonathan Edwards
from Specimen Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402 Speech to the Second Virginia Convention . . . . . . . 106
Walt Whitman Patrick Henry
Two Views of the River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490 The Declaration of Independence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Mark Twain Thomas Jefferson
from The Perfect Hour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 762 from The Crisis, No. 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
James L. W. West III Thomas Paine
from Dust Tracks on a Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 790 from Proposals for Electoral College Reform . . . . 147
Zora Neale Hurston Becky Cain
When the Negro Was in Vogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 815 On the Eve of Historic Dandi March . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Langston Hughes Mohandas K. Gandhi
from Black Boy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 900 And Ain’t I a Woman?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
Richard Wright Sojourner Truth
from All Rivers Run to the Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 979 The Gettysburg Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386
Elie Wiesel Abraham Lincoln
from Kubota. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 990 I Will Fight No More Forever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
Garrett Hongo Chief Joseph
from One Writer’s Beginnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1111 Remarks at Amherst College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 725
Eudora Welty President John F. Kennedy
The Torchbearer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1144 Address upon Receiving the Nobel Prize
Rita Dove in Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 886
from Stride Toward Freedom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1147 William Faulkner
Martin Luther King, Jr. War Message to Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 968
from Stay Alive, My Son . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1178 Franklin D. Roosevelt
Pin Yathay Proposal for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. . . 1192
from The Woman Warrior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1258 Maya Lin
Maxine Hong Kingston

xxxii
F E ATU R ES

P ERSP ECT IVES


Award-winning nonfiction book excerpts High-interest, informative magazine articles
and primary source documents How They Chose These Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Cultural Perspective: from The Way to Walter Isaacson
Rainy Mountain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 The Biology of Joy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
N. Scott Momaday Michael D. Lemonick
Historical Perspective: from John Adams. . . . . . . . . . 142 Slavery Under Glass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
David McCullough Richard Lacayo
Historical Perspective: Life Along the Mississippi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494
from In the Heart of the Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292 Nancy Gibbs
Nathaniel Philbrick Stanzas from a Black Epic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 805
Political Perspective: Robert Hughes
from Lincoln at Gettysburg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390 The Torchbearer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1144
Garry Wills Rita Dove
Literary Perspective:
from Walt Whitman: A Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416
Justin Kaplan
Literary Perspective: from Emily Dickinson:
An Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441
Billy Collins
Geographical Perspective:
from Arctic Dreams: Imagination
and Desire in a Northern Landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608
Barry Lopez
Political Perspective:
Remarks at Amherst College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 725
President John F. Kennedy
Biographical Perspective:
from The Perfect Hour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 762
James L. W. West III
Historical Perspective:
from You Have Seen Their Faces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 909
Erskine Caldwell and Margaret Bourke-White
Artistic Perspective:
Proposal for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. . . 1192
Maya Lin
Scientific Perspective: from Silent Spring . . . . . . . 1230
Rachel Carson

xxxiii
Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
F EATU R ES

UNIT SEVEN
Comparing Literature Ambush by Tim O’Brien. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1172
Across Time and Place The Gift in Wartime by Tran Mong Tu . . . . . . . . . . . 1177
from Stay Alive, My Son by Pin Yathay . . . . . . . . . . 1178
U N I T ON E

The Sky Tree


Huron myth retold by Joseph Bruchac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
How the Leopard Got His Claws
by Chinua Achebe and John Iroaganachi . . . . . . . . . . . 37 LITE
LI ERR ARY
ARY H I STO RY
Prayer to the Pacific by Leslie Marmon Silko . . . . . 42
The Summer of Black Widows Native American Mythology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
by Sherman Alexie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 The Rhetoric of Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
The Fireside Poets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
U N I T T WO The First American Short Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
from Civil Disobedience Slave Narratives and Civil War
by Henry David Thoreau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 Memoirs, Letters, and Diaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
On the Eve of Historic Dandi March The Rise of Local Color Fiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480
by Mohandas K. Gandhi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 The Two Faces of Urban America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532
from Long Walk to Freedom Symbolist and Imagist Poetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650
by Nelson Mandela . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 The Modern American Short Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 730
Cultural Rebels: Writers of the
U N IT TH R E E Beat Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1020
from My Bondage and My Freedom Modern American Drama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1108
by Frederick Douglass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337 From Comic Strips to Graphic Novels . . . . . . . . . . . . 1310
Frederick Douglass by Robert Hayden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
In Texas Grass by Quincy Troupe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
LITER
LIT ER AT
ATUURE OF
O F TH
T H E TI
TIME
U N I T FOU R

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546


The Darling by Anton Chekhov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552 For Independent
ent Reading
Richness by Gabriela Mistral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560 Unit 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
Unit 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456
Unit 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 626
U N I T F I VE Unit 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 844
Ars Poetica by Archibald MacLeish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 678 Unit 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1120
from Letters to a Young Poet Unit 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1344
by Rainer Maria Rilke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 682
Eating Poetry by Mark Strand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 684
beware: do not read this poem TEST PREPARATION AND PRACTICE
by Ishmael Reed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 686
Unit 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
U N I T S IX Unit 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
from All Rivers Run to the Sea Unit 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458
by Elie Wiesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 979 Unit 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628
from Kubota by Garrett Hongo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 990 Unit 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 846
from Maus: A Survivor's Tale Unit 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1122
by Art Spiegelman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 995 Unit 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1346

xxxiv
David Turnley/CORBIS
SK I LLS WOR KSHO PS

Writing Workshops Grammar Workshops

Persuasive Speech Professional Model: from Sentence Structure: Using Adverb Clauses . . . . . . . .81
Proposals for Electoral College Reform Using Mechanics: Using Commas with
by Becky Cain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Nonessential Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141
Sentence Structure: Correcting Dangling
Reflective Essay Professional Model: from An Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
American Childhood Coherence: Using Transitional Expressions . . . . . . 367
by Annie Dillard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296 Mechanics: Punctuating Appositives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517
Historical Research Paper Sentence Structure: Using Coordinating
Workshop Model: On the Front Lines: Women Conjunctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 741
Soldiers in the Civil War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444 Sentence Structure: Using Introductory Phrases
and Clauses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 926
Literary Analysis Sentence Structure: Avoiding Run-on
Professional Model: from Stephen Crane: Sentences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1170
Tales of Adventure Sentence Structure: Avoiding Misplaced
by Bettina L. Knapp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614 Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1246

Literary Analysis Professional Model: from Robert


Frost’s “Mending Wall”
by Lawrence Raab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 834

Autobiographical Narrative Professional Vocabulary Workshops


Model: from One Writer’s Beginnings
by Eudora Welty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1110 Analogies: Understanding Relationships Between
Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Editorial Professional Model: Job Posting: The Word Origins: Understanding
New York Times Political Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
by Jeremy Blachman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1334 Context Clues: Determining the Meaning
of Unfamiliar Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Denotation and Connotation:
Using Semantic Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
Speaking, Listening, Language Resources: Using a Thesaurus . . . . . . . . . . 544
and Viewing Workshops Word Meanings:
Defining Compound Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671
Delivering a Persuasive Speech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 Word Meanings: Understanding Homonyms . . . . 799
Delivering a Reflective Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304 Word Parts: Understanding Roots,
Oral Report on a Historical Investigation . . . . . . . . 454 Prefixes, and Suffixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 875
Delivering an Oral Response to Literature . . . . . . 624 Word Parts: Understanding Unfamiliar
Oral Interpretation of a Poem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 842 Math and Science Terms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 973
Art or Photo Essay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1118 Denotation and Connotation: Recognizing
Conducting a Debate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1342 Loaded Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1158
Word Parts: Using Suffixes to Form Nouns . . . 1309

xxxv
Tony Craddock/Stone/Getty Images
HOW TO USE TH E R EADE R’S C HOIC E

Why do I need Organization


this book? The literature selections you will read are organized chronologically
Glencoe Literature, into seven units spanning early America to the present.
The Reader’s Choice is Each unit contains the following:
more than just a collec-
A UNIT INTRODUCTION provides you with the background infor-
tion of stories, poems,
mation to help make your reading experience more meaningful.
nonfiction articles, and
other literary works. Every • The TIMELINE helps you keep track of major
unit is built around Big literary and historical events.
Ideas, concepts that you
will want to think about,
talk about, and maybe
even argue about. Big
Ideas help you become
part of an important con-
versation. You can join
in lively discussions about
who we are, where we
have been, and where we
are going.

• BY THE NUMBERS shows you figures and key


data at a glance.
• BEING THERE gives you a glimpse of the
geography related to the literary period.
• HISTORICAL, CULTURAL, AND SOCIAL
FORCES explains the influences that shape a
specific literary period.
• BIG IDEAS targets three concepts that you
can trace as you read the literary selections.
• LITERATURE SELECTIONS follow each
Unit Introduction. The selections are organized
as follows.

xxxvi
HOW TO USE TH E R EA D E R’S C HOIC E

Reading and Thinking


� ���� �� ���� � ���

Each of the main selections in your textbook is ���������������������


arranged in three parts. ��������������������������

• Start with BEFORE YOU READ. Learn about the


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context that sets the stage for the selection and


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preview the skills and strategies that will guide


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your reading. �����������������������������������������������


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MEET THE AUTHOR introduces


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you to the real-life story of the writer ����������������������������� ����������������


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whose work you will read and analyze.


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LITE R ATU R E P R EVI EW �����������������������������������������������
R EAD I N G P R EV I E W
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Connecting to the Speech Reading�������������������������������������������������
Strategy Activating Prior
������������������������������������������������������
��������������������������������������������������
Knowledge
Imagine having to leave a place you love, a place where ��������������������������������������������������
��������������������������������������������������
your family and friends have lived for generations. This As a reader, your prior knowledge and personal expe- ���������������������������������������������������
was the lot of many poor African Americans who were ������������������������������������������������
riences help you understand a text. While reading ���������������������������
������������������������������������������������
forced from their land in the rural South in order to find ����������������������������������������������
Walker’s speech, draw upon what you already know to ������������������������������
enough work to lead decent lives. As you read Walker’s ������������������������������������������������
understand the topics she discusses.
speech, think about the following questions: ���������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������

LITERATURE PREVIEW and


��������������������������������������������������
Reading Tip: Applying What You Know Use a chart
• What gives the places you love their special quality? ������������������������������������������������
like the one below to help you make connections
• Where are your family’s roots, and how important �������������������������������������������������
between Walker’s ideas and your prior knowledge. ��������������� ���������������
are they to you? ��������������������������� ������������������������������������
����������������������������������������������
��������������������

READING PREVIEW list the basic Building Background


In her speech, Walker gives an abbreviated history of
African Americans since the late nineteenth century.
Yet the history of
from “Choice”
The ancestors of
What I Know
� � � � � � �� � � � � � ����

tools you will use to read and analyze She refers to the period after the Civil War called my family, like that black Southerners ��������������������

Reconstruction (1865–1877), a time when African of all black South- were taken from their
Americans enjoyed new rights. Reconstruction ended erners, is a history land in Africa and

the selection.
when Southern whites regained control of state gov- of dispossession. enslaved in America.
ernment. In the climate of oppression that followed,������������������������������������ ��������������������

millions of African Americans left the South. Walker


then shifts her discussion to 1960, when a federal
court ordered the University of Georgia to admit Vocabulary
African American students. Her final reference is to the
desegregation of a Mississippi restaurant. Beginning in ancestral (an ses� trəl) adj. of or relating to
1960, protestors held sit-in demonstrations in restau- those from whom one is descended; p. 1155 My
rants, forcing them to comply with desegregation laws. family’s ancestral property was sold long ago.
colossal (kə los� əl) adj. extraordinary in size or
Setting Purposes for Reading degree; enormous; p. 1156 A colossal wave over-
Big Idea An Era of Protest turned the ship.
As you read Walker’s speech, try to understand the continuity (kon� tə nō¯ō´ ə tē) n. the state or
resentment that would naturally build up when a quality of going on without interruption; p. 1156
group of people are deprived of basic rights and the If the President dies in office, the Vice President
means of a decent livelihood over many generations. immediately takes over to ensure continuity.
ephemeral (i fem� rəl) adj. lasting for a very
Literary Element Anecdote brief time; short-lived; p. 1156 A rainbow is
An anecdote is a brief account of an interesting event. brilliant but ephemeral.
As you read, note any anecdotes Walker tells and con-
sider why she uses them. Vocabulary Tip: Antonyms When two words have
the opposite meaning, we say they are antonyms.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R1. The words complex and uncomplicated, for exam-
ple, are antonyms. Note that antonyms are always
Interactive Literary Elements
the same part of speech.
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

I NLO
O B J EC DIAN
DIA
TIV
TI ISIANA
ISIA
UES
VESN A NA
ACADE
AC GRA
ADEM ADE-
MDE LEVEL
IC- L EV EL
STAN
STA N DAREXXPPDECTATIO
EC
DS TATIO
(pa
S (p agge NS
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1154 U N IT 7 IINTO THE


NTO T H E�����������������������������������������������������
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������� range of reading, thinking, vocabulary, and
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writing activities.
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Vocabulary
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VOCABULARY WORDS that may be new or dif-


������������������������������� ��������������������

ficult to you are chosen from each selection. They


are introduced on the BEFORE YOU READ page.
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Each word is accompanied by its pronunciation, its
� ����������������� �������� � ����������������� �������������������� part of speech, its definition, and the page number
on which it appears. The vocabulary word is also
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used in a sample sentence. Vocabulary words are
highlighted in the Literature Selection.
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�������������������������������������������������� VOCABULARY PRACTICE On the
�����������������������������������������
AFTER YOU READ pages, you will be
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��������������������������������������������������� able to practice using the vocabulary
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���������������������������������������������������������� � ����������� �������� words in an exercise. This exercise will
show you how to apply a vocabulary
����������������������������������������������������
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strategy to understand new or difficult
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words.
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ACADEMIC VOCABULARY Many of


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����������������������� the AFTER YOU READ pages will also
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introduce you to two words that are
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frequently used in academic work. You
���������������������������������
will be prompted to apply the defini-
������������������
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tions of these words to answer ques-
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tions about the selection that you have
��� � � � � � � � � � � �� �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �
just read.

��������������������������������� ��������������������

xxxviii
ii
HOW TO USE TH E R EA D E R’S C HOIC E

Writing Workshops
Each unit in Glencoe Literature, The Reader’s
Choice includes a Writing Workshop. The workshop
walks you through the writing process as you work
on an extended piece of writing related to the unit.
• You will create writing goals and apply strategies ��������
to meet them.
����������������������������������������������
• You will pick up tips and polish your������������������������
critical skills
����������������������������������������������
as you analyze professional and workshop models.
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• You will focus on mastering specific ����������
aspects � ���������������������������������������������������������������
of writing, including organization, grammar,���������
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and vocabulary. ������������������
� ��������������������������������������������������
• You will use a rubric to evaluate your own
���������������������������
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� ��������������������������������������������������������������������
writing. ������������������������
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Test Preparation and Practice ���������������������


�����������������

Following each unit, you will be tested on the ���������

literature, reading, and vocabulary skills you


��������������������������������������������������������������������������
have just learned. Designed to simulate ����������������������������������������������������������������������������
standardized tests, this test will give you the �����������������������������������������������������������������������
practice you need to succeed while providing ����������������������������������������������������������������������������
���������������������������������������������������������������������������
an assessment of how well you have met the unit ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������
objectives. ����������������������������������������������������������������������
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Organizing Information
Graphic organizers—such as Foldables, diagrams,
and charts—help you keep your information and
ideas organized.

xxxix
LITER ARY MAP OF TH E U N ITED STATES

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SCAVENGER H U NT

Glencoe’s Reader’s Choice contains a wealth of information. The


trick is to know where to look to access all of that information. If
you go through this scavenger hunt, either alone or with teachers or
parents, you will quickly learn how the textbook is organized and
how to get the most out of your reading and study time.

Let’s get started!

1 How many units and parts are there in this book?

��
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2 What is the difference between the glossary and the index?

��
�� � � �

3 There is a section on Test-Taking Strategies in the


Reference Section in the back of the textbook. Where else
in the book can you find help for test preparation?

4 In what special feature can you find historical information


about the time in which a certain author lived?

5 If you want to quickly find all of the public documents


pertaining to colonial America, where would you look?

6 If you wanted to find a definition of the term psychological


realism, where would you look?

7 What are the Big Ideas for Unit 2, and how can you find them
in the text?

8 The Web site for the book is referred to throughout the book.
What sort of information does the Web site contain that might
help you?

9 Which of the book’s main features will provide you with


the strategies for developing your writing skills?

After you answer all the questions, meet with a


partner or a small group to compare answers.

3
(b)Photodisc, (bkgd)Steven Allen/Getty Images
CONTENTS

UNIT ONE Early America


Beginnings –1800 ...........................................4

Timeline .................................................................................... 6

By the Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Being There . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Historical, Social, and Cultural Forces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Big Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Anonymous I Have Killed the Deer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Song . . . . . . . 13
Wrap-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Part 1 The sacred earth and the


power of storytelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Literary History: Native American Mythology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

James Mooney How the World Was Made . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Myth . . . . . . .22

“There is another world under this and it is


like ours in everything . . .”
—Cherokee Myth

N. Scott Momaday Cultural Perspective:


from The Way to Rainy Mountain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Memoir . . . . . . .27
Comparing Literature Across Time and Place
Joseph Bruchac The Sky Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Myth . . . . . . .34
Chinua Achebe and
John Iroaganachi How the Leopard Got His Claws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Myth . . . . . . .37
Leslie Marmon Silko Prayer to the Pacific. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . . .42
Sherman Alexie The Summer of Black Widows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . . .44
Dekanawida from The Iroquois Constitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Public Document . . . . . . .47

viii
Richard Cummins/CORBIS
CONTENTS

Part 2 Life in the new world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53


Álvar Núñez Cabeza
de Vaca from La Relación . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Memoir . . . . . . .54
William Bradford from Of Plymouth Plantation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Memoir . . . . . . .60
Olaudah Equiano from The Life of Olaudah Equiano . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Autobiography . . . . . . .66

“I had never seen among any people such


instances of brutal cruelty . . .”
—Olaudah Equiano

Mary Rowlandson from A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration


of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Memoir . . . . . . .74
Grammar Workshop: Sentence Structure: Using Adverb Clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81

Anne Bradstreet Upon the Burning of Our House, July 10th, 1666 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . . .82
To My Dear and Loving Husband . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . . .85
Jonathan Edwards from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Speech . . . . . . .88
Vocabulary Workshop: Distinct Meanings:
Understanding Analogies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Part 3 the road to independence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95


Benjamin Franklin from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin . . . . . . . . Autobiography . . . . . . .96
from Poor Richard’s Almanack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Proverb . . . . . 102
Literary History: The Rhetoric of Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Patrick Henry Speech to the Second Virginia Convention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Speech . . . . . 106


Thomas Jefferson Declaration of Independence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Public Document . . . . . 112
TIME: How They Chose These Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Historical Essay . . . . . 118

ix
SuperStock
Vocabulary Workshop: Word Origins: Understanding
Political Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Thomas Paine from The Crisis, No. 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Public Document . . . . . 122

“. . . the harder the conflict, the more


glorious the triumph.”
—Thomas Paine

Phillis Wheatley To His Excellency, General Washington . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 129


Abigail Adams Letter to John Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Letter . . . . . 134
Letter to Her Daughter from the New
and Unfinished White House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Letter . . . . . 138
Grammar Workshop: Mechanics: Missing Commas with
Nonessential Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

David McCullough Historical Perspective: from John Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Biography . . . . . 142

Writing Workshop:
Persuasive Speech: Supporting Your Opinion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Becky Cain PROFESSIONAL MODEL: from Proposals


for Electoral College Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Speech . . . . . 147
Speaking, Listening, and Viewing Workshop:
Delivering a Persuasive Speech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Test Preparation and Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Benjamin Franklin from The Whistle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Biography . . . . . 156

x
North Wind Picture Archive
CONTENTS

U N IT T WO
AMERICAN –-------––-–––
ROMANTICISM 1800 1860 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .164
By the Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .166
Being There . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167
Historical, Social, and Cultural Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .168
Big Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169
Henry David Thoreau from The Journal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Journal . . . . . 173
Edgar Allan Poe from The Fall of the House of Usher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . . 175
Wrap-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176

PART
–-----––
Individualism and Nature
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177

Ralph Waldo Emerson from Nature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essay . . . . . 178


from Self-Reliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essay . . . . . 183
Concord Hymn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 187
TIME: The Biology of Joy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Science Article . . . . . 189
Margaret Fuller from Woman in the Nineteenth Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essay . . . . . 193

“The warmest appeal in behalf


of Woman.”
—Margaret Fuller

Literary History: The Fireside Poets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

William Cullen Bryant To the Fringed Gentian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 201


Oliver Wendell Holmes Old Ironsides. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 201
Henry David Thoreau from Walden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Memoir . . . . . 202

xi
Bettmann/CORBIS
Comparing Literature Across Time and Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Henry David Thoreau from Civil Disobedience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essay . . . . . 211
Mohandas K. Gandhi On the Eve of Historic Dandi March . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Speech . . . . . 218

Nelson Mandela from Long Walk to Freedom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Autobiography . . . . . 220

PART
–-----–– The Dark Side of Romanticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Literary History: The First American Short Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226


Washington Irving The Devil and Tom Walker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . . 228
Edgar Allan Poe The Raven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 242
The Pit and the Pendulum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . . 250
Vocabulary Workshop: Context Clues: Determining the
Meaning of Unfamiliar Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Nathaniel Hawthorne The Minister’s Black Veil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . . 265


Grammar Workshop: Sentence Structure: Correcting Dangling Modifiers . . . 279
Herman Melville from Moby-Dick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Novel . . . . . 280

“He looked not unlike the weather


horizon when a storm is coming up . . .”
—Herman Melville

Nathaniel Philbrick Historical Perspective: from In the Heart of the Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essay . . . . . 292

Writing Workshop: Reflective Essay: Reflecting on Nature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

Annie Dillard PROFESSIONAL MODEL: from An American Childhood . . . . . . . . . . . Memoir . . . . . 297


Speaking, Listening, and Viewing Workshop:
Delivering a Reflective Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

Literature of the Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .306

Test Preparation and Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Ralph Waldo Emerson from Self-Reliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essay . . . . . 308

xii
Images.com/CORBIS
CONTE NTS

U N IT TH R EE
The
The Civil War Era Timeline
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .316

By the Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .318


Being There . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .319
Historical, Social, and Cultural Forces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .320
Big Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .321
Frederick Douglass from The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Speech . . . . . 323
Abraham Lincoln from Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Speech . . . . . 325
Emily Dickinson The Lightning is a Yellow Fork. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 327
Walt Whitman Cavalry Crossing a Ford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 327
Wrap-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .328

PART 1 Resistance to Slavery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .329

Anonymous Swing Low, Sweet Chariot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Song . . . . . 332


Anonymous Go Down, Moses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Song . . . . . 333

Anonymous Keep Your Hand on the Plow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Song . . . . . 334

“Oppressed so hard they could not stand,


Let my people go.”
—from “Go Down, Moses”

Comparing Literature Across Time and Place


Frederick Douglass from My Bondage and My Freedom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Autobiography . . . . . 337
Robert Hayden Frederick Douglass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 345

Quincy Troupe In Texas Grass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 346


Literary History: Slave Narratives and Civil War Memoirs,
Letters, and Diaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348

xiii
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC/Art Resource, NY
TIME: Slavery Under Glass. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . News Article . . . . . 350
Sojourner Truth And Ain’t I a Woman? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Speech . . . . . 354
Vocabulary Workshop:
Denotation and Connotation: Using Semantic Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

PART 2 The Civil War: A Nation Divided


Mary Chesnut from Mary Chesnut’s Civil War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Memoir . . . . . 360
. . . .359

Grammar Workshop: Coherence: Using Transitional Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

Robert E. Lee Letter to His Son. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Letter . . . . . 368


Ambrose Bierce An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . . 373
Abraham Lincoln The Gettysburg Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Speech . . . . . 386
Garry Wills Political Perspective: from Lincoln at Gettysburg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essay . . . . . 390

PART 3 A Poetic Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .393

Walt Whitman I Hear America Singing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 394

When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 397


A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Gray and Dim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 399
Beat! Beat! Drums! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 400
from Specimen Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Memoir . . . . . 402
from Song of Myself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 406

“I am of old and young, of the foolish as much


as the wise . . .”
—Walt Whitman

xiv
CORBIS
CONTENTS

Justin Kaplan Literary Perspective: from Walt Whitman: A Life . . . . . . . . . . Nonfiction . . . . . 416

Emily Dickinson If you were coming in the Fall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 423


My life closed twice before its close . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 426
The Soul selects her own Society. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 426
Much Madness is divinest Sense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 428
Success is counted sweetest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 429
I heard a Fly buzz when I died . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 431
The Bustle in a House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 432
Because I could not stop for Death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 434
There’s a certain Slant of light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 436
This is my letter to the World. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 437

“Parting is all we know of heaven,


And all we need of hell.”
—Emily Dickinson

Billy Collins Literary Perspective: from Emily Dickinson: An Introduction . . . Essay . . . . . 441

Writing Workshop: Historical Research Paper: Investigating


the Civil War Era . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444

Speaking, Listening, and Viewing Workshop:


Oral Report on an Historical Investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454

Literature of the Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .456

Test Preparation and Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458

xv
Christie’s Images
UNIT FOUR
Regionalism and Realism
1880–1910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464

Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .466

By the Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .468


Being There . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .469
Historical, Social, and Cultural Forces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .470
Big Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .471
Willa Cather from O Pioneers! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Novel . . . . . 473
Kate Chopin from The Awakening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Novel . . . . . 475
Stephen Crane from The Red Badge of Courage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Novel . . . . . 477
Wrap-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .478

P
PART 1 Regionalism and Local Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .479

Literary History: The Rise of Local Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fiction . . . . . 480

Mark Twain The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County . . . . . .Short Story . . . . . 484
Two Views of the River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Memoir . . . . . 490
TIME: Life Along the Mississippi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Investigative Report . . . . . 494
Edgar Lee Masters Lucinda Matlock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 499
Fiddler Jones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 502
Bret Harte The Outcasts of Poker Flat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . . 504
Grammar Workshop: Mechanics: Punctuating Appositives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517

Willa Cather A Wagner Matinée . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . . 518


Chief Joseph I Will Fight No More Forever. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Speech . . . . . 527

P
PART 2 Realism and Naturalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .531

Literary History: The Two Faces of Urban America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532


Edith Wharton April Showers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . . 534
Vocabulary Workshop: Language Resources: Using a Thesaurus . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544
xvi
CONTENTS

Comparing Literature Across Time and Place


Kate Chopin The Story of an Hour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . . 546
Anton Chekhov The Darling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . . 552
Gabriela Mistral Richness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 560
Paul Laurence Dunbar Douglass. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 562
We Wear the Mask. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 565
E. A. Robinson Richard Cory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 567
Miniver Cheevy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 570
Stephen Crane The Open Boat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . . 572

“White waves paced to and fro


in the moonlight.”
—Stephen Crane

Jack London To Build a Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . . 593


Barry Lopez Geographic Perspective: from Arctic Dreams:
Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essay . . . . . 608
Writing Workshop: Literary Analysis: Analyzing a Short Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614

Bettina L. Knapp PROFESSIONAL MODEL: from Stephen Crane: Tales of Adventure. . Essay . . . . . 615
Speaking, Listening, and Viewing Workshop:
Delivering an Oral Response to Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 624

Literature of the Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .626

Test Preparation and Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628

Upton Sinclair from The Jungle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Novel . . . . . 628

Jacob Riis from How the Other Half Lives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essay . . . . . 629
xvii
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC/Art Resource, NY
UNIT FIVE
BEGINNINGS
OF THE MODERN AGE
1910 –1930s . . . . . 634

Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .636

By the Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .638


Being There . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .639
Historical, Social, and Cultural Forces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .640
Big Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .641
E. E. Cummings from I: Six Nonlectures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Speech . . . . . 643
Ernest Hemingway from The Sun Also Rises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Novel . . . . . 645
Langston Hughes from The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essay . . . . . 647
Wrap-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .648

PART 1 MODERN POETRY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .649

Literary History: Symbolist and Imagist Poetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650

Basho Haiku . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 650


H. D. Oread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 651
Ezra Pound In a Station of the Metro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 654
A Pact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 654
T. S. Eliot The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 656
William
Carlos Williams The Red Wheelbarrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 666
This Is Just to Say . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 669

“Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold”
—William Carlos Williams

xviii
The Barnes Foundation, Merion Station, Pennsylvania/CORBIS
CONTENTS

Vocabulary Workshop:
Word Meanings: Defining Compound Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671

Amy Lowell Summer Rain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 672


Fireworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 675
Comparing Literature Across Time and Place
Archibald MacLeish Ars Poetica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 678
Rainer Maria Rilke Letters to a Young Poet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Letter . . . . . 682
Mark Strand Eating Poetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 684
Ishmael Reed beware : do not read this poem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 686
Wallace Stevens Study of Two Pears. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 689
The Man with the Blue Guitar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 692
E. E. Cummings somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 694
anyone lived in a pretty how town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 697
Carl Sandburg Chicago . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 699
Grass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 702
Robert Frost Mending Wall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 704
Birches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 708
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 711
Acquainted with the Night . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 713
The Death of the Hired Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 715
President
John F. Kennedy Political Perspective: Remarks at Amherst College. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Speech . . . . . 725

PART 2 MODERN FICTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .729

Literary History: The Modern American Short Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 730

Ernest Hemingway In Another Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . . 732


Grammar Workshop:
Sentence Structure: Using Coordinating Conjunctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 741

F. Scott Fitzgerald Winter Dreams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . . 742


James L. W. West III Biographical Perspective: from The Perfect Hour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essay . . . . . 762

xix
Dorothy Parker Soldiers of the Republic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . . 768
Katherine Anne Porter The Jilting of Granny Weatherall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . . 774

PART 3 THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE . . . . . .785


James
Weldon Johnson My City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 786
Zora Neale Hurston from Dust Tracks on a Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Autobiography . . . . . 790
Vocabulary Workshop: Word Meanings:
Understanding Homonyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 799

Claude McKay If We Must Die . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 800


The Tropics in New York . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 803
TIME: Stanzas from a Black Epic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Art Review . . . . . 805
Langston Hughes I, Too. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 809
The Negro Speaks of Rivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 812
When the Negro Was in Vogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Autobiography . . . . . 815

Georgia Johnson Your World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 822

Arna Bontemps A black man talks of reaping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 826


Countee Cullen Any Human to Another . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 830

“Your grief and mine must intertwine


like sea and river.”
—Countee Cullen

Writing Workshop: Literary Analysis: Analyzing a Poem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 834

Lawrence Raab PROFESSIONAL MODEL: from Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” . . . . . . Essay . . . . . 835
Speaking, Listening, and Viewing Workshop:
Oral Interpretation of a Poem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 842

Literature of the Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .844


Test Preparation and Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 846
Langston Hughes Early Autumn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 846
xx
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC/Art Resource, NY
CONTENTS

from
Cold War
UNIT SIX
to
t
Depression 1930S –1960
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 852

Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .854

By the Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .856


Being There . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .857
Historical, Social, and Cultural Forces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .858
Big Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .859
John Steinbeck from The Grapes of Wrath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Novel . . . . . 861

Gwendolyn Brooks kitchenette building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 863


Franklin D. Roosevelt from The Four Freedoms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Speech . . . . . 865
Wrap-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .866

part 1 The New Regionalism and the City . . . . . . . . . . . .867

John Steinbeck Breakfast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . . 868

“There was some element of great beauty


there that makes the rush of warmth.”
—John Steinbeck

Vocabulary Workshop:
Word Parts: Understanding Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 875

William Faulkner A Rose for Emily. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . . 876


Address upon Receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature . . . . . . Speech . . . . . 886
Eudora Welty A Worn Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . . 890

Richard Wright from Black Boy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Autobiography . . . . . 900

xxi
UPI/CORBIS
Erskine Caldwell
and Margaret
Bourke-White Historical Perspective:
from You Have Seen Their Faces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Photo Essay. . . . . . .909
Flannery O’Connor The Life You Save May Be Your Own . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . . 913

“. . . he had a look of composed


dissatisfaction as if he understood
life thoroughly.”
—Flannery O’Connor

Grammar Workshop: Sentence Structure:


Using Introductory Phrases and Clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 926

E. B. White The Second Tree from the Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . . 927
Gwendolyn Brooks To Don at Salaam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 935
The Bean Eaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 938

Bernard Malamud The Magic Barrel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . . 940


James Baldwin The Rockpile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . . 957

part 2 The United States and the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .967

Franklin D. Roosevelt War Message to Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Speech . . . . . 968


Vocabulary Workshop:
Word Parts: Interpreting Unfamiliar Math and Science Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 973

Randall Jarrell The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . . 974

xxii
Bill Jacklin/Private Collection/Bridgeman Art Library
CONTENTS

Comparing Literature Across Time and Place


Elie Wiesel from All Rivers Run to the Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Memoir . . . . . 979

Garrett Hongo from Kubota. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Memoir . . . . . 990


Art Spiegelman from Maus: A Survivor’s Tale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Graphic Novel . . . . . 995

John Hersey from Hiroshima . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essay . . . . . 999


Tomás Rivera The Portrait . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . 1013

Literary History:
Cultural Rebels: Writers of the Beat Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1020
Arthur Miller The Crucible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Drama . . . . 1022

“The rumor of witchcraft is about . . .”


—Arthur Miller

Literary History: Modern American Drama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1108

Writing Workshop:
Autobiographical Narrative: Exploring Your Roots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1110

Eudora Welty PROFESSIONAL MODEL: from One Writer’s Beginnings . . . . . Autobiography . . . . 1111
Speaking, Listening, and Viewing Workshop:
Art or Photo Essay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1118

Literature of the Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1120

Test Preparation and Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1122

Margaret Bourke-White from Dust Changes America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essay . . . . 1122

xxiii
Gayle Ray/SuperStock
UNIT SEVEN

1960s–Present
. . . . . . . . . 1128

Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1130

By the Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1132


Being There . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1133
Historical, Social, and Cultural Forces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1134
Big Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1135
Martin Luther King Jr. from Letter from a Birmingham Jail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Letter . . . . 1137
David Wagoner from Lost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . 1139
Judith Ortiz Cofer from The Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . 1141
Wrap-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1142

PART 1 An Era of Protest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1143

TIME: The Torchbearer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Profile . . . . 1144


Martin Luther King Jr. from Stride Toward Freedom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Memoir . . . . 1147
Alice Walker Choice: A Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essay . . . . 1153
Vocabulary Workshop: Loaded Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1158

Studs Terkel from Working: Roberto Acuna, Farm Worker . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oral History . . . . 1159

Grammar Workshop:
Sentence Structure: Avoiding Run-on Sentences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1170

Comparing Literature Across Time and Place


Tim O’Brien Ambush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . 1172
Tran Mong Tu The Gift in Wartime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . 1177
Pin Yathay from Stay Alive, My Son . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . 1178

W. S. Merwin The Asians Dying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . 1182


Separation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . 1185
When You Go Away. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . 1185

xxiv
CONTENTS

Denise Levertov In Thai Binh (Peace) Province . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . 1188


Maya Lin Artistic Perspective: Proposal for the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Public Document . . . . 1192

Bob Dylan A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Song . . . . 1196

“I saw ten thousand talkers whose


tongues were all broken . . .”
—Bob Dylan

Anne Sexton Courage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . 1202

PART 2 Nature and Technology . . . . . . . 1207

Elizabeth Bishop The Fish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . 1208


Filling Station. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . 1212
Theodore Roethke Root Cellar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . 1216
Sylvia Plath Sleep in the Mojave Desert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . 1220
Crossing the Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . 1223
Stanley Kunitz The War Against the Trees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . 1226
Rachel Carson Scientific Perspective: from Silent Spring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essay . . . . 1230

Ursula Le Guin SQ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . 1233


Grammar Workshop: Sentence Structure:
Avoiding Misplaced Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1246

Julia Alvarez Snow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . 1247


Louise Glück Cottonmouth Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . 1251
Daisies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . 1254

xxv
Bettmann/CORBIS
PART 3 Extending and
Remaking Traditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1257

Maxine Hong Kingston from The Woman Warrior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Memoir . . . . 1258

“Finally Brave Orchid’s children


quit wandering
and drooped on the railing.”
—Maxine Hong Kingston

Raymond Carver Everything Stuck to Him . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . 1268


Judith Ortiz Cofer El Olvido (Según las Madres). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . 1276
Naomi Shihab Nye My Father and the Figtree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . 1280

Billy Collins I Chop Some Parsley While Listening to


Art Blakey’s Version of “Three Blind Mice” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . 1285
Louise Erdrich The Names of Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essay . . . . 1290
Sandra Cisneros Salvador Late or Early . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . 1298
Toni Morrison Thoughts on the African-American Novel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essay . . . . 1302
Vocabulary Workshop: Word Parts: Using Suffixes to Form Nouns . . . . . . . . . . 1309

Literary History: From Comic Strips to Graphic Novels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1310

Edwidge Danticat Nineteen Thirty-Seven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Short Story . . . . 1312


Ai The Man with the Saxophone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . 1324

xxvi
SuperStock
CONTENTS

Rosario Morales and


Aurora Levins Morales Ending Poem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . 1329
Writing Workshop: Editorial: Persuading Your Readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1334

Jeremy Blachman PROFESSIONAL MODEL: Job Posting: The New York Times. . . . . . . Essay . . . . 1335
Speaking, Listening, and Viewing Workshop:
Conducting a Debate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1342

Literature of the Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1344

Test Preparation and Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1346


Alice Walker from “Longing to Die of Old Age” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essay . . . . 1346
William Stafford “Traveling Through the Dark” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poem . . . . 1347

Reference Section
Literary Terms Handbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R1 Business Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .R42
Reading Handbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R20 Language Handbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .R46
Vocabulary Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R20 Grammar Glossary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R46
Comprehension Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R21 Mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R53
Literary Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R23 Spelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R58
Analysis and Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R24 Test-Taking Skills Handbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R61
Using Foldables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R26 Glossary/Glosario . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .R64
Writing Handbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R30 Academic Word List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .R86
The Writing Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R30 Index of Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .R89
Using the Traits of Strong Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R33 Index of Authors and Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .R99
Writing Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R35 Index of Art and Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .R102
Research Paper Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R36 Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .R104

xxvii
The First Harvest in the Wilderness, 1855, Asher Brown Durand. Oil on canvas,
32 x 471/2 in. Brooklyn Museum of Art, NY.

4
Asher Brown Durand/ Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York, USA/Bridgeman Art Library
U N IT ON E

Early
America
Beginnings –1800

Looking Ahead
The roots of American literature display a rich, complex mixture of
cultures and eras. Through oral tradition, the Native American peoples
preserved their myths, tales, songs, and other lore from long ago.
When Europeans reached the Americas, their writings recorded their
experiences of exploration and settlement. Africans who were brought
to the Americas by force wrote of the conditions of slavery. American
literature developed further as writers played an important role in the
colonial struggle for independence from Great Britain.

Keep the following questions in mind as you read:


How did Native Americans view their relationship to the world
around them?
What were the major cultural features that the Puritans brought
with them to New England?
How did the development of society in colonial America lead to
the Revolution?

O B J EC TI V ES
In learning about Early America, you will focus on the following:

• interpreting the possible influences of the historical context on a literary work


• identifying and analyzing the effect of artistic elements within literary texts such as
character development, rhyme, imagery, and language
• applying an understanding that language and literature are the primary means by
which a culture is transmitted
• using writing to formulate questions, refine topics, and clarify ideas

5
Timeline

(t) New York Historical Society, New York, USA/Bridgeman Art Library, (cr) George Henry Boughton /New York Historical Society, New York, USA/Bridgeman Art Library
1500 –1800
AM E R I CAN L I T E R AT U R E American flag, c. 1781

1500 1600
1542 1630 1640
La Relación by Álvar Núñez William Bradford begins Bay Psalm Book is published
Cabeza de Vaca is published Of Plymouth Plantation ▼
1650
Anne Bradstreet’s poems are
published in London
1682
A Narrative of the Captivity
and Restoration of Mrs. Mary
Rowlandson is published

U N I T E D STAT ES EV E NTS Pilgrims going to Church, 1867. George Henry Boughton.


Oil on canvas, 29 x 52 in. New York Historical Society, NY.

1500 1600
1492 1528–1536 1607 1637
Columbus makes his first Cabeza de Vaca wanders the Jamestown, first permanent Anne Hutchinson is
voyage to the Americas American Southwest English colony in America, banished for religious dissent
is founded in Virginia
1521 1675–1676
Cortés conquers the 1619 King Philip, chief of the
Aztec empire First Africans arrive Wampanoags, wages war in
in Virginia New England
1620 1681
Aztec calendar stone Pilgrims aboard the William Penn founds the
Mayflower arrive at Cape Cod Pennsylvania colony
1630 1692
Massachusetts Bay Colony Witchcraft trials begin in
WO R L D EVE NTS is founded Salem, Massachusetts

1500 1600
1522 1600 1642
What is left of Magellan’s Edo (Tokyo) becomes the English Civil War begins
ships and crew complete capital of Japan
1649
circumnavigation of the
1632 King Charles I of England
globe
Shah Jahan begins the is executed; Puritan
1558 Taj Mahal as tomb for his Commonwealth is established
Elizabeth I becomes queen wife Mumtaz
1660
of England
Martin Luther ▲
English monarchy is restored
1588 under Charles II
English fleet defeats the
1517 1688
Spanish Armada
Protestant Reformation Glorious Revolution
begins in Germany establishes limited monarchy
in England
Taj Mahal

6 U N IT 1 E ARLY A M E RICA
(cl) Werner Forman/Art Resource, NY, (bl) Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY, (br) Royalty Free/CORBIS
(tl) Jean-Antoine Houdon / Musee des Beaux-Arts, Orleans, France, Roger-Viollet, Paris/Bridgeman Art Library, (tr) Noah Webster Spelling Book From the Collections of The Henry Ford Museum

Benjamin Franklin

1700
1704 1773 1776 1783 ▲
First colonial newspaper is Phillis Wheatley’s poems are Thomas Paine begins The Noah Webster’s American
published published in London Crisis series Speller is published
1732 1776 1782 1787
Benjamin Franklin’s first Thomas Paine’s Common Letters from an American Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on
Poor Richard’s Almanack is Sense is published Farmer by Michel Guillaume the State of Virginia is
published Jean de Crèvecoeur is published
published
1771 1789
Benjamin Franklin begins Interesting Narrative of the
his Autobiography Life of Olaudah Equiano is
published in London

1700
1735 1776 1783
John Peter Zenger trial helps Declaration of Treaty of Paris is signed,
establish freedom of the press 1765 ▲ Independence is signed confirming independence of
Stamp Act triggers protest United States
1736 1781
Great Awakening religious throughout colonies British surrender at 1788
revival begins in Yorktown, ending the U.S. Constitution is ratified
1770
Massachusetts Revolutionary War
British troops fire on 1789
1739 colonists in Boston Massacre George Washington
Africans attack slaveholders becomes first president
1775
in the Stono Rebellion
Battles of Lexington and
1754–1763 Concord are fought
French and Indian War
is fought

1700
1726 1789 Revolutionary War drum

Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s French Revolution begins in


Travels is published Paris
1760 1793
George III becomes king of French rulers Louis XVI and
Great Britain Marie Antoinette are
executed
1778
James Cook lands on Hawaii

Reading Check
Timeline Visit www.glencoe.com Analyzing Graphic Information What was the history
for an interactive timeline. of the English monarchy between 1642 and 1688?

INTRODUCTION 7
(c) Williamsburg Marketplace, (b) NPS: Amer. Rev. War/Guilford Courthouse
By the Numbers
The Columbian Exchange unintentionally brought with them many diseases to
which Native Americans had no immunity.
Following the arrival of European explorers and
settlers in the Western Hemisphere, many plants and Devastating epidemics resulted, with some Native
animals were carried between the Americas and Europe, American groups suffering a 90 percent population loss
Africa, and Asia. This complex interaction, called the in the first century after European contact.
Columbian Exchange, permanently altered Earth’s eco-
systems and changed many
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RELIGION IN THE COLONIES 1700s REVOLUTIONARY


WAR CASUALTIES
450
400
Anglican German Reformed American
423 Baptist Lutheran
• 7,200 battlefield deaths
Number of Churches

350 Congregational Presbyterian


300 Dutch Reformist Roman Catholic • 8,200 battlefield wounded
250 • 1,400 missing in action
200 246 • 10,000 deaths from disease
150 and other causes
100 160
• 8,500 deaths in British prisons
50 96 95
78
0 51 27
British
Source Historical Atlas of Religion in America, by Edwin Scott Gaustad
• 10,000 dead from all causes

SLAVERY NATIVE AMERICAN


DIVERSITY
• From 8 to 10 million enslaved • Nearly 4 million were taken
Africans were taken to to British, French, and Dutch Native American cultures were
the Americas. colonies in the Caribbean. extraordinarily diverse. Experts
estimate that at least 300 distinct
• Some 3.5 million were taken • Approximately 500,000 were
languages were spoken in North
to the Portuguese colony taken to Britain’s North
America when Columbus arrived.
of Brazil. American colonies.
The number may have been as
• About 1.5 million were taken high as 1,000. There were 20 lan-
to Spanish colonies. guage groups in California alone.

8 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Being
(tl) Art Archive/Musee de la Marine, Paris/ Dagli Orti, (tr) Art Resource,NY

There
The Cherokee, Iroquois, and Huron peoples lived in
what is now the eastern United States. Great Britain’s
American colonies extended from present-day Maine
to Georgia.

A Town of Secota, 16th century,


Theodore de Bry. Engraving. �����
Musée de la Marine, Paris.

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B Residence of David Twining, 1845–1847,
Edward Hicks. Oil on canvas. Private collection.

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C Tontine Coffee House, c. 1797, Francis Guy.
Oil on linen. New York Historical Society, NY.
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Maps in Motion Visit


www.glencoe.com for an interactive map.

Reading Check 2. How do American Revolutionary War casualties


compare with those of the British?
Analyzing Graphic Information:
1. What animals were introduced into the Americas 3. Where were most of colonial America’s large cities
from Europe? What animal was taken from the located?
Americas to Europe?

I NT ROD U CT I ON 9
(b) Francis Guy/New York Historical Society, New York, USA/Bridgeman Art Library
Early America
Beginnings –1800

Historical, Social, and Cultural Forces


ent types of social organization. Some peoples, such
as the Maya and the Aztecs of Mexico and Central
America, created complex societies with great cities,
large-scale farming, and elaborate record keeping
based on systems of writing. Other Native Americans,
such as the Plains Indians, who hunted the great
herds of buffalo, lived in simple, portable dwellings
and passed on their knowledge through oral tradition.

European Contact
Beginning about 1400, a number of forces prompted
Europeans to start exploring the rest of the world.
These forces included the growth of trade between
Europe and Asia and advances in navigation and
shipbuilding. Led by the Portuguese and the Spanish,
European explorers brought many parts of the world
into meaningful contact with one another for the
first time in history. One of these explorers was
Christopher Columbus, an Italian who commanded a
Spanish fleet. In 1492 he made the first of four voy-
ages from Spain to the Americas, opening the era
of cultural contact between Europe and the
Pulling Down the Statue of George III, 1857. William Walcutt. Western Hemisphere.
Oil on canvas. Lafayette College Art Collection, Easton, PA.

The Native Americans “Why will you take by force what you
When Europeans arrived in the Western Hemisphere may obtain by love? Why will you
in the 1490s, it was already home to hundreds of
Native American peoples with different languages,
destroy us who supply you with food?”
cultures, and social values. The ancestors of these —Powhatan to Captain John Smith
Native Americans had come to the Western
Hemisphere from Asia thousands of years before.
Most of these peoples reached North America by a
This cultural contact had enormous effects on world
land bridge that once linked Siberia and Alaska
history. The European exploration, conquest, and set-
across the Bering Strait, but some may have used
tlement of the Americas led to the founding of many
sea routes.
new nations—including the United States—that
For thousands of years, the descendants of these peo- would play a large role in world affairs. For the Native
ples spread throughout the forests, plains, deserts, and Americans, however, it was the beginning of an
mountains of the Americas. The Native Americans immense tragedy during which many of their societies
responded to these varied environments with differ- were destroyed by war and disease.

10 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Bettmann/CORBIS
Religious Belief The American Revolution
Religion was a major factor in American colonial cul- In the mid-1760s, unrest began to develop in Great
ture. This was particularly true in the New England Britain’s American colonies. A long war with France
colonies, where groups of Protestants from England, had left Britain in debt. To raise money, the British
such as the Pilgrims and Puritans, founded settle- government passed a series of unpopular laws, includ-
ments beginning in 1620. Other groups seeking reli- ing taxes on a variety of everyday items. By the mid-
gious freedom followed, including the Quakers led by 1770s, resentment over these taxes was leading to
William Penn, who settled in Pennsylvania in 1670. political violence and calls for colonial self-rule.
In the 1730s and 1740s, a religious revival called the
Great Awakening, which began in New England,
spread throughout the American colonies. Two results
of this movement were increased feelings of responsi- “The war is inevitable—and let it come!”
bility for Native Americans and enslaved Africans —Patrick Henry
and a more tolerant spirit toward other faiths.

The Slave Trade In April 1775, the British colonial government in


From their beginnings, the American colonies suf- Massachusetts ordered troops to the towns of
fered from a severe labor shortage. This was particu- Lexington and Concord to control unrest. The first
larly true in the South, where large tobacco and rice battles of the Revolutionary War were fought there
plantations required hundreds of workers. Despite between American militiamen and British soldiers.
protests from some groups (such as the Quakers), On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress
many colonists participated in the slave trade. By adopted the Declaration of Independence, asserting
1750 there were more than 200,000 enslaved the colonists’ right to self-government and establish-
Africans in Britain’s North American possessions, ing the United States of America. To defend their
most of them in the Southern colonies. These colo- independence, the Americans fought a long war with
nies developed slave codes—sets of laws that formally the British, who finally accepted American indepen-
regulated slavery and defined the relationship dence in 1783.
between enslaved Africans and free people. Over
time these slave codes became increasingly strict.

PREVIEW Big Ideas of Early America

The Sacred Earth


Life in the The Road to
1 and the Power 2 New World 3 Independence
of Storytelling

Much of Native American European explorers and British taxes, regulations,


oral literature expressed a settlers left accounts of and soldiers on American
reverence for the natural endurance and religious faith soil aroused annoyance,
world. Native American life as they struggled to adapt irritation, and finally revolt.
was organized around the to life in an unfamiliar world. American writers provided
cycles of nature, and many Victims of the slave trade, ideas and inspiration to the
myths and folktales told of Africans recorded their fight cause of American freedom.
the origins of various aspects to survive. See pages 16 – 17.
of the universe and of human See pages 14 – 15.
relationships with the
natural world.
See pages 12 – 13.

INT RODUCTION 11
Big Idea 1
The Sacred Earth and the Power of Stor y telling

W
e often have a strong feeling for the This concept of common ownership contrasted
land where we live—its shapes and sharply with that of the Europeans, who in the early
colors, its sounds and smells. For 1600s began settling North America. These settlers
Native Americans, this feeling for had a fierce desire to own their own land. Violent
the natural world around them ran very deep. To conflicts often resulted when Native American lead-
them, the entire earth and all of the living things ers signed treaties—which they usually did not under-
that inhabited it were sacred. In Native American stand—that opened lands to white settlement.
cultures, this reverence for the earth and its creatures
was passed down orally from generation
to generation. Speakers and storytellers were valued
members of Native American communities. “American literature begins with the
first human perception of the American
The Cycle of Life landscape expressed and preserved
This attitude toward the natural world shaped the in language.”
religious beliefs of Native Americans. They saw ani-
mals, plants, and the forces of nature as part of a great — N. Scott Momaday
sacred cycle of life that human beings must treat with
deep respect. The religious ceremonies of Native
American peoples were organized around the events
of this natural cycle, such as the changing seasons A Legacy of Stories
and the birth, growth, and death of living things. The Native American oral tradition began approxi-
Native Americans saw spiritual values in the natural mately forty thousand years ago when the first Native
world. Through dreams and visions, they sought con- Americans crossed from Asia to Alaska via a land
tact with the spirits they believed to inhabit all living bridge that has since been covered by the waters of
things. Through their tales and songs, Native the Bering Strait. As populations migrated south,
Americans expressed their view of the sacredness of unique cultures and languages developed in response
the natural world. to a variety of environments. When European explor-
ers first arrived in the New World, thousands of lan-
guages, some of them as different from one another
as English is from Chinese, were spoken in the
“Sell a country! Why not sell the air, the Americas. Each of these cultures developed its own
great sea, as well as the earth? Did not stories and mythology.
the Great Spirit make them all for the use No one knows what the earliest stories were about,
but it is likely that many dramatized the precarious
of his children?” day-to-day existence of the first Native Americans.
—Tecumseh, Shawnee leader Stone Age hunters may have related tales of the hunt
to groups sitting around campfires. Sacred stories were
often at the heart of religious ceremonies, and in
societies where myth and reality merged, rituals were
Owning the Land thought to link the spirits of hunters and animals.
The Native Americans’ belief that the natural Versions of the earliest stories have evolved through
world is sacred affected their attitude toward land- hundreds of generations and are still a living part of
ownership. In their view, no one person could own Native American traditions.
land, which instead belonged in common to all
people—and other living things—that inhabited it.

12 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Mimbres style pottery
bowl painted with the
guardians of the four
seasons, Mogollon culture,
A.D. 10th century. Maxwell
Museum of Anthropology,
Albuquerque, NM.

I Have Killed the Deer


Taos Pueblo Song

I have killed the deer. When I die I must give life


I have crushed the grasshopper To what has nourished me.
And the plants he feeds upon. The earth receives my body
I have cut through the heart And gives it to the plants
Of trees growing old and straight. And to the caterpillars
I have taken fish from water To the birds
And birds from the sky. And to the coyotes
In my life I have needed death Each in its own turn so that
So that my life can be. The circle of life is never broken.

Reading Check
Analyzing Cause and Effect How did Native
Americans’ religious views lead to conflict
with Europeans?

INT RODUCTION 13
Werner Forman / Art Resource, NY
Big Idea 2
Life in the New World

E
ven under favorable circumstances, adjusting Colony in 1620. Bradford viewed writing primarily
to a new home and a new way of life is often as a practical tool. At the beginning of his history of
hard. For the Europeans who explored and the Plymouth Colony, he said that he intended to
settled North America, this experience was produce a record of events in “a plain style, with sin-
frequently a struggle to endure and subdue a wilder- gular regard unto the simple truth in all things.”
ness and was marked by fierce conflicts with Native
Americans. For the Africans seized from their homes
and enslaved in the Americas, the experience was a “For we must consider that we shall be
battle first to survive and then to hold on to their
cultural identity under slavery. as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all
people are upon us.”
A Collision of Cultures —John Winthrop
Europeans began to explore North America in the
early 1500s. Many of these explorers wrote grim
reports of the hardships they encountered in the In 1734 Jonathan Edwards (see pages 88 – 93), a
wilderness. The first arrivals were followed by other Congregational minister who was the greatest spokes-
Europeans, settlers who built towns and started farms. man of Puritanism, began a series of religious revivals
As European settlement spread, conflict developed among the young people in his community of
between the newcomers and Native Americans that Northampton, Massachusetts. His powerful sermons,
often led to brutal wars. Their superior weapons such as “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,”
enabled the Europeans to overcome their enemies. helped start and sustain the Great Awakening, a
Even more destructive to the Native Americans were widespread religious revival throughout the American
the diseases the newcomers brought with them. As a colonies. Edwards maintained that a person had to
result of war and disease, few Native Americans sur- repent and convert in order to be “born again.” This
vived beyond the end of the 1600s. idea of having an internal emotional experience
that brings one to God was a central idea of the
Puritan Style Great Awakening.
The Puritans were European settlers who had the
greatest influence on early American literature. Surviving Slavery
They began to establish communities in New England The first enslaved Africans were brought to Virginia
in the 1620s after leaving England to escape what in 1619. By the 1700s, slave ships arrived regularly in
they saw as signs of corruption in the Church of the American colonies full of African men, women,
England. These included elaborate rituals, a richly and children to be bought and sold. Most of these
dressed clergy, and fine churches. In opposition to people, like Olaudah Equiano (see pages 63 – 73), had
this, Puritans dressed in a plain style and held their been taken from their homes in West Africa by slave
simple religious services in undecorated meeting- traders. After enduring the horrors of the “Middle
houses. They also believed that they had a God-given Passage,” the long sea voyage across the Atlantic,
responsibility to establish an ideal way of life they reached the slave markets of the Americas.
in America. Despite brutal living conditions, these Africans strug-
The Puritans’ plainness and piety showed in their gled to preserve parts of their heritage—the social
writing, which employed straightforward language values and cultural traditions of their homelands—
and often focused on their faith. William Bradford but usually without success.
(see pages 60 – 65) was a member of the Puritan
group known as the Pilgrims, who settled Plymouth

14 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Quaker Meeting, late 18th century. Anonymous. Oil on canvas, 251/4 x 30 in. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA.

from Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford

September 6. These troubles being blown over, and hoped to help to cast half of them overboard before they
now all being compact together in one ship [the came to their journey’s end, and to make merry with
Mayflower], they put to sea again with a prosperous what they had; and if he were by any gently reproved, he
wind, which continued divers days together, which was would curse and swear most bitterly. But it pleased God
some encouragement unto them; yet, according to the before they came half seas over, to smite this young
usual manner, many were afflicted with sea sickness. And man with a grievous disease, of which he died in a des-
I may not omit here a special work of God’s providence. perate manner, and so was himself the first that was
There was a proud and very profane young man, one of thrown overboard. Thus his curses light on his own head,
the seamen, of a lusty, able body, which made him the and it was an astonishment to all his fellows, for they
more haughty; he would always be condemning the poor noted it to be the just hand of God upon him.
people in their sickness, and cursing them daily with
grievous execrations, and did not let to tell them that he
Reading Check
Evaluating Why did the Puritans adopt a plain style in
their writing?

INT RODUCTION 15
MFA Boston
Big Idea 3
The Road to Independence

A
s human beings grow, they experience evil. The combined effect of a bold, enterprising spirit
the challenges and rewards of becoming coupled with education was the emergence in the
independent. Maturity brings both American colonies of an outstanding political leader-
greater responsibilities and greater rights. ship, which one of these leaders, Thomas Jefferson
Separated by a long, dangerous sea voyage from (see pages 112–117), called a “natural aristocracy” of
Britain, the American colonists became used to man- virtue and talent.
aging their own affairs. As colonial society developed,
many Americans came to believe that this growth in
responsibility should be matched with an increase in
Political Rights
political and economic rights. In time, this belief Philosophical ideas helped to direct the American
would lead to revolution—resulting in a break with colonists’ moves toward revolution. During the 1700s,
Britain, a long war, and full independence. America came under the influence of the European
cultural movement known as the Enlightenment.
Enlightenment thinkers believed that natural laws
A “Natural Aristocracy” applied to social, political, and economic relation-
The culture of the American colonies was shaped ships. Among the ideas of the Enlightenment was the
by the practical, self-reliant, pioneer spirit of settlers concept that human beings possessed certain natural,
who had left their homelands to seek a better life. or “inalienable” rights, basic rights that could never
As the French-born American Michel Guillaume be taken away. Thomas Jefferson believed that the
Jean de Crèvecoeur observed, “He is an American colonists had a natural right to be free. He also
who, leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices believed that they had a right—indeed a duty—to
and manners, receives new ones from the mode of end what he saw as Britain’s tyrannical rule of the
life he has embraced, the new government he obeys, colonies by establishing their own independent gov-
and the new rank he holds.” The career of Benjamin ernment. In the Declaration of Independence,
Franklin (see pages 96–103) reflected the American Jefferson eloquently expressed the fundamental ideas
colonists’ ability to rise in the world. He began life behind the American Revolution and fiercely
as one of seventeen children in a poor family. He denounced British injustice.
ended as a successful businessman, an influential poli-
tician, and a famous writer and scientist.
Women’s Lives
In colonial America, law and custom gave men
greater authority and importance than women in
“Sloth, like rust, consumes faster politics and in the household. A married woman, in
than labor wears, while the used key particular, had few legal rights and was almost com-
pletely under her husband’s control. Despite their
is always bright.” legal limitations, many colonial women worked
—Benjamin Franklin outside their homes, running farms and businesses.
Women also played a vital role in the movement for
American independence by organizing boycotts of
British goods. During the Revolutionary War, women
Another important factor in the maturing of continued to make important contributions to the
American colonial society was an emphasis on self- American cause, both on the home front and on the
improvement through education. New England’s battlefront. However, the full exercise of the political
Puritans, for example, established a system of public rights they helped win would be denied them for
schools, believing that learning was a defense against another 140 years.

16 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
815

Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, 1815. Artist Unknown.

from The Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin

1. Temperance. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.


2. Silence. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
3. Order. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
4. Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
5. Frugality. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
6. Industry. Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
7. Sincerity. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
8. Justice. Wrong none by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
9. Moderation. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
10. Cleanliness. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.
11. Tranquility. Be not disturbed at trifles or at accidents common or unavoidable.
12. Chastity. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or
another’s peace or reputation.
13. Humility. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

Reading Check
Analyzing Cause and Effect How did the American
colonies come to have an effective group of leaders at
the time of the Revolution?

INT RODUCTION 17
Geoffrey Clements/CORBIS
Wrap-Up
Why It Matters Cultural Links
American literature began with the oral tradition of Native American literature has been flourishing
the Native Americans. This ancient legacy of stories, since the late 1960s. Among the major writers
songs, prayers, history, and other lore enabled the contributing to this literary renaissance are
Native Americans to preserve the outlines of a world N. Scott Momaday, Louise Erdrich, Leslie Marmon
that largely vanished. Disease and war followed the Silko, and Sherman Alexie.
arrival of Europeans in the Western Hemisphere.
The writings of Benjamin Franklin, particularly his
In recent years, new generations of Native American
Autobiography, have inspired both Americans and
writers have reinterpreted, in modern terms, the
people around the world to implement programs of
literary themes and forms of this tradition, as part
self-improvement. Frederick Douglass was among
of a continuing effort to explore Native American
those who used Franklin’s writing as a model.
cultural identity.
In 1848, at the first women’s rights convention in
The writings of the Puritans are part of a cultural
the United States, Elizabeth Cady Stanton mod-
tradition stretching back to the time of Martin Luther
eled her “Declaration of Rights and Sentiments”
and the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation.
on Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence.
As interpreted by the Puritans, some of the most
important features of this tradition became central You might try using this study organizer to keep track of the
to the American cultural tradition. Central to this literary elements you learn in this unit.

Puritan legacy is the belief in a God-given mission to Nonfi


ction

offer an example to the world of an ideal community. Short Storie


s

Poems
Another influential feature of Puritan culture is its
emphasis on simplicity and practicality.
BOUND BOOK
Liter
Puritanism inspired the religious revival of the Great ar
Elem y
Awakening, which in turn inspired a desire for ents
democracy and equality in its followers. To many
Americans, this sense of equality applied not only to
religion but to society as well. It encouraged in them
a willingness to criticize established authority—
including the authority of the British government. Big Ideas Link to Web resources to
further explore the Big Ideas at www.glencoe.com.

Connect to Today Use what you have learned about the


period to do one of these activities.

1. Speaking/Listening Divide into two groups and debate the following statement: “The influence of
Puritanism on modern American culture has been generally positive.”

2. Visual Literacy Alone or with other students, create a design expressing the Native American concept of
the unending cycle of life.

3. Writing Write a brief essay exploring how Jefferson’s “natural aristocracy” of virtue and talent that
formed the leadership of the American Revolution would regard those governing the United States today?

OB J EC TIVES
• Use verbal and nonverbal strategies when presenting ideas.
• Recognize characteristics of cultures through reading. Study Central Visit www.glencoe.com
• Clarify and defend positions with evidence. and click on Study Central to review Early America.

18 U N IT 1 EARLY AMERICA
Part 1

The sacred earth


and the Power of
Storytelling

Crossing the Ford, Platte River, Colorado, 1867–1870, Thomas Worthington Whittredge. Oil on canvas. Century Association, New York.

“Let us tell the old stories,


Let us sing the sacred songs.”
— N. Scott Momaday, “Carriers of the Dream Wheel”

19
Thomas Worthington/Century Association, New York, USA/Bridgeman Art Library
LITER ARY H I STORY

Native American Mythology

C
ENTURIES BEFORE THE FIRST “When earth was still young and giants still roamed the
Europeans arrived on the shores of North land, a great sickness came upon them. All of them
America, Native Americans had established died except for one small boy. One day while he was
hundreds of thriving nations, each with a unique playing, a snake bit him. The boy cried and cried.
culture and heritage. Each nation had its own The blood came out, and finally he died. With his
tradition of oral literature—stories that were passed tears our lakes became. With his blood the red clay
down from one generation to the next as they were became. With his body our mountains became, and
told and retold in the privacy of households and in that was how earth became.”
tribal ceremonies. These stories embodied the tribe’s
past and told of its close relationship with the
natural world. The result is a literature that is
timeless, a literature created by no one author but
by the people as a whole.

“You know, everything had to begin,


and this is how it was: the Kiowas
came one by one into this world
through a hollow log.”
—N. Scott Momaday
from The Way to Rainy Mountain

Creation Myths
An important part of the oral tradition of each
culture was its myths. A myth is an anonymous,
traditional story that relies on the supernatural to
explain a natural phenomenon, an aspect of
human behavior, or a mystery of the universe.
Myths try to explain why the world is the way it
is. They provide imaginative ways to help people
feel at home in the world and make sense of it.
Creation myths tell how the world and human
beings came to exist. Some myths, called origin
myths, explain how natural phenomena, such as
the stars, moon, and mountains, came to be or
why a society has certain beliefs and customs.
Often, elements of both creation myths and origin
myths appear in one story, as in this myth of the
Taos Pueblo people:
Totem Pole at Saxman Totem Park, Ketchikan. Tlingit. Wood
sculpture. Ketchikan, Alaska, USA.

20 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Pat O’Hara/CORBIS
Archetypes
The myths told by peoples around the world share
common elements known as archetypes. An archetype
(är kə tı̄p´) is a symbol, story pattern, or character type
that is found in the literature of many cultures. An
example of an archetype is children with opposite
qualities who are born of the same parent. In Iroquois
myth, Sky Woman gives birth to twins, one good and
one evil. This event explains the eternal struggle
between light and dark and between order and chaos.
Round rattle, raven/halibut design. Seattle Art Museum, Gift of
John H. Hauberg.
Tricksters Viewing the Artifact: What feature does this artifact contain
that reflects Native American beliefs?
Another archetype found in Native American
mythology is the trickster. This character type, spiritual bond between the Creator, humanity, and
frequently an animal—such as a coyote, a raven, or a the entire natural world. They emphasize that it is
mink—that speaks and displays other human traits, has the duty of human beings to maintain a balance
two sides to its personality. Tricksters are rebels who defy within the natural world.
authority and frequently cause trouble, but they are also
In many Native American cultures, each family group, or
clever and creative figures who can unexpectedly reveal
clan, believed it descended from a particular animal or
wisdom. For example, in one Native American myth,
other natural object, called the totem. Members of the
the coyote brought death into the world when he
bear clan, for example, honored the bear as their clan
realized that the earth would become too crowded if
ancestor. The bear in turn served as the clan’s guardian
people were to live forever. In a Navajo myth, the Holy
spirit, helping and protecting its members. The bear clan
People were gathered to place the stars in the sky. This
was responsible for preserving the myths of the bear.
process was taking so long that Coyote grew impatient,
snatched the bag of stars, and hurled it into the heavens, Myths and rituals continue to play a central role in
forming the Milky Way. A Kiowa myth explains how a traditional Native American cultures. They are used
trickster stole the sun from those who lived on the other to give people a sense of order and identity, to heal
side of the earth so that all people could share day and the sick, to ensure a plentiful supply of food, to teach
night equally. moral lessons, and to initiate young people into
adulthood and the wisdom of the tribal past.

The Function of Myths


Native American myths told by various tribes have Literary History For more about
several things in common. Many emphasize a strong Native American mythology, go to www.glencoe.com.

R ES P O N D I N G AN D TH I N K I N G C R ITI CALLY
1. In your opinion, what is the most vital role of 3. What are some archetypes that can be found in such
mythology in a culture? forms of popular culture as comic books, movies,
and video games?
2. How do Native American myths express a dual view
of reality?

O B J EC TIVES
• Analyze characteristics of myths
• Connect to historical context of literature

LITERARY HISTO RY 21
Seattle Art Museum/CORBIS
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

How the World Was Made


M E E T T H E C H E RO K E E They learned new farming, weaving, and construc-
tion methods. In 1821, Sequoyah, a half-Cherokee

T
who had served in the U.S. Army, developed a sys-
heir neighbors, the Creek, called them
tem of writing the Cherokee language called a sylla-
Cherokee, meaning “people with another lan-
bary, a set of written characters in which each
guage.” They called themselves Aniyunwiya,
character represents a syllable. When Sequoyah
“the real people.” Hundreds of years ago, the
pitched the syllabary to the tribal council, the chiefs
Cherokee were the largest Native American nation
marveled at its prospects and immediately accepted
in what is now the southeastern United States. Like
the new technology. Within a few years, almost the
most other Native American peoples, the Cherokee
entire Cherokee nation was literate. In 1828, the
possessed a vibrant oral culture. Myths helped the
Cherokee used their syllabary to publish The
Cherokee understand the world around them, live in
Cherokee Phoenix, the first Native American newspa-
harmony with nature, and pass on their beliefs and
per. But adopting white cultural practices did noth-
values to their descendants.
ing to disarm the westward expansion. In 1830, the
In the mid-1500s, the Cherokee used stone tools and Cherokee were forcibly removed from their land
hunted bears, elk, and deer. They lived in log cabins under the Indian Removal Act. Some 15,000
with bark roofs, no windows, and a smoke hole in the Cherokee were placed in internment camps. Mean-
roof, in towns of about 200 people. At any given while, settlers pillaged and burned Cherokee homes.
time, the Cherokee were in either peace mode or war
mode. Because they lived in an alternating state, the Trail of Tears In 1838–1839, the Cherokee were
Cherokee government was made up of two sets of exiled from their ancestral home and forced to march
officials: a white chief, who ruled during peacetime, 1,000 miles to present-day Oklahoma, then known as
and a red chief, who ruled during wartime. Indian Territory. As many as 4,000 Cherokee died
during the grueling 116-day journey. The soldiers
refused to slow down for the sick and exhausted.
Treaty of Augusta In the frenzy of activity sur-
Today, most Cherokee still live in Oklahoma, while
rounding the American Revolution, Cherokee land-
several thousand, the descendants of those who
holdings were drastically reduced. The Cherokee had
escaped the Trail of Tears, still live in North Carolina.
been friendly trading partners with the British
throughout the 1700s but had fallen into debt. In the
Treaty of Augusta in 1773, the Cherokee and Creek PA NJ
OH MD
were forced to cede vast swaths of their tribal lands in IL IN DE
Georgia to repay these debts to the British. Hoping WV
to regain their traditional hunting grounds, the MO VA
KY
Cherokee pledged their support for the British at the
beginning of the American Revolution. In the 1770s NC
and 1780s, the Cherokee engaged in a flurry of skir- TN

mishes with the American army. They lost each time AR Cherokee
nation SC
and were forced to surrender more lands.
MS AL GA
Assimilation In the 1800s, the Cherokee learned
LA ATLANTIC
to adapt by assimilating elements of white culture. OCEAN

Author Search For more about Author Search FL For more about
the Cherokee, go to www.glencoe.com. this author,
GULFgo to
OFwww.literature.glencoe.com.
MEXICO

22 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A

C05-02C-A-827365
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Myth Reading Strategy Identifying Sequence


The natural world was an endless source of mystery Identifying sequence is finding the logical order of
for storytellers of the past. “How the World Was ideas or events. Common forms of sequencing include
Made” is a creation myth, or a story that explains time order, spatial order, and order of importance.
how the world began. Stories have also been writ- Often, two or more types of sequencing are used in
ten to explain other natural phenomena. As you one literary work. In fact, time order, spatial order, and
read, think about the following questions: order of importance are all employed in this Cherokee
genesis myth.
• What other events or characteristics in the natural
world might be explained through a story?
Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart to record an
• In what ways might a story reflect the storyteller’s example of each type of sequencing.
own view of the world?

Building Background Detail Type of Sequencing Why


Between 1887 and 1890, James Mooney, an p. 25 Order of Animals and
anthropologist for the Smithsonian Institution in “Men came Importance (also plants were
Washington, D.C., lived with the Cherokee in North after the time order) created before
Carolina. He won their trust and was able to collect animals and men so that men
a number of firsthand accounts of Cherokee rituals plants” would be able to
and stories, including the myth “How the World survive
Was Made,” which he published in 1900 in Myths
of the Cherokee.

Setting Purposes for Reading Vocabulary

Big Idea The Sacred Earth and the vault (volt) n. an arched structure forming a
roof or ceiling; p. 24 The church’s vault arched
Power of Storytelling
high over our heads.
As you read “How the World Was Made,” notice
what it reveals about the Cherokees’ relationship alight (ə l¯t ) v. to descend and come to rest;
with nature. p. 24 The cat watched the pigeon alight on the roof.
conjurer (kon jər ər) n. one who performs
Literary Element Archetype magic; sorcerer; p. 25 The conjurer amused the
audience with his tricks.
An archetype is a character type, a descriptive
detail, an image, or a story pattern that recurs
Vocabulary Tip: Synonyms Synonyms are words
frequently in the literature from many cultures and
that have the same or similar meanings. Note that
evokes strong emotional responses. As you read
synonyms are always the same part of speech.
“How the World Was Made,” look for archetypal
elements.

• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R2.

Interactive Literary Elements


Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • understanding archetypes
• relating literature to cultural values • identifying sequence

CHEROKEE MYTH 23
(Cherokee–Great Smoky Mountains)
Retold by James Mooney

T he earth is a great island floating in a sea


of water, and suspended at each of the four cardi-
It was afterward fastened to the sky with four
cords, but no one remembers who did this.
nal points1 by a cord hanging down from the sky At first the earth was flat and very soft and
vault, which is of solid rock. When the world wet. The animals were anxious to get down, and
grows old and worn out, the people will die and sent out different birds to see if it was yet dry, but
the cords will break and let the earth sink down they found no place to alight and came back
into the ocean, and all will be water again. The again to Gălûñ´lătı̆. At last it seemed to be time,
Indians are afraid of this. and they sent out the Buzzard and told him to go
When all was water, the animals were above in and make ready for them. This was the Great
Gălûñ´lătı̆ (o lun() lot i), beyond the arch; but Buzzard, the father of all the buzzards we see
it was very much crowded, and they were wanting now. He flew all over the earth, low down near
more room. They wondered what was below the the ground, and it was still soft. When he
water, and at last Dâyuni´sı̆ (do yun ē si), reached the Cherokee country, he was very
“Beaver’s Grandchild,” the little Water-beetle, tired, and his wings began to flap and strike the
offered to go and see if it could learn. It darted in ground, and wherever they struck the earth
every direction over the surface of the water, but there was a valley, and where they turned up
could find no firm place to rest. Then it dived to again there was a mountain. When the animals
the bottom and came up with some soft mud, above saw this, they were afraid that the whole
which began to grow and spread on every side world would be mountains, so they called him
until it became the island which we call the earth. back, but the Cherokee country remains full of
mountains to this day.
When the earth was dry and the animals came
1. The four cardinal points are the four main directions on a
compass (north, south, east, and west). down, it was still dark, so they got the sun and
Big Idea The Sacred Earth and the Power of
Storytelling What does Water-beetle’s role in the story Literary Element Archetype What traits does the Great
reveal about the Cherokees’ relationship with animals? Buzzard share with characters you know from other stories?

Vocabulary Vocabulary
vault (volt) n. an arched structure forming a roof or ceiling alight (ə l̄t) v. to descend and come to rest

24 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Getty Images
set it in a track to go every day across the island
from east to west, just overhead. It was too hot
this way, and Tsiska´gı̆lı̆´(chēs ka i li´) the Red
Crawfish, had his shell scorched a bright red, so
that his meat was spoiled; and the Cherokee do
not eat it. The conjurers put the sun another
hand-breadth2 higher in the air, but it was still
too hot. They raised it another time, and
another, until it was seven handbreadths high
and just under the sky arch. Then it was right,
and they left it so. This is why the conjurers call
the highest place Gûlkwâ´gine Di´gălûñ´lătiyûñ´
(ul kwo ē nā dē´ ol un() lot ē yun()),
“the seventh height,” because it is seven hand-
breadths above the earth. Every day the sun goes
along under this arch, and returns at night on
the upper side to the starting place.
There is another world under this, and it is like
ours in everything—animals, plants, and people—
save that the seasons are different. The streams
that come down from the mountains are the trails nearly all were awake through the first night,
by which we reach this underworld, and the but the next night several dropped off to
springs at their heads are the doorways by which sleep, and the third night others were asleep,
we enter it, but to do this one must fast and go to and then others, until, on the seventh night,
water and have one of the underground people for of all the animals only the owl, the panther,
a guide. We know that the seasons in the under- and one or two more were still awake. To
world are different from ours, because the water in these were given the power to see and to go
the springs is always warmer in winter and cooler about in the dark, and to make prey of the
in summer than the outer air. birds and animals which must sleep at night.
When the animals and plants were first made— Of the trees only the cedar, the pine, the
we do not know by whom—they were told to spruce, the holly, and the laurel were awake to
watch and keep awake for seven nights, just as the end, and to them it was given to be always
young men now fast and keep awake when they green and to be greatest for medicine, but to
pray to their medicine.3 They tried to do this, and the others it was said: “Because you have not
endured to the end you shall lose your hair
2. A hand-breadth is a unit of measurement based on the every winter.”
width of a hand. It varies from 2½ to 4 inches. Men came after the animals and plants. At
3. Many Native American cultures believe that each plant, first there were only a brother and sister until
animal, and human has its own natural spirit that gives it
he struck her with a fish and told her to mul-
power. Medicine, in this instance, refers to this spirit.
tiply, and so it was. In seven days a child was
Reading Strategy Identifying Sequence When do the born to her, and thereafter every seven days
following events take place in relation to those you have another, and they increased very fast until
already read about?
there was danger that the world could not
Vocabulary
keep them. Then it was made that a woman
should have only one child in a year, and it
conjurer (kon jər ər) n. one who performs magic; sorcerer
has been so ever since. 

C HER OK EE MYTH 25
Peter Johnson/CORBIS
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Which events in this myth do you find most mem- 5. (a)What does the narrator say when Cherokee
orable and why? tradition has no answer or explanation for an
occurrence? (b)How does the narrator’s phrasing
enhance the myth? Explain.
Recall and Interpret
6. For the Cherokee, are humans more important
2. (a)What is the little Water-beetle’s role in the cre- than plants or animals or equal to them? Support
ation of Earth? (b)What does this tell you about your view with examples from the myth.
Cherokee reverence for all creatures?
3. (a)What do the “conjurers” do? (b)Who do you Connect
think the conjurers are? Explain. 7. Big Idea The Sacred Earth and the Power of
4. (a)Which animals and plants are able to keep Storytelling (a)Why do the Cherokee people explain
awake for seven nights? (b)What moral lesson natural phenomena, such as mountains, underground
might this episode teach? springs, nocturnal predators, or evergreen trees, in
story terms? (b)What do these explanations suggest
about the Cherokee relationship with nature?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Archetype Reading Strategy Identifying Sequence


One example of an archetype found in myths and In a myth, such as “How the World Was Made,”
folktales from many cultures is a daunting challenge events usually occur in chronological, or time order.
or test that only heroic characters can overcome.
1. List the sequence of events in the myth.
1. How does this archetype appear in “How the World
2. Which detail is an exception to the time order?
Was Made”?
2. What examples of this archetype can you recall
from other myths and folktales? Vocabulary Practice
Practice with Synonyms Find the synonym for
each vocabulary word from the myth listed in the
Writing About Literature first column.
Explore Purpose of Myth Traditional societies 1. vault
preserve and retell their myths for a variety of a. dome b. universe
reasons. For example, myths often express basic
2. alight
religious beliefs and explain social customs. In a
a. land b. arise
paragraph, explain why you think the Cherokee
storytellers retold and passed on “How the World 3. conjurer
Was Made.” a. chief b. magician

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

26 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
C U LT U R AL P ER SP ECTIV E on How the World Was Made
Informational Text

N. Scott Momaday
Pulitzer Prize Winner

Building Background
In the 1700s, the Kiowa (k̄´ə wa ) Indians began a
long migration from southwestern Montana to the
southern Great Plains. Along the way, they made con-
a single knoll rises out of the plain in
Oklahoma, north and west of the
Wichita Range. For my people, the
Kiowas, it is an old landmark, and they gave it
tact with the Crow Indians of southeastern Montana, the name Rainy Mountain. The hardest
whose nomadic way of life greatly influenced the weather in the world is there. Winter brings
Kiowa. Their travels came to an end in 1868 when blizzards, hot tornadic winds arise in the
they were forced to settle on an Oklahoma reservation. spring, and in summer the prairie is an anvil’s
Kiowa author N. Scott Momaday (mom´ə dā) fre- edge. The grass turns brittle and brown, and it
quently writes about the Kiowas’ rich history. In the fol- cracks beneath your feet. There are green belts
lowing selection, he describes their connection to the along the rivers and creeks, linear groves of
natural world and the end of the tribe’s golden age. hickory and pecan, willow and witch hazel. At
a distance in July or August the steaming foli-
Set a Purpose for Reading age seems almost to writhe1 in fire. Great
Read to learn about the Kiowas’ culture and their rela- green and yellow grasshoppers are everywhere
tionship with the land. in the tall grass, popping up like corn to sting
the flesh, and tortoises crawl about on the red
Reading Strategy earth, going nowhere in the plenty of time.
Analyzing Cultural Traditions Loneliness is an aspect of the land. All things
in the plain are isolate;2 there is no confusion
In the selection, Momaday presents his understanding
of objects in the eye, but one hill or one tree or
of Kiowa culture. Examine the elements that make up
one man. To look upon that landscape in the
the selection, such as the descriptions of the land, of
Kiowa history, and of Momaday’s grandmother. Think
early morning, with the sun at your back, is to
about what all of these elements, taken together, sug-
gest about the Kiowa.
1. Writhe means “to twist as in great pain.”
2. Isolate means “solitary.”

N . S C O T T M OM A D AY 27
Werner Forman / Art Resource, NY
Informational Text
lose the sense of proportion. Your imagination golden age. Along the way the Kiowas were
comes to life, and this, you think, is where befriended by the Crows, who gave them the
Creation was begun. culture and religion of the Plains. They acquired
I returned to Rainy Mountain in July. My horses, and their ancient nomadic spirit was sud-
grandmother had died in the spring, and I denly free of the ground. They acquired Tai-me,6
wanted to be at her grave. She had lived to be the sacred Sun Dance doll, from that moment
very old and at last infirm.3 Her only living the object and symbol of their worship, and so
daughter was with her when she died, and I was shared in the divinity of the sun. Not least, they
told that in death her face was that of a child. acquired the sense of destiny, therefore courage
I like to think of her as a child. When she and pride. When they entered upon the southern
was born, the Kiowas were living the last great Plains they had been transformed. No longer
moment of their history. For more than a hun- were they slaves to the simple necessity of sur-
dred years they had controlled the open range vival; they were a lordly and dangerous society of
from the Smoky Hill River to the Red, from the fighters and thieves, hunters and priests of the
headwaters of the Canadian to the fork of the sun. According to their origin myth, they
Arkansas and Cimarron. In alliance with the entered the world through a hollow log. From
Comanches, they had ruled the whole of the one point of view, their migration was the fruit
southern Plains. War was their sacred business, of an old prophecy, for indeed they emerged from
and they were among the finest horsemen the a sunless world.
world has ever known. But warfare for the Although my grandmother lived out her long
Kiowas was preeminently4 a matter of disposition life in the shadow of Rainy Mountain, the
rather than of survival, and they never under- immense landscape of the continental interior
stood the grim, unrelenting advance of the U.S. lay like memory in her blood. She could tell of
Cavalry. When at last, divided and ill-provi- the Crows, whom she had never seen, and of the
sioned, they were driven onto the Staked Plains Black Hills, where she had never been. I wanted
in the cold rains of autumn, they fell into panic. to see in reality what she had seen more perfectly
In Palo Duro Canyon they abandoned their cru- in the mind’s eye, and traveled fifteen hundred
cial stores to pillage5 and had nothing then but miles to begin my pilgrimage.
their lives. In order to save themselves, they sur- Yellowstone, it seemed to me, was the top of
rendered to the soldiers at Fort Sill and were the world, a region of deep lakes and dark tim-
imprisoned in the old stone corral that now ber, canyons and waterfalls. But, beautiful as it is,
stands as a military museum. My grandmother one might have the sense of confinement there.
was spared the humiliation of those high gray The skyline in all directions is close at hand, the
walls by eight or ten years, but she must have high wall of the woods and deep cleavages of
known from birth the affliction of defeat, the shade. There is a perfect freedom in the moun-
dark brooding of old warriors. tains, but it belongs to the eagle and the elk, the
Her name was Aho, and she belonged to badger and the bear. The Kiowas reckoned their
the last culture to evolve in North America. stature by the distance they could see, and they
Her forebears came down from the high coun- were bent and blind in the wilderness.
try in western Montana nearly three centuries Descending eastward, the highland meadows
ago. They were a mountain people, a mysteri- are a stairway to the plain. In July the inland
ous tribe of hunters whose language has never slope of the Rockies is luxuriant7 with flax and
been positively classified in any major group. buckwheat, stonecrop and larkspur.8 The earth
In the late seventeenth century they began a
long migration to the south and east. It was a
journey toward the dawn, and it led to a 6. Tai-me (t̄ mā), the Sun Dance doll, wears a robe of white
feathers.
7. Luxuriant means “marked by rich or plentiful growth.”
8. Flax is a flowering plant whose fibers are spun to make
3. Infirm means “physically weak” or “feeble.” cloth. Buckwheat is a plant whose seeds are used as a
4. Preeminently means “primarily.” cereal grain. Stonecrop is a flowering plant found on rocks
5. Pillage means “to loot” or “to plunder.” and walls. Larkspur is known for its showy flower stalks.

28 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Informational Text

The Migration Route of the Kiowa

R
D

E
A
r

L
O

I
U
N O

Rainy
WI
OK
KLAHOM
t .
S

unfolds and the limit of the land recedes. Clusters oldest deity ranging after the solstices.10 Not yet
ofGMH17
trees, and
01 animals grazing far in the distance, would they veer southward to the caldron of the
S11-307-01A-845481
cause the vision to reach away and wonder to build land that lay below; they must wean their
First Proof
upon the mind. The sun follows a longer course in blood11 from the northern winter and hold the
the day, and the sky is immense beyond all compar- mountains a while longer in their view. They
ison. The great billowing clouds that sail upon it bore Tai-me in procession to the east.
are shadows that move upon the grain like water, A dark mist lay over the Black Hills, and
dividing light. Farther down, in the land of the the land was like iron. At the top of a ridge I
Crows and Blackfeet, the plain is yellow. Sweet clo- caught sight of Devil’s Tower12 upthrust
ver takes hold of the hills and bends upon itself to against the gray sky as if in the birth of time
cover and seal the soil. There the Kiowas paused the core of the earth had broken through its
on their way; they had come to the place where crust and the motion of the world was begun.
they must change their lives. The sun is at home
on the plains. Precisely there does it have the cer-
10. Solstices are days when the earth and the sun are in a
tain character of a god. When the Kiowas came to certain alignment. In the Northern Hemisphere, the
the land of the Crows, they could see the dark lees9 summer and winter solstices are the longest and shortest
of the hills at dawn across the Bighorn River, days of the year.
the profusion of light on the grain shelves, the 11. Wean their blood means “to become acclimated by
removing themselves gradually.”
12. Devils Tower, an 865-foot-high column of volcanic rock in
9. Lees are the sides of hills that are away from the wind. Wyoming, was designated as a national monument in 1906.

N. SC OT T MOMADAY 29
Informational Text
There are things in nature that engender13 an men journeyed into Texas, there to beg and
awful quiet in the heart of man; Devil’s Tower barter for an animal from the Goodnight herd.
is one of them. Two centuries ago, because She was ten when the Kiowas came together
they could not do otherwise, the Kiowas made for the last time as a living Sun Dance culture.
a legend at the base of the rock. My grand- They could find no buffalo; they had to hang
mother said: an old hide from the sacred tree. Before the
Eight children were there at play, seven sisters dance could begin, a company of soldiers rode
and their brother. Suddenly the boy was struck out from Fort Sill under orders to disperse the
dumb; he trembled and began to run upon his tribe. Forbidden without cause the essential
hands and feet. His fingers became claws, and his act of their faith, having seen the wild herds
body was covered with fur. Directly there was a slaughtered and left to rot upon the ground,
bear where the boy had been. The sisters were the Kiowas backed away forever from the med-
terrified; they ran, and the bear after them. They icine tree. That was July 20, 1890, at the great
came to the stump of a great tree, and the tree bend of the Washita. My grandmother was
spoke to them. It bade them climb upon it, and as there. Without bitterness, and for as long as
they did so it began to rise into the air. The bear she lived, she bore a vision of deicide.16
came to kill them, but they were just beyond its Now that I can have her only in memory, I
reach. It reared against the tree and scored the see my grandmother in the several postures
bark all around with its claws. The seven sisters that were peculiar to her: standing at the
were borne into the sky, and they became the wood stove on a winter morning and turning
stars of the Big Dipper.14 meat in a great iron skillet; sitting at the
south window, bent above her beadwork, and
From that moment, and so long as the legend afterwards, when her vision failed, looking
lives, the Kiowas have kinsmen in the night down for a long time into the fold of her
sky. Whatever they were in the mountains, hands; going out upon a cane, very slowly as
they could be no more. However tenuous their she did when the weight of age came upon
well-being, however much they had suffered her; praying. I remember her most often at
and would suffer again, they had found a way prayer. She made long, rambling prayers out of
out of the wilderness. suffering and hope, having seen many things.
My grandmother had a reverence for the I was never sure that I had the right to hear,
sun, a holy regard that now is all but gone out so exclusive were they of all mere custom and
of mankind. There was a wariness in her, and company. The last time I saw her she prayed
an ancient awe. She was a Christian in her standing by the side of her bed at night, naked
later years, but she had come a long way to the waist, the light of a kerosene lamp
about, and she never forgot her birthright. As moving upon her dark skin. Her long, black
a child she had been to the Sun Dances; she hair, always drawn and braided in the day, lay
had taken part in those annual rites, and by upon her shoulders and against her breasts
them she had learned the restoration of her like a shawl. I do not speak Kiowa, and I
people in the presence of Tai-me. She was never understood her prayers, but there was
about seven when the last Kiowa Sun Dance something inherently sad in the sound, some
was held in 1887 on the Washita River above merest hesitation upon the syllables of sorrow.
Rainy Mountain Creek. The buffalo were She began in a high and descending pitch,
gone. In order to consummate15 the ancient exhausting her breath to silence; then again
sacrifice—to impale the head of a buffalo bull and again—and always the same intensity of
upon the medicine tree—a delegation of old effort, of something that is, and is not, like
urgency in the human voice. Transported so
in the dancing light among the shadows of her
13. Engender means “to give rise to” or “to produce.” room, she seemed beyond the reach of time.
14. The Big Dipper is part of a larger constellation called Ursa
Major, the Great Bear.
15. Consummate means “to bring to completion.” 16. Deicide is the killing of a god.

30 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Viewing the Photograph: Why do you think the sight of Devil’s Tower (see pages 29–30)
might have inspired the Kiowa to create a legend?

But that was illusion; I think I knew then that I made of lean and leather, and they bore them-
should not see her again. selves upright. They wore great black hats and
Houses are like sentinels in the plain, old bright ample shirts that shook in the wind.
keepers of the weather watch. There, in a very They rubbed fat upon their hair and wound
little while, wood takes on the appearance of their braids with strips of colored cloth. Some
great age. All colors wear soon away in the wind of them painted their faces and carried the
and rain, and then the wood is burned gray and scars of old and cherished enmities.19 They
the grain appears and the nails turn red with were an old council of warlords, come to
rust. The windowpanes are black and opaque;17 remind and be reminded of who they were.
you imagine there is nothing within, and indeed Their wives and daughters served them well.
there are many ghosts, bones given up to the The women might indulge themselves; gossip
land. They stand here and there against the sky, was at once the mark and compensation of
and you approach them for a longer time than their servitude. They made loud and elaborate
you expect. They belong in the distance; it is talk among themselves, full of jest and gesture,
their domain.18 fright and false alarm. They went abroad20 in
Once there was a lot of sound in my grand- fringed and flowered shawls, bright beadwork
mother’s house, a lot of coming and going, and German silver.21 They were at home in
feasting and talk. The summers there were full the kitchen, and they prepared meals that
of excitement and reunion. The Kiowas are a were banquets.
summer people; they abide the cold and keep There were frequent prayer meetings, and
to themselves, but when the season turns and great nocturnal feasts. When I was a child I
the land becomes warm and vital they cannot played with my cousins outside, where the
hold still; an old love of going returns upon lamplight fell upon the ground and the sing-
them. The aged visitors who came to my ing of the old people rose up around us and
grandmother’s house when I was a child were carried away into the darkness. There were

19. Enmities means “deep-seated hatreds.”


17. Opaque means “unable to let light through.” 20. Here, abroad means “away from one’s home.”
18. A domain is “a territory over which control is exercised.” 21. German silver is an alloy that resembles real silver.

N. SCOTT MOMADAY 31
Joseph Sohm; Visions of America/CORBIS
Informational Text
a lot of good things to eat, a lot of laughter gone there, I thought, to
and surprise. And afterwards, when the quiet live and die, for there, of
returned, I lay down with my grandmother and all places, was its small
could hear the frogs away by the river and feel definition made whole
the motion of the air. and eternal. A warm wind
Now there is a funeral silence in the rooms, rose up and purled22 like Visual Vocabulary
the endless wake of some final word. The walls the longing within me. A scissortail, a type of
have closed in upon my grandmother’s house. The next morning I flycatcher, is a small
gray and pink bird
When I returned to it in mourning, I saw for awoke at dawn and went
with a forked tail.
the first time in my life how small it was. It out on the dirt road to
was late at night, and there was a white moon, Rainy Mountain. It was
nearly full. I sat for a long time on the stone already hot, and the grasshoppers began to fill
steps by the kitchen door. From there I could the air. Still, it was early in the morning, and
see out across the land; I could see the long the birds sang out of the shadows. The long
row of trees by the creek, the low light upon yellow grass on the mountain shone in the
the rolling plains, and the stars of the Big bright light, and a scissor-tail hied23 above the
Dipper. Once I looked at the moon and caught land. There, where it ought to be, at the end
sight of a strange thing. A cricket had perched of a long and legendary way, was my grand-
upon the handrail, only a few inches away mother’s grave. Here and there on the dark
from me. My line of vision was such that the stones were ancestral names. Looking back
creature filled the moon like a fossil. It had once, I saw the mountain and came away.

22. Purled means “rippled with a murmuring sound.”


23. Hied means “went quickly.”

R ES P O N D I N G AN D TH I N K I N G C R ITI CALLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. How did you react to the description of the end of 5. (a)Explain why Momaday considers his grand-
the Kiowas’ old way of life? mother a living embodiment of Kiowa history.
(b)Did you find this description convincing? Why or
Recall and Interpret why not?
2. (a)What is the importance of Rainy Mountain?
6. Momaday watches a cricket that he says came to
(b)Why, do you think, does Momaday feel that
Rainy Mountain to die, “for there, of all places, was
Rainy Mountain is “where Creation was begun”?
its small definition made whole and eternal.” He
3. Summarize what you learned about the Kiowa sur- also describes his grandmother’s grave. Which of
render and the last Sun Dance. Then explain these works best for you as a symbol? Explain.
Momaday’s attitude toward these events, supporting
your answer with details from the selection. Connect
4. (a)What elements of Kiowa traditional beliefs were 7. Momaday once said, “I don’t see any validity in the
part of the grandmother’s life? (b)What do you separation of man and landscape.” He has also
learn about the Kiowa people from the way that called human alienation from nature “one of the
they respond to the end of their traditional lifestyle? great afflictions of our time.” How are these ideas
embodied in the selection? Support your answer.

O B J EC TIVES
• Analyze a work of literature, showing how it reflects the heritage, traditions, and beliefs of its author.
• Make judgments about how effectively an author supports his or her beliefs, using evidence from the text.

32 U N IT 1 EARLY AMERICA
Comparing Literature Across Time and Place

Connecting to the Reading Selections


Oral cultures use storytelling to pass on ancient traditions. The four literary works compared
here—a Huron myth, a West African folktale, and two Native American poems—reflect this tradi-
tion of storytelling in different ways.

Huron—Eastern Woodland
The Sky Tree.......................................................................... myth ..................... 35
From water emerges Turtle Island
Native American,
Huron, c. 1600s

Chinua Achebe and John Iroaganachi


How the Leopard Got His Claws ............................. myth ..................... 37
The storyteller—a vital interpreter of history
Nigeria, 1972

Leslie Marmon Silko


Prayer to the Pacific.........................................................poem ..................... 42
The origin of rain and the migration of peoples
Native American,
Pueblo, 1981

Sherman Alexie
The Summer of Black Widows ..................................poem ..................... 44
Endurance—an essential quality of stories
Native American,
Spokane, 1996

COM PAR I NG TH E Big Idea The Sacred Earth and the Power of
Storytelling
Storytellers played a vital role in oral cultures. They both preserved ancient myths and traditions
and made them live for new generations.

COM PAR I NG Mythic Elements


A myth is a traditional story that explains a belief, a custom, or a force of nature. Certain mythic
elements, such as creation or journeys, are used by storytellers in many different cultures.

COM PAR I NG Cultures


The writers featured here each reflect their times and places, as well as transmit the heritage
and belief systems of their cultures.

COMPAR ING LIT ERATURE 33


(from top)Danny Lehman/CORBIS, Seattle Art Museum/CORBIS, Owaki-Kulla/CORBIS, Jim Bockowski/Animals Animals
Huron—Eastern Woodland
Retold by Joseph Bruchac

I n the beginning, Earth was covered with


water. In Sky Land, there were people living as
hole. Aataentsic returned to the place where the
old chief waited.
they do now on Earth. In the middle of that land “My husband,” she said, “when I cut the tree
was the great Sky Tree. All of the food which it split in half and then fell through a great
the people in that Sky Land ate came from the hole. Without the tree, there can be no life.
great tree. The old chief of that land lived with I must follow it.”
his wife, whose name was Aataentsic,1 meaning Then, leaving her husband she went back to
“Ancient Woman,” in their longhouse2 near the the hole in Sky Land and threw herself after the
great tree. It came to be that the old chief great tree.
became sick and nothing could cure him. He As Aataentsic fell, Turtle looked up and saw
grew weaker and weaker until it seemed he her. Immediately Turtle called together all the
would die. Then a dream came to him and he water animals and told them what she had seen.
called Aataentsic to him. “What should be done?” Turtle said.
“I have dreamed,” he said, “and in my dream Beaver answered her. “You are the one who
I saw how I can be healed. I must be given the saw this happen. Tell us what to do.”
fruit which grows at the very top of Sky Tree. “All of you must dive down,” Turtle said. “Bring
You must cut it down and bring that fruit to me.” up soil from the bottom, and place it on my back.”
Aataentsic took her husband’s stone ax and Immediately all of the water animals began to
went to the great tree. As soon as she struck it, dive down and bring up soil. Beaver, Mink,
it split in half and toppled over. As it fell a hole Muskrat, and Otter each brought up pawfuls of
opened in Sky Land and the tree fell through the wet soil and placed the soil on the Turtle’s back
until they had made an island of great size.
When they were through, Aataentsic settled
1. Aataentsic was the Earth-mother in Huron mythology. The
down gently on the new Earth and the pieces
Huron believed themselves to be the children of Aataentsic.
2. A longhouse was a bark-covered Native American communal of the great tree fell beside her and took root. 
dwelling that could have space for multiple families as well
as rooms for tribal ceremonies.
Big Idea The Sacred Earth and the Power of
Reading Strategy Questioning Why is the old chief’s Storytelling How does this part of the story reflect a Native
dream important to the story? American attitude toward the natural world?

T HE H U R O N 35
Richard Cummins/CORBIS
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Would you describe Aataentsic’s actions as heroic? 5. (a)What is the function of the old chief’s dream in
Why or why not? “The Sky Tree”? (b)What does this myth suggest
about the importance that Native Americans attri-
bute to knowledge gained from dreams?
Recall and Interpret
6. (a)What motivates Aataentsic to follow the Sky Tree
2. (a)What is the Sky Tree? (b)Why is it important to
into the hole? (b)How do you view her actions?
the people in Sky Land?
3. (a)Why does Aataentsic cut down the Sky
Tree? (b)What does this action reveal about her Connect
relationship with her husband? 7. Big Idea The Sacred Earth and the Power of
4. (a)Which animal observes Aataentsic’s fall? Storytelling What does the role of the water
(b)What role does this animal assume? animals in the creation of Earth suggest about
Native American attitudes toward other living
creatures?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Oral Tradition Reading Strategy Questioning


Oral tradition is a way of recording the past, glorifying Review the questions that you wrote in your double-
leaders, and teaching moral values. entry journal and answer them now.
1. Why do you think the Huron preserved and
perpetuated a myth such as “The Sky Tree”? Academic Vocabulary
2. How might this myth have been used by the
Huron to teach a moral lesson? Here are two words from the vocabulary list on
page R86. These words will help you think,
write, and talk about the selection.
Literature Groups
Comparing Creation Myths Creation myths such as function (funk shən) n. the action or pur-
“The Sky Tree” are closely tied to Native Americans’ pose for which something is intended
religious beliefs and their reverence for the natural tradition (trə dish ən) n. an inherited pattern
world. What other creation stories have you read or of belief or custom
heard? How are these stories like and unlike “The Sky
Tree”? What different values do these stories teach? Practice and Apply
Discuss these questions in your group and report the 1. What is the function of the Great Turtle in
results to the class. Huron mythology?
2. What tradition do the Huron preserve about
the Earth-mother Aataentsic?

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

36 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Retold by Chinua Achebe and John Iroaganachi

B E FOR E YOU R E AD
Building Background
West African writer Chinua Achebe has used the English Achebe’s myth is an adaptation of a children’s story by
language to challenge many of the racist attitudes he teacher and writer John Iroaganachi. Achebe’s version
observed as a young man. Born in 1930, Achebe grew is full of dark undertones that suggest an allegorical
up in an Ibo (also spelled Igbo) village in eastern Nigeria. link to the British colonial era and the Nigerian Civil
His acclaimed 1958 novel, Things Fall Apart, gained him War, which lasted from 1967 to1970. Various military
an international reputation. The novel depicts a cultural regimes, representing hostile ethnic groups, have
clash between traditional Ibo values and laws imposed periodically seized power in Nigeria since it declared its
by British colonialists. Speaking of the influence of independence from Britain in 1960. Today, continued
colonialism, Achebe said that his nation has been political corruption and ethnic struggles have stalled the
confronted with “a crisis in the soul” in which “we have progress of Nigeria toward unity, peace, and stability.
accepted everything alien as good and practically
everything local or native as inferior.” One of Achebe’s Author Search For more about Chinua
goals has been to “help [his] society regain belief in itself.” Achebe and John Iroaganachi, go to www.glencoe.com.

If you look at the world in terms of storytelling, you In the beginning . . . all the animals in the
have, first of all, the man who agitates, the man who forest lived as friends. Their king was the leop-
drums up the people—I call him the drummer. Then ard. He was strong, but gentle and wise. He
you have the warrior, who goes forward and fights. But ruled the animals well, and they all liked him.
you also have the storyteller who recounts the event, At that time the animals did not fight one
and this is the one who survives, who outlives all the another. Most of them had no sharp teeth or
others. It is the storyteller who makes us what we are, claws. They did not need them. Even King
who creates history. The storyteller creates the memory Leopard had only small teeth. He had no claws
that the survivors must have; otherwise, their surviving at all.
would have no meaning. Only the dog had big, sharp teeth. The
—Chinua Achebe other animals said he was ugly, and they
laughed at him.

C H I N U A A C H E B E A N D J O H N I R OAGA N A C H I 37
Seattle Art Museum/CORBIS
“It is foolish to carry sharp things in the The dog spoke again. “We are wasting our time.
mouth,” said the tortoise. Those who need a shelter should build it. I live in
“I think so, too,” said the goat. a cave, and it is enough for me.” Then he walked
The monkey jumped in and began to tease away. The duck followed him out.
the dog. “Does anyone else want to leave?” asked King
“Don’t worry, my dear friend,” said the mon- Leopard. No one answered or made a move to go.
key. “You need your teeth to clear your farm.” “Very well,” said King Leopard. “Let the rest of
The animals laughed at the monkey’s joke. us build the village hall.”
When the farming season came round, King The animals soon scattered about to find build-
Leopard led the animals to their farmland. They ing materials. The tortoise copied the pattern on
all worked hard to prepare their plots. At the his back and made the plan of the roof. The giant
end of the day they returned home tired. They rat and mouse dug the foundations. Some animals
sat on log benches in the village square. As they brought sticks, some ropes, others made roof-mats.
rested they told stories and drank palm wine.1 As they built the house, they sang many happy
But soon it would be the rainy season, and the songs. They also told many jokes. Although they
animals would have no shelter from the rain. worked very hard, everyone was merry.
The deer took this problem to King Leopard. After many weeks they finished the building.
They talked about it for a long time. King Leopard It was a fine building. The animals were pleased
decided to call the animals together to discuss it. with it. They agreed to open it with a very special
One bright morning . . . King Leopard beat his meeting.
royal drum. When the animals heard the drum, On the opening day the animals, their wives
they gathered at the village square. The tortoise and children gathered in the hall. King Leopard
was there. The goat was there, too. The sheep, the then made a short speech. He said: “This hall is
grass-cutter,2 the monkey, the hedgehog,3 the yours to enjoy. You worked very hard together to
baboon, the dog and many others were there. build it. I am proud of you.”
King Leopard greeted them and said, “I have The animals clapped their hands and gave
called you together to plan how we can make our- three cheers to their king.
selves a common shelter.” From that day they rested in their new hall
“This is a good idea,” said the giraffe. whenever they returned from their farm.
“Yes, a very good idea,” said many other animals. But the dog and the duck kept away from
“But why do we need a common house?” said the hall.
the dog. He had never liked King Leopard. One morning the animals went to their farms
“The dog has asked a good question,” said the as usual. King Leopard went to visit a chief in
duck. “Why do we need a common shelter?” another village.
“We do need somewhere to rest when we return At first the sun was shining. Then strong winds
from our farms,” replied King Leopard. began to blow. Dark clouds hid the sun. The first
“And besides,” said the goat, “we need a shelter rain was coming. The songbirds stopped their
from the rain.” singing. The humming insects became quiet.
“I don’t mind being wet,” said the duck. “In fact, Lightning flashed across the dark clouds. Claps of
I like it. I know that the goat does not like water thunder sounded. The rain poured and poured.
on his body. Let him go and build a shelter.” The animals in their farms saw the rain
“We need a shelter,” said the monkey, jumping coming and began to hurry to the village hall.
up and down in excitement. The dog also saw the rain coming and
“Perhaps we need one, perhaps we don’t,” said returned to his cave. But it was a very, very
the lazy baboon sitting on the low fence of the heavy rain. Water began to enter the cave.
square. Soon it was flooded.
The dog ran from one end of his cave to the
1. Palm wine is created from the sap of a palm tree.
2. The grass-cutter is a type of rodent.
other. But the water followed him everywhere. At
3. A hedgehog is a small, hairy mammal; some varieties have last he ran out of the cave altogether and made
quills. straight for the hall of the animals.
38 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
The deer was already there. He was surprised to The worst has happened to us
see the dog enter the hall. The worst has happened to us . . .
“What do you want here?” said the deer to The house the animals built
the dog. The cruel dog keeps us from it,
“It is none of your business,” replied the dog. The common shelter we built
“It is my business,” said the deer. “Please go out, The cruel dog keeps us from it,
this hall is for those who built it.” The worst has happened to us
Then the dog attacked the deer and bit him The worst has happened to us . . .
with his big, sharp teeth. The deer cried with
pain. The dog seized him by the neck and threw The cry of the deer rang out loud and clear. It
him out into the rain. was carried by the wind. King Leopard heard it
The other animals came in one after the other. on his way back from his journey and began to
The dog barked and threw each of them out. run toward the village hall.
They stood together shivering and crying in the As he got near, he saw the animals, wet and
rain. The dog kept barking and showing his teeth. sheltering under a tree. They were all crying. As he
Then the deer cried out: got nearer still, he could see the dog walking up
and down inside the hall.
O Leopard our noble king,
King Leopard was very angry. “Come out of the
Where are you?
hall at once,” he said to the dog. The dog barked
Spotted king of the forest,
and rushed at him. They began to fight. The dog
Where are you?
bit the leopard and tore his skin with his claws.
Even if you are far away
King Leopard was covered with blood. The dog
Come, hurry home:
went back to the hall. He stood at the door barking
and barking. “Who is next? Who! Who!” he
barked.
King Leopard turned to the animals and said:
“Let us go in together and drive out the enemy. He
is strong, but he is alone. We are many. Together
we can drive him out of our house.”
But the goat said: “We cannot face him. Look at
his strong teeth! He will only tear us to pieces!”
“The goat is right,” said the animals. “He is too
strong for us.”
The tortoise stood up and said: “I am sure we
are all sorry about what has happened to the
leopard. But he was foolish to talk to the dog the
way he did. It is foolish to annoy such a powerful
person as the dog. Let us make peace with him. I
don’t know what you others think. But I think
he should have been our king all along. He is
strong; he is handsome. Let us go on our knees
and salute him.”
“Hear! Hear!” said all the animals. “Hail
the dog!”
Tears began to roll down the face of the leopard.
His heart was heavy. He loved the animals greatly.
Baboon, 1978. Felipe Benito Archuleta. Carved and painted
cottonwood and pine with glue and sawdust. Smithsonian
But they had turned their backs on him. Now he
American Art Museum, Washington, DC. knew they were cowards. So he turned his back on
Viewing the Art: Does this sculpture of a baboon resemble any them and went away. Because of his many wounds
of the animals in the story? Explain.

CHINUA ACHEBE AND JOHN IR OAGANACHI 39


Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC/Art Resource, NY
That would be a very bad thing
indeed. It is my duty as your king
to make sure that we all live
together. The leopard is a wicked
animal. That is why he wants to go
away and live by himself. It is our duty
to stop him. Nobody has a right to go
away from our village and our beautiful
hall.”
“Nobody has a right to go away from the
village,” sang all the animals as the six mes-
sengers went to look for the leopard.
They found him resting under the tree
beyond the village. Although he was wounded
and weak he still looked like a king. So the six
Aquamanile (Water Jug) in the Shape of a Leopard, Benin.
British Museum, London. messengers stood at a little distance and spoke to
Viewing the Art: In what ways does this sculpture remind you him.
of the leopard in the story? “Our new king, the dog, has ordered you to
return to the village,” they said.
he was weak and tired. So he lay down after a while “He says that no one has a right to leave the
to rest under a tree, far from the village. village,” said the pig.
The animals saw him go. But they did not care. “Yes, no one has a right to leave our village
They were too busy praising their new king, the and its beautiful hall,” said the others.
dog. The tortoise carved a new staff for him. The The leopard looked at them with contempt.
toad made a new song in his praise: Then he got up slowly. The six animals fell back.
But the leopard did not go toward them. He
The dog is great turned his back on them and began to go away—
The dog is good slowly and painfully. One of the animals picked
The dog gives us our daily food. up a stone and threw it at him. Then all the oth-
We love his head, we love his jaws ers immediately picked up stones and began to
We love his feet and all his claws. throw. As they threw they chanted: “No one has
a right to leave our village! No one has a right to
The dog looked round the circle of animals leave our village!”
and asked, “Where is the leopard?” Although some of the stones hit the leopard
“We think he has gone away, O King,” said and hurt him, he did not turn round even once.
the goat. He continued walking until he no longer heard
“Why? He has no right to go away,” said the the noise of the animals.
dog. “Nobody has a right to leave our village and The leopard traveled seven days and seven
its beautiful hall. We must all stay together.” nights. Then he came to the house of the
“Indeed,” shouted the animals. “We must stay blacksmith. The old man was sitting at his
together! The leopard must return to the village! forge. The leopard said to him: “I want the
Our wise king has spoken! It is good to have a strongest teeth you can make from iron. And I
wise king!” want the most deadly claws you can make from
The dog then called out the names of six bronze.”
strong animals and said to them: “Go at once The blacksmith said: “Why do you need such
and bring back the leopard. If he should refuse terrible things?” The leopard told his story. Then
to follow you, you must drag him along. If we the blacksmith said: “I do not blame you.”
let him go, others may soon follow his wicked The blacksmith worked a whole day on the
example until there is no one left in our village. teeth, and another full day on the claws. The
leopard was pleased with them. He put them on
40 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Art Resource, NY
and thanked the blacksmith. Then he left and toad brought his talking drum and began to beat
went to the house of Thunder. it to the leopard and to sing:
The leopard knocked at the door and Thunder
roared across the sky. Alive or dead the leopard is king.
“I want some of your sound in my voice,” said Beware my friend, don’t twist his tail.
the leopard. “Even a little bit.”
“Why do you want my sound in your voice?” But the leopard roared like thunder and the
asked Thunder. “And why have you got those toad dropped his drum and the animals scattered
terrible teeth and claws?” in the forest.
The leopard told his story. “I do not blame The dog had already run a long way when
you,” said Thunder. He gave the sound to the the leopard roared. Now he ran faster and
leopard. “Thank you for the gift,” said the leop- faster. His body was covered with blood, and
ard. And he began his journey home. he was very, very weak. He wanted to stop and
The leopard journeyed for seven days and rest a little. But the fear of the leopard was
seven nights and returned to the village of the greater than his weakness. So he staggered and
animals. There he found the animals dancing in a fell and got up and staggered on and on and
circle round the dog. He stood for a while watch- on. . . .
ing them with contempt and great anger. They After many days the dog came to the house
were too busy to notice his presence. He made a of the hunter.
deep, terrifying roar. At the same time he sprang “Please protect me from the leopard,” he
into the center of the circle. The animals stopped cried.
their song. The dog dropped his staff. The leop- “What will you do for me in return?” asked
ard seized him and bit and clawed him without the hunter.
mercy. Then he threw him out of the circle. “I will be your slave,” said the dog. “Any
All the animals trembled. day you are hungry for meat I shall show you
But they were too afraid to run. The leopard the way to the forest. There we can hunt
turned to them and said: together and kill my fellow animals.”
“You miserable worms. You shameless cowards. “All right, come in,” said the hunter.
I was a kind and gentle king, but you turned Today the animals are no longer friends, but
against me. From today I shall rule the forest enemies. The strong among them attack and
with terror. The life of our village is ended.” kill the weak. The leopard, full of anger, eats
“What about our hall?” asked the tortoise with up anyone he can lay his hands on. The
a trembling voice. hunter, led by the dog, goes to the forest from
“Let everyone take from the hall what he put time to time and shoots any animals he can
into it,” said the leopard. find. Perhaps the animals will make peace
The animals began to weep as they had wept among themselves someday and live together
long ago in the rain. “Please forgive us, O again. Then they can keep away the hunter
Leopard,” they cried. who is their common enemy. 
“Let everyone take from the hall what he put
into it,” repeated the leopard. “And hurry up!”
he thundered. Quickwrite
So the animals pulled their hall apart. Some The animal leaders in Achebe’s myth use violence
carried away the wood, and some took the roof- to seize and wield power. What lessons do you
mats. Others took away doors and windows. The think Achebe suggests through his depiction of the
animals and their encounters with the hunter? Write
a paragraph explaining your views.

CHINUA ACHEBE AND JOHN IR OAGANACHI 41


I traveled to the ocean
distant
from my southwest land of sandrock
to the moving blue water
5 Big as the myth of origin.

Pale
pale water in the yellow-white light of
sun floating west
to China
10 where ocean herself was born.
Clouds that blow across the sand are wet.

Squat in the wet sand and speak to the Ocean:


I return to you turquoise the red coral you sent us,
sister spirit of Earth.
15 Four round stones in my pocket I carry back the ocean
to suck and to taste.

Thirty thousand years ago


Indians came riding across the ocean
carried by giant sea turtles.
20 Waves were high that day
great sea turtles waded slowly out
from the gray sundown sea.
Grandfather Turtle rolled in the sand four times
and disappeared
25 swimming into the sun.

And so from that time


immemorial,1
as the old people say,
rain clouds drift from the west
30 gift from the ocean.

Green leaves in the wind


Wet earth on my feet
swallowing raindrops
clear from China.

1. Immemorial means “extending back beyond memory or record.”

Discussion Starter
How does the speaker’s explanation of the origin of rain in “Prayer to the
Pacific” illustrate the Native American attitude toward nature? Discuss this
question in your group. Use specific details from the poem to support
your opinions. Then share your conclusions with the class.

LESLIE MAR MON SILKO 43


Sherman Alexie

B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Building Background
Poetry slam champion Sherman Alexie has attracted That’s what’s going to happen here. These 13-year-
attention for the variety of his literary skills. Born in old Indian kids who’ve been going crazy with their
1966, Alexie grew up on the Spokane Indian camcorders will finally see the possibilities.”
Reservation in Washington State. He is a three-time
Alexie has been recognized for his ability to infuse
winner of the World Heavyweight Championship
his writing about the difficulties of life on Indian
Poetry Bout and wrote the screenplay for Smoke
reservations with humorous insights. Of his writing,
Signals, the first movie entirely produced, directed,
he once said, “I write about the kind of Indian I am:
and acted by Native Americans. Alexie adapted the
kind of mixed up, kind of odd, not traditional. I’m a
screenplay from a short story from his collection
rez kid who’s gone urban.” At the same time,
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.
Alexie’s work draws upon many traditional Native
The film won both the Audience Award and the
American themes, such as the cultural significance
Filmmakers Trophy at the 1998 Sundance Film
of storytelling.
Festival. He compared his role in making the film to
that of African American filmmaker Spike Lee.
“Spike didn’t necessarily get films made as much as Author Search For more about
he inspired filmmakers to believe in themselves. Sherman Alexie, go to www.glencoe.com.

44 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Jerry Jacka Photography
The spiders appeared suddenly
after that summer rainstorm.

Some people still insist the spiders fell with the rain
while others believe the spiders grew from the damp soil like weeds
with eight thin roots.

5 The elders knew the spiders


carried stories in their stomachs.

We tucked our pants into our boots when we walked through fields
of fallow1 stories.
An Indian girl opened the closet door and a story fell into her hair.
We lived in the shadow of a story trapped in the ceiling lamp.
10 The husk of a story museumed on the windowsill.
Before sleep, we shook our blankets and stories fell to the floor.
A story floated in a glass of water left on the kitchen table.
We opened doors slowly and listened for stories.
The stories rose on hind legs and offered their red bellies to the
most beautiful Indians.
15 Stories in our cereal boxes.
Stories in our firewood.
Stories in the pockets of our coats.
We captured stories and offered them to the ants, who carried the
stories back to their queen.
A dozen stories per acre.
20 We poisoned the stories and gathered their remains with broom
and pan.

The spiders disappeared suddenly


after that summer lightning storm.
Some people still insist the spiders were burned to ash
while others believe the spiders climbed the lightning bolts and
became a new constellation.

25 The elders knew the spiders Quickwrite


had left behind bundles of stories.
In this poem, the speaker uses a meta-
phor that compares stories with spider
Up in the corners of our old houses
webs. What does the speaker’s use of
we still find those small, white bundles
this metaphor suggest about the nature
and nothing, neither fire
of stories? How does the attitude of the
30 not water, neither rock nor wind,
elders toward stories differ from the
can bring them down.
attitude of the majority of the people in
the poem? Write a paragraph in which
1. Fallow means “unseeded, idle, or burned-out.” you address these questions.

S H ER MA N A LEX I E 45
Wrap-Up: Comparing Literature Across Time and Place

• The Sky Tree • How the Leopard • Prayer to the • The Summer of
Huron—Eastern Got His Claws Pacific Black Widows
Woodland Chinua Achebe and Leslie Marmon Sherman Alexie
John Iroaganachi Silko

COM PAR I NG TH E Big Idea The Sacred Earth and the Power of Storytelling
Writing Read the following quotations from the selections. Write a brief essay in which you
compare two or more of the quotations. Base your comparison on the way the quotations
exemplify the power of storytelling and the tradition of the creation myth in oral cultures.
Cite evidence from the selections to support your main ideas.

“My husband,” she said, “when I cut the “Perhaps the animals will make peace
tree it split in half and then fell through a among themselves someday and live
great hole. Without the tree, there can be together again. Then they can keep away
no life. I must follow it.” the hunter who is their common enemy.”
—Huron, “The Sky Tree” —Chinua Achebe and John Iroaganachi
“How the Leopard Got His Claws”

“And so from that time


immemorial, “The elders knew the spiders
as the old people say, carried stories in their stomachs.”
rain clouds drift from the west —Sherman Alexie
gift from the ocean.” “The Summer of Black Widows”

—Leslie Marmon Silko, “Prayer to the Pacific”

COM PAR I NG Mythic Elements


Group Activity Personification, supernatural occurrences, and stories about the origin of the
universe are features of myths in a variety of cultures. The Huron myth, Achebe’s myth, Silko’s
poem, and Alexie’s poem use these elements for a variety of purposes. In a small group, discuss
the following questions. Cite evidence from the selections to support your points.

1. How does each writer describe different aspects of the origin of the universe?
2. What is the importance of the writer’s cultural background in each of these selections?
3. How does the personification of animals contribute to each of the selections?
4. What insights about life offered by the writer do you find most compelling?

COM PAR I NG Cultures


Speaking and Listening Before the writers in various cultures recorded their stories in books,
storytellers recounted tales orally. Research one or more of the cultures represented by the selections:
Huron (also called Wyandot), Nigerian, Pueblo, or Spokane. As you investigate, compare and contrast
the belief systems of these cultures. Then compose a mythic story that describes the origin of some
aspect of life. Tell your story to the class in the oral tradition of one of the cultures you have investigated.

O B J EC TIVES
• Compare myths of various cultures. • Use questioning as a reading strategy.
• Analyze oral traditions.

46 UNIT 1 EARLY AMERICA


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

from The Iroquois Constitution


M E E T DE K A N AW I DA

W
hen Iroquois tribes in present-day New by the Iroquois people. In
York State were torn apart by fighting, fact, he was the first “pine
one man stepped in to instill peace. tree chief,” or chief cho-
Dekanawida (dək uhn a wē´ da) believed from an sen on the basis of merit
early age that he was predestined to unite the rather than by heredity.
Iroquois nation. “It is my business to stop the In 1570, the two leaders
shedding of blood among human beings,” he said. established an alliance
Traditional accounts of his life vary. He was among the five nations
thought to be a Huron born around 1550 near of the Iroquois—the
what is now Kingston, Ontario. In one account, Seneca, Cayuga, Oneida,
Dekanawida was the son of a virgin mother who, Onondaga, and Mohawk.
in the months leading up to his birth, observed Dekanawida created the alliance’s constitution,
omens that told Dekanawida would be a source which established rules for decision making and
of evil and destruction for the Huron people. To debate. Around 1600, after Dekanawida had com-
save her tribe, Dekanawida’s mother tried three pleted the task of establishing the confederacy, he
times to drown her infant son in an icy river, mysteriously vanished. But thanks to the peaceful
but to her disbelief, woke up each of the follow- government he had helped create, the confederacy
ing mornings with the child resting softly in her was able to resist outside pressures for almost two
arms. His mother interpreted this as a sign that hundred years.
he was fated to live and began to rear the boy. Dekanawida was born around 1550 and vanished
around 1600.

“The Word I bring is that all peoples


Author Search For more about
shall love one another and live together Dekanawida, go to www.glencoe.com.
in peace.”
—Dekanawida ���������������������������������������
������

A Quest for Peace As a young man, Dekanawida �����


trekked southward on a spiritual quest to perform
his destined work. He forged a strong friendship
with Hiawatha, an Onandaga tribal leader. Both
� ��

men agreed that continual warring was making the ���


���

���
���

���
���
�� �

���

tribes vulnerable to outside attack. Legend has it


����
�����
������

that Dekanawida was the laconic mastermind of the


��

Iroquois Constitution. Because Dekanawida may


have had a speech impediment, Hiawatha, a charis- �������������
matic leader and great orator, was his spokesman Author Search For more about
and interlocutor. Dekanawida was highly esteemed this author, go to www.literature.glencoe.com.

D EK ANAWIDA 47
Getty Images
������������������
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W READI NG PREVI EW

Connecting to the Text Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions


Think of times when you have worked with others to About Culture
make a decision or to achieve a common goal. In the When you draw a conclusion, you use a number of
Iroquois Constitution, Dekanawida ensures peaceful pieces of information to make a general statement
decision making by the five nations. As you read, think about people, places, events, or ideas. As you read,
about the following questions: draw conclusions about Iroquois society by looking at
• How might the language someone uses help or the values expressed in the constitution.
hinder a common decision?
• How have groups that you have been involved in Reading Tip: Conclusions Diagram Use a diagram
to record details from the selection as well as your
finally reached a consensus?
conclusions about the Iroquois.

Building Background Detail Detail Detail

After the Iroquois Confederacy was founded around The tribes’ meeting Any man or nation
place is called the that obeys the laws
1570, there was peace, and the tribes prospered.
Tree of the Great is welcome to shelter
Together the five tribes prevented French, English, and Peace. beneath the tree.
Dutch colonists from annexing their lands. The
Revolutionary War, however, caused deep rifts
between the tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy, result-
The Iroquois want their government to be peaceful.
ing in its end. But its legacy was a lasting one.
Dekanawida’s system was so effective that Benjamin
Conclusion
Franklin urged fellow colonists to view it as a model.

Setting Purposes for Reading Vocabulary

Big Idea The Power of Storytelling disposition (dis´ pə zish ən) n. one’s general
way of thinking or feeling; p. 49 Julia had a
Notice the ways in which the Iroquois Constitution
cheerful disposition.
reflects the Native Americans’ use of language to
describe their reverence for the natural world. convene (kən vēn ) v. to come together; assem-
ble; p. 50 Congress will convene to hear the presi-
Literary Element Author’s Purpose dent’s speech tonight.

The author’s purpose is the author’s intent in creating a posterity (pos ter ə tē) n. generations of the
work. As you read the constitution, carefully examine its future; all of one’s descendants; p. 50
provisions to see how they support Dekanawida’s goals. Mr. Norris requires students to create a record of
their thoughts for posterity.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R2. temper (tem pər) v. to modify or moderate;
soften; p. 50 Alvaro tempers his anger by counting
to ten.
deliberation (di lib´ ə rā shən) n. careful con-
sideration; p. 51 After long deliberation, the city
council voted to build a new library.
Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

OB J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • understanding author’s purpose
• relating literature to cultural values • drawing conclusions about culture

48 U N IT 1 EARLY AMERICA
Dekanawida

The Tree of the Great Peace of the Confederacy, they may trace the Roots
I am Dekanawida and with the Five Nations’ to the Tree and if their minds are clean and
Confederate Lords I plant the Tree of the Great they are obedient and promise to obey the
Peace. I plant it in your territory, Adodarho,1 wishes of the Confederate Council, they shall
and the Onondaga Nation, in the territory of be welcomed to take shelter beneath the Tree
you who are Firekeepers.2 of the Long Leaves.
I name the tree the Tree of the Great Long We place at the top of the Tree of the Long
Leaves. Under the shade of this Tree of the Leaves an Eagle who is able to see afar. If he sees
Great Peace we spread the soft white feathery in the distance any evil approaching or any dan-
down of the globe thistle3 as seats for you, ger threatening, he will at once warn the people
Adodarho, and your cousin Lords. of the Confederacy.
We place you upon those seats, spread soft
with the feathery down of the globe thistle, there The Care of the Fire
beneath the shade of the spreading branches of
the Tree of Peace. There shall you sit and watch The Smoke of the Confederate Council Fire
the Council Fire of the Confederacy of the Five shall ever ascend and pierce the sky so that other
Nations, and all the affairs of the Five Nations nations who may be allies may see the Council
shall be transacted at this place. Fire of the Great Peace.
Roots have spread out from the Tree of the You, Adodarho, and your thirteen cousin
Great Peace, one to the north, one to the east, Lords shall faithfully keep the space about the
one to the south, and one to the west. The name Council Fire clean and you shall allow neither
of these roots is the Great White Roots and their dust nor dirt to accumulate. I lay a Long Wing
nature is Peace and Strength. before you as a broom. As a weapon against a
If any man or any nation outside the Five crawling creature I lay a staff with you so that
Nations shall obey the laws of the Great Peace you may thrust it away from the Council Fire.
and make known their disposition to the Lords
The Laws of the Council
1. Adodarho was an Onondaga chief who enjoyed a position Whenever the Confederate Lords shall assemble
of honor in the Confederate Council. His name became an for the purpose of holding a council, the
honorific, or traditional title, for Iroquois leaders. Onondaga Lords shall open it by expressing their
2. Firekeepers were important chiefs who oversaw the Council
Fire, which symbolized the confederacy.
gratitude to their cousin Lords and greeting
3. Globe thistle is a plant that has prickly leaves and blue them, and they shall make an address and offer
flowers. Like a dandelion, the flower becomes a mass of thanks to the earth where men dwell, to the
white, silky fuzz, or down, when it goes to seed.

Literary Element Author’s Purpose Based on this state- Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About
ment, what do you think is Dekanawida’s purpose in writing
Culture What can you conclude about the Iroquois attitude
this piece?
toward strangers or outsiders?

Vocabulary
Big Idea The Power of Storytelling How does the
disposition (dis´ pə zish ən) n. one’s general way of opening of a council meeting reflect the importance of story-
thinking or feeling telling in Native American culture?

D EK ANAWIDA 49
streams of water, the pools, the springs and the The Clans
lakes, to the maize4 and the fruits, to the medici- Among the Five Nations and their posterity
nal herbs and trees, to the forest trees for their there shall be the following original clans: Great
usefulness, to the animals that serve as food and Name Bearer, Ancient Name Bearer, Great Bear,
give their pelts for clothing, to the great winds Ancient Bear, Turtle, Painted Turtle, Standing
and the lesser winds, to the Thunderers, to the Rock, Large Plover, Little Plover, Deer, Pigeon
Sun, the mighty warrior, to the moon, to the Hawk, Eel, Ball, Opposite-Side-of-the-Hand, and
messengers of the Creator who reveal his wishes Wild Potatoes. These clans, distributed through
and to the Great Creator who dwells in the their respective Nations, shall be the sole owners
heavens above, who gives all the things useful to and holders of the soil of the country, and in
men, and who is the source and the ruler of them is it vested as a birthright.
health and life.
People of the Five Nations [who are] members of
All the business of the Five Nations’ a certain clan shall recognize every other mem-
Confederate Council shall be conducted by ber of that clan, irrespective of the Nation,
the two combined bodies of Confederate as relatives.
Lords. First the question shall be passed upon
by the Mohawk and Seneca Lords; then it The lineal descent of the people of the Five
shall be discussed and passed by the Oneida Nations shall run in the female line. Women
and Cayuga Lords. Their decisions shall then shall be considered the progenitors6 of the
be referred to the Onondaga Lords Nation. They shall own the land and the soil.
(Firekeepers) for final judgment. Men and women shall follow the status of
the mother.
When the Council of the Five Nation Lords
shall convene, they shall appoint a speaker for
the day. He shall be a Lord of either the
The Leaders
Mohawk, Onondaga, or Seneca Nation.
The Lords of the Confederacy of the Five Nations
No individual or foreign nation interested in a shall be mentors7 of the people for all time. The
case, question, or proposition shall have any thickness of their skin shall be seven spans—
voice in the Confederate Council except to which is to say that they shall be proof against
answer a question put to him or them by the anger, offensive actions, and criticism. Their
speaker for the Lords. hearts shall be full of peace and good will and
their minds filled with a yearning for the welfare
If the conditions which shall arise at any of the people of the Confederacy. With endless
future time call for an addition to or change of patience they shall carry out their duty, and their
this law, the case shall be carefully considered, firmness shall be tempered with a tenderness for
and if a new beam seems necessary or benefi- their people. Neither anger nor fury shall find
cial, the proposed change shall be voted upon
and, if adopted, it shall be called, “Added to
the Rafters.”5 6. Progenitors are direct ancestors or originators of an ancestral
line.
7. Mentors are wise and trusted advisers.

4. Maize is corn. Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About


5. The Iroquois leaders thought of their confederacy of five Culture What shift in traditional attitudes toward the land is
nations as a longhouse, a communal Iroquois dwelling shown here and what conclusion might you draw from it?
with an east door, a west door, and a central fire. The
terms beam and Added to the Rafters continue this Vocabulary
comparison.
posterity (pos ter ə tē) n. generations of the future; all
Vocabulary of one’s descendants
convene (kən vēn) v. to come together; assemble temper (tem pər) v. to modify or moderate; soften

50 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Getty Images
lodgment in their minds, and all their words and The Symbols
actions shall be marked by calm deliberation. A large bunch of shell strings, in the making
of which the Five Nations’ Confederate Lords
The Festivals have equally contributed, shall symbolize the
The rites and festivals of each Nation shall completeness of the union and certify the
remain undisturbed and shall continue as before pledge of the Nations represented by the
because they were given by the people of old Confederate Lords of the Mohawk, the
times as useful and necessary for the good of men. Oneida, the Onondaga, the Cayuga, and the
The recognized festivals of Thanksgiving shall Seneca, that all are united and formed into
be the Midwinter Thanksgiving, the Maple or one body or union called the Union of the
Sugar Making Thanksgiving, the Raspberry Great Law, which they have established.
Thanksgiving, the Strawberry Thanksgiving, the
Corn Planting Thanksgiving, the Corn Hoeing Five arrows shall be bound together very
Thanksgiving, the Little Festival of Green Corn, strong, and each arrow shall represent one
the Great Festival of Ripe Corn, and the com- nation. As the five arrows are strongly bound,
plete Thanksgiving for the Harvest. this shall symbolize the complete union of the
nations. Thus are the Five Nations united
Literary Element Author’s Purpose How does completely and enfolded together, united into
Dekanawida’s lengthy description of the traits of the Lords one head, one body, and one mind. Therefore
of the Confederacy reinforce his purpose for writing the they shall labor, legislate, and council together
constitution?
for the interest of future generations.
Vocabulary
deliberation (di lib´ ə rā shən) n. careful consideration

D EK ANAWIDA 51
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. What is your opinion of Dekanawida’s abilities as a 5. (a)How does the Iroquois Constitution divide
peacemaker? Explain. authority among the five nations? (b)What benefits
did the Iroquois stand to gain by structuring deci-
Recall and Interpret sion making this way?
2. (a)What does Dekanawida say is the nature of the
6. (a)Judging by the provision about the leaders, what
roots of the Tree of the Great Peace? (b)What is
were important leadership qualities in the
placed at the top of the tree? Explain what this
confederacy? (b)Do you think Dekanawida was
suggests about the purpose behind the Iroquois
right to stress these qualities? Explain.
Confederacy’s formation.
3. (a)Describe the rules Dekanawida includes about Connect
making changes to the law. (b)Given these rules, 7. Big Idea The Power of Storytelling (a)Native
how would you characterize Dekanawida’s skills as American life was organized around the cycles of
a planner? nature. How is this fact reflected in the Iroquois
4. Explain the symbols of the confederacy described Constitution? (b)Explain in what other ways the
on page 51. In what way, do you think, does the constitution displays the Iroquois reverence for
design of the symbols reflect Dekanawida’s vision nature. Then tell how you think such a reverence
for the confederacy? strengthened the Iroquois.

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Author’s Purpose Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions


The author’s purpose may be to entertain, to inform, To draw conclusions about the Iroquois, think
to explain, to persuade, or to describe. After forming about how the details tell you something about
your initial idea of the author’s purpose, double-check Iroquois society. Then make a general statement
your notion against the information in the piece. expressing your insight. Review the passage on
page 50 that describes how women are to be con-
1. What is Dekanawida’s basic purpose in creating the
sidered and what women shall own. What conclu-
Iroquois Constitution?
sions do you draw about the importance of women
2. What different comparisons does he introduce to in Iroquois society?
convey his ideas of peace and unity?

Vocabulary Practice
Writing About Literature
Practice with Analogies Choose the word pair
Analyze Cultural Context The Iroquois that best completes the analogy.
Constitution describes rituals associated with the
functioning of the Confederate Council. What was 1. convene : gather ::
the point of these rituals? What do they indicate a. soar : fall
about the values of Iroquois society? In two para- b. build : erect
graphs, analyze and evaluate the rituals. c. save : spend
2. posterity : ancestors ::
a. lair : den
b. lane : path
Web Activities For eFlashcards, c. kindness : cruelty
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

52 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Part 2

life in the
new world

Self-portrait, c. 1680. Thomas Smith. Oil on canvas, 243/4 x 233/4 in. Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA.

“For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes
of all people are upon us.”
— John Winthrop, A Model of Christian Charity

53
Thomas Smith / Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts, USA / Bridgeman Art Library
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

from La Relación
M E E T Á LVA R N Ú Ñ E Z C A BE Z A DE VAC A

F
ew adventurers have faced greater odds than
the Spanish explorer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de
Vaca (a l´ va r noo´
¯¯¯ nyez ka bā´ za dā
ba´ ka ). Stranded and defenseless in the vast wil-
derness of the New World, he had only a slim By the following spring, there were 15 men alive.
chance of surviving. His tale of the journey, La Eventually, Cabeza de Vaca and three others were
Relación, was the first European account of the the only survivors. Cabeza de Vaca lived among the
interior of what is now the United States. nomadic Native Americans in east Texas—the
In 1527, Cabeza de Vaca left Spain as a career sol- Karankawa, the Mariames, the Yguazes—for four
dier on an expedition to occupy North America years, adapting to their ways of life and morphing
and discover riches for the king. The expedition, from conquistador to trader and physician in order
which landed in 1528 at what is today Tampa Bay, to survive. The Native Americans were not as
Florida, was a disaster. Boat accidents, faulty judg- lucky. Many perished as a result of a stomach virus
ment, and disease led to the deaths of many of the that the Spaniards unwittingly carried with them.
600 men. The survivors developed a fruitful rela-
Trailblazer Cabeza de Vaca then traveled south
tionship with the Apalachee tribe, but the situa-
and west, hoping to find a Spanish outpost. He was
tion soured when the Spaniards took the tribe’s
the first European to trek through present-day
leader hostage. The Spaniards ended up cowering
Texas. He may have passed through Arizona and
in a coastal swamp, eating horseflesh to survive.
New Mexico, but details about his precise route are
Finally, led by Cabeza de Vaca, the explorers con-
scarce. He continued west through the Sierra Madre
structed basic rafts from horsehide and trees and set
and the Sonoran Desert in northern Mexico, may
sail, praying they could reach Cuba. Wracked by
have reached the Pacific Ocean, and then turned
starvation and thirst, the 80 men who managed to
south, finally running into a band of Spanish slave
cling to the rafts were buffeted by a hurricane and
traders in the present-day Mexican state of Sinaloa
deposited near present-day Galveston, Texas, on
on Mexico’s west coast. His countrymen were flab-
the Gulf of Mexico.
bergasted when Cabeza de Vaca stood before them
naked and filthy, with a number of Native
Americans at his side. Eight years had passed since
“We were entering a land for which he had landed in Florida. During that time, he had
traveled approximately 2,500 miles, mostly on foot.
we had no description, without
During his travels, Cabeza de Vaca proved to be a
knowing what kind of place it was, nor masterful ethnologist. He lived among Native
by what people it was inhabited, nor in Americans before they had been influenced by
European culture. His writings detail the unique cus-
which part of it we were.” toms of many tribes. Unlike other early explorers, he
—Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca called for tolerance and justice for Native Americans.
from La Relación Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was born around
1490 and died around 1556.

Author Search For more about


Adaptation The expedition landed in November. Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, go to www.glencoe.com.

54 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Amanita Pictures
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Narrative Reading Strategy Recognizing Bias


How does Cabeza de Vaca react when his group Bias refers to an author’s inclination toward a par-
washes up on a foreign shore? In his narrative, Cabeza ticular opinion or position. Look for examples of the
de Vaca professes his fear of the Native Americans author’s bias in his descriptions of himself, his fel-
because he knows nothing about them. As you read, low explorers, and the Native Americans he
think about the following questions: encounters.

• What motivates Cabeza de Vaca to try to set sail Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart to record
once the Spaniards have landed?
instances of bias and what they tell about Cabeza
• As the Native Americans lead Cabeza de Vaca and his de Vaca.
group to their lodges, the Spaniards do not know if
they are going to be saved or sacrificed. How do you
think you would react if you were in this situation? Quote Bias
p. 58 Cabeza de Vaca assumes
Building Background “Crude and that the indigenous
In the early 1500s, Spanish conquistadores began untutored people, people are unintelligent
exploring and invading Central and South America, who were like and unschooled before
searching for gold and other riches. In 1520, Hernán brutes” he knows anything
Cortés defeated the Aztecs and sacked Tenochtitlán, the about their culture and
site of present-day Mexico City. In 1534, Francisco way of life.
Pizarro conquered the Incas in Peru. The indigenous
people were baffled and frightened by the sudden
appearance of the Spanish. The Spanish had weapons
that ensured victory in war: horses, war dogs, guns, can-
Vocabulary
nons, as well as their greatest weapon, the smallpox
virus. As a result of Spanish occupation, indigenous ration (rash ən) n. fixed portion or share;
societies and cultures were in shambles. Indigenous p. 56 The campers ate their entire day’s ration and
peoples and the Spanish began to intermarry, creating a were still hungry.
mixed race.
rouse (rouz) v. to awaken from sleep; p. 56
They had gone to bed late, and it was difficult to
Setting Purposes for Reading rouse them.
Big Idea Life in the New World revive (ri v¯ v ) v. to give new strength and
As you read, think about what the narrative implies vitality, or bring back to consciousness; p. 56
about the Spaniards’ view of their own culture in com- The lifeguard was able to revive the unconscious
parison with that of the indigenous people they swimmer.
encountered in the New World.
embark (em bark ) v. to set out on a venture;
p. 57 The hunting party mounted their horses and
Literary Element Point of View prepared to embark.
Point of view is the relationship of the narrator to
the story. In a narrative with a first-person point of
view, the narrator is a character in the story and uses
the words I and me. As you read, be aware of how
Cabeza de Vaca’s first-person point of view affects his Interactive Literary Elements
description of people and events. Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R14.
O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • recognizing bias
• evaluating narrative point of view • analyzing historical narratives

ÁLVAR NÚÑEZ CABEZA DE VACA 55


Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
Translated by Martin A. Favata
and José B. Fernández

We sailed in this manner together for four days, took over the boat, I tried to rest some but could
eating a daily ration of half a handful of raw not, and sleep was the furthest thing from my
corn. After four days a storm came up and mind.
caused the other boat to be lost. We did not Near dawn I thought I heard the roar of the
sink because of God’s great mercy. The weather breakers1 near shore, which was very loud because
was rough, very cold, and wintery. We had been the coast was low. Surprised by this, I roused the
suffering from hunger for many days and had sailing master, who said he thought we were near
been pounded so much by the sea that the fol- land. We took a sounding and found that the
lowing day many men began to faint. By night- water was seven fathoms2 deep. He thought that
fall all the men in my boat had passed out, one we should stay out until dawn. So I took an oar
on top of another, so near death that few of and rowed along the coast, which was a league3
them were conscious and fewer than five were distant. Then we set our stern4 to sea.
still upright. During the night only the sailing Near land a great wave took us and cast the
master and I were left to sail the boat. Two boat out of the water as far as a horseshoe can be
hours after nightfall he told me I should take tossed. The boat ran aground with such force that
over because he was in such a condition that he it revived the men on it who were almost dead.
thought he would die that very night; so I took When they saw they were near land they pushed
the tiller. In the middle of the night, I went to themselves overboard and crawled on their hands
see if the sailing master had died, but he told and knees. When they got to the beach, we lit a
me that he was better and that he would steer
until daybreak. At that time I certainly would 1. Breakers are waves that foam as they break on rocks or a
have rather died than see so many people before shoreline.
me in that condition. After the sailing master 2. A fathom is a linear measure equal to six feet, used mainly
in measuring the depth of water.
3. A league is a measure of distance equal to some three miles.
4. The stern is the rear part of a boat or ship.
Literary Element Point of View How might another per-
son on the boat have described this scene? Vocabulary
rouse (rouz) v. to awaken from sleep
Vocabulary
revive (ri v̄v) v. to give new strength and vitality, or
ration (rash ən) n. fixed portion or share bring back to consciousness

56 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
(map)The New York Public Library/Art Resource, NY, (nautical devices)Richard T. Norwitz/CORBIS
fire by some rocks and toasted some of the corn The following day at sunrise, at the time the
we had and found rain water. With the warmth Indians had indicated, they came to us as prom-
of the fire, the men revived and began to regain ised, bringing us much fish, some roots which
some of their strength. We arrived at this place they eat, the size of walnuts, some larger or
on the sixth of November. smaller. Most of these are pulled with great dif-
ficulty from under the water. In the evening they
Once our people had eaten, I sent Lope de returned to bring us more fish and the same kind
Oviedo, who was stronger and fitter than the rest of roots. They had their women and children
of us, to climb one of the trees nearby to sight the come to see us and they considered themselves
land and find out something about it. He did this rich with little bells and beads that we gave
and saw that we were on an island, and that the them. The following days they returned to visit
land appeared to have been trampled by livestock. with the same things as before.
He thought for this reason that it must be a coun- Seeing that we were provisioned with fish,
try of Christians, and told us so. I told him to look roots, water, and the other things we requested,
again very carefully to see if there were any paths we agreed to embark on our voyage once again.
that could be followed, but not to go too far We dug up the boat from the sand. We had to
because of possible danger. He found a path and strip naked and struggle mightily to launch it,
followed it for half a league and found some unoc- because we were so weak that lesser tasks would
cupied Indian huts, for the Indians had gone into have been enough to exhaust us. Once we were
the fields. He took a pot from one of them, a out from the shore the distance of two crossbow
small dog and some mullet5 and started back. shots, a wave struck us quite a blow and got us
We thought he was taking a long time to all wet. Since we were naked and it was very
return, so I sent two other Christians to look for cold, we let go of the oars. Another strong wave
him and find out what had happened to him. caused the boat to capsize. The Inspector and
They found him near there, pursued by three two other men held on to it to survive, but quite
Indians with bows and arrows. They were call- the opposite occurred because the boat pulled
ing out to him and he was trying to speak to them under and they drowned. Since the surf
them through sign language. He got to where was very rough, the sea wrapped all the men in
we were and the Indians stayed back a bit its waves, except the three that had been pulled
seated on the same shore. Half an hour later under by the boat, and cast them on the shore of
another one hundred Indian bowmen appeared. the same island. Those of us who survived were
We were so scared that they seemed to us to be as naked as the day we were born and had lost
giants, whether they were or not. They stopped everything we had. Although the few things we
near us, where the first three were. We could had were of little value, they meant a lot to us.
not even think of defending ourselves, since It was November then and the weather was
there were scarcely six men who could even get very cold. We were in such a state that our bones
up from the ground. The Inspector and I went could easily be counted and we looked like the
towards them and called them, and they picture of death. I can say for myself that I had
approached us. As best we could we tried to not eaten anything but parched corn since the
reassure them and ourselves, and gave them previous May, and sometimes I had to eat it raw.
beads and little bells. Each of them gave me an Although the horses were slaughtered while we
arrow, which is a sign of friendship. In sign lan- were building the boats, I was never able to eat
guage they told us that they would return in the them, and I had eaten fish fewer than ten times.
morning and bring us food, since they did not This is but a brief comment, since anyone can
have any at the time.

Literary Element Point of View How does Cabeza de


5. A mullet is a type of fish. Vaca use his own experience to illustrate the state of his crew?

Big Idea Life in the New World How does Lope de


Vocabulary
Oviedo’s assumption reflect the Spaniards’ expectations of
the New World? embark (em bark) v. to set out on a venture

Á LVAR N Ú Ñ EZ C ABEZA DE VACA 57


imagine what shape we were in. On
top of all this, the north wind began
to blow, and so we were closer to
death than to life. It pleased our Lord
to let us find some embers among the
coals of the fire we had made, and we
made large fires. In this way we asked
our Lord’s mercy and the forgiveness
of our sins, shedding many tears,
with each man pitying not only him-
self but all the others who were in
the same condition.
At sunset the Indians, thinking
that we had not gone, looked for us
again and brought us food. When
they saw us in such a different state Viewing the Art: How would you describe the mood of
Cabeza de Vaca and the three other surviving members
of attire and looking so strange, they
of his crew in this depiction?
were so frightened that they drew back.
I went out to them and called them and they were saying and I asked the Indians to take us
returned very frightened. I let them know through to their lodges. They indicated that they
sign language that one of our boats had sunk and would be very pleased to do this. They asked
that three of our men had drowned. And there us to wait a bit and then they would do what
before their very eyes they saw two of the dead we wanted. Then thirty of them loaded them-
men, and those of us who were alive seemed as if selves with firewood and went to their lodges,
we would soon join them. which were far from there. We stayed with the
The Indians, seeing the disaster that had come others until nearly nightfall, when they held
upon us and brought so much misfortune and on to us and took us hastily to their lodges.
misery, sat down with us. They felt such great Since it was so cold and they feared that some-
pain and pity at seeing us in such a state that one might faint or die on the way, they had
they all began to cry so loudly and sincerely that provided for four or five large fires to be placed
they could be heard from afar. This went on for at intervals, and they warmed us at each one.
more than half an hour. In fact, seeing that these Once they saw that we had gained some
crude and untutored people, who were like strength and gotten warmer, they took us to
brutes, grieved so much for us, caused me and the next one so rapidly that our feet scarcely
the others in my company to suffer more and touched the ground. In this way we went to
think more about our misfortune. When their their lodges and found that they had one ready
crying ceased, I told the Christians that, if they for us with many fires lighted in it. Within an
agreed, I would ask those Indians to take us to hour of our arrival they began to dance and
their lodges. And some who had been in New have a great celebration that lasted all night.
Spain6 responded that we should not even think For us there was no pleasure nor celebration
about it, because if they took us to their lodges nor sleep because we were waiting to see when
they would sacrifice us to their idols.7 But see- they would sacrifice us. In the morning they
ing that we had no other recourse and that any again gave us fish and roots and treated us so well
other action would certainly bring us closer to that we were a little reassured and lost some of our
death, I did not pay attention to what they fear of being sacrificed.

6. New Spain was a part of the Spanish Empire in the 1500s. It Big Idea Life in the New World What does this pas-
included Venezuela, Florida, Mexico, Central America, and
sage imply about the Spaniards’ ideas about people in the
other territory. Mexico City was its capital.
New World?
7. Idols are images of gods used as objects of worship.

58 U N IT 1 EARLY AMERICA
Getty Images
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. After reading Cabeza de Vaca’s account, what 5. How do Cabeza de Vaca’s descriptions of his own
questions might you ask him? and his men’s suffering contribute to the effective-
ness and emotional impact of this account?

Recall and Interpret 6. How do Cabeza de Vaca’s references to God’s


mercy affect your impressions of him and his
2. (a)How do Cabeza de Vaca and his men reach
mission?
the island? (b)Why might their landing seem like
a miracle to them? 7. In your opinion, were the explorers sufficiently
prepared for their journey?
3. (a)Why do the Native Americans chase Lope de
Oviedo? (b)How does the behavior of Oviedo
and his pursuers reveal each group’s assump- Connect
tions about the other?
8. Big Idea Life in the New World What does
4. (a)In what ways do the Native Americans help Cabeza de Vaca’s narrative indicate about the diffi-
Cabeza de Vaca and his companions? (b)What culties of first encounters between Native
do you think prompts them to give assistance? Americans and Europeans?

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO CA B U L A RY

Literary Element Point of View Reading Strategy Recognizing Bias


The narrator tells what happens in a story from his Although Cabeza de Vaca wrote his account to give
or her point of view. Keep in mind that a first- the king useful information about the New World, it
person narrator in a nonfiction account will recall still contains considerable bias. To detect bias, look
what he or she considers important and relate it in for oversimplification and stereotyping; analyze the
a way that suits his or her purpose. Narratives of writer’s reasoning; and identify emotionally charged
the same events written with a third-person omni- language.
scient point of view, or by a different “first person,”
1. Refer to the chart you made and identify two
may reflect different details, feelings, and ideas.
examples of bias in Cabeza de Vaca’s narrative.
1. How might the story told in La Relación have
2. Write the strategy that helped you recognize the
been different if one of Cabeza de Vaca’s men
bias and the word clues that helped you make
or one of the Native Americans had told it?
your decision.
2. Cabeza de Vaca portrays himself as a heroic
character. What details create this image?

Writing About Literature


Evaluate Author’s Craft Choose a passage in La
Relación, and examine Cabeza de Vaca’s choice of
descriptive words. Evaluate the effectiveness of his
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
descriptions and how they add to the value of the Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
work. Organize your comments in a one-page paper. www.glencoe.com.

ÁLVAR NÚÑEZ C ABEZA DE VACA 59


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

from Of Plymouth Plantation


M E E T W I LLI A M BR A D FO RD or no food at the onset
of winter and had no

I
wilderness survival skills.
t was 1620, and the passengers aboard the
They constructed crude
Mayflower were traveling to the Americas.
shelters, hoping to make
Violent storms tossed the creaking ship and
it through the winter.
blew it far off course. Among the passengers was
Nearly half the colonists
thirty-year-old William Bradford.
died of scurvy, pneumonia,
Born in Yorkshire, England, in 1590, Bradford was fever, or starvation.
orphaned as an infant and brought up by relatives.
As a youth, he studied the Bible and became a Governor The colony survived
Separatist. Like the Puritans, Separatists sought and in time grew into a thriving com-
reforms in the Church of England. Rather than try munity under Bradford’s leadership. He was reelected
to “purify” it, however, the Separatists broke away. governor for thirty one-year terms between 1622 and
In 1609, Bradford expatriated, moving to Leiden in 1656. In his gubernatorial years, he served as chief
Holland with the congregation and its leader, John magistrate, high judge, and treasurer. He also pre-
Robinson. Fearing they might become assimilated sided over the community’s legislature, known as the
into Dutch culture and lose their identity, the General Court. Unlike the Massachusetts Bay
Separatists decided to go to the Americas. John Colony, which was a Bible commonwealth,
Carver, a successful businessman, attained financial Plymouth was fairly egalitarian for its day, allowing
backing and chartered the Mayflower. Nearly 500 Presbyterians and maverick nonbelievers to live in
miles northeast of their intended destination, the the community without forcing them to practice in
Separatists landed in Provincetown, Massachusetts, Congregationalist or Separatist churches. To ensure
on Cape Cod on November 21, 1620. On December a peaceable, organized society, Bradford distributed
26, the 102 settlers disembarked nearby at a site they parcels of land equally to all settlers, even non-
named Plymouth, after the town where they had set believers. This organizational principle facilitated
sail. Before leaving the Mayflower, the men in the the private subsistence farming that drove
group drafted and signed the historic Mayflower Plymouth’s economy in its early years.
Compact, the colony’s rules of government. In 1630, Bradford started to compile Of Plymouth
Plantation, 1620–1647, one of the most important
narratives of early colonial life. The chronicle is
“All great and honorable actions are unique in that it separates religious commentary
from historical commentary. Certain narratives
accompanied with great difficulties, published by Puritans who had arrived during the
and must be both enterprised and Great Migration deemed colonial life as God’s
plan. Bradford made no such doctrinaire claims.
overcome with answerable courage.” Instead, he steered a middle course between a
—William Bradford Bible commonwealth and a secular society that
made for a prosperous Plymouth.
William Bradford was born in 1590 and died in 1657.
The First Winter The group of about 100 settlers,
known today as the Pilgrims, elected Bradford
leader after John Carver, the first governor, died. Author Search For more about
The voyage had been harsh. They arrived with little Literature
William Online
Bradford, Author Search For more
go to www.glencoe.com.
about this author, go to www.literature.glencoe.com.

60 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Bettmann/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the History Reading Strategy Monitoring


How important is it to be able to openly express your Comprehension
own beliefs? In his narrative, William Bradford tells Bradford’s writing style, while typical of his time, can
harrowing stories of the settlers’ first winter in New be hard to understand today becuse he uses archaic
England, a difficult step in the path to religious free- idioms and vocabulary and long, complex sentences.
dom. As you read the text, think about the following When you encounter a difficult passage, try breaking
questions: long sentences into smaller parts as you read.
• Have you ever been in a situation where you felt Reading Tip: Taking Notes Choose three of
you were not allowed or able to share your beliefs?
• Would you put everything on the line for your Bradford’s sentences that are difficult to understand
and rewrite them using everyday contemporary words.
beliefs?

Building Background Sentence Revision


Sea voyages were extremely dangerous in the 1600s.
“At length they “After talking with him
The wooden ships were easily damaged when they hit
understood by for a while, they found
shoals (sandbars or shallow spots in the water).
discourse with him, out that he lived in the
Sometimes, strong waves caused ships to “seele,” or
that he was not east near the ocean
lurch suddenly from side to side. In fierce winds, sails
of these parts, but where the English had
were lowered by heavy ropes called “halyards,” and
belonged to the come to fish.”
ships would have to “hull” or drift at sea.
eastern parts where
some English ships
Setting Purposes for Reading
come to fish.”
Big Idea Life in the New World
As you read William Bradford’s description of Plymouth
Plantation, notice how the colonists demonstrate their
values in their daily effort to survive and flourish in a Vocabulary
harsh environment.
resolve (ri zolv ) v. to decide; determine; p. 62
After failing two driving tests, Candy resolved to
Literary Element Diction pass her third.
Diction is a writer’s choice of words, an important ele-
providence (prov ə dəns) n. divine care or
ment of the writer’s voice or style. As you read, consider
guidance; foresight; p. 63 We trusted to provi-
how Bradford’s diction expresses the values of his time.
dence that it would not rain on graduation day.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R5. procure (prə kyoor ) v. to obtain by care or
effort; p. 64 Sam set out to procure some dry
wood for the campfire.
commodity (kə mod ə te) n. a product or eco-
nomic good; an article of trade; p. 64 Our
town’s most important commodity is cranberries.
feigned (fānd) adj. fictitious; not genuine; p. 64
Interactive Literary Elements The actress was so convincing that it was hard to
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements, believe her emotions were feigned.
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • analyzing the effects of diction and imagery
• monitoring comprehension • recognizing the impact of cultures and traditions on a text

WILLIAM BRADFO RD 61
William Bradford

from Chapter 9 under water) till he was hauled up by the same


Of Their Voyage, and How They rope to the brim of the water, and then with a
boat hook and other means got into the ship
Passed the Sea; and of Their Safe again and his life saved. And though he was
Arrival at Cape Cod something ill with it, yet he lived many years
In sundry1 of these storms the winds were so after and became a profitable member both in
fierce and the seas so high, as they could not church and commonwealth. In all this voyage
bear a knot of sail, but were forced to hull for there died but one of the passengers, which was
divers2 days together. And in one of them, as William Butten, a youth, servant to Samuel
they thus lay at hull in a mighty storm, a lusty3 Fuller, when they drew near the coast.
young man called John Howland, coming upon But to omit other things (that I may be brief)
some occasion above the gratings was, with a after long beating at sea they fell with that land
seele of the ship, thrown into sea; but it pleased which is called Cape Cod; the which being made
God that he caught hold of the topsail halyards and certainly known to be it, they were not a little
which hung overboard and ran out at length. Yet joyful. After some deliberation had amongst them-
he held his hold (though he was sundry fathoms selves 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
1. Sundry refers to an indefinite number.
about Hudson’s River for their habitation. But after
2. Divers means “several.”
3. Lusty here means “strong.”
Vocabulary
Reading Strategy Monitoring Comprehension How
would you rephrase this passage in modern English?
resolve (ri zolv) v. to decide; determine

62 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Burstein Collection/CORBIS
they had sailed that course about half the day, they that the barbarians showed them no small kind-
fell amongst dangerous shoals and roaring breakers, ness in refreshing them, but these savage barbar-
and they were so far entangled therewith as they ians, when they met with them (as after will
conceived themselves in great danger; and the appear) were readier to fill their sides full of
wind shrinking upon them withal,4 they resolved to arrows than otherwise. And for the season it was
bear up again for the Cape and thought themselves winter, and they that know the winters of that
happy to get out of those dangers before night over- country know them to be sharp and violent, and
took them, as by God’s good providence they did. subject to cruel and fierce storms, dangerous to
And the next day they got into the Cape Harbor travel to known places, much more to search an
where they rid5 in safety. . . . unknown coast.
Being thus arrived in a good harbor, and
brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees from Chapter 11
and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought
them over the vast and furious ocean, and deliv-
The Starving Time
ered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, But that which was most sad and lamentable was,
again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, that in two or three months’ time half of their
their proper element. And no marvel if they were company died, especially in January and February,
thus joyful, seeing wise Seneca6 was so affected being the depth of winter, and wanting houses
with sailing a few miles on the coast of his own and other comforts; being infected with the
Italy, as he affirmed, that he had rather remain scurvy9 and other diseases which this long voyage
twenty years on his way by land than pass by sea and their inaccommodate condition had brought
to any place in a short time, so tedious and dread- upon them. So as there died some times two or
ful was the same unto him. three of a day in the foresaid time, that of 100 and
odd persons, scarce fifty remained. And of these,
But here I cannot but stay and make a pause, in the time of most distress, there was but six or
and stand half amazed at this poor people’s pres- seven sound persons who to their great commen-
ent condition; and so I think will the reader, too, dations, be it spoken, spared no pains night nor
when he well considers the same. Being thus day, but with abundance of toil and hazard of their
passed the vast ocean, and a sea of troubles own health, fetched them wood, made them fires,
before in their preparation (as may be remem- dressed them meat, made their beds, washed their
bered by that which went before), they had now loathsome clothes, clothed and unclothed them.
no friends to welcome them nor inns to enter- In a word, did all the homely10 and necessary
tain or refresh their weatherbeaten bodies; no offices for them which dainty and queasy stom-
houses or much less towns to repair to, to seek achs cannot endure to hear named; and all this
for succor.7 It is recorded in Scripture8 as a mercy willingly and cheerfully, without any grudging in
to the Apostle and his shipwrecked company, the least, showing herein their true love unto
their friends and brethren; a rare example and
worthy to be remembered. Two of these seven
4. Also is another word for withal. were Mr. William Brewster, their reverend Elder,
5. Rid means “rode.” and Myles Standish, their Captain and military
6. Seneca was a Roman philosopher and writer.
commander, unto whom myself and many others
7. Succor means “assistance in a time of need; relief.”
8. The reference here to Scripture, or the Bible, is Acts of the
were much beholden in our low and sick condi-
Apostles 28, which tells of the kindness shown to St. Paul tion. And yet the Lord so upheld these persons as
and his companions by the natives of Malta after they in this general calamity they were not at all
were shipwrecked on that island. infected either with sickness or lameness. . . .
Literary Element Diction How does this phrase reflect
Bradford’s beliefs?
9. A severe lack of vitamin C causes a disease called scurvy.
Vocabulary 10. Homely here means “domestic.”

providence (prov ə dəns) n. divine care or guidance; Literary Element Diction What idea about life in the
foresight New World is reinforced by the adjectives in this passage?

WILLIAM BR ADFO RD 63
Indian Relations 4. If any did unjustly war against him, they
All this while the Indians came skulking about would aid him; if any did war against them, he
them, and would sometimes show themselves should aid them.
aloof off, but when any approached near them, 5. He should send to his neighbors confeder-
they would run away; and once they [the Indians] ates to certify them of this, that they might not
stole away their [the colonists’] tools where they wrong them, but might be likewise comprised in
had been at work and were gone to dinner. But the conditions of peace.
about the 16th of March, a certain Indian came 6. That when their men came to them, they
boldly amongst them and spoke to them in bro- should leave their bows and arrows behind them.
ken English, which they could well understand After these things he returned to his place
but marveled at it. At length they understood by called Sowams, some 40 miles from this place, but
discourse with him, that he was not of these parts, Squanto continued with them and was their inter-
but belonged to the eastern parts where some preter and was a special instrument sent of God
English ships came to fish, with whom he was for their good beyond their expectation. He
acquainted and could name sundry of them by directed them how to set their corn, where to take
their names, amongst whom he had got his lan- fish, and to procure other commodities, and was
guage. He became profitable to them in acquaint- also their pilot to bring them to unknown places
ing them with many things concerning the state for their profit, and never left them till he died.
of the country in the east parts where he lived,
which was afterwards profitable unto them; as also from Chapter 12
of the people here, of their names, number and First Thanksgiving
strength, of their situation and distance from this
place, and who was chief amongst them. His They began now to gather in the small harvest
name was Samoset. He told them also of another they had, and to fit up their houses and dwellings
Indian whose name was Squanto, a native of this against winter, being all well recovered in health
place, who had been in England and could speak and strength and had all things in good plenty. For
better English than himself. as some were thus employed in affairs abroad, oth-
Being, after some time of entertainment and ers were exercised in fishing, about cod and bass
gifts dismissed, a while after he came again, and and other fish, of which they took good store, of
five more with him, and they brought again all which every family had their portion. All the sum-
the tools that were stolen away before, and made mer there was no want; and now began to come in
way for the coming of their great Sachem, called store of fowl, as winter approached, of which this
Massasoit. Who, about four or five days after, place did abound when they came first (but after-
came with the chief of his friends and other atten- ward decreased by degrees). And besides waterfowl
dance, with the aforesaid Squanto. With whom, there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they
after friendly entertainment and some gifts given took many, besides venison, etc. Besides they had
him, they made a peace with him (which hath about a peck of meal a week to a person, or now
now continued this 24 years) in these terms: since harvest, Indian corn to that proportion.
Which made many afterwards write so largely of
1. That neither he nor any of his should their plenty here to their friends in England, which
injure or do hurt to any of their people. were not feigned but true reports. 
2. That if any of his did hurt to any of theirs,
he should send the offender, that they might Big Idea Life in the New World How did life for the
punish him. settlers change so drastically since their bleak arrival in the
New World?
3. That if anything were taken away from any
of theirs, he should cause it to be restored; and
Vocabulary
they should do the like to his.
procure (prə kyoor) v. to obtain by care or effort
commodity (kə modə tē) n. a product or economic
Reading Strategy Monitoring Comprehension What good; an article of trade
does this passage say about this “certain Indian”? feigned (fānd) adj. fictitious; not genuine

64 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond 5. (a)What are some examples of Samoset’s and
Squanto’s accomplishments? (b)What do you think
1. If you had been a Plymouth settler, what do you
might have happened to the Pilgrims without
think would have been your greatest challenge?
Squanto’s help?
Recall and Interpret
Analyze and Evaluate
2. (a)What hardships did the Pilgrims face aboard the
6. (a)What were the six terms of peace meant to
Mayflower and in Plymouth? (b)In your opinion,
accomplish? (b)In your opinion, was this plan a
were the Pilgrims skilled in adapting to unexpected
good one? Explain.
conditions in the New World? Explain.
7. (a)What enabled the Pilgrims to survive and cele-
3. (a)What caused the Pilgrims to land on Cape Cod,
brate their “First Thanksgiving”? (b)How much
in Massachusetts, instead of farther south, near the
credit do you give the Pilgrims for this success?
Hudson River? (b)How did this event affect the
expedition? Connect
4. (a)What enabled the Pilgrims to survive “the
8. Big Idea Life in the New World Do the experi-
Starving Time”? (b)What do Bradford’s comments
ences of the Pilgrims have any connection to our
reveal about the Pilgrims’ character?
society today? Explain.

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Diction Reading Strategy Monitoring


Diction is a writer’s choice of words. Diction contrib- Comprehension
utes to what we recognize as a writer’s voice or style. Bradford’s writing style involves obscure idioms,
1. Paraphrase the first sentence on page 63, para- archaic vocabulary, and long, complex sentences. In
graph 1, which begins “Being thus arrived . . . ” the description of the sea journey, he also uses jargon.
You learned several of these words in Building
2. How would you describe the style of this sentence? Background. Now figure out a few on your own.

Performing
You Are There Choose an event from Bradford’s
Vocabulary Practice
narrative and recast it in the form of a dramatic Jargon is vocabulary that is specific to a profession or
monologue. Speaking as if you were Bradford, a social group. Locate instances of jargon on page 62
address one or more of the Plymouth settlers during and try to determine their meanings from the context.
or after one of their experiences. Use modern lan-
guage instead of Bradford’s archaic diction. Practice and Apply Choose the best meaning for
each phrase.
1. they tacked about
a. changed direction c. stayed where
they were
b. could not decide d. returned
2. they decided to stand for the southward
a. avoid c. head for
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
b. represent d. object to
www.glencoe.com.

WILLIAM BR ADFO RD 65
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

The Life of Olaudah Equiano


M E E T O L AU DA H EQU I A N O

T
he life of Olaudah Equiano (ō lau´ da paid. In 1766, at the
e kwē a´ nō) was a mixture of tragedy, strug- age of 21, he used
gle, and great achievement. The son of an money he had made to
Ibo chieftain, Equiano was born in Essaka, a vil- buy his freedom. He spent the next several years
lage in what is now Nigeria. His village was a con- working on ships, traveling to Turkey, Italy, and
siderable distance from the coast, and as a child Jamaica.
Equiano had never heard of the sea or of the peo-
While sailing, Equiano realized that life as a free
ple who lived beyond it. When he was eleven, he
man was in many respects no easier than his life
had a terrifying introduction to both when he and
as a slave had been. Freed slaves in the British
his sister were kidnapped by slave traders. They
colonies had no legal rights and were often
were separated, and Equiano was sold to Europeans
treated miserably. Equiano described his disap-
and packed onto a slave ship headed for the
pointment with the so-called freedom he was
Caribbean island of Barbados. The horrors Equiano
allowed to enjoy. Soon after he was freed, he
witnessed on the ship haunted him for the rest of
wrote, “Hitherto I had thought only slavery
his life.
dreadful; but the state of the free negro appeared
to me now equally so at least, and in some
respects even worse.”
“. . . I might say my sufferings were
Freedom Fighter In 1776 Equiano settled in
great; but when I compare my lot with that England to campaign against slavery. He helped
of most of my countrymen, I regard myself organize several antislavery organizations in
London and, along with other abolitionists, peti-
as a particular favorite of heaven. . . .” tioned the British parliament to end the slave
—Olaudah Equiano trade. Equiano was also part of the Committee for
Relief of the Black Poor in London and a leader
in the Sierra Leone recolonization project, a
failed attempt to bring former slaves back to
In the years after being captured, Equiano spent Africa. His greatest contribution to the abolition-
time in Virginia and England, where he was owned ist cause, however, was his 1789 autobiography,
by an officer of the British Royal Navy. Equiano The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah
served in the British navy with this officer from Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. It was
1758 to 1762, during the French and Indian War. one of the first books published by a former slave
Over the years, the officer baptized him, renamed and became one of the most influential slave nar-
him Gustavus Vassa, and taught him seafaring ratives. Its graphic and powerful descriptions of
skills as well as how to read and write. These skills the inhumanity Equiano and other slaves suffered
would serve Equiano well after the officer sold him helped further the abolitionist cause throughout
to a merchant in the West Indies in 1763. Europe and the United States.
Olaudah Equiano was born in 1745 and died in 1797.
Sailor and Trader As a slave to the merchant,
Equiano worked on trading ships between the
West Indies and mainland American colonies and Author Search For more about
also did some trading on the side for which he was Olaudah Equiano, go to www.glencoe.com.

66 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Royal Albert Memorial Musem, Exeter/Bridgeman Art Library
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Autobiography Reading Strategy Responding


Imagine how you would feel if a group of people Responding is explaining what you think about a
thought they had the right to deprive you of your free- selection and how it affects you. Responding person-
dom. In this excerpt from his narrative, Olaudah ally includes describing what you like, dislike, or find
Equiano details the horrors he experienced as a slave. interesting in a selection and how these aspects of the
As you read, think about the following questions: work relate to your own life. More analytical responses
• How would you feel if someone tried to take away deal with giving your opinion on aspects such as the
behavior of the characters or stylistic techniques used
your freedom?
• What is a cause you care deeply about? by the author. As you read, consider the thoughts and
feelings that the selection evokes and what factors
contribute to your response.
Building Background
From the 1500s to the 1800s, approximately ten mil- Reading Tip: Taking Notes As you read the selec-
lion Africans suffered miserable treatment on the tion, jot down quick notes about the passages you
forced journey from their homes to enslavement in think are especially moving or intense.
the Western Hemisphere. The most arduous portion of
the journey, known as the Middle Passage, was a two-
Vocabulary
month voyage from West Africa to the West Indies.
Some two million Africans died from malnutrition, apprehension (ap´ ri hen shən) n. fear of what
disease, suffocation, beatings, and despair during may happen in the future; anxiety; p. 70 Sam
the journey. thought of his upcoming speech with apprehension.
copious (kō pē əs) adj. large in quantity; plen-
Setting Purposes for Reading tiful; p. 70 Copious amounts of food were served
at the banquet.
Big Idea Life in the New World
gratify ( rat ə f¯´) v. to satisfy or indulge;
As you read, notice what the selection reveals about
p. 71 Our walks outside gratify my craving for
the suffering endured by many of the Africans who
sunlight.
helped build the United States.
clamor (klam ər) n. confused, insistent shout-
Literary Element The Slave Narrative ing; p. 72 The clamor woke Kim from her sleep.

A slave narrative is an autobiographical account of a scruple (skr¯¯¯


oo pəl) n. moral principle that
formerly enslaved person’s life. Slave narratives helped restrains action; p. 72 Without a scruple, Nina
abolitionists expose slavery’s cruelty. As you read, eval- stole the bike.
uate Equiano’s success in making readers aware of
Vocabulary Tip: Antonyms Antonyms are words
slavery’s injustice.
that have opposite or nearly opposite meanings.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R16–R17. For example, joyful and mournful are antonyms.
Note that antonyms are always the same part of
speech.

Interactive Literary Elements


Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • supporting and defending personal responses with details
• responding personally, critically, and analytically to texts from the text

OLAUDAH EQUIANO 67
Olaudah Equiano

The first object which saluted1 my eyes when I were some of those who had brought me on board,
arrived on the coast, was the sea, and a slave and had been receiving their pay; they talked to me
ship, which was then riding at anchor, and wait- in order to cheer me, but all in vain.4 I asked them
ing for its cargo. These filled me with astonish- if we were not to be eaten by those white men with
ment, which was soon converted into terror, horrible looks, red faces, and long hair. They told
when I was carried on board. I was immediately me I was not: and one of the crew brought me a
handled, and tossed up to see if I were sound, by small portion of spirituous liquor in a wine glass,
some of the crew; and I was now persuaded that I but, being afraid of him, I would not take it out of
had gotten into a world of bad spirits, and that his hand. One of the blacks, therefore, took it from
they were going to kill me. him and gave it to me, and I took a little down my
Their complexions, too, differing so much palate,5 which, instead of reviving me, as they
from ours, their long hair, and the language they thought it would, threw me into the greatest con-
spoke, (which was very different from any I had sternation6 at the strange feeling it produced, hav-
ever heard) united to confirm me in this belief. ing never tasted any such liquor before. Soon after
Indeed, such were the horrors of my views and fears this, the blacks who brought me on board went off,
at the moment, that, if ten thousand worlds had and left me abandoned to despair.
been my own, I would have freely parted with them I now saw myself deprived of all chance of
all to have exchanged my condition with that of returning to my native country, or even the least
the meanest2 slave in my own country. When I glimpse of hope of gaining the shore, which I now
looked round the ship too, and saw a large furnace considered as friendly; and I even wished for my for-
of copper boiling, and a multitude of black people of mer slavery7 in preference to my present situation,
every description chained together, every one of which was filled with horrors of every kind, still
their countenances3 expressing dejection and sor- heightened by my ignorance of what I was to
row, I no longer doubted of my fate; and, quite over- undergo. I was not long suffered8 to indulge my
powered with horror and anguish, I fell motionless grief; I was soon put down under the decks, and
on the deck and fainted. When I recovered a little, there I received such a salutation in my nostrils as I
I found some black people about me, who I believed had never experienced in my life: so that, with
the loathsomeness of the stench, and crying
1. Here, saluted means “became noticeable to” or “struck.”
2. Here, meanest means “of the lowest social position or rank.”
3. Countenance means “face” or “facial expression.” 4. Something done in vain is done without effect or success.
5. The palate, here, is the mouth and throat.
Literary Element Slave Narrative Why might Equiano 6. Consternation is paralyzing dismay or fear.
have included these details? 7. Equiano refers to a brief period of time he spent as a slave
to the Africans who kidnapped him and eventually sold him.
Reading Strategy In his experience, slavery in Africa was far less brutal than
Responding What about this passage
slavery in the New World.
makes it striking or memorable?
8. Here, suffered means “allowed.”

68 U N IT 1 EARLY AMERICA
SuperStock, Inc./SuperStock
The Slavedeck of the Albaroz, Prize to the H.M.S. Albatross, 1846. Francis Meynell. Watercolor.
National Maritime Museum, London.
Viewing the Art: How do you think this image compares with Olaudah Equiano’s description
of conditions in the hold of a slave ship?

together, I became so sick and low that I was would have jumped over the side, but I could not;
not able to eat, nor had I the least desire to and besides, the crew used to watch us very closely
taste any thing. I now wished for the last who were not chained down to the decks, lest we
friend, death, to relieve me; but soon, to my should leap into the water; and I have seen some
grief, two of the white men offered me eatables; of these poor African prisoners most severely cut,
and, on my refusing to eat, one of them held me for attempting to do so, and hourly whipped for
fast by the hands, and laid me across, I think the not eating. This indeed was often the case with
windlass,9 and tied my feet, while the other myself. In a little time after, amongst the poor
flogged me severely. I had never experienced chained men, I found some of my own nation,
any thing of this kind before, and although not which in a small degree gave ease to my mind. I
being used to the water, I naturally feared that inquired of these what was to be done with us?
element the first time I saw it, yet, neverthe- They gave me to understand, we were to be car-
less, could I have got over the nettings,10 I ried to these white people’s country to work for
them. I then was a little revived, and thought, if it
were no worse than working, my situation was not
9. A windlass is a type of crank with a handle. It is used to so desperate; but still I feared I should be put to
raise or lower a heavy object such as an anchor.
death, the white people looked and acted, as I
10. Nettings were networks of small ropes on the sides of a
ship. On slave ships, nettings were used to prevent captives
thought, in so savage a manner; for I had never
from jumping overboard.

Literary Element Slave Narrative How does the point of Big Idea Life in the New World What kind of mood
view affect the message of this selection? does Equiano create here?

OLAUD AH EQUIANO 69
National Maritime Museum, London/Bridgeman Art Library
seen among any people such instances of brutal were now convinced it was done by magic. Soon
cruelty; and this not only shown towards us after this the other ship got her boats out, and
blacks, but also to some of the whites them- they came on board of us, and the people of both
selves. One white man in particular I saw, ships seemed very glad to see each other. Several
when we were permitted to be on deck, flogged of the strangers also shook hands with us black
so unmercifully with a large rope near the fore- people, and made motions with their hands, sig-
mast, that he died in consequence of it; and they nifying I suppose, we were to go to their country,
tossed him over the side as they would have but we did not understand them.
done a brute. This made me fear these people the At last, when the ship we were in, had got in
more; and I expected nothing less than to be treated all her cargo, they made ready with many fear-
in the same manner. I could not help expressing my ful noises, and we were all put under deck, so
fears and apprehensions to some of my countrymen; that we could not see how they managed the
I asked them if these people had no country, but vessel. But this disappointment was the least of
lived in this hollow place? (the ship) they told me my sorrow. The stench of the hold while we
they did not, but came from a distant one. “Then,” were on the coast was so intolerably loathsome,
said I, “how comes it in all our country we never that it was dangerous to remain there for any
heard of them?” They told me because they lived so time, and some of us had been permitted to stay
very far off. I then asked where were their women? on the deck for the fresh air; but now that the
had they any like themselves? I was told they had. whole ship’s cargo were confined together, it
“And why,” said I, “do we not see them?” They became absolutely pestilential.11 The closeness
answered, because they were left behind. I asked of the place, and the heat of the climate, added
how the vessel could go? they told me they could to the number in the ship, which was so
not tell; but that there was cloth put upon the crowded that each had scarcely room to turn
masts by the help of the ropes I saw, and then himself, almost suffocated us. This produced
the vessel went on; and the white men had copious perspirations, so that the air soon
some spell or magic they put in the water when became unfit for respiration, from a variety of
they liked, in order to stop the vessel. I was loathsome smells, and brought on a sickness
exceedingly amazed at this account, and really among the slaves, of which many died—thus
thought they were spirits. I therefore wished falling victims to the improvident12 avarice,13 as
much to be from amongst them, for I expected I may call it, of their purchasers. This wretched
they would sacrifice me; but my wishes were situation was again aggravated by the galling14 of
vain—for we were so quartered that it was the chains, now became insupportable; and the
impossible for any of us to make our escape. filth of the necessary tubs,15 into which the chil-
While we stayed on the coast I was mostly on dren often fell, and were almost suffocated. The
deck; and one day, to my great astonishment, I shrieks of the women, and the groans of the
saw one of these vessels coming in with the sails dying, rendered16 the whole a scene of horror
up. As soon as the whites saw it, they gave a
great shout, at which we were amazed; and the
more so, as the vessel appeared larger by 11. Pestilential means “poisonous” or “likely to cause disease
or death.”
approaching nearer. At last, she came to an
12. Improvident means “lacking foresight” or “not providing for
anchor in my sight, and when the anchor was let the future.”
go, I and my countrymen who saw it, were lost in 13. Avarice is greed.
astonishment to observe the vessel stop—and 14. Galling is the chafing or rubbing that causes irritation of
the skin.
15. Necessary tubs are containers for bodily waste.
16. Render means “to cause to be” or “to make.”
Big Idea Life in the New World Why might Equiano
have included a description of this event? Reading Strategy Responding What is significant about
Equiano’s use of the word cargo here?
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
apprehensions (ap´ ri hen shən) n. fears of what may
happen in the future; anxieties copious (kō pē əs) adj. large in quantity; plentiful

70 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
and the attempt procured them
some very severe floggings. One
day, when we had a smooth sea
and moderate wind, two of my
wearied countrymen who were
chained together, (I was near
them at the time,) preferring
death to such a life of misery,
somehow made through the net-
tings and jumped into the sea:
immediately, another quite
dejected fellow, who, on account
of his illness, was suffered to be
out of irons, also followed their
example; and I believe many
The Slave Ship, 1840. Joseph Mallord William Turner. Oil on canvas. Museum of Fine more would very soon have done
Arts, Boston. the same, if they had not been
Viewing the Art: What does this painting tell you about the voyages of slave ships in prevented by the ship’s crew, who
Equiano’s time? were instantly alarmed. Those of
us that were the most active, were
almost inconceivable. Happily perhaps, for in a moment put down under the deck, and there
myself, I was soon reduced so low here that it was such a noise and confusion amongst the peo-
was thought necessary to keep me almost always ple of the ship as I never heard before, to stop
on deck; and from my extreme youth I was not her, and get the boat out to go after the slaves.
put in fetters.17 In this situation I expected every However, two of the wretches were drowned, but
hour to share the fate of my companions, some they got the other, and afterwards flogged him
of whom were almost daily brought upon deck at unmercifully, for thus attempting to prefer death
the point of death, which I began to hope would to slavery. In this manner we continued to
soon put an end to my miseries. Often did I undergo more hardships than I can now relate,
think many of the inhabitants of the deep much hardships which are inseparable from this accursed
more happy than myself. I envied them the free- trade. Many a time we were near suffocation from
dom they enjoyed, and as often wished I could the want of fresh air, which we were often without
change my condition for theirs. Every circum- for whole days together. This, and the stench of
stance I met with, served only to render my state the necessary tubs, carried off many.
more painful, and heightened my apprehensions, During our passage, I first saw flying fishes, which
and my opinion of the cruelty of the whites. surprised me very much; they used frequently to fly
One day they had taken a number of fishes; across the ship, and many of them fell on the deck.
and when they had killed and satisfied them- I also now first saw the use of the quadrant; I had
selves with as many as they thought fit, to our often with astonishment seen the mariners make
astonishment who were on deck, rather than observations with it, and I could not think what it
give any of them to us to eat, as we expected, meant. They at last took notice of my surprise; and
they tossed the remaining fish into the sea one of them, willing to increase it, as well as to
again, although we begged and prayed for gratify my curiosity, made me one day look through
some as well as we could, but in vain; and it. The clouds appeared to me to be land, which
some of my countrymen, being pressed by
hunger, took an opportunity, when they
Reading Strategy Responding How does this passage
thought no one saw them, of trying to get a
illustrate the illogical nature of punishments on the ship?
little privately; but they were discovered,
Vocabulary
gratify (rat ə f̄´) v. to satisfy or indulge
17. Fetters are leg irons.

OLAUD AH EQUIANO 71
Burstein Collection/CORBIS
disappeared as they passed along. This heightened they had many horses amongst them, and much
my wonder; and I was now more persuaded than larger than those I then saw.
ever, that I was in another world, and that every We were not many days in the merchant’s cus-
thing about me was magic. At last, we came in sight tody, before we were sold after their usual manner,
of the island of Barbadoes, at which the whites on which is this:—On a signal given, (as the beat of a
board gave a great shout, and made many signs of drum,) the buyers rush at once into the yard where
joy to us. We did not know what to think of this; the slaves are confined, and make choice of that
but as the vessel drew nearer, we plainly saw the parcel they like best. The noise and clamor with
harbor, and other ships of different kinds and which this is attended, and the eagerness visible in
sizes, and we soon anchored amongst them, off the countenances of the buyers, serve not a little to
Bridgetown.18 Many merchants and planters now increase the apprehension of terrified Africans, who
came on board, though it was in the evening. They may well be supposed to consider them as the min-
put us in separate parcels,19 and examined us atten- isters of that destruction to which they think them-
tively. They also made us jump, and pointed to the selves devoted. In this manner, without scruple, are
land, signifying we were to go there. We thought by relations and friends separated, most of them never
this, we should be eaten by these ugly men, as they to see each other again. I remember, in the vessel in
appeared to us; and, when soon after we were all put which I was brought over, in the men’s apartment,
down under the deck again, there was much dread there were several brothers, who, in the sale, were
and trembling among us, and nothing but bitter sold in different lots; and it was very moving on this
cries to be heard all the night from these apprehen- occasion, to see and hear their cries at parting. O, ye
sions, insomuch, that at last the white people got nominal20 Christians! might not an African ask
some old slaves from the land to pacify us. They you—Learned you this from your God, who says
told us we were not to be eaten, but to work, and unto you, Do unto all men as you would men
were soon to go on land, where we should see many should do unto you?21 Is it not enough that we are
of our country people. This report eased us much. torn from our country and friends, to toil for your
And sure enough, soon after we were landed, there luxury and lust of gain? Must every tender feeling be
came to us Africans of all languages. likewise sacrificed to your avarice? Are the dearest
We were conducted immediately to the mer- friends and relations, now rendered more dear by
chant’s yard, where we were all pent up together, their separation from their kindred, still to be parted
like so many sheep in a fold, without regard to sex from each other, and thus prevented from cheering
or age. As every object was new to me, every thing the gloom of slavery, with the small comfort of
I saw filled me with surprise. What struck me first, being together, and mingling their sufferings and
was, that the houses were built with bricks and sto- sorrows? Why are parents to lose their children,
ries, and in every other respect different from those brothers their sisters, or husbands their wives?
I had seen in Africa; but I was still more astonished Surely, this is a new refinement in cruelty, which,
on seeing people on horseback. I did not know what while it has no advantage to atone22 for it, thus
this could mean; and, indeed, I thought these peo- aggravates distress, and adds fresh horrors even to
ple were full of nothing but magical arts. While I the wretchedness of slavery. 
was in this astonishment, one of my fellow-prisoners
spoke to a countryman of his, about the horses, 20. Nominal means “in name only.”
who said they were the same kind they had in their 21. “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should
country. I understood them, though they were from do to you, do ye even so to them.” (Matthew 7:12)
a distant part of Africa; and I thought it odd I had 22. Atone means “to make amends” or “to compensate for.”

not seen any horses there; but afterwards, when I Literary Element Slave Narrative How is this section
came to converse with different Africans, I found different from the rest of the work? Why does Equiano make
this change?

18. Bridgetown is the capital of Barbados. Vocabulary


19. Here, parcels means “groups.”
clamor (klam ər) n. confused, insistent shouting
Reading Strategy Responding Why might Equiano have scruple (skr¯¯¯
oo pəl) n. moral principle that restrains
chosen to describe the slaves as sheep? action

72 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond such as word choice. (a)Review the last paragraph.
How does Equiano’s tone shift here from what came
1. What was your reaction to the description of life on
before? (b)Why does it shift? Explain how this shift in
a slave ship?
tone affected you.
Recall and Interpret 6. Equiano’s book was a best seller in its time.
2. (a)What does Equiano fear will happen to him (a)Why do you think his story was so successful at
when he is taken aboard the ship? (b)Why might capturing the public’s interest? (b)Why would his
he be so afraid? story have been useful to the cause of abolition?
3. (a)In spite of his fear, Equiano displays great curiosity. Connect
Relate an incident that reveals this curiosity. (b)What
might the incident reveal about his character? 7. Big Idea Life in the New World How has
reading this work affected your attitudes about per-
4. (a)What phrases does Equiano use to describe sonal freedom, human nature, or our nation’s his-
his feelings about slavery’s separation of loved tory of enslavement of Africans? Explain, using
ones? (b)Why does he regard it as he does? details from the selection.
Analyze and Evaluate
5. The tone of a work is the attitude the author conveys
toward his or her subject matter through elements

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO CA B U L A RY

Literary Element The Slave Narrative Reading Strategy Responding


Equiano’s account created a hunger for more infor- Responding to literature is reacting in a personal way
mation about slaves’ lives. In the years that fol- to what you read. To which aspects of slavery did you
lowed, many African Americans published their react most strongly? Explain.
own slave narratives. Some authors expressed their
opposition to slavery through direct statements of
opinion. Why might Equiano’s narrative have been Vocabulary Practice
more successful at reaching some people than an Practice with Antonyms Choose the best
opinion piece? Include details from the narrative in antonym for each vocabulary word listed below.
your answer.
1. apprehension
a. nervousness c. restlessness
Internet Connection b. fearlessness d. exhaustion
Firsthand Accounts Go to the Library of Congress’s 2. copious
home page at www.loc.gov. Search for the “African a. inadequate c. sufficient
American History and Culture” page. Download and b. ample d. plentiful
print a story or a photograph you find interesting and 3. gratify
share it with your class. a. satisfy c. neglect
b. suggest d. indulge
4. clamor
a. silence c. tumult
b. outcry d. insistence
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

OLAUD AH EQUIANO 73
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

from A Narrative of the Captivity and


Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson
M E E T M A RY ROW L A N DSON

I
n 1675, a long period of relative peace between
the Native Americans and Europeans in New
England ended in the bloody conflict known as
King Philip’s War. King Philip was the white settlers’
name for Metacom, the Sachem or leader of the
Wampanoag people, who vowed to halt European
expansion into his lands. The war began as a series of
Native American sieges on colonial towns in present- held captive for three months. Her wounds healed,
day Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. and she adapted to the Wampanoags’ meager diet.
Lancaster, a frontier town in central Massachusetts, She often bartered her skills as a seamstress for food,
was one of the last to be ransacked. knitting a pair of socks for a quart of peas or making
a shirt for a hunk of bear meat. The Wampanoag were
constantly on the move, traveling as far north as New
Hampshire while Rowlandson was being held captive.
“I had often before this said, that if the She had become disoriented early on, and fleeing was
Indians should come, I should choose not an option, especially because she could not bear
rather to be killed by them than taken to leave her surviving children in the hands of the
Wampanoag. A stolen Bible one of the Wampanoag
alive; but when it came to the trial my had given her and the small portions of food she man-
mind changed. . . .” aged to procure were all that sustained her.

—Mary Rowlandson Reunited with Family In May 1676, Reverend


Joseph Rowlandson paid a £20 ransom for the
release of his wife and children, and Rowlandson
At dawn on February 10, 1676, a party of was finally reunited with her family. Looking back
Wampanoag warriors took 24 prisoners from on her life as a prisoner, she wrote, “I have been in
Lancaster, including Mary Rowlandson, her six-year- the midst of those roaring lions, and savage bears,
old daughter, and her older son and daughter. that feared neither God, nor man, nor the devil.”
Rowlandson was the wife of Reverend Joseph Mary Rowlandson’s account of her ordeal was pub-
Rowlandson, the first minister in Lancaster, and lished in 1682. It received high acclaim and prompted
many of the townspeople had been using their home many imitations. Written in a plain, vigorous style, A
as a safe haven. But the Wampanoag quickly over- Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary
whelmed the defenders of this makeshift garrison. Rowlandson presented a realistic, if biased, account of
Both Rowlandson and her six-year-old daughter Native Americans. Her memoir is the first—and
were wounded during the fray, and the child died widely considered the best—example of an American
eight days later. After being captured, Rowlandson literary form, the so-called Indian-captivity narrative.
was separated from her two surviving children and
Mary Rowlandson was born around 1636 and died
allowed only short, sporadic contact with them.
around 1710.
Survival as a Prisoner The Wampanoag killed
many of the prisoners, but Rowlandson was spared Author Search
Author Search For
For more
more about
about
because she was adept at sewing and knitting. She was Maryauthor,
this Rowlandson, go to www.glencoe.com.
go to www.literature.glencoe.com.

74 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Trustees of the Boston Library
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Narrative Reading Strategy Analyzing Historical


In her narrative, Mary Rowlandson tells how, after Context
being captured, she eked out a living among the Analyzing historical context involves gathering back-
Wampanoag, whose culture, language, diet, and ground information and exploring social forces that
nomadism were utterly foreign to her. As you read influenced the writing of a literary work. As you read
this narrative, think about the following questions: Rowlandson’s account, gather information about the
• How do people deal with traumatic experiences? cultural conflicts between Native Americans and
Europeans that caused King Philip’s War.
What effects do such experiences have on people?
• How does Rowlandson adapt mentally, physically, Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a timeline like the
and emotionally from the day of her capture to the
day of her release? one started below to record the sequence of events
that led to King Philip’s War.

Building Background 1620 1637 1660

As a child, the Wampanoag chief Metacom had


watched his father, Massasoit, help the Pilgrims who Mayflower
arrived on the Mayflower. By 1675, there were about lands

50,000 Puritans in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. With


each passing year, more Puritans arrived, encroaching
on the Native Americans’ land and disrupting their way
of life. Forseeing the destruction of his tribe and other
tribes, Metacom began forming alliances against the set-
tlers. In 1675, after three Wampanoag were executed
by the Puritans, a swift, desperate war broke out. Vocabulary

desolation (des´ə lā shən) n. devastation; mis-


Setting Purposes for Reading ery; sadness; p. 76 The survivors of the hurricane
in Florida experienced great desolation when they
Big Idea Life in the New World found their homes destroyed.
As you read Rowlandson’s narrative, be aware of how
daunt (dont) v. to overcome with fear; intimi-
the deep cultural conflict between New England’s
date; p. 76 A visit to the dentist would always
Native American and European inhabitants affected
daunt her.
the lives of both groups.
compassion (kəm pash ən) n. deep awareness
of another’s suffering with a desire to help;
Literary Element Allusion
p. 76 The compassion of the doctor earned the
An allusion is a reference to a well-known character, gratitude of his patients.
place, or situation from history or from music, art, or
another literary work. As you read Rowlandson’s narra- discern (di sərn , zərn ) v. to recognize as dif-
tive, notice her use of allusions. ferent and distinct; distinguish; p. 77 He could
barely discern the boat on the horizon.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R1. lament (lə ment ) v. to express deep sorrow or
grief; p. 78 The dead child’s mother began to weep
Interactive Literary Elements and lament.
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • understanding allusion
• relating literature to historical period • analyzing historical context

MARY ROWLANDSON 75
can express the sorrows of my heart and bitterness but go I must and leave it. When I had been
of my spirit that I had at this departure: but God a while at my master’s wigwam, I took the first
was with me in a wonderful manner, carrying me opportunity I could get to go look after my dead
along, and bearing up my spirit, that it did not child. When I came, I asked them what they had
quite fail. One of the Indians carried my poor done with it. They told me it was upon the hill;
wounded babe upon a horse: it went moaning all then they went and shewed me where it was,
along, I shall die, I shall die! I went on foot after it, where I saw the ground was newly dug, and there
with sorrow that cannot be expressed. At length I they told me they had buried it; there I left that
took it off the horse, and carried it in my arms, till child in the wilderness, and must commit it, and
my strength failed, and I fell down with it. Then myself also, in this wilderness condition, to Him
they set me upon a horse, with my wounded child who is above all.
in my lap. . . . . . . During my abode in this place Philip spake
Thus nine days I sat upon my knees, with my to me to make a shirt for his boy, which I did; for
babe in my lap, till my flesh was raw again. My which he gave me a shilling;7 I offered the money
child, being even ready to depart this sorrowful to my master, but he bade me keep it; and with it
world, they bid me carry it out to another wig- I bought a piece of horse flesh. Afterwards I made
wam; (I suppose because they would not be trou- a cap for his boy, for which he invited me to din-
bled with such spectacles;) whither I went with a ner; I went, and he gave me a pancake about as
very heavy heart, and down I sat with the picture big as two fingers; it was made of parched wheat,
of death in my lap. About two hours in the night, beaten and fried in bear’s grease, but I thought I
my sweet babe, like a lamb, departed this life, on never tasted pleasanter meat in my life. There was
Feb. 18, 1675 [1676] it being about six years and a squaw who spake to me to make a shirt for her
five months old. It was nine days (from the first sannup; for which she gave me a piece of bear.
wounding) in this miserable condition, without Another asked me to knit a pair of stockings, for
any refreshing of one nature or other, except a lit- which she gave me a quart of peas. I boiled my
tle cold water. I cannot but take notice how, at peas and bear together, and invited my master and
another time, I could not bear to be in the room mistress to dinner; but the proud gossip, because I
where any dead person was; but now the case is served them both in one dish, would eat nothing,
changed; I must and could lie down by my dead except one bit that he gave her upon the point of
babe, side by side, all the night after. I have his knife. Hearing that my son was come to this
thought since of the wonderful goodness of God place, I went to see him, and found him lying flat
to me, in preserving me so in the use of my reason upon the ground; I asked him how he could sleep
and senses in that distressed time, that I did not so? he answered me, that he was not asleep, but
use wicked and violent means to end my own mis- at prayer; and lay so, that they might not observe
erable life. In the morning, when they understood what he was doing. I pray God he may remember
that my child was dead, they sent for me home to these things, now he is returned in safety. At this
my master’s wigwam; (by my master, in this writ- place (the sun now getting higher) what with the
ing, must be understood Quannopin, who was a beams and heat of the sun, and the smoke of the
Saggamore,5 and married King Philip’s wife’s sister; wigwams, I thought I should have been blind; I
not that he first took me, but I was sold to him by could scarce discern one wigwam from another.
another Narrhaganset Indian, who took me when
first I came out of the garrison).6 I went to take up
my dead child in my arms to carry it with me, but 7. A shilling was an English or early American coin, whose
they bid me let it alone; there was no resisting, value was 20 pence (pennies) or ¹⁄₂₀ pound.

Big Idea Life in the New World How does this short
passage illustrate the cultural differences between the Native
5. A Saggamore was a subordinate chief in the hierarchy of Americans and the European settlers?
various Native American peoples.
6. A garrison is a military post. Vocabulary
Reading Strategy Analyzing Historical Context Why discern (di surn) v. to recognize as different and dis-
does the author include this information? tinct; distinguish

MARY R OWLANDSON 77
There was here one Mary Thurston of . . . My son being now about a mile from
Medfield, who, seeing how it was with me, me, I asked liberty to go and see him; they
lent me a hat to wear; but as soon as I was bade me go, and away I went; but quickly lost
gone, the squaw (who owned that Mary myself, travelling over hills and through
Thurston) came running after me, and got swamps, and could not find the way to him.
it away again. Here there was a squaw who And I cannot but admire at the wonderful
gave me one spoonful of meal;8 I put it in my power and goodness of God to me, in that
pocket to keep it safe; yet, notwithstanding, though I was gone from home, and met with
somebody stole it, but put five Indian corns in all sorts of Indians, and those I had no knowl-
the room of it; which corns were the greatest edge of, and there being no Christian soul
provision I had in my travel for one day. near me; yet not one of them offered the least
The Indians returning from Northampton, imaginable miscarriage to me. I turned home-
brought with them some horses and sheep, ward again, and met with my master; he
and other things which they had taken; I showed me the way to my son: when I came
desired them that they would carry me to to him I found him not well; and withal he
Albany upon one of those horses, and sell had a boil on his side, which much troubled
me for powder; for so they had sometimes him; we bemoaned one another a while, as
discoursed.9 I was utterly hopeless of getting the Lord helped us, and then I returned again.
home on foot the way that I came. I could When I was returned, I found myself as unsat-
hardly bear to think of the many weary steps isfied as I was before. I went up and down
I had taken to come to this place. moaning and lamenting; and my spirit was

Vocabulary
8. Meal is coarsely ground grain. lament (lə ment) v. to express deep sorrow or grief
9. Discoursed means “discussed.”

78 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Daryl/Benson/Masterfile
ready to sink with the thoughts of my poor our course towards the bay-towns. I having
children; my son was ill, and I could not but nothing to eat by the way this day, but a few
think of his mournful looks; and no Christian crumbs of cake, that an Indian gave my girl
friend was near him to do any office of love for the same day we were taken. She gave it me,
him, either for soul or body. And my poor girl, and I put it into my pocket; there it lay till it
I knew not where she was, nor whether she was was so moldy (for want of good baking) that
sick or well, or alive or dead. I repaired under one could not tell what it was made of; it fell
these thoughts to my Bible (my great comforter all to crumbs, and grew so dry and hard, that
in that time) and that scripture came to my it was like little flints;11 and this refreshed me
hand, Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall many times when I was ready to faint. It was
sustain thee. Psal. lv. 22. in my thoughts when I put it into my mouth;
But I was fain10 to go and look after something that if ever I returned, I would tell the world
to satisfy my hunger; and going among the wig- what a blessing the Lord gave to such mean
wams, I went into one, and there found a squaw food. As we went along, they killed a deer,
who showed herself very kind to me, and gave me with a young one in her; they gave me a piece
a piece of bear. I put it into my pocket, and came of the fawn, and it was so young and tender,
home; but could not find an opportunity to broil it, that one might eat the bones as well as the
for fear they would get it from me, and there it lay flesh, and yet I thought it very good. When
all that day and night in my stinking pocket. In the night came on we sat down; it rained, but
morning I went again to the same squaw, who had they quickly got up a bark wigwam, where I
a kettle of ground nuts boiling; I asked her to let lay dry that night. I looked out in the morn-
me boil my piece of bear in her kettle, which she ing, and many of them had lain in the rain all
did, and gave me some ground nuts to eat with it, night. I saw by their reeking.12 Thus the Lord
and I cannot but think how pleasant it was to me. I dealt mercifully with me many times; and I
have seen bear baked very handsomely amongst the fared better than many of them.
English, and some liked it, but the thoughts that it . . . O the wonderful power of God that I
was bear made me tremble: but now that was have seen, and the experiences that I have
savory to me that one would think was enough to had! I have been in the midst of those roaring
turn the stomach of a brute creature. lions and savage bears, that feared neither
One bitter cold day I could find no room God nor man, nor the devil, by night and
to sit down before the fire; I went out, and could day, alone and in company, sleeping all sorts
not tell what to do, but I went into another wig- together; and yet not one of them ever offered
wam where they were also sitting round the fire; the least abuse of unchastity to me in word or
but the squaw laid a skin for me, and bid me sit action. Though some are ready to say I speak
down; and gave me some ground nuts, and bade it for my own credit; but I speak it in the pres-
me come again; and told me they would buy me ence of God, and to His glory.
if they were able; and yet these were strangers to . . . If trouble from smaller matters begins
me that I never knew before. to arise in me, I have something at hand to
. . . The fourteenth remove.—Now must we check myself with, and say when I am trou-
pack up and be gone from this thicket, bending bled, it was but the other day, that if I had
had the world, I would have given it for my
freedom. . . . I have learned to look beyond
10. In this instance, fain means “obliged.” present and smaller troubles, and to be qui-
Big Idea Life in the New World Why is it important to eted under them, as Moses said, Exod. xiv. 13,
Rowlandson that her son have a “Christian friend” near him? Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.
FINIS13 
Literary Element Allusion Why do these words help
Rowlandson feel better about her son and daughter?
11. Flints refers to pieces of flint, a very hard type of quartz.
Big Idea 12. Reeking here means “steaming”; that is, water was
Life in the New World How does Rowlandson
evaporating from their hair and clothing.
suggest that life in the New World has changed her?
13. Finis means “The End.”

MARY R OWLANDSON 79
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. What incident or observation in Rowlandson’s 5. (a)How does Rowlandson portray her captors?
account surprised or moved you most? (b)In your opinion, is this portrayal fair?
6. (a)What qualities or behaviors help Rowlandson
Recall and Interpret survive her ordeal? (b)What did you find most puz-
zling about her behavior? Put your thoughts in the
2. (a)What does Rowlandson say that she always
form of a question.
intended to do if Native Americans attacked?
(b)Why do you think she changes her mind?
3. (a)What experience does Rowlandson have with Connect
Metacom (Philip)? (b)What impression of him 7. Big Idea Life in the New World Captivity nar-
does this episode convey? ratives such as Rowlandson’s were among the
4. (a)When Rowlandson first visits her son, what most popular literary genres in early America. What
does she find him doing? (b)What might this effect do you think this type of literature might
episode suggest about the attitude of the have had on the colonists’ attitudes and policies
Wampanoag? regarding Native Americans?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C AB U L A RY

Literary Element Allusion Reading Strategy Analyzing Historical


The Bible shaped the Puritan culture of early New Context
England. Rowlandson’s biblical allusions would be Mary Rowlandson’s account provides historical context
readily understood by the first readers of her account. for both Native American and colonial life in seven-
1. What are some reasons for her biblical allusions? teenth-century New England.

2. What is the effect of her allusion to the Book 1. What does her account suggest about King Philip’s
of Job? War and about the position of the settlers?
2. What does her account of her time as a prisoner
show about the life of the Wampanoag?
Writing About Literature
Analyze Genre Elements Like any other literary
genre, the Indian-captivity narrative has characteristic Vocabulary Practice
elements. These include sudden, fierce Native Practice with Synonyms Find the synonym for
American attacks on frontier settlements; innocent, each vocabulary word. Use a dictionary or a the-
defenseless prisoners (usually women and children); saurus if you need help.
hardship as the Indians move from camp to camp;
and eventual rescue of the captives. In two paragraphs, 1. desolation a. ruin b. jungle
explain which of these elements are present in A 2. daunt a. soothe b. discourage
Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary
Rowlandson and evaluate their overall literary effect. 3. compassion a. mercy b. pleasure
4. discern a. ignore b. perceive
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
5. lament a. bellow b. mourn
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

80 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Grammar Workshop
Sentence Structure

Using Adverb Clauses º Punctuating Subordinate


Clauses
“When I had been a while at my master’s wigwam, I took the first opportunity I A subordinate clause can
could get to go look after my dead child.” appear before, after, or in
—Mary Rowlandson, from A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration the middle of the main
of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson clause. When it introduces
a sentence, it is set off
Connecting to Literature In the quotation above, the sentence is made up of from the main clause with
two clauses, a main (independent) clause and a subordinate (dependent) clause. a comma. In other posi-
The main clause, I took the first opportunity I could get to go look after my dead child, tions it may not always be
includes a subject and a predicate, and it expresses a complete thought. The sub- set off with punctuation.
ordinate clause, When I had been a while at my master’s wigwam, also includes a
subject and a predicate, but this clause depends on the main clause to complete º Test-Taking Tip
its meaning. Subordinating conjunc-
tions often introduce
One type of subordinate clause is the adverb clause, which may modify a verb, adverb clauses. Identify
an adjective, or an adverb. An adverb clause answers a question—how? when? these conjunctions to help
where? why? to what extent? or under what conditions? locate adverb clauses.

º Subordinating
Examples Conjunctions
• When Europeans came to the United States, they often brought disease.
after if
[The underlined adverb clause answers the question when? and modifies the
although since
verb brought.]
as so long as
• Rowlandson was brave even though she was taken captive. as though unless
[The underlined adverb clause answers the question under what conditions? because until
and modifies the adjective brave.] before when

Exercise º Language Handbook


For more on subordinate
Revise for Clarity Write a sentence for each pair of clauses below. If pro-
clauses, see Language
vided, use the subordinating conjunction. Underline the adverb clause, tell
Handbook, p. R46.
which question it answers about the main clause, and identify what it modifies.
1. Clause: many of them wrote about their experiences
Clause: the captives were freed or escaped eWorkbooks To link to
Subordinating conjunction: after the Grammar and Language
2. Clause: enslavement of Africans increased eWorkbook, go to
www.glencoe.com.
Clause: Quakers and other antislavery groups protested loudly
Subordinating conjunction: until
3. Clause: than others did OB J ECTIV ES
Clause: some early American settlers became more tolerant • Use commas correctly for
introductory adverb clauses.
4. Clause: he was white • Apply standard rules of sen-
Clause: Cabeza de Vaca was accepted by most native people he encountered tence structure, including those
for subordinate clauses.
Subordinating conjunction: although

81
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Upon the Burning of Our House and


To My Dear and Loving Husband
M E E T A N N E BR A DST R E E T In Massachusetts, Bradstreet began to write poetry.
She wrote while caring for teething infants, while
mending clothes by the fire at night, while struggling
“[Anne Bradstreet wrote] . . . the first through bouts of tuberculosis and smallpox, and while
maintaining a house in the wilderness of the New
good poems in America, while rearing World. At first, Bradstreet imitated the lofty style of
eight children, lying frequently sick, the established male poets. As a result, her early
poems contain many wooden lines and forced rhymes,
keeping house at the edge of the and they do not reveal her deeper emotions.
wilderness, [and] managed a poet’s range Bradstreet wrote for her own satisfaction and shared
and extension within confines as severe as her poems only with her family and friends in the
new colony. Nonetheless, her brother-in-law, the
any American poet has confronted.” Reverend John Woodbridge, took fifteen of her poems
—Adrienne Rich to England without her knowledge and had them
published under the title The Tenth Muse Lately
Sprung Up in America. (The title alludes to the nine

A
nne Bradstreet was the first published poet in Muses of ancient Greek mythology, goddesses who
America—a remarkable accomplishment inspired poets and other artists.)
considering that writing was thought
improper for a woman at that time. In fact, the title A Change of Style When Bradstreet saw The Tenth
page of her first book assures readers that she did not Muse in print, she was dissatisfied with her work and
shirk her responsibilities as a wife and mother in order stopped writing imitative verse. Instead, she started
to write poetry. The poems were said to be “the fruit writing warm, natural poetry
of some few hours, curtailed from sleep and other about her experiences as a
refreshments.” wife, mother, and woman in
seventeenth-century New
From England to the New World Anne England. Bradstreet’s best
Bradstreet (born Dudley) was born and raised in poems explore her love for
England. At age 16, Anne married Simon her husband, her sadness at
Bradstreet, a friend of the family. Two years later, the death of her parents and
Anne, her husband, and her parents boarded the other family members, and her
Arbella as members of John Winthrop’s party and struggle to accept as God’s
sailed to the Massachusetts Bay Colony to join the will the losses she suffered. Six
Puritan community there. At first, Bradstreet was years after Bradstreet’s death,
appalled by the crude life of the settlement, but an American edition of The
she soon adjusted. She wrote, “I changed my con- Tenth Muse, which included
dition and was married, and came into this coun- some of her later poems as
try, where I found a new world and new manners, well as her revisions of her
at which my heart rose [reacted angrily]. But after earlier work, appeared under
I was convinced it was the way of God, I submit- the new title Several Poems
ted to it and joined to the church at Boston.” Compiled with Great Variety of
Wit and Learning.
Anne Bradstreet was born in
Author Search For more about Literature
1612
Online Author Search For more
and died in 1672.
Anne Bradstreet, go to www.glencoe.com. about this author, go to www.literature.glencoe.com.

82 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
The Art Archive/St. Biddolph, Boston/Eileen Tweedy
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Poems Drawing Conclusions


Reading Strategy
What would it be like to lose most of the things you About Author’s Beliefs
owned? How would you feel if you knew you were
When you draw a conclusion, you make a general
going to lose someone you love? In her poems,
statement based on the information in a text. For exam-
Bradstreet deals with loss and with the expectation of
ple, you might conclude that the author of an essay
loss. As you read the poems, think about the following
about the beauty of a prairie would support prairie con-
questions:
servation efforts. As you read Bradstreet’s poems, use
• How would you feel if you lost your home or a the details from the text as the basis for drawing conclu-
sions about her personal and religious beliefs.
possession you treasure?
• What would you like to say to someone you love? Reading Tip: Graphic Organizer Use a two-column
Building Background chart to record details from the poems and the conclu-
Bradstreet’s husband and father were both governors sions you draw from them.
of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Their prominence
resulted in frequent moves and separations. This
instability, along with the daily tragedies of colonial
life and Bradstreet’s Puritan beliefs, likely influenced Detail Conclusion
her sense of impermanence. p. 84, lines 53–54 Bradstreet believed
“The world no longer let in the afterlife,
Setting Purposes for Reading me love, which she valued
Big Idea Life in the New World My hope and treasure more than her
In seventeenth-century New England, poetry was lies above.” earthly existence.
acceptable reading for Puritans only if it was religious. p. 85, lines 5–6
However, as a Puritan, Bradstreet viewed all events “I prize thy love more
within the context of God’s divine plan. She found
than whole mines
similarities between the domestic details of daily life
of gold…
and the spiritual details of her religious life. Unlike the
traditional verse of her day, Bradstreet’s poems speak
of everyday occurrences and personal emotions. As
you read, consider how Bradstreet’s religious beliefs
affected her relationships and her interactions with the
harsh circumstances of early American life. Vocabulary

bereft (bi reft ) adj. deprived of the possession


Literary Element Metaphor or use of something; p. 84 The foul weather left
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares or
him bereft of his usual good mood.
equates two seemingly unlike things. As you read chide (ch¯d) v. to find fault with or to blame;
these poems, notice how Bradstreet uses metaphors. p. 84 The teacher chided the class for not complet-
ing their homework.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R11.
recompense (rek əm pens´) n. something given
in return for something else; compensation;
p. 85 When the soles of his new shoes came apart,
Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
the athlete requested recompense from the shoe
go to www.glencoe.com. company.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • drawing conclusions about the author’s beliefs
• analyzing literary periods • analyzing couplets

ANNE BRADSTREET 83
Anne Bradstreet
In silent night when rest I took My pleasant things in ashes lie,
For sorrow near I did not look And them behold no more shall I.
I wakened was with thund’ring noise Under thy roof no guest shall sit,
And piteous shrieks of dreadful voice. 30 Nor at thy table eat a bit.
5 That fearful sound of “Fire!” and “Fire!” No pleasant tale shall e’er be told,
Let no man know is my desire. Nor things recounted done of old.
I, starting up, the light did spy, No candle e’er shall shine in thee,
And to my God my heart did cry Nor bridegroom’s voice e’er heard
To strengthen me in my distress shall be.
10 And not to leave me succorless.1 35 In silence ever shall thou lie,
Then, coming out, beheld a space Adieu, Adieu,4 all’s vanity.5
The flame consume my dwelling place. Then straight I ’gin my heart to chide,
And when I could no longer look, And did thy wealth on earth abide?
I blest His name that gave and took,2 Didst fix thy hope on mold’ring dust?
15 That laid my goods now in the dust. 40 The arm of flesh didst make thy trust?
Yea, so it was, and so ’twas just. Raise up thy thoughts above the sky
It was His own, it was not mine, That dunghill mists away may fly.
Far be it that I should repine;3 Thou hast an house on high erect,
He might of all justly bereft Framed by that mighty Architect,
20 But yet sufficient for us left. 45 With glory richly furnished,
When by the ruins oft I past Stands permanent though this be fled.
My sorrowing eyes aside did cast, It’s purchased and paid for too
And here and there the places spy By Him who hath enough to do.
Where oft I sat and long did lie: A price so vast as is unknown
25 Here stood that trunk, and there that 50 Yet by His gift is made thine own;
chest, There’s wealth enough, I need no more,
There lay that store I counted best. Farewell, my pelf,6 farewell my store.
The world no longer let me love,
My hope and treasure lies above.
1. Succorless means “without assistance” or “helpless.”
2. This is a biblical reference to Job 1:21, “. . . the Lord
gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the
name of the Lord.” 4. Adieu (ə d¯¯¯
oo) is French for “good-bye.”
3. Repine means “to express unhappiness” or “to complain.” 5. All’s vanity is a biblical reference to Ecclesiastes 1:2 and
12:8, “Vanity of vanities: all is vanity.”
Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About 6. Pelf is a term for money or wealth, often used disapprovingly.
Author’s Beliefs What conclusions can you draw about
Bradstreet’s faith in God from these lines? Literary Element Metaphor Who is the “mighty Architect”
in this metaphor?
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
bereft (bi reft) adj. deprived of the possession or use of
something chide (ch¯d) v. to find fault with or to blame

84 U N IT 1 EARLY AMERICA
Anne Bradstreet

I f ever two were one, then surely we.


If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me, ye women, if you can.
5 I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that rivers cannot quench,
Nor ought1 but love from thee, give
recompense.

Thy love is such I can no way repay,


10 The heavens reward thee manifold,2 I pray.
Then while we live, in love let’s so persevere3
That when we live no more, we may live ever.
3. In the 1600s, the word persevere was pronounced
1. Ought means “anything.” per sé ver, with the accent on the second syllable.
2. Here, manifold means “in many different ways.” Therefore, it rhymes with ever in the following line.

Vocabulary Big Idea Life in the New World How does Bradstreet’s
description of her love for her husband reflect her religious
recompense (rek əm pens´) n. something given in beliefs?
return for something else; compensation

ANNE BR ADSTREET 85
Victoria & Albert Museum, London/Art Resource
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond 5. (a)What is the seeming contradiction in the last
line of the poem? (b)What do you think this line
1. Which Bradstreet poem did you find more
means?
poignant? Explain.

Recall and Interpret Analyze and Evaluate


2. (a)How did the speaker in “Upon the Burning of 6. (a)In “Upon the Burning of Our House,” what effect
Our House” feel about her possessions before do Bradstreet’s frequent references to her faith have
the fire? How does she feel afterward? (b)What on the poem’s meaning? (b)Do you think that she
do you think brought about the change in her is successful in conveying her meaning? Explain.
perspective? 7. (a)What purpose does the repetition in the open-
3. (a)In the final line, where does the speaker say ing lines of “To My Dear and Loving Husband”
her “hope and treasure” are? (b)What does serve? (b)How well does repetition serve this pur-
this suggest about the speaker’s home and pose? Explain.
possessions?
4. (a)In “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” what
Connect
does the speaker prize “more than whole mines 8. Big Idea Life in the New World How do
of gold”? (b)Why do you think she compares the Bradstreet’s Puritan beliefs affect her perception of
way she feels to mines of gold? the world as represented by these poems?

LI T E R A RY A N A LYS I S

Literary Element Metaphor Review: Author’s Purpose


A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two As you learned on page 48, an author’s purpose is his
things by saying that one is another. For example, in or her intent in writing a literary work. Authors typically
the sentence “the desert became a sweltering oven,” write for one or more of the following purposes: to per-
the desert is said to be an oven—a fitting comparison suade, to inform, to explain, to entertain, or to describe.
because they are both hot. Occasionally, a writer will
Partner Activity Meet with a classmate and dis-
use an extended metaphor, developing a metaphor
cuss Bradstreet’s purpose. Work with your partner
beyond a single line. This is what Bradstreet does,
to infer what Bradstreet’s purpose was for writing
beginning with line 43 of “Upon the Burning of Our
each poem. To help you get started, fill out a chart
House.” Reread lines 43–50.
like the one below for each poem. Include details
1. In your own words, summarize what you think from the poem that you think reveal information
the speaker is describing in the extended meta- about her purpose. Then fill in the purpose you
phor. infer from those details.
2. How do you think this extended metaphor
relates to the speaker’s description in Details Purpose
lines 21–30?

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

86 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
R E AD I N G A N D VO CA B U L A RY WRITI NG AN D EXTEN DI NG

Drawing Conclusions
Reading Strategy Writing About Literature
About Author’s Beliefs Responding to Theme Write a review of either
“Upon the Burning of Our House” or “To My Dear and
Authors often incorporate their own beliefs into their
Loving Husband.” Discuss what you liked or disliked
writing. Sometimes they state these beliefs explicitly.
about either of the two poems or whether you agreed
Other times it might be possible to infer the author’s
with the speaker’s views. You might also want to
beliefs only by examining their word choice, use of fig-
explain the effect of such devices as rhyme, rhythm,
urative language, or rhetorical techniques.
and metaphor. Use lines from the poems to support
1. How does Bradstreet feel about worldly things? your opinions.
2. List three pieces of evidence to support your As you draft your review, be sure to
opinion.
• create a clear, focused thesis statement that is sup-
ported by textual evidence and personal experience
Vocabulary Practice • include topic sentences in paragraphs that are fully
Practice with Synonyms Read the following sen- developed and logically organized and that handle a
tences. Choose the best synonym for the under- single aspect of your argument
lined word. Use a dictionary if you need help.
• craft concise and effective opening and concluding
1. The team’s loss left the coach bereft of her paragraphs that introduce and reinforce your thesis
usual enthusiasm. After completing your draft, meet with a peer reviewer
a. deprived b. satisfied c. comforted to evaluate each other’s work and to suggest revisions.
2. Angela hated it when her older sister chided her. Then proofread your draft for errors in spelling, gram-
a. praised b. criticized c. teased mar, and punctuation and make the appropriate edits.
3. After we broke our neighbor’s mailbox, we
raked her yard as recompense.
Literary Criticism
a. punishment b. prize c. compensation
Kenneth B. Murdock writes that, even in her best
poems, Anne Bradstreet “conforms to the Puritan util-
itarian view of art and to [the Puritans’] distrust of the
Academic Vocabulary frankly sensuous.” Do you think the Bradstreet poems
you have read show evidence of the “utilitarian view
Here are two vocabulary words from the vocab- of art” or of her drawing back from the “frankly sen-
ulary list on page R86. The words will help you suous”? Write a paragraph citing evidence from the
think, write, and talk about the selection. poems to support your opinion of Murdock’s
judgment.
site (s̄t) n. the location of a building or structure
aspect (as pekt) n. a trait or characteristic to
be viewed, analyzed, or evaluated; an element Creative Writing
of something being examined Bradstreet describes her response to losing her pos-
sessions. Think about something you own that you
Practice and Apply treasure. Then imagine how you would feel if you lost
1. What objects does the speaker recall while on that cherished object. Quickly write a few words and
the site of her destroyed home? phrases that describe the object and your possible
2. What aspect of Bradstreet’s poems do you find reaction to its loss. Use these words and phrases to
most interesting? write your own poem. If you wish, you might try using
rhyme, repetition, or metaphor, as Bradstreet does
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
in her poems.
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

ANNE BR ADSTREET 87
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

from Sinners in the Hands


of an Angry God
M E E T J O N AT H A N E DWA RDS

J
onathan Edwards was a Puritan theologian, intuitive terms—
preacher, and philosopher who captivated con- God the divine con-
gregations with his “preaching of terror,” a veyed directly to the
brand of sermonizing aimed at shaking the faith of individual soul.
unrepentant sinners and saving them from eternal In 1729, Edwards suc-
damnation. His sermons hinge on fire-and-brim- ceeded his grandfather at the
stone depictions of hell and visions of churchgoers pulpit in Northampton,
dangling by tenuous threads over the depths of Massachusetts. In his sermons, he attributed New
hell, held by the hand of an angry God. “I think it England’s ailing morality to its moral and religious
is a reasonable thing to fright persons away from independence and its incomplete acceptance of
hell,” Edwards explained. “Is it not a reasonable faith as the sole means to salvation. In the early
thing to fright a person out of a house on fire?” 1730s, Edwards lambasted Arminianism, a move-
As a child, the precocious Edwards used his vivid ment in the Anglican Church that was gaining
imagination and shrewd, analytical mind to write sci- popularity among New England colonists. His ser-
entific essays on insects, colors, and rainbows. At 13, mons on the subject incited a religious revival in
he matriculated at Yale. He intended to use his edu- the Connecticut River valley in 1734–1735.
cation to publish works refuting natural philosophy
and its key doctrines of materialism and atheism.
Great Awakening Between 1730 and 1750, a reli-
gious revival known as the Great Awakening swept
through the colonies. Preachers attracted people in
“O sinner! consider the fearful danger droves and brought about ecstatic emotional reac-
you are in: it is a great furnace of tions and frenzied mass conversions with their ser-
mons. Edwards sought to keep his audiences calm,
wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full but his sermons were equally effective. His sermons
of the fire of wrath, that you are held were reproduced and read across Britain and other
regions in America. However, by 1750 some of
over in the hand of that God…” Northampton’s Puritans objected to Edwards’s
—Jonathan Edwards extreme teachings and removed him from his post.
He went into exile for several years, during which he
served as a missionary to Native Americans in the
frontier village of Stockbridge. He then became pres-
Conversion Edwards was a religious young man, ident of what is now Princeton University but died of
due to his Puritan upbringing, but he had qualms smallpox shortly thereafter. Edwards is widely consid-
about predestination, the doctrine that claims it is ered the most influential American writer before
predetermined whether an individual will go to Benjamin Franklin.
heaven or hell. But in 1721, while studying divinity, Jonathan Edwards was born in 1703 and died in 1758.
he underwent a religious conversion that confirmed
his belief in God as omnipotent, total, and in con-
trol of all things, including human destiny. Edwards Author Search For more about
subsequently thought of the revelation of God in Jonathan Edwards, go to www.glencoe.com.

88 U N IT 1 EARLY AMERICA
Joseph Badger/Yale University Art Gallery
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Sermon Reading Strategy Examining Connotation


If you were trying to convert someone to your way Connotation refers to the implied or suggested
of thinking about an issue, would you use a gentle meanings associated with a word beyond its
approach, scare tactics, or something in-between? denotation, or literal meaning. For example, the
What tone would you take? In this sermon, Edwards words statesman and politician have similar deno-
uses a stern tone and relies on scare tactics to tations but very different connotations. Connotation
motivate his audience. As you read the sermon, is subtle, but often very potent in its emphasis of
think about the following questions: the writer’s points. Notice instances when connota-
tion changes or heightens the impact of Edwards’s
• Does Edwards at any point deviate from his tone? message.
Do you think a consistent or a varied tone would
work better for a sermon of this sort?
Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart to record the
• How do you think Edwards would have recited or
denotations and connotations of three words Edwards
performed this sermon?
uses to describe the plight of sinners.

Building Background Word Denotation Connotation


This sermon, which Jonathan Edwards delivered in p. 90 having had The word
1741, remains the most famous literary monument sentenced a sentence sentenced
to the Great Awakening. Edwards upheld strict imposed, as in suggests the
Calvinism, which taught that human nature is essen- a trial finality of a
tially evil and that God predestines only a select few court trial.
to be saved from eternal punishment.

Setting Purposes for Reading Vocabulary


Big Idea Life in the New World appease (ə pēz ) v. to bring to a state of peace
As you read Edwards’s sermon, consider what it or quiet; soothe; p. 90 He tried to appease the
reveals about the importance of religion in colonial sobbing child with a toy.
America.
abate (ə bāt ) v. to lessen or reduce in force or
intensity; p. 90 Did the storm abate after the sun
Literary Element Imagery came out?
Imagery refers to the set of mental pictures that writ- prudence (pr¯¯¯
ood əns) n. exercise of good and
ers create by using sensory details, or descriptions cautious judgment; p. 91 Showing prudence, the
that appeal to one or more of the senses. As you motorist slowed as she neared the school zone.
read this sermon, look for the images Edwards uses
to stir fear in the hearts of his audience. abhor (ab hor ) v. to regard with disgust;
p. 91 After working in a candy store, she began to
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R9. abhor sweets.
abominable (ə bom ə nə bəl) adj. disgusting;
detestable; p. 91 Stealing from the poor is an
abominable crime.
Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • identifying imagery
• relating literature to historical period • understanding connotation

JONATHAN EDWARDS 89
Jonathan Edwards

S o that thus it is, that natural men1 are


held in the hand of God over the pit of hell;
have no refuge, nothing to take hold of; all that
preserves them every moment is the mere arbi-
they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already trary will, and uncovenanted, unobliged forbear-
sentenced to it; and God is dreadfully provoked, ance of an incensed God.
his anger is as great towards them as to those
that are actually suffering the executions of the Application
fierceness of his wrath in hell, and they have The use may be of awakening to unconverted
done nothing in the least, to appease or abate persons in this congregation. This that you
that anger, neither is God in the least bound by have heard is the case of every one of you that
any promise to hold them up one moment; the are out of Christ.3 That world of misery, that
devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping for them, lake of burning brimstone, is extended abroad
the flames gather and flash about them, and under you. There is the dreadful pit of the
would fain2 lay hold on them and swallow them glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is
up; the fire pent up in their own hearts is strug- hell’s wide gaping mouth open; and you have
gling to break out; and they have no interest in nothing to stand upon, nor any thing to take
any Mediator, there are no means within reach hold of. There is nothing between you and hell
that can be any security to them. In short, they but the air; it is only the power and mere plea-
sure of God that holds you up.
1. Natural men are those who have not been “born again” or You probably are not sensible of this; you find
received God’s grace. you are kept out of hell, but do not see the hand
2. Here, fain means “willingly” or “gladly.” of God in it; but look at other things, as the
Vocabulary good state of your bodily constitution, your care
appease (ə pēz) v. to bring to a state of peace or quiet;
of your own life, and the means you use for your
soothe
abate (ə bāt) v. to lessen or reduce in force or intensity
3. Those who are out of Christ are not in God’s grace.

90 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Adam Woolfitt/CORBIS
own preservation. But indeed these things are
nothing; if God should withdraw his hand, they
would avail no more to keep you from falling,
than the thin air to hold up a person that is sus-
pended in it.
Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as
lead, and to tend downwards with great weight
and pressure towards hell; and if God should let
you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly
descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and
your healthy constitution, and your own care and
prudence, and best contrivance,4 and all your
righteousness, would have no more influence to
uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spi-
der’s web would have to stop a falling rock.
The bow of God’s wrath is bent, and the arrow
made ready on the string, and justice bends the
arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is
nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of
an angry God, without any promise or obligation at
all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being
made drunk with your blood.
Thus are all you that never passed under a
great change of heart, by the mighty power of
the Spirit of God upon your souls; all that
were never born again, and made new crea-
tures, and raised from being dead in sin, to a
state of new, and before altogether unexperi- George Whitefield, c. 1742. John Wollaston. Oil on canvas,
325/8 x 26 in. National Portrait Gallery, London.
enced light and life, (however you may have
Viewing the Art: Does the painting capture the tone of
reformed your life in many things, and may Jonathan Edwards’s sermon? Support your opinion.
have had religious affections, and may keep up
a form of religion in your families and closets,5
and in the houses of God, and may be strict in The God that holds you over the pit of
it) you are thus in the hands of an angry God; hell, much as one holds a spider, or some
it is nothing but his mere pleasure that keeps loathsome insect, over the fire, abhors you,
you from being this moment swallowed up in and is dreadfully provoked; his wrath towards
everlasting destruction. you burns like fire; he looks upon you as wor-
thy of nothing else, but to be cast into the
4. A contrivance is a clever scheme or plan. fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have
5. Here, closets refers to small rooms used especially for prayer you in his sight; you are ten thousand times so
and meditation. abominable in his eyes, as the most hateful
Literary Element Imagery Why does Edwards introduce
and venomous serpent is in ours.
this image? O sinner! consider the fearful danger you are
in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bot-
Big Idea Life in the New World What does Edwards’s tomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are
observation indicate about the place of religion in the held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath
American colonies?
Vocabulary
Vocabulary abhor (ab ho r ) v. to regard with disgust
prudence (pr¯¯¯
oodəns) n. exercise of good and cautious abominable (ə bom ə nə bəl) adj. disgusting;
judgment detestable

JONAT HAN EDWARDS 91


National Portrait Gallery, London/SuperStock
is provoked and incensed as much against you, as heretofore you have seen and known, that never
against many of the damned in hell: you hang by deserved Hell more than you, and that hereto-
a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath fore appeared as likely to have been now alive as
flashing about it, and ready every moment to you: Their case is past all hope. They are crying
singe it, and burn it asunder;6 and you have no in extreme misery and perfect despair. But here
interest in any Mediator, and nothing to lay hold you are in the land of the living, and in the
of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames house of God, and have an opportunity to obtain
of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you salvation. What would not those poor damned,
ever have done, nothing that you can do, to helpless souls give for one day’s such opportunity
induce God to spare you one moment. as you now enjoy!
There is reason to think, that there are many in And now you have an extraordinary
this congregation now hearing this discourse, that opportunity, a day wherein Christ has flung
will actually be the subjects of this very misery to the door of mercy wide open, and stands in the
all eternity. We know not who they are, or in door calling and crying with a loud voice to
what seats they sit, or what thoughts they now poor sinners; a day, wherein many are flocking
have. It may be they are now at ease, and hear all to him, and pressing into the kingdom of God.
these things without much disturbance, and are Many are daily coming from the east, west,
now flattering themselves that they are not the north and south; many that were very lately in
persons; promising themselves that they shall the same miserable condition that you are in,
escape. If we knew that there was one person, and are in now a happy state, with their hearts
but one, in the whole congregation, that was to be filled with love to Him that has loved them
the subject of this misery, what an awful thing it and washed them from their sins in His own
would be to think of! If we knew who it was, what blood, and rejoicing in hope of the Glory of
an awful sight would it be to see such a person! God.7 How awful is it to be left behind at such
How might all the rest of the congregation lift up a day! To see so many others feasting, while
a lamentable and bitter cry over him! But alas! you are pining and perishing! To see so many
Instead of one, how many is it likely will remem- rejoicing and singing for joy of heart, while
ber this discourse in hell! And it would be a won- you have cause to mourn for sorrow of heart
der, if some that are now present should not be in and howl for vexation of spirit! How can you
hell in a very short time, before this year is out. rest one moment in such a condition? . . .
And it would be no wonder if some persons, that Therefore let everyone that is out of Christ
now sit here in some seats of this meeting-house now awake and fly from the wrath to come. The
in health, and quiet and secure, should be there wrath of Almighty God is now undoubtedly
before to-morrow morning. hanging over a great part of this congregation:
Those of you that finally continue in a natural Let everyone fly out of Sodom!8 Haste and escape
condition, that shall keep out of Hell longest, for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the
will be there in a little time! Your damnation mountain, lest you be consumed. 
does not slumber; it will come swiftly, and in all
probability very suddenly upon many of you. You 7. The author is referring to the many people who were part of
have reason to wonder that you are not already the Great Awakening, a movement that urged people to
in Hell. ’Tis doubtless the case of some that experience religion on a personal, emotional level.
8. In Genesis 19:15–17, angels warn Lot, the only virtuous
inhabitant of the sinful city of Sodom, to flee the city before
6. Asunder means “into separate pieces.” it is destroyed.

Literary Element Imagery Which senses does this image Reading Strategy Examining Connotation How does the
appeal to? What emotions does it stir? connotation of the word flocking contribute to Edwards’s point?

92 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Imagine that you are in the congregation, listening 5. An allusion is a reference to a well-known person,
to Edwards’s sermon. How might you respond? character, place, or situation. (a)What allusion does
Edwards introduce in the last paragraph? (b)Why
Recall and Interpret does he make this reference?
2. (a)In the first paragraph, what generalization does
6. (a)What is the effect of Edwards’s repetition of the
Edwards make about all people? (b)Why do you
word you? (b)How would the effect have been dif-
think Edwards makes this statement?
ferent if Edwards had replaced you with a sinner?
3. (a)To what does Edwards compare the unrepen-
7. (a)What effect do you think Edwards intended his
tant sinner in paragraph seven? (b)What is the
sermon to have on his congregation? (b)In what
effect of this comparison?
other ways might a person have reacted?
4. (a)Near the end of the sermon, what does
Edwards say Christ has done? (b)How would you Connect
describe Edwards’s view of the relationship 8. Big idea Life in the New World Life in the
between God and humanity? American colonies was difficult and dangerous.
How do the conditions of colonial life contribute to
the impact of Edwards’s message?

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO CA B U L A RY

Literary Element Imagery Reading Strategy Examining Connotation


Visual images are the most common type of imagery, Words may have negative or positive associations, or
but a writer can also use other sensory details that connotations. For example, in describing sinners,
appeal to the reader’s sense of hearing, taste, smell, Edwards uses the word howl, which has a negative
or touch. connotation, suggesting an animal in distress.
1. What frightening images occur in the first two para- 1. Identify negative connotations in this passage:
graphs? To which senses do they appeal? “you are ten thousand times so abominable in his
eyes, as the most hateful and venomous serpent
2. List five additional images that Edwards uses in the
is in ours.”
sermon to make his arguments convincing.
2. How do these connotations reinforce Edwards’s
message?
Performing
Dramatic Reading Deliver a dramatic reading of a
portion of “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Vocabulary Practice
Use appropriate rehearsal strategies to focus on the Practice with Analogies Choose the word pair
following performance details: that best completes each analogy:
• adjusting the level of your voice to convey emphasis 1. appease : inflame ::
• using facial expressions and gestures to help rein- a. defend : protect c. injure : harm
force the sermon’s imagery b. climb : scale d. raise : lower
2. prudence : wisdom ::
a. palace : hut c. robbery : theft
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
b. peak : canyon d. stupidity : cunning
www.glencoe.com.

JONAT HAN EDWARDS 93


Vocabulary Workshop
Analogies

º Vocabulary Terms Understanding Relationships Between Words


An analogy is a type of “God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as great towards them as to those that
comparison based on the are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness of his wrath in hell.”
relationships between
—Jonathan Edwards, from “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”
pairs of things or ideas.

º Test-Taking Tip Connecting to Literature The definition of wrath tells you that the word
means “extreme anger.” One way to keep that information in your long-term
When you encounter
memory is to relate it to a pair of words you know well. You can form an anal-
word analogies on a test,
ogy—a way of showing that two relationships are the same—to remember the
a good strategy is to keep
meaning of wrath.
in mind the word rela-
tionship. Ask yourself,
wrath : anger :: starvation : hunger
“How is the first word
related to the second?” This analogy is “Wrath is to anger as starvation is to hunger.” Most analogy
Familiarize yourself with test questions ask you to identify the pair of words that best represents the
some of the most com- relationship expressed by another pair of words.
mon word relationships,
such as those listed in the glowing : flames ::
chart on this page. a. burning : freezing b. fierce : lion c. wren : bird d. sailor : ship
º Literary Terms To complete an analogy, use these tips:
Handbook
• Describe the relationship of the first pair of words. (“Glowing is a characteristic
For more about analogies,
of flames.”) Then use that relationship to describe the relationship between
see Literary Terms
the words in each answer choice. The one that fits best is the right answer.
Handbook, p. R1.
(“Fierce is a characteristic of a lion.”)
• The words in the second pair should be the same parts of speech as the
corresponding words in the first pair.
• If no choice makes sense, try another relationship between the first pair.
eFlashcards For eFlashcards
and other vocabulary activities, go Analogies can be based on a variety of relationships.
to www.glencoe.com.
Association or Usage An archer is associated with or uses a bow.

Part/Whole A quart is one-fourth of a gallon.

Example/Class A wigwam is a type of dwelling.

Synonym or Antonym Miserable is the opposite of happy.


OB J EC T IVES
• Understand and complete
word analogies.
• Learn about the types of
relationships between Exercise
words.
Choose the pair that best completes each analogy.
1. doleful : joyful ::
a. icy : scalding b. expensive : costly c. month : year
2. globe : round ::
a. fiery : blazing b. student : class c. box : rectangular

94 UNIT 1
Part 3

the road to independence

Spirit of ’76, 1891. Archibald M. Willard. Lithograph. 36 x 50 in. Private Collection.

“These are the times that try men’s souls.”


— Thomas Paine, The Crisis, No. 1

95
SuperStock
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin


and from Poor Richard’s Almanack
M E E T BE N JA M I N F R A N K LI N civic affairs and scientific research. It was during
this period of his life that he helped to found both

I
the first public library in America and the Academy
magine that your senator invented the Internet
of Philadelphia, which evolved into the University
and a new kind of electric guitar, spoke many
of Pennsylvania. In 1746 and 1747, Franklin made
languages, wrote poetry, started a successful cor-
groundbreaking investigations of electrical phenom-
poration, founded a college, and helped write some
ena and lightning that brought him international
of the world’s most important political documents.
fame. Franklin was also responsible for such diverse
If you can imagine such an extraordinary person
inventions as bifocal glasses, the Franklin stove,
today, then you are beginning to understand just
daylight saving time, and the lightning rod.
how remarkable Benjamin Franklin was in his time.
Diplomat and Revolutionary As a representa-
tive of the Pennsylvania Assembly, Franklin spent
“Dost though love life? Then do not much of the period from 1757 to 1775 in London.
He also acted as an agent for the colonies and
squander time; for that’s the stuff life argued against the hated Stamp Act. While
is made of.” Franklin had always opposed this tax, he did not, at
first, support American independence. Instead,
—Benjamin Franklin Franklin imagined a British empire made up of
from Poor Richard’s Almanack many self-governing nations. By 1775, however, his
hopes for reconciliation had vanished. Franklin left
Britain for Philadelphia, in preparation for the
Printer and Scientist Franklin was born into a coming war. Upon his arrival, Franklin learned that
poor Boston family, the tenth of seventeen children. the battles of Lexington and Concord had already
His formal education ended when he was only ten been fought. Within days, Franklin was made a del-
years old. By the age of twelve, Franklin was an egate to the Continental Congress for which he
apprentice in his brother James’s print shop. Over the helped draft the Declaration of Independence.
next five years, Franklin mastered this trade, which
Franklin’s greatest contribution to the Revolution
eventually provided him with
took place from 1776 to 1785, during his diplomatic
financial security. By the age
mission to France. Franklin, whose charm and wit
of twenty-six, he was oper-
were famous, became a celebrity almost immediately.
ating his own printing
The American cause was soon adopted by the French
firm in Philadelphia
government, which pledged funds and more than
and was writing and
40,000 troops. French support, secured by Franklin’s
publishing Poor
diplomacy, was vital in achieving American indepen-
Richard’s Almanack,
dence. Franklin’s role as a founder of the United
one of the most
States brought him fame, while his brilliant indepen-
popular and influ-
dent thinking and scientific rationalism assured him
ential works of its
a high position among the major figures of the
time, under the pen
eighteenth-century Enlightenment.
name Richard
Saunders. Benjamin Franklin was born in 1706 and died in 1790.
As he moved into
middle age, Franklin Author Search For more about
became more involved in Benjamin Franklin, go to www.glencoe.com.

96 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Christie’s Images Ltd.
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Autobiography Reading Strategy Analyzing Voice


In The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Franklin dis- Voice is the distinctive use of language that conveys
cusses his arrival in Philadelphia. The excerpt from Poor the author’s or narrator’s personality. Word choice,
Richard’s Almanack contains some of Franklin’s sayings. tone, and sentence structure contribute to voice.
As you read, think about the following questions:
Reading Tip: Taking Notes In a chart, describe
• How do you think you would react to moving to a the effect of Franklin’s word choice, tone, and
new place where you didn’t know anyone?
sentence structure on voice.
• When taking trips, have you found that most people
are friendly and helpful to travelers? Explain.

Building Background Example Effect


The passage from Franklin’s autobiography begins with “ambulatory vivid, humorous
his arrival in Philadelphia in the 1720s. This bustling com-
quack doctor” observation
munity of 5,000 people was the second-largest city in
the colonies. Franklin published Poor Richard’s Almanack
in Philadelphia every year for the 25 years between 1733
and 1758. Almanacs were one of the earliest types of
reading material to be published and were the forerun-
ners of today’s magazines. Colonial almanacs provided a Vocabulary
wide variety of material, including puzzles, both serious
and humorous articles, and common-sense aphorisms, indentured (in den chərd) adj. bound by con-
or witty sayings, of the type that made Franklin famous. tract to serve someone for a time; p. 98 The
indentured servant completed a six-year term.
Setting Purposes for Reading ambulatory (am byə lə tor´ē) adj. moving from
Big Idea The Road to Independence place to place; p. 98 The ambulatory news corre-
Read the excerpts from The Autobiography of spondent traveled all over Europe and Africa.
Benjamin Franklin and Poor Richard’s Almanack to ingenious (in jēn yəs) adj. exhibiting creative
learn how Franklin played a key role in the colonists’ ability; inventive; p. 98 Shawn created an inge-
struggle for independence. nious new device that mowed the lawn and raked
the leaves at the same time.
Literary Element Autobiography infidel (in fə del´) n. an unbeliever; p. 98 In
An autobiography is a nonfiction narrative in which Puritan times, anyone who did not regularly attend
the author tells the story of his or her own life. As you church was considered an infidel.
read Franklin’s autobiography, think about how his mortification (mor´ tə fi kā shən) n. feeling of
experience in Philadelphia helped to shape the person shame, humiliation, or embarrassment; p. 98 I
he was to become. experienced complete mortification when I realized
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R2. I was sitting in a wad of gum.

Vocabulary Tip: Word Roots The word ingenious


Interactive Literary Elements
contains the Latin root gen, which means “to give
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements, birth to” or “to produce.”
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following:
• analyzing autobiography • writing a character analysis
• analyzing the writer’s voice • analyzing aphorisms
• understanding word origins • connecting to personal experiences

BENJAMIN F RANKLIN 97
Benjamin Franklin

In the evening I found myself very feverish and acquaintance continued all the rest of his life.
went to bed; but having read some where that He had been, I imagine, an ambulatory quack
cold water drunk plentifully was good for fever, doctor, for there was no town in England nor any
I followed the prescription and sweat plentifully country in Europe of which he could not give a
most of the night. My fever left me, and in the very particular account. He had some letters,2
morning, crossing the ferry, I proceeded on my and was ingenious, but he was an infidel, and
journey on foot, having fifty miles to go to wickedly undertook, some years after, to turn the
Burlington,1 where I was told I should find boats Bible into doggerel3 verse, as Cotton had for-
that would carry me the rest of the way to merly done with Virgil. By this means he set
Philadelphia. many facts in a ridiculous light, and might have
It rained very hard all the day; I was thor- done mischief with weak minds if his work had
oughly soaked, and by noon a good deal tired; been published; but it never was.
so I stopped at a poor inn, where I stayed all At his house I lay that night, and arrived
night, beginning now to wish I had never left the next morning at Burlington, but had the
home. I made so miserable a figure, too, that I mortification to find that the regular boats
found, by the questions asked me, I was sus- were gone a little before, and no other
pected to be some runaway indentured servant expected to go before Tuesday, this being
and in danger of being taken up on that suspi-
cion. However, I proceeded next day and got 2. Here, letters means “education or knowledge, especially of
in the evening to an inn within eight or ten literature.”
miles of Burlington, kept by one Dr. Brown. 3. English poet Charles Cotton (1630–1687) wrote a doggerel
He entered into conversation with me while I version, or parody, of Virgil’s epic poem the Aeneid.
took some refreshment, and finding I had read Reading Strategy Analyzing Voice What do Franklin’s
a little, became very obliging and friendly. Our word choice and tone suggest about his attitude toward his
new friend?

1. Burlington, New Jersey, is not far from Philadelphia, on the


Vocabulary
opposite side of the Delaware River.
ambulatory (am byə lə tor´ē) adj. moving from place
Literary Element Autobiography What does Franklin to place
reveal about himself in this passage?
ingenious (in jēn yəs) adj. exhibiting creative ability;
inventive
Vocabulary
infidel (in fə del´) n. an unbeliever
indentured (in den chərd) adj. bound by contract to mortification (mor´ tə fi k ā shən) n. feeling of shame,
serve someone for a time humiliation, or embarrassment

98 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Michael Sheldon / Art Resource, NY
Benjamin Franklin, Printer, c. 1928. John Ward Dunsmore. Oil on canvas, 28 x 36 in. The New
York Historical Society, New York.
Viewing the Art: What might Benjamin Franklin have been discussing with the other people
in this scene?

Saturday. Wherefore I returned to an old They took me in, and as there was no wind we
woman in the town, of whom I had bought rowed all the way; and about midnight, not hav-
some gingerbread to eat on the water, and ing yet seen the city, some of the company were
asked her advice. She proposed to lodge me confident we must have passed it and would row
till a passage by some other boat occurred. I no further; the others knew not where we were,
accepted her offer, being much fatigued by so we put toward the shore, got into a creek,
traveling on foot. Understanding I was a landed near an old fence, with the rails of which
printer, she would have had me remain in that we made a fire, the night being cold, in October,
town and follow my business, being ignorant and there we remained till daylight. Then one
what stock was necessary to begin with. She of the company knew the place to be Cooper’s
was very hospitable, gave me a dinner of Creek, a little above Philadelphia, which we saw
oxcheek with great good-will, accepting only as soon as we got out of the creek, and arrived
of a pot of ale in return; and I thought myself
fixed till Tuesday should come. However, walk-
ing in the evening by the side of the river, a Big Idea The Road to Independence How does this
description reveal the spirit of people who will fight for inde-
boat came by, which I found was going toward
pendence?
Philadelphia with several people in her.

BENJAMIN F RANKLIN 99
Collection of The New York Historical Society
there about eight or nine o’clock on the each arm and eating the other. Thus I went up
Sunday morning and landed at Market Street Market Street as far as Fourth Street, passing
wharf. by the door of Mr. Read, my future wife’s
I have been the more particular in this father; when she, standing at the door, saw me,
description of my journey, and shall be so of my and thought I made, as I certainly did, a most
first entry into that city, that you may in your awkward, ridiculous appearance. Then I turned
mind compare such unlikely beginnings with the and went down Chestnut Street and part of
figure I have since made there. I was in my work- Walnut Street, eating my roll all the way; and
ing dress, my best clothes coming round by sea. I coming round found myself again at Market
was dirty, from my being so long in the boat. My Street wharf, near the boat I came in, to which
pockets were stuffed out with shirts and stock- I went for a draught5 of the river water; and
ings, and I knew no one nor where to look for being filled with one of my rolls, gave the other
lodging. Fatigued with walking, rowing, and the two to a woman and her child that came down
want of sleep, I was very hungry; and my whole the river in the boat with us and were waiting
stock of cash consisted in a single dollar, and to go further.
about a shilling4 in copper coin, which I gave to Thus refreshed I walked again up the street,
the boatmen for my passage. At first they refused which by this time had many clean-dressed peo-
it, on account of my having rowed; but I insisted ple in it, who were all walking the same way. I
on their taking it. Man is sometimes more gener- joined them, and thereby was led into the great
ous when he has little money than when he has meeting-house of the Quakers,6 near the market.
plenty; perhaps to prevent his being thought to I sat down among them, and after looking round
have but little. a while and hearing nothing said,7 being very
I walked toward the top of the street, gazing drowsy through labor and want of rest the pre-
about till near Market Street, when I met a boy ceding night, I fell fast asleep and continued
with bread. I had often made a meal of dry so till the meeting broke up, when some one
bread, and inquiring where he had bought it, I was kind enough to rouse me. This, therefore,
went immediately to the baker’s he directed me was the first house I was in, or slept in, in
to. I asked for biscuits, meaning such as we had Philadelphia. 
at Boston; that sort, it seems, was not made at
Philadelphia. I then asked for a threepenny loaf
5. Here, draught means “a gulp” or “a swallow.”
and was told they had none. Not knowing the 6. Quakers are members of the Society of Friends, a Christian
different prices nor the names of the different religious group founded in the seventeenth century.
sorts of bread, I told him to give me three- 7. Quaker religious meetings often include long periods of
silence.
penny worth of any sort. He gave me accord-
ingly three great puffy rolls. I was surprised at Reading Strategy Analyzing Voice What does Franklin
the quantity, but took it, and having no room reveal about his personality with this passage?
in my pockets, walked off with a roll under
Literary Element Autobiography Why might have
Franklin chosen to include this detail in his autobiography?
4. A shilling is a British coin equal to one-twentieth of a pound.

100 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. How would you have felt if, like Franklin, you 5. (a)How does an autobiography differ from a
arrived in an unfamiliar city with little money, no biography? (b)How should a reader evaluate
job, and no place to live? Franklin’s autobiography differently from a
biography or a piece of fiction?
Recall and Interpret 6. (a)Why do you think Franklin emphasizes the
2. (a)What people does Franklin meet before he takes importance of self-reliance? (b)Explain whether
the boat to Philadelphia? (b)What do you learn you think self-reliance is as important today as it
about Franklin from these encounters? was in Franklin’s time.
3. (a)Why do the boatmen at first refuse to accept
money from Franklin? (b)Why do you think he Connect
offers to pay? 7. Big Idea The Road to Independence
4. (a)What does Franklin do during the Quakers’ (a)Describe the colonists’ reaction to Franklin when
meeting? (b)What do you think the last sentence he arrives in Philadelphia. How likely are they to
of this selection reveals about Franklin? have had an experience similar to Franklin’s?
(b)How might the colonists’ reaction be an indica-
tion of their desire for independence?

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Autobiography Reading Strategy Analyzing Voice


An autobiography is the story an author writes about Voice is determined by sentence structure, tone, and
his or her own life; therefore, an autobiography should word choice. A writer may use short, simple sentences
be evaluated differently from other genres, such as with familiar words or long, complex sentences with
biography or fiction. difficult words. A writer’s tone may be serious, humor-
ous, ironic, or somber.
1. Why do you think Franklin thought it was important
to write his autobiography? Explain. 1. According to your notes, what are some of the
2. Do you think that Franklin presented himself as he features of Franklin’s voice?
really was, or did he present a biased, or one-sided, 2. Judging by Franklin’s literary voice, what sort of
self-portrait? Support your response with details personality do you imagine he possessed?
from the selection.
Vocabulary Practice
Writing About Literature Word Origins Use your knowledge of the root
Analyze Character What have you learned about gen (see page 97) and these clues to match each
Benjamin Franklin from his autobiography? What per- word to its meaning.
sonal characteristics does Franklin reveal? Use the per-
Clues: con- means “with”; de- means “away from”;
sonal details and experiences that Franklin presents to
-alogy means “the study of”
write a brief personality profile of Franklin as a young
man. Use vivid language and quotes from the selec- 1. congenital a. recorded history of one’s
tion to enliven your profile of Franklin. ancestry
2. degenerate b. acquired at birth
3. genealogy c. to fall away from a former
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to condition
www.glencoe.com.

BEN JAMIN F R ANKLIN 101


Benjamin Franklin

B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Literary Element Aphorism Reading Strategy Connecting


An aphorism is a short, pointed statement that Connecting means linking what you read to events in
expresses a wise or clever observation about human your own life. As you read, connect Franklin’s
experience. As you read, write down your favorite and aphorisms to your own experiences. Then make a list
least favorite aphorisms. of the aphorisms that you have found to be true.

If you would keep your secret from an What you would seem to be, be really.
enemy, tell it not to a friend. Honesty is the best policy.
The worst wheel of the cart makes the Dost thou love life? Then do not squander
most noise. time; for that’s the stuff life is made of.
He that cannot obey, cannot command. Beware of little expenses, a small leak will
No gains without pains. sink a great ship.
’Tis easier to prevent bad habits than to A penny saved is a penny earned.
break them. Don’t count your chickens before they are
A rolling stone gathers no moss. hatched.
Today is yesterday’s pupil. Buy what thou hast no need of; and e’er
Most fools think they are only ignorant.1 long thou shalt sell thy necessaries.
An empty bag cannot stand upright. Not to oversee workmen, is to leave them
Well done is better than well said. your purse open.
Fish and visitors smell in three days.
Quarrels never could last long, if on one
1. Ignorant means “uneducated” or “uninformed.”
side only lay the wrong.
Reading Strategy Connecting What is a real-life example Love thy neighbor; yet don’t pull down your
of this aphorism?
hedge.

102 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. (a)Which of the aphorisms from Poor Richard’s 5. (a)Which of Franklin’s aphorisms gives the most
Almanack were your favorites? (b)Which did you valuable advice? Why? (b)Describe a situation
dislike? where your chosen aphorism might apply.

Recall and Interpret 6. The colonists found useful advice in the aphorisms of
the Almanack. (a)Which of Franklin’s aphorisms do
2. (a)According to Franklin, how can a secret be kept
you think would be most relevant in today’s society?
from an enemy? (b)Describe in your own words
(b)Would any be irrelevant in today’s society? Explain.
the advice given in the second aphorism.
3. (a)What does Franklin say will sink a great Connect
ship? (b)What do you think he means by this 7. Big Idea The Struggle for Independence
aphorism? Which of these aphorisms would be most relevant
4. (a)In the final aphorism, what does Franklin say to the colonists’ struggle for independence? Explain.
about “thy neighbor”? (b)What might he mean by
“don’t pull down your hedge”?

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO CA B U L A RY

Literary Element Aphorism Reading Strategy Connecting


Aphorisms are short, memorable statements that con- You can recall ideas from a reading selection better by
vey a general truth or observation about life. The apho- connecting the literature to your own life. Ask your-
risms that Franklin wrote in Poor Richard’s Almanack self: Do I know someone like this? Have I ever felt this
reflect his clever use of language. For example, when way? With a partner, discuss these questions as they
Franklin says, “An empty bag cannot stand upright,” he pertain to Poor Richard’s Almanack.
presents a humorous metaphor for a spineless person
who can’t stand up for his or her own beliefs.
1. Choose one of Franklin’s aphorisms. Explain how Academic Vocabulary
Franklin’s word choice helps make the aphorism
easy to remember. Here are two words from the vocabulary list on
2. Using modern language and references to contem- page R86. These words will help you think,
porary life, reword one of Franklin’s aphorisms. write, and talk about the selection.

indicate (in´ di kāt) v. to point out


Learning for Life emphasis (em´ fə sis) n. a stress on the
Advice by Aphorism The colonists found advice in importance of something
the aphorisms of the Almanack, while today we
read advice columns in the newspaper. Select a Practice and Apply
letter written to a newspaper advice columnist and 1. What did Franklin indicate is the best policy?
compose an aphorism that sums up your advice to 2. Why did Franklin place so much emphasis on
the letter writer. saving money?

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

BEN JAMIN F R ANKLIN 103


LITER ARY H I STORY

The Rhetoric of Revolution


“Without the pen of Paine, the sword
of Washington would have been
wielded in vain.”
—John Adams

T
HAT THE UNITED STATES WON
independence from British colonial rule is as
much a result of effective writers and powerful
speakers as of General Washington and his brave army.
Patrick Henry, Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson
were all highly skilled in rhetoric, the art of persuasion.
Persuasion is often based on three types of appeal:
• appeal to reason, logic, and evidence
• appeal to emotions, such as fear, pride, or hate
• ethical appeal, or persuasion based on what we
ourselves, moral philosophers, or the majority of
people in our culture think is right
No matter what kinds of appeals speakers and writers
focus on, they rely on a number of rhetorical devices. Patrick Henry’s Famous Speech, 1915. Clyde DeLand. Oil on canvas.
For example, making an ethical and emotional appeal Viewing the Art: How do you think this depiction of Patrick
in his pamphlet The Crisis, No. 1, Thomas Paine Henry compares with the tone of his famous speech?

uses figurative language, or language that is used for


descriptive effect. Figurative language expresses
meaning beyond the literal level. In the following “The heart that feels not now is dead . . .”
quotation, Paine uses imagery, a type of figurative
language, to point out the difference between Many speakers use rhetorical questions, or questions
colonists who were unwilling to endure hardship to which no answer is expected. A rhetorical question
and those who were willing to carry on despite emphasizes the obvious answer to what is asked.
bitter winters and military defeats. Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Second Virginia
Convention” contains more than twenty rhetorical
“The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in questions. This technique builds to an emotional
this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but climax and makes a strong impression on the
he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of listeners. The following example presents an appeal
man and woman.” to reason.

Another common device is hyperbole, a figure of speech “They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope
that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion, to make with so formidable an adversary. But when shall
a point, or to evoke humor. In the following quotation, we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the
Thomas Paine uses hyperbole to enhance an emotional next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed,
appeal when explaining the momentous opportunity the and when a British guard shall be stationed in
Revolution presented for freedom and human progress. every house?”

104 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
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rhetorical device, connotative
language, to make an emotional
and ethical appeal.

“He has plundered our seas, ravaged


our coasts, burned our towns, and
destroyed the lives of our people.”

Connotation refers to the suggested


or implied meanings that are
associated with a word beyond its
dictionary, or denotative, definition.
“Not only do I want a cracker—we all want a cracker!”
Here, Jefferson uses verbs with strong
negative connotations. Plundered,
ravaged, burned, and destroyed all
Analyzing Political Cartoons What message does the cartoon convey about a
speaker’s ability to sway audiences?
produce a strong emotional effect.
Earlier in the Declaration, Jefferson
refers to “swarms of officers” sent to
In the following passage, Patrick Henry uses the “harass our people.” How different the statement
rhetorical device parallelism for emphasis. Parallelism would have been had he written, “A lot of soldiers
is the use of a series of words, phrases, or sentences were sent to bother us”!
that have similar grammatical form. Henry’s series
While Thomas Paine, Patrick Henry, and Thomas
reaches a powerful climax with a reference to the
Jefferson did not cause the American Revolution
English king. The appeal is to reason and emotion.
with their rebellious rhetoric, they did rally the
colonists to their side. In fact, Paine’s pamphlet
“Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances Common Sense sold 100,000 copies in three months.
have produced additional violence and insult; our A few months before its publication, Benjamin
supplications have been disregarded; and we have been Franklin observed that he had heard no American
spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne.” speaking in favor of independence. Six months after
Common Sense was published in Philadelphia, the
Thomas Jefferson also uses parallelism in the Declaration of Independence was signed there.
Declaration of Independence to list the colonial
grievances against King George III. Additionally, in Literary History For more about
the following excerpt, Jefferson uses another powerful the rhetoric of revolution, go to www.glencoe.com.

R ES P O N D I N G AN D TH I N K I N G C R ITI CALLY
1. What answers is Patrick Henry expecting to his 3. Which type of persuasive appeal—appeal to reason,
rhetorical questions quoted on the bottom of page appeal to emotion, or appeal based on ethics—most
104? Explain. influences your political views? Explain.
2. What connotation is suggested by Thomas
Jefferson’s phrase ”swarms of officers”?

O B J EC TIVES
• Analyze literary periods. • Understand rhetorical devices.
• Analyze persuasion. • Analyze a political cartoon.

LITERARY HISTO RY 10 5
Frank Modell/The New Yorker/cartoonbank.com
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Speech to the Second


Virginia Convention
M E E T PAT R IC K H E N RY

O
n March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry stood
before fellow delegates at the Second
Virginia Convention and thundered his
famous challenge, “Give me liberty, or give me
death!” Thomas Marshall, a delegate to the con-
vention, recalled that Henry’s speech was “one of
the most bold, vehement, and animated pieces of
eloquence that had ever been delivered.” High Standards In 1787, Henry turned down an
offer to attend the Philadelphia Constitutional
Henry was born in Hanover County, Virginia. After a Convention. Although he had toiled as a lawyer, leg-
series of unsuccessful ventures as a storekeeper and islator, and governor to uphold inalienable rights and
farmer, he began to study law. Henry was admitted to protect the American colonists from British inter-
the bar in 1760 and within several years began to vention, Henry initially opposed the ratification of
prosper. In 1765, at the age of twenty-nine, he became the U.S. Constitution. What seemed a contradiction,
a member of the House of Burgesses, the representa- even an insult, to his critics was really Henry’s
tive assembly in colonial Virginia. That same year, unwillingness to compromise his high ethical stan-
England passed the Stamp Act, an extremely unpopu- dards. Henry championed American independence,
lar tax. When Henry attacked the act in a fiery speech but he believed that the Constitution as written did
in the House of Burgesses, several members inter- not sufficiently secure the rights of states or those of
rupted him with accusations of treason. Henry replied, individuals. Economics also played a role in his deci-
“If this be treason, make the most of it.” sion, for Henry feared that under the Constitution,
Spain might retain control of the Mississippi River
and the lucrative business of floating commerce up
“I know not what course others may and down its waters.

take; but as for me, give me liberty, or The Constitution was published in 1787, but the
nation remained divided in two camps. The Federalists
give me death.” supported the Constitution, and the Anti-Federalists
did not. Henry was the nation’s leading Anti-
—Patrick Henry
Federalist, and he and his supporters lobbied for
amendments. The Constitution was ratified in Virginia
in 1788 by the narrow margin of 89 to 79. The strong
Governor and Legislator In 1776, as the battles of arguments that Henry and his faction of Anti-
the Revolution raged around them, the citizens of Federalists made during the debate eventually led to
Virginia elected Henry to be the first governor of the the Bill of Rights. Henry refused several high positions
commonwealth under its new constitution. He served in the new federal government due to his ailing health
three consecutive one-year terms as governor from and family responsibilities. He died at the age of 63
1776 through 1778. As wartime governor, Henry vig- and was interred at Red Hill, his Virginia home.
orously supported General George Washington and
his army. Afterward, he continued to play a prominent Patrick Henry was born in 1736 and died in 1799.
role in Virginia politics. He was the principal figure in
the Virginia state legislature from 1780 to 1784 and
again from 1787 to 1790. Between these two stints in Author Search For more about
the legislature, Henry again served as governor. Patrick Henry, go to www.glencoe.com.

106 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
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L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Speech Reading Strategy Analyzing Figures


What does liberty mean to you? In this speech, Patrick of Speech
Henry invokes liberty as a battle cry against British Figurative language is used for descriptive effect, in
meddling in colonial affairs. As you read the speech, order to convey ideas or emotions. Figurative expres-
think about the following questions: sions are not literally true but express some truth
• What are some liberties you enjoy? Would you beyond the literal level. A figure of speech is a
specific device or kind of figurative language, such as
risk your life to preserve one of these freedoms?
• What does the phrase “give me liberty, or give me allusion, assonance, hyperbole, metaphor, metonymy,
personification, simile, or symbol. As you read, notice
death” mean to you?
how Patrick Henry uses figures of speech.

Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart to record


Building Background examples of figures of speech and to restate them in
The British parliament passed a series of taxes on your own words.
its colonies. American colonists protested these
taxes, and thousands of British troops were sent
to Boston to preserve order. Patrick Henry was one
Figure of Speech Restatement
of the leaders of the growing opposition to British
rule. The speech you are about to read would firmly “Suffer not
establish Henry’s reputation as a forceful proponent yourselves to be
of liberty. betrayed with a
kiss.”

Setting Purposes for Reading


Big Idea The Road to Independence
Vocabulary
As you read Henry’s speech, notice what he implies
about the disagreement among the American arduous (ar j¯¯¯
oo əs) adj. requiring great exertion
colonists over the issue of independence from or endurance; difficult; p. 109 Running the mara-
British rule. thon was too arduous for eight of the contestants.
insidious (in sid ē əs) adj. slyly treacherous and
Literary Element Rhetorical Question deceitful; deceptive; p. 109 The candidate used
A rhetorical question is one to which no answer is insidious methods, such as bribery, to get elected.
expected or to which the answer is already known. It is subjugation (sub´ jə ā shən) n. act of bringing
used to emphasize the obvious answer to what is under control; domination; p. 109 No one liked
asked. As you read Henry’s speech, notice how he being under the subjugation of an evil ruler.
uses rhetorical questions.
remonstrate (ri mon strāt) v. to object; to pro-
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R15. test; p. 110 The whole country will remonstrate if
taxes are raised again.
spurn (spurn) v. to reject with disdain; p. 110
Would you spurn an offer of dinner in Paris?
Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following:
• relating literature to a historical period • analyzing figures of speech
• understanding rhetorical questions • writing an analysis of parallel structure

PATRICK HENRY 107


Patrick Henry Arguing the Parson’s Cause at the Hanover County Courthouse, 1834.
George Cooke. Oil on canvas. Virginia Historical Society, Richmond.

r. President:1 No man thinks more


highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as
abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who
have just addressed the house. But different
men often see the same subject in different
lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be
thought disrespectful to those gentlemen, if,
entertaining,2 as I do, opinions of a character
very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my
sentiments freely and without reserve. This is
no time for ceremony.
The question before the house is one of awful
moment 3 to this country. For my own part, I

1. Mr. President refers to Peyton Randolph, president of the


Virginia Convention.
Patrick Henry 2. In this case, entertaining means “having in mind.”
3. The phrase of awful moment means “of great consequence.”

108 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Virginia Historical Society
consider it as nothing less than a question of petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it
freedom or slavery. And in proportion to the will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves
magnitude of the subject ought to be the free- to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this
dom of the debate. It is only in this way that we gracious reception of our petition comports with
can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great these warlike preparations which cover our waters
responsibility which we hold to God and our and darken our land. Are fleets and armies neces-
country. Should I keep back my opinions at sary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we
such a time, through fear of giving offense, I shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled, that
should consider myself as guilty of treason force must be called in to win back our love? Let us
toward my country, and of an act of disloyalty not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements
toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which
above all earthly kings. kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this
Mr. President, it is natural for man to indulge martial array,5 if its purpose be not to force us to
in the illusions of submission? Can gentle-
hope. We are apt to men assign any other
shut our eyes against a possible motives for it?
painful truth, and lis- Has Great Britain any
ten to the song of that enemy, in this quarter of
siren, till she trans- the world, to call for all
forms us into beasts. Is this accumulation of
this the part of wise navies and armies? No,
men, engaged in a sir, she has none. They
great and arduous are meant for us; they
struggle for liberty? can be meant for no
Are we disposed to be other. They are sent
of the number of those over to bind and rivet
who, having eyes, see upon us those chains
not, and having ears, hear not, the things which the British ministry have been so long forg-
which so nearly concern their temporal4 salva- ing. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall
tion? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for
may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer
to know the worst and to provide for it. on the subject? Nothing. We have held the sub-
I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; ject up in every light of which it is capable; but it
and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty6
way of judging of the future but by the past. And and humble supplication?7 What terms shall we
judging by the past, I wish to know what there has find which have not been already exhausted? Let
been in the conduct of the British ministry for the us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves longer.
last ten years to justify those hopes with which gen-
tlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and
the House? Is it that insidious smile with which our 5. A martial array is a military display.
6. An entreaty is a plea or request.
7. Here, supplication means “begging.”
4. The word temporal means “in time; relating to life on earth.”
Literary Element Rhetorical Question How does Henry
Reading Strategy Analyzing Figures of Speech What is build on this rhetorical question several sentences later?
being compared in this metaphor?
Reading Strategy Analyzing Figures of Speech Explain
Vocabulary Henry’s use of metaphor in this sentence.

oo əs) adj. requiring great exertion or


arduous (arj¯¯¯
endurance; difficult Vocabulary
insidious (in sidē əs) adj. slyly treacherous and deceit- subjugation (sub´ jə ā shən) n. act of bringing under
ful; deceptive control; domination

PAT R IC K HENRY 109


Sir, we have done everything that could be done we are not weak, if we make a proper use of the
to avert the storm which is now coming on. We means which the God of nature hath placed in
have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have our power. Three millions of people, armed in
supplicated; we have prostrated8 ourselves before the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country
the tyrannical hands of the ministry and parlia- as that which we possess, are invincible by any
ment. Our petitions have been slighted; our force which our enemy can send against us.
remonstrances have produced additional vio- Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone.
lence and insult; our supplications have been There is a just God who presides over the desti-
disregarded; and we have been spurned, with nies of nations; and who will raise friends to
contempt, from the foot of the throne. In vain, fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to
after these things, may we indulge the fond9 hope of the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active,
peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election.12 If
room for hope. If we wish to be free—if we mean to we were base enough to desire it, it is now too
preserve inviolate10 those inestimable privileges for late to retire from the contest. There is no
which we have been so long contending—if we retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains
mean not basely11 to abandon the noble struggle in are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the
which we have been so long engaged, and which we plains of Boston! The war is inevitable—and let
have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come!
glorious object of our contest shall be obtained, we It is in vain, sir, to extenuate13 the matter.
must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal Gentlemen may cry peace, peace—but there is
to arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is left us! no peace. The war is actually begun! The next
They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope gale that sweeps from the North will bring to
with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we our ears the clash of resounding arms!14 Our
be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next brethren are already in the field! Why stand
year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish?
when a British guard shall be stationed in every What would they have? Is life so dear, or
house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price
inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty
resistance by lying supinely on our backs, and God! I know not what course others may take;
hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our but as for me, give me liberty, or give me
enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, death! 

8. Prostrated means “bowed down.”


9. Here, fond means “foolish.”
12. In this instance, election means “choice.”
10. The word inviolate means “unharmed and intact.”
13. To extenuate means “to make a situation seem less serious
11. Here, basely means “dishonorably.”
by offering excuses.”
Big Idea The Road to Independence Why does Henry 14. [The next gale . . . arms!] Colonists in Massachusetts were
refer to these past events? already engaged in open opposition to the British.

Reading Strategy Analyzing Figures of Speech How


Literary Element Rhetorical Question Why does Henry does Henry extend the meaning of this metaphor that he has
use so many rhetorical questions in this paragraph? used earlier?

Vocabulary Big Idea The Road to Independence How does Henry’s


remonstrate (ri mon strāt) v. to object; to protest powerful conclusion limit the choices available to the
spurn (spurn) v. to reject with disdain American colonists?

110 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Imagine that you were a delegate at the Second 5. (a)Which emotions are expressed in the
Virginia Convention. How do you think you would speech? (b)In your opinion, does Henry’s passion
have reacted to Henry’s speech? add to his effectiveness? Explain.

Recall and Interpret 6. (a)Why does Henry suggest that the colonists have
only two choices—liberty or death? (b)In your opin-
2. (a)According to Henry, what is the question “of
ion, are these the only options? Explain.
awful moment” to the country? (b)Why do you
think Henry gives several reasons to support his Connect
need to speak out?
7. Big Idea The Road to Independence (a)What was
3. (a)What does Henry say about Britain’s military and Henry’s immediate purpose in giving this
naval forces? (b)Why does he introduce this point? speech? (b)What do you think he would have
4. (a)According to Henry, what makes Americans viewed as Virginia’s next step?
“invincible”? (b)Why does Henry say that God is on
the side of the colonists?

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Rhetorical Question Reading Strategy Analyzing Figures


A rhetorical question presumes that listeners agree of Speech
with the speaker. The speaker can use this persuasive In classical mythology, a siren was a sea goddess who
technique as an emotional appeal designed to achieve lured sailors to their doom with her beautiful song.
solidarity with his or her audience or as a device to
1. What does Henry compare to the siren’s song?
lead the audience to accept the speaker’s beliefs.
2. Why do you think he uses this metaphor?
1. What is the effect of the rhetorical questions in the
last paragraph of Henry’s speech?
2. Name one idea or belief that Henry wants his audi- Vocabulary Practice
ence to accept.
Practice with Antonyms Find the antonym for
each vocabulary word from “Speech to the Second
Writing About Literature Virginia Convention.” Use a dictionary or thesaurus
if you need help.
Analyze Rhetorical Devices Parallelism is the use
of a series of words, phrases, or sentences that have 1. arduous a. high b. effortless
similar grammatical form. For example, in the next-to-
2. insidious a. obvious b. ugly
last paragraph of his speech, Henry uses four rhetori-
cal questions that consist of interrogative sentences 3. subjugation a. fate b. freedom
beginning with the words Will or Shall. In a short 4. remonstrate a. recall b. approve
essay, analyze Henry’s uses of parallelism and explain
how they support his purpose. 5. spurn a. accept b. dislike

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

PAT R IC K HENRY 111


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Declaration of Independence
M E E T T H OM A S J E F FE R SON

H
onoring Nobel Prize winners at the White
House in 1962, President John F. Kennedy
observed, “I think this is the most extraordi-
nary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that
has ever been gathered together at the White House,
with the possible exception of when Thomas
Jefferson dined alone.” The reference was to Declaration of Independence. Although members of
Jefferson’s amazing mastery of at least a dozen differ- the congress edited, revised, and deleted portions of
ent endeavors. He was an architect, inventor, lawyer, the draft, the final version was basically Jefferson’s.
surveyor, musician, and botanist, to name but six pro-
fessions in which Jefferson excelled. Ultimately he Jefferson the Leader Jefferson succeeded Patrick
became president of the United States. Henry as governor of Virginia but returned to serve
Thomas Jefferson was born in 1743, in Albemarle in the congress from 1783 to 1784. After his
County in central Virginia, to Peter and Jane appointment as U.S. ambassador to France, he
Randolph Jefferson. In 1760 he enrolled in the became George Washington’s secretary of state and
College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, where then vice president under John Adams. In 1803,
he studied mathematics, science, and law. He began during the first of his two terms as president,
his law practice in 1767 and was elected to the Jefferson made a decision that changed the nation
Virginia House of Burgesses in 1769. In 1772 he mar- forever. He arranged to purchase the Louisiana
ried a young widow, Martha Wayles Skelton. They Territory from France. The Louisiana Purchase cost
had six children, but only two survived, and Martha the nation $11.25 million plus $3.75 million in
died in 1782, after the birth of their last child. French debts it agreed to pay—a transaction that
doubled the size of the United States. Jefferson then
sent a scientific expedition headed by Meriwether
Lewis and William Clark to explore these new
“The spirit of resistance to government lands and continue on to the Pacific Ocean.
is so valuable on certain occasions that Jefferson’s last years were spent at the Virginia
I wish it to be always kept alive. . . . I home he designed, built, and rebuilt—Monticello.
In 1819 he founded the University of Virginia at
like a little rebellion now and then.” Charlottesville near his home. He died on July 4,
1826, exactly fifty years after the signing of the
—Thomas Jefferson,
Declaration of Independence. A man of contradic-
from a letter to Abigail Adams, 1787
tions, he opposed slavery in principle but nonethe-
less owned slaves. His epitaph, which he composed
himself, cited his writing of the Declaration of
Jefferson the Writer As a delegate to the Second Independence among his achievements but made
Continental Congress in 1776, Jefferson drafted no reference to his presidency.
what many believe is the most powerful argument
Thomas Jefferson was born in 1743 and died in 1826.
for freedom ever written. When the delegates
debated breaking away from Britain, they turned to
Jefferson to commit their ideas about liberty and Author Search For more about
freedom to writing. He expressed those ideas in the Thomas Jefferson, go to www.glencoe.com.

112 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
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L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Text Reading Strategy Evaluating Argument


How important is your freedom to you? If your free- To evaluate arguments, you need to understand how
doms were severely limited by the government, what a writer organizes his or her thoughts. In deductive
do you think you would do? Jefferson’s Declaration of reasoning, a writer argues from general principles to
Independence addresses such questions. specific conclusions. One type of deductive reasoning
is the syllogism, a formula that presents an argument
Building Background logically. A syllogism has three parts: a major premise,
In June 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft a minor premise, and a conclusion. In a valid syllo-
of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, gism, the conclusion follows logically from the prem-
where the Second Continental Congress had con- ises. Here is an example:
vened. On June 11, the delegates had appointed a
five-member committee to draft a statement declaring • Major premise: All human beings are mortal.
independence from Britain. The committee included • Minor premise: Jefferson is a human being.
Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Jefferson, but • Conclusion: Jefferson is mortal.
Jefferson was called upon to do the writing. Some As you read the Declaration of Independence, notice
of his ideas about independence were not new. Jefferson’s use of deductive reasoning.
According to John Locke’s theory of “natural law,”
which Jefferson had studied, human beings are “by
nature free, equal and independent.” Following Locke’s Vocabulary
lead, Jefferson stressed that the American Revolution
usurpation (ū´ sər pā shən) n. the act of seizing
was a struggle for the basic rights of all people.
power without legal right or authority; p. 114
The civil disorder led to usurpation of power by a
Setting Purposes for Reading group of military leaders.
Big Idea The Road to Independence endeavor (en dev ər) v. to make an effort; to
As you read the Declaration of Independence, notice try; p. 115 The student endeavored to finish his
how Jefferson details the hardships faced by colonists paper on time.
in their struggle for independence.
tenure (ten yər) n. conditions or terms under
which something is held; p. 115 Her tenure as
Literary Element Parallelism judge depends on her effectiveness in the position.
Parallelism (sometimes called “matching parts”) is the
acquiesce (ak´ wē es ) v. to consent or agree
phrasing of similar ideas or elements—words, phrases,
silently, without objections; to comply passively;
or sentences—in the same grammatical form. For
p. 116 Belinda decided to acquiesce to her friend’s
example, notice the parallel phrases that begin this
plans for the evening.
saying from Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s
Almanack: “Early to bed, and early to rise, make a rectitude (rek tə t¯¯¯
ood´) n. uprightness of moral
man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” As you read the character; honesty; p. 116 Known for his rectitude,
Declaration of Independence, notice Jefferson’s Thomas was put in charge of the organization’s funds.
effective use of parallelism.
Vocabulary Tip: Synonyms Synonyms are words
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R13 that have the same or similar meanings. The words
consent and agreement, for example, are synonyms.
Interactive Literary Elements Synonyms are always the same part of speech.
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • understanding parallelism
• relating literature to historical period • evaluating argument, syllogisms, and deductive reasoning

THOMAS JEFFERSON 113


W hen, in the course of human events, it
becomes necessary for one people to dissolve
the political bands which have connected
Thomas Jefferson
and transient causes; and accordingly all
experience hath shown that mankind are
more disposed to suffer, while evils are suffer-
them with another, and to assume, among the able, than to right themselves by abolishing
powers of the earth, the separate and equal the forms to which they are accustomed. But
station to which the laws of nature and when a long train of abuses and usurpations,
nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to pursuing invariably the same object, evinces3 a
the opinions of mankind requires that they design to reduce them under absolute despotism,4
should declare the causes which impel them it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off
to the separation. such government, and to provide new guards
We hold these truths to be self-evident: for their future security.
that all men are created equal, that they are Such has been the patient sufferance of these
endowed by their Creator with certain colonies; and such is now the necessity which
unalienable rights;1 that among these are life, constrains5 them to alter their former systems of
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to government. The history of the present King
secure these rights, governments are instituted of Great Britain is a history of repeated inju-
among men, deriving their just powers from ries and usurpations, all having in direct
the consent of the governed; that whenever object the establishment of an absolute tyr-
any form of government becomes destructive anny6 over these states. To prove this, let
of these ends, it is the right of the people to facts be submitted to a candid world.
alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
government, laying its foundation on such
principles, and organizing its powers in such 3. Evinces means “makes clear or evident.”
form, as to them shall seem most likely to 4. Despotism is government by a ruler of absolute authority.
effect their safety and happiness. Prudence,2 5. Constrains means “forces.”
6. The arbitrary or oppressive exercise of power is tyranny.
indeed, will dictate that governments long
established should not be changed for light Big Idea The Road to Independence In what way does
this statement shed light on what the colonists have endured
in their struggle for independence?
1. Unalienable rights cannot be taken away.
2. The exercise of good judgment is called prudence.
Vocabulary
Reading Strategy Evaluating Argument Which of the usurpation (yū´ sər pā  shən) n. the act of seizing power
basic principles stated earlier support this argument? without legal right or authority

114 U N IT 1 EARLY AMERICA


North Wind Picture Archives
He has refused his assent7 to laws, the most
wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of
immediate and pressing importance, unless sus-
pended in their operation till his assent should
be obtained; and when so suspended, he has
utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other laws for the
accommodation of large districts of people,
unless those people would relinquish the right
of representation in the legislature, a right inesti-
mable to them, and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at
places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from
the depository of their public records, for the sole
purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with
his measures.
He has dissolved representative houses repeat-
edly, for opposing, with manly firmness, his inva-
sions on the rights of the people.
He has refused, for a long time after such
dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; Drafting of the Declaration of Independence, c. 1900.
whereby the legislative powers, incapable of Jean-Léon Gérome Ferris.
annihilation, have returned to the people at Viewing the Art: Do you think the artist convincingly depicts
the importance of the event?
large for their exercise; the state remaining, in
the meantime, exposed to all the dangers of
invasion from without and convulsions within.
He has endeavored to prevent the population He has kept among us, in times of peace,
of these states; for that purpose obstructing the standing armies, without the consent of our
laws for naturalization8 of foreigners, refusing to legislatures.
pass others to encourage their migrations hither, He has affected to render the military inde-
and raising the conditions of new appropriations pendent of, and superior to, the civil power.
of lands. He has combined with others to subject us to
He has obstructed the administration of jus- a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and
tice, by refusing his assent to laws for establish- unacknowledged by our laws, giving his assent to
ing judiciary powers. their acts of pretended legislation:
He has made judges dependent on his will For quartering9 large bodies of armed troops
alone for the tenure of their offices, and the among us;
amount of payment of their salaries. For protecting them, by a mock trial, from
He has erected a multitude of new offices, punishment for any murders which they should
and sent hither swarms of officers to harass commit on the inhabitants of these states;
our people and eat out their substance. For cutting off our trade with all parts of the
world;
For imposing taxes on us without our consent;
7. Assent is agreement. For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits
8. Naturalization is the process by which foreigners become of trial by jury;
citizens of another country.
For transporting us beyond seas, to be tried for
Vocabulary pretended offenses;
endeavor (en dev ər) v. to make an effort to; to try
tenure (ten yər) n. conditions or terms under which 9. Here, quartering means “providing with living
something is held accommodations; lodging.”

TH OMAS JEFFERSON 115


Bettmann/CORBIS
For abolishing the free system of English laws from time to time, of attempts by their legisla-
in a neighboring province,10 establishing therein ture to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over
an arbitrary government, and enlarging its us. We have reminded them of the circumstances
boundaries, so as to render it at once an example of our emigration and settlement here. We have
and fit instrument for introducing the same abso- appealed to their native justice and magnanimity;14
lute rule into these colonies; and we have conjured15 them, by the ties of our
For taking away our charters, abolishing our common kindred, to disavow these usurpations,
most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally which would inevitably interrupt our connec-
the forms of our governments; tions and correspondence. They, too, have been
For suspending our own legislatures, and deaf to the voice of justice and consanguinity.16
declaring themselves invested with power to leg- We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity
islate for us in all cases whatsoever. which denounces17 our separation, and hold
He has abdicated government here, by declar- them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in
ing us out of his protection and waging war war, in peace, friends.
against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, We, therefore, the representatives of the United
burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our States of America, in General Congress assem-
people. bled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the
He is at this time transporting large armies of world for the rectitude of our intentions, do,
foreign mercenaries11 to complete the works of in the name and by the authority of the good
death, desolation, and tyranny already begun people of these colonies, solemnly publish and
with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy12 declare that these United Colonies are, and of
scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, right ought to be, free and independent states;
and totally unworthy the head of a civilized that they are absolved from all allegiance to
nation. the British crown, and that all political con-
He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken nection between them and the state of Great
captive on the high seas, to bear arms against Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved;
their country, to become the executioners of and that, as free and independent states, they
their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves have full power to levy war, conclude peace,
by their hands. contract alliances, establish commerce, and do
He has excited domestic insurrections among all other acts and things which independent
us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabit- states may of right do. And for the support of
ants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, this declaration, with a firm reliance on the
whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished protection of Divine Providence, we mutually
destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions. pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and
our sacred honor. 
In every stage of these oppressions we have peti-
tioned for redress13 in the most humble terms;
our repeated petitions have been answered only 14. Magnanimity means “nobility of mind and heart.”
by repeated injury. A prince whose character is 15. Here, conjured means “solemnly appealed to.”
16. Consanguinity is a relationship based on having ancestors
thus marked by every act which may define a in common; a blood relationship.
tyrant is unfit to be ruler of a free people. 17. Here, denounces means “announces” or “proclaims.”
Nor have we been wanting in our attentions
Big Idea The Road to Independence How does
to our British brethren. We have warned them,
this sentence show the seriousness of declaring
independence?
10. The neighboring province is Quebec, Canada.
11. Mercenaries are paid soldiers in a foreign army. Vocabulary
12. Perfidy means “a deliberate betrayal of trust.”
acquiesce (ak´ wē es) v. to consent or agree silently,
13. A compensation for a wrong done is a redress.
without objections; to comply passively
Literary Element Parallelism What does this use of rectitude (rek tə t¯¯¯
ood´) n. uprightness of moral
parallelism emphasize? character; honesty

116 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond England, not against the British people? (b)Why do
you think Jefferson went to such lengths to empha-
1. How has reading the Declaration of Independence
size this distinction?
affected your ideas about freedom?
6. (a)What method of organization did Jefferson use
Recall and Interpret in creating this document? (b)How effective is this
2. (a)What is the purpose of the document? (b)To method of organization?
which “opinions of mankind” might Jefferson be
referring? Connect
7. What points that Jefferson made in the Declaration
3. (a)According to Jefferson, which human rights are
of Independence do you think remain the most
“unalienable”? (b)How do you interpret the phrase
important today?
“pursuit of happiness”?
4. (a)How have the colonists met with “these 8. Big Idea The Road to Independence (a)What
oppressions”? (b)Why might the king have ignored does the Declaration of Independence stress
the colonists’ petitions for redress? about the dangers of changing a form of govern-
ment? (b)What does this indicate about the
Analyze and Evaluate process that led to the American Revolution?
5. (a)In what ways does Jefferson emphasize that the
colonists’ complaints are against the king of

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO CA B U L A RY

Literary Element Parallelism Reading Strategy Evaluating Argument


Parallelism emphasizes the items that are arranged in Remember that deductive reasoning moves from
similar structures. general principles to specific conclusions.
1. How does Jefferson use parallelism in detailing the 1. How does the Declaration of Independence exhibit
“self-evident” truths in the second paragraph of the deductive reasoning?
Declaration of Independence?
2. Construct a syllogism based on one of the “self-
2. What is the effect of the parallel use of the word evident” truths that Jefferson presents in the
our in the last sentence of the Declaration? Declaration of Independence.

Writing About Literature Vocabulary Practice


Evaluate Author’s Craft Jefferson’s presentation Practice with Synonyms Find the synonym for
of the rights of all people proved so effective that each vocabulary word. Use a dictionary or a thesau-
the Declaration of Independence is universally rus if you need help.
admired. Identify at least three elements in the
Declaration that, in your opinion, give it strength. 1. usurpation a. takeover b. release
Explain how each contributes to the power of the 2. endeavor a. surrender b. attempt
whole.
3. tenure a. strength b. hold
4. acquiesce a. protest b. comply
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to 5. rectitude a. integrity b. ruin
www.glencoe.com.

TH OMAS JEFFERSON 117


I n f o r m a t i o n a l Te x t

Media Link to
t h e Ro a d t o
Independence
Preview the Article
Even the Founding Fathers had to revise
How They
their writing. In “How They Chose These

Chose These

WORDS
Words,” a historian describes the role of
the writing process in drafting the
Declaration of Independence.
1. From the title, what do you think this
article will be about? What do you
already know about this subject?
2. Read the deck, or the sentence in
large type that appears below the title.
How does the author feel about
Franklin’s edits?
Jefferson wrote the Declaration’s first draft, but it was
Set a Purpose for Reading Franklin’s editing that made a phrase immortal.
Read to learn about the writing of the
By WALTER ISAACSON

A
Declaration of Independence and the
roles of Franklin and Jefferson in the
struggle for American independence. S THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS PREPARED TO VOTE
on the question of American independence in 1776,
Reading Strategy it appointed a committee for a job that no one at the
time thought was very important. The task, however,
Determining the Main Idea and
would turn out to be a momentous one: drafting a
Supporting Details
The main idea of a text is the most
declaration that explained the decision. The committee included
important thing that the writer wants to Benjamin Franklin, of course, and Thomas Jefferson and John
convey about his or her subject. The main Adams, as well as Connecticut merchant Roger Sherman and
idea is not always obvious; you may have New York lawyer Robert Livingston.
to identify it from details in the text.
How was it that Jefferson, at age And thus it fell to Jefferson to
As you read, create a graphic organizer 33, got the honor of drafting the compose, on a little lap desk he had
like the one shown below. document? His name was listed first designed, some of the most famous
on the committee, signifying that phrases in history while sitting alone
Main Idea:
he was the chairman, because he in a second-floor room of a house
• Supporting detail 1: Benjamin had gotten the most votes and on Market Street in Philadelphia
Franklin made important because he was from Virginia, the just a block from Franklin’s house.
changes to the document. colony that had proposed the “When, in the course of human
• Supporting detail 2: resolution. His four colleagues had events . . . ,” he famously began.
other committee assignments that
they considered to be more Taking a Page from Franklin
OB J EC TIVES
important. None of them realized The document Jefferson drafted was
• Use appropriate strategies to aid that the document would eventually in some ways similar to what
comprehension, including identifying the come to be viewed as a cornerstone Franklin would have written. It
main idea. of American politics. As for contained a highly specific bill of
• Select from multiple choices, a sentence
Franklin, he was still laid up in bed particulars against the British. It
that describes the main idea.
• Skim text for an overall impression and with boils and gout when the also recounted, as Franklin had
particular information. committee first met. often done, the details of America’s

118 UNIT 1
Informational Text

attempts to make peace despite on a depth of philosophy not found but back then it was considered not
England’s unbending attitude. in Franklin. He echoed both the only proper but learned.
Indeed, Jefferson’s words echoed language and grand theories of When he had finished a draft
some of the language that Franklin English and Scottish Enlightenment and included some changes from
had used, earlier that year, in a draft thinkers. Having read John Locke’s Adams, Jefferson sent it to Franklin
resolution that he never published: Second Treatise on Government at on the morning of Friday, June 21.
“Whereas, whenever kings, instead least three times, Jefferson was most “Will Doctor Franklin be so good
of protecting the lives and properties notably influenced by Locke’s as to peruse it,” he wrote in his
of their subjects, as is their bounden concept of natural rights. And cover note, “and suggest such
duty, do endeavor to perpetrate Jefferson built his case, in a manner alterations as his more enlarged
the destruction of either, they more sophisticated than Franklin view of the subject will dictate?”
thereby cease to be kings, become would have, on a contract between People were much more polite to
tyrants, and dissolve all ties of government and the governed that editors back then.
allegiance between themselves and was founded on the consent of the
their people.” people. Jefferson also, it should be Change for the Better?
Jefferson’s writing style, however, noted, borrowed freely from the Franklin made only a few changes,
was different from Franklin’s. It was phrasings of others, including the some of which can be viewed
graced with rolling rhythms and resounding Declaration of Rights in written in his hand on what
smooth phrases, soaring in their the new Virginia constitution. Jefferson referred to as the “rough
poetry and powerful despite their Today, this kind of borrowing might draft” of the Declaration. The most
polish. In addition, Jefferson drew lead to accusations of plagiarism, important of his edits was small but
significant. He crossed out, using
DEFT TOUCH Franklin changed the phrase “sacred and undeniable” to “self-evident,” the heavy backslashes that he often
an assertion of rationality. employed, the last three words of
Jefferson’s phrase “We hold these
truths to be sacred and undeniable.”
Franklin changed them to the words
now enshrined in history: “We hold
these truths to be self-evident.”
The idea of “self-evident” truths
drew on the rational view of the
world held by Isaac Newton and
Franklin’s close friend David Hume.
The great Scottish philosopher
Hume had developed a theory
that distinguished between truths
that describe matters of fact (such
as “London is bigger than
Philadelphia”) and truths that are
declared so through reason and
definition (“the angles of a triangle
total 180 degrees”; “all bachelors
are unmarried”). He referred to
the latter type of axioms as “self-
evident” truths. By using the word
sacred, Jefferson had implied,
intentionally or not, that the
principle in question—the equality
of men and their endowment
by their creator with inalienable
National Archives

rights—was a matter of religion.


Franklin’s edit turned it instead
into a matter of reason and
rationality.

HOW THEY CHOSE T HESE WO RDS 119


Informational Text

Franklin’s other edits were less more than half the draft’s final five
suitable. He changed Jefferson’s paragraphs, in which Jefferson had
“reduce them to arbitrary power” to begun to ramble in a way that detracted
“reduce them under absolute from the document’s power. Jefferson
despotism,” and he took out the was upset. “I was sitting by Dr.
literary flourish in Jefferson’s “invade Franklin,” he recalled, “who perceived
and deluge us in blood” to make it that I was not insensible to these
more sparse: “invade and destroy us.” mutilations.” Franklin did his best to
And a few of his changes seemed console him.
stodgy and unnecessary. “Amount of At the official signing of the
their salaries” became “amount and parchment copy on August 2, John
payment of their salaries.” Hancock, the president of the
Congress, penned his name with
Congress Makes Cuts his famous flourish. “There must be
After the Continental Congress voted no pulling different ways,” he
for independence from England, it declared. “We must all hang
formed itself into a committee to together.” Supposedly, Franklin
consider Jefferson’s draft Declaration. replied, “Yes, we must, indeed, all
The members were not so light in hang together, or most assuredly we
WORDSMITHS Franklin, Jefferson,
their editing as Franklin had been. shall all hang separately.” Their
Livingston, Adams, and Sherman
Large sections were sliced out, most lives, as well as their sacred honor,
debate what the document
notably the one that criticized the should say. had been put on the line.
king for continuing the slave trade. –—Updated 2005, from TIME,
Congress also, to its credit, cut by Archive Photos/NewsCom July 7, 2003

R E S P O N D I N G A N D T H I N K I N G C R ITI CALLY

Respond ii The writing process played a notable role in


crafting an important piece of American history.
1. Imagine that you had assisted Thomas Jefferson
in drafting the Declaration of Independence. What iii The authors of the Declaration had to work
would you think of the revisions it underwent? together in order to gain America’s independence.
(b)Explain why you think that your choice is the
Recall and Interpret best possible answer.
2. (a)What book influenced Thomas Jefferson as he 5. (a)Identify at least two of Benjamin Franklin’s
drafted the Declaration? (b)How did this book revisions to Thomas Jefferson’s draft. In what
shape Jefferson’s political beliefs? ways do you think these revisions affected the
3. (a)What criticism of the king of England did the Declaration? (b)What does the article say about
Continental Congress delete from the draft the importance of the revision process?
Declaration? (b)What does this tell you about
society during this time period? Connect
6. When Benjamin Franklin signed the Declaration of
Analyze and Evaluate Independence, he believed that its creators were
4. (a)Choose the sentence that best describes the risking their lives. Explain why Franklin may have
main idea of the reading selection: thought this and discuss how the written word
influenced America’s struggle for independence.
i Editing is an important part of any writing
assignment.

120 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Vocabulary Workshop
Word Origins

Understanding Political Terms


“Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the º Vocabulary Terms
right of the people to alter or to abolish it.” A prefix is attached to the
—Thomas Jefferson, from the Declaration of Independence beginning of a word. It
adds to or changes the
Connecting to Literature Thomas Jefferson’s words helped to “dissolve the word’s meaning.
political bands” between England and its American colonies. But do you know A suffix is attached to the
where the words he chose came from? Much of the political language Jefferson end of a word. It adds to
used, and that we still use today, traces its origins to ancient Greek and Latin. or changes the word’s
meaning.
Understanding a political term is easier if you know its origins. To understand the
etymology of a word, or its origin and history, analyze the prefix, suffix, or root of A root word is the base
the word. Many dictionaries display the etymology of a word in brackets before or word, or original word, to
after giving its definition. You may want to check the front of the dictionary for a which a prefix or suffix can
guide to understanding the etymologies and abbreviations that appear in entries. be added.

º Test-Taking Tip
For example, the following entry gives the etymology of the word govern. Note
Analyzing word parts can
that the symbol < means “comes from.”
help you determine the
meanings of words and
govern ( uv´ ərn) v. to exercise political authority over: to govern a nation. [ME < increase your vocabulary.
OF gouverner < L gubernāre to steer (a ship) < Gk kybernān to steer] If you memorize common
prefixes and suffixes, you
will be more prepared when
The entry indicates that the word govern comes from a Middle English (ME) taking standardized tests.
word, which comes from the Old French (OF) word gouverner, which comes from º Reading Handbook
the Latin word gubernāre, which comes from the Greek kybernān, meaning “to
For more about under-
steer.” Knowing the etymology of the word govern not only enhances your under-
standing word origins,
standing of the word’s origins but may also help you understand other related
see Reading Handbook,
words, such as government and governor.
p. R20.

Exercise For eFlashcards and other


Use a dictionary to research the origins of the following political terms that vocabular y activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.
appear in the Declaration of Independence. In a chart, copy the etymology
for each word and write an explanation, similar to the one above, of what
the etymology means. How might knowing a word’s etymology help you
understand the meanings of other words?
OB J ECT IVES
• Trace the etymology of
Word Etymology Explanation terms used in political
science and history.
liberty
• Analyze the origin and
jurisdiction meaning of new words.

usurp
• Use knowledge of Greek
and Latin roots, prefixes,
and suffixes to understand
justice complex words.

121
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

from The Crisis, No. 1


M E E T T H OM A S PA I N E

C
orset maker, cobbler, teacher, tax collector—
Thomas Paine failed miserably at every
line of work he attempted in his native
England. Finally, at age thirty-seven, Paine set
sail for the colonies to start a new life. It was
1774, and the colonists were weighing the pros
and cons of a break with England. Always a
friend of the “little guy,” Paine sympathized with
the revolutionary forces.

outlawed by the British. After he was made a citi-


zen by the French assembly, he became an elected
“Had it not been for America, there official. Unfortunately, he associated with the
had been no such thing as freedom left wrong political party. When that party fell during
the French Revolution, he was thrown into prison
throughout the whole universe.” and stripped of citizenship. After almost a year,
—Thomas Paine and with the help of James Monroe, U.S. minister
to France, he was released. Paine returned to the
from The Crisis, No. 5
United States in 1802, but he received no hero’s
welcome. Many Americans misunderstood his
later writings and branded him an atheist,
Success in America In January 1776, Paine although Thomas Jefferson remained a good
anonymously published the pamphlet Common friend.
Sense, a cry for complete independence from
When Paine’s life ended, he was poor, alone, and
Britain. Paine argued that England was a mother
swollen with dropsy, a disease of the body’s con-
country “devouring her young.” The pamphlet
nective tissue. Even after his death, the insults
quickly sold more than 100,000 copies. Paine
continued. He was buried on his farm in New
enlisted in Washington’s army and began to write
Rochelle, New York. Ten years later, William
the first pamphlet of a series of sixteen called The
Cobbett, a British admirer of Paine, dug up his
Crisis. Washington ordered that this first pamphlet
remains and transported them to England, after
be read aloud at every military campground. From
which they disappeared. (Cobbett apparently
1777 to 1779, Paine served as secretary to the
intended a memorial that never came to pass.)
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Continental
Paine achieved his successes with a pen only, but
Congress. After American independence was won,
his contribution to the cause of freedom is incalcu-
Paine returned to private life.
lable. Common Sense inspired even the most reluc-
Troubles in England and France Paine even- tant to rebel against what Paine called the
tually returned to Europe—and to trouble. In the “tyranny of Britain.”
early 1790s, he wrote a defense of the French Thomas Paine was born in 1737 and died in 1809.
Revolution called The Rights of Man, in which he
argued against the rule of kings and for legislation
to help the poor. Although Paine had already
Literature Online Author Author Search
Search For more about
For more
escaped to France, he was tried for treason and Thomas Paine,
about this go go
author, to to
www.glencoe.com.
www.literature.glencoe.com.

122 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Bettmann/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Essay Reading Strategy Summarizing


What should people expect from their government? To summarize what you have read is to state the
If they think their government is unfair, should they main ideas in your own words and in a logical
speak up or keep quiet for fear of punishment? In his sequence. A summary is much shorter than the origi-
pamphlet The Crisis, No. 1, Paine calls upon his fellow nal. Summarizing can help you focus your understand-
colonists to rid themselves of tyranny. As you read the ing and remember what you have read.
essay, think about the following questions:
Reading Tip: Outlining Look for main ideas and
• Under what circumstances do you think you would supporting details as you read. Putting them in a sim-
be forced to declare, “Enough is enough!”
ple outline form will help you construct a summary
• Is freedom worth risking one’s life for? after you read.
Building Background
In The Crisis, Paine was not expressing new or original 1. Britain’s actions are tyrannical.
thoughts. Since about 1630, certain ideas had been a. Britain has declared a right to tax us.
developing in Europe, in what is now called the Age of b.
Enlightenment. Among these were the beliefs that c.
human beings have “natural rights” and that govern-
ment is a social contract, drawing its power from (in
Jefferson’s words) “the consent of the governed.” In
other words, people voluntarily come together for Vocabulary
trade and for protection, and they voluntarily submit to
tyranny (tir ə nē) n. cruel use of authority;
a government because that helps to keep things run-
oppressive power; p. 124 In order to regain their
ning smoothly. But if that government goes beyond its
rights, the villagers rebelled against the tyranny of
bounds, people can voluntarily end it. In his writing,
the king.
Paine applied these popular views to a specific time
and place, the Revolution in America. resolution (rez´ə l¯¯¯
oo shən) n. firmness of
purpose; p. 125 My resolution to study harder
Setting Purposes for Reading resulted in better grades.
Big Idea The Road to Independence petrified (pet rə f¯ d) adj. paralyzed with fear;
In their struggle with the British, the American colonists p. 125 Caught in our headlights, the deer seemed
were fighting for a cause. As you read Paine’s pam- petrified and unable to move.
phlet, see how he encourages his readers’ devotion to exploit (eks ploit) n. notable, heroic deed; feat;
that cause. p. 125 Reading about superheroes can be fun, but
I prefer learning about the exploits of real people.
Literary Element Tone hypocrisy (hi pok rə sē) n. an expression of
An author’s attitude toward his or her subject matter or feelings or beliefs not actually possessed or held;
toward the audience is conveyed through tone. Tone p. 125 The politician revealed his hypocrisy when
consists of such elements as word choice, sentence he did not fulfill his campaign promises.
structure, and figures of speech. As you read, notice
how Paine’s tone conveys his attitude.

• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R19. Interactive Literary Elements


Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • summarizing
• relating literature to historical period • understanding tone

THOMAS PA I N E 123
Thomas Paine

These are the times that try men’s souls. The sum- should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army
mer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has
crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but a right (not only to tax) but “to bind us in all
he that stands it now, deserves the love and cases whatsoever”;2 and if being bound in that
thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is manner is not slavery, then is there not such a
not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression
with us, that the harder the conflict, the more is impious;3 for so unlimited a power can belong
glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, only to God.
we esteem1 too lightly: it is dearness only that Whether the independence of the continent
gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to was declared too soon, or delayed too long, I
put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be
strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom
2. In March 1766, the British parliament repealed the Stamp
Act but also passed the Declaratory Act, which extended its
right to impose taxes on the colonies and “to bind [the
1. Esteem means “to value” or “to appreciate.”
colonies] in all cases whatsoever.”
Vocabulary 3. Impious (impē əs) means “lacking in reverence for God.”

tyranny (tirə nē) n. cruel use of authority; Big Idea The Road to Independence Why does Paine
oppressive power compare taxation without representation to slavery?

124 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Bettmann/CORBIS
will not now enter into as an argument; my It is surprising to see how rapidly a panic will
own simple opinion is, that had it been eight sometimes run through a country. All nations
months earlier it would have been much better. and ages have been subject to them: Britain has
We did not make a proper use of last winter; trembled like an ague8 at the report of a French
neither could we, while we were in a dependent fleet of flat-bottomed boats; and in the four-
state. However, the fault, if it were one, was all teenth century the whole English army, after
our own; we have none to blame but ourselves. ravaging the kingdom of France, was driven back
But no great deal is lost yet. All that Howe4 has like men petrified with fear; and this brave
been doing for this month past is rather a rav- exploit was performed by a few broken forces
age than a conquest, which the spirit of the collected and headed by a woman, Joan of Arc.
Jerseys5 a year ago would have quickly repulsed, Would that heaven might inspire some Jersey
and which time and a little resolution will soon maid to spirit up her countrymen, and save her
recover. fair fellow sufferers from ravage and ravishment!
Yet panics, in some cases, have their uses; they
produce as much good as hurt. Their duration is
. . . he whose heart is firm, and whose always short; the mind soon grows through
them, and acquires a firmer habit than before.
conscience approves his conduct, will But their peculiar advantage is, that they are the
pursue his principles unto death. touchstones9 of sincerity and hypocrisy, and
bring things and men to light, which might oth-
erwise have lain forever undiscovered. In fact,
I have as little superstition in me as any man they have the same effect on secret traitors
living; but my secret opinion has ever been, which an imaginary apparition10 would have
and still is, that God Almighty will not give up upon a private murderer. They sift out the hid-
a people to military destruction, or leave them den thoughts of man, and hold them up in pub-
unsupportedly to perish, who have so earnestly lic to the world. Many a disguised tory has lately
and so repeatedly sought to avoid the calamities shown his head, that shall penitentially solem-
of war, by every decent method which wisdom nize11 with curses the day on which Howe
could invent. Neither have I so much of the arrived upon the Delaware.
infidel6 in me as to suppose that He has relin- . . . Quitting this class of men, I turn with the
quished the government of the world, and warm ardor of a friend to those who have nobly
given us up to the care of devils; and as I do stood, and are yet determined to stand the
not, I cannot see on what grounds the king of
Britain can look up to heaven for help against
8. An ague is a fit of shivering.
us: a common murderer, a highwayman,7 or a 9. A touchstone is anything that tests the quality or genuine-
housebreaker, has as good a pretense as he. ness of something.
10. An apparition is a ghost.
11. A colonist who supported British rule was a tory.
Penitentially solemnize means ”to celebrate formally with
4. Major General Sir William Howe was commander in
sorrow and regret.”
chief of the British forces in America during part of the
Revolutionary War. Big Idea The Road to Independence What does Paine
5. At one time New Jersey was divided into two sections, East feel is missing from the colonists’ struggle?
Jersey and West Jersey. The two parts were reunited as a
royal colony in 1702.
Reading Strategy Summarizing Briefly, what does Paine
6. Here, infidel means “someone who does not believe in God.”
7. A thief who stole from travelers on a public road was a say about the effect of panics on British sympathizers?
highwayman.
Vocabulary
Literary Element Tone Does Paine seem objective and
petrified (pet rə f ̄d) adj. paralyzed with fear; stiff or
removed here, or subjective and emotional? Explain.
like stone
exploit (eks ploit) n. notable, heroic deed; feat
Vocabulary
hypocrisy (hi pok rə sē) n. an expression of feelings or
resolution (rez´ ə l¯¯¯
oo shən) n. firmness of purpose beliefs not actually possessed or held

T HOMAS PAINE 125


Valley Forge soldier on picket duty, year unknown.
Hand-tinted lithograph.
Viewing the Art: What does this image tell you about
what the American colonists can expect in their
struggle against the British?

matter out: I call not upon a few, but


upon all: not on this State or that State,
but on every State: up and help us; lay
your shoulders to the wheel; better have
too much force than too little, when so
great an object is at stake. Let it be told
to the future world that in the depth of
winter, when nothing but hope and vir-
tue could survive, that the city and the
country, alarmed at one common danger,
came forth to meet and to repulse it. Say
not that thousands are gone—turn out
your tens of thousands; throw not the
burden of the day upon Providence, but
“show your faith by your works,”12 that
God may bless you. It matters not where
you live, or what rank of life you hold,
the evil or the blessing will reach you
all. The far and the near, the home ties
and the back, the rich and poor, will suf-
fer or rejoice alike. The heart that feels
not now is dead; the blood of his chil-
dren will curse his cowardice who
shrinks back at a time when a little might have believe, could have induced13 me to support an
saved the whole, and made them happy. I love offensive war, for I think it murder; but if a thief
the man that can smile in trouble, that can breaks into my house, burns and destroys my
gather strength from distress and grow brave by property, and kills or threatens to kill me or
reflection. It is the business of little minds to those that are in it, and to “bind me in all cases
shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose whatsoever” to his absolute will, am I to suffer14
conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his it? What signifies15 it to me, whether he who
principles unto death. My own line of reasoning does it is a king or a common man; my country-
is to myself as straight and clear as a ray of light. man or not my countryman; whether it be done
Not all the treasures of the world, so far as I by an individual villain, or an army of them? If
we reason to the root of things we shall find no
12. Here, Providence means “God.” [“show . . . your works”] This difference; neither can any just cause be assigned
phrase is a reference to the Book of James in the Bible. why we should punish in the one case and par-
don in the other. . . .
Literary Element Tone What does Paine imply about those
people who do not act? How does this contribute to his tone?

Reading Strategy 13. Induced means “persuaded.”


Summarizing Summarize the passage
14. Here, suffer means “to put up with.”
beginning “Not all the treasures of the world . . .”
15. Here, signifies means “makes important.”

126 U N IT 1 EARLY AMERICA


North Wind Picture Archive
AF
A F TE
T E R YO U R E A
ADD

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Suppose you were going to choose a sentence 6. Thomas Paine said that his goal as a writer was to
from Thomas Paine’s essay to put on a bulletin use plain language. Cite some sentences from The
board as a memorable quotation. Which sentence Crisis that you think achieve his goal and some that
would you choose? Why? do not.

Recall and Interpret 7. (a)How does Paine use religion as part of his
argument? (b)How effective is this approach in
2. Which Americans does Paine criticize in his essay?
persuading the reader?
Which does he praise?
8. (a)In what ways does Paine express the
3. (a)To whom does Paine compare the English
Enlightenment idea that government should oper-
king? (b)What emotions does Paine appeal to
ate by “the consent of the governed”? (b)Do you
when describing the king?
agree with this idea?
4. What connection do you think Paine sees between
the panics in European history Paine describes and Connect
the experience the colonists were facing?
9. Big Idea The Road to Independence Paine
5. (a)Paine suggests that this is not an “offensive” encourages his fellow citizens to defend them-
war. Why does he feel this way? (b)Why do you selves against British tyranny. (a)What kinds of
think Paine might have chosen this analogy as his qualities does Paine encourage the colonists to
final argument? have? (b)How might these qualities help to define
the new nation?

LI T E R A RY A N A LYS I S

Literary Element Tone Review: Diction


Tone is an author’s attitude toward his or her subject Diction is a writer’s choice of words, an important
matter or toward the audience, conveyed through ele- element in the writer’s voice or style.
ments such as word choice, sentence structure, and Partner Activity With a classmate, choose two or
figures of speech. A writer’s tone might convey a vari- three sentences that seem typical of Paine’s writing.
ety of attitudes such as sympathy, objectivity, or Analyze the sentences, paraphrasing them where
humor. appropriate and substituting your own words. Working
1. Find passages in Paine’s essay that seem to have with your partner, create a chart like the one below.
an objective tone. Then write a paragraph describing Paine’s diction.

2. Find examples of Paine’s use of language that are


emotional or even inflammatory. Sentence Paraphrase
3. From the overall tone in this essay, what do you
infer about Paine’s attitude toward his audience,
the targeted readers of this essay?

T HOMAS PAINE 127


R EAD I N G AN D VO CAB U L ARY W R IT I N G A N D E X T E N D I N G

Reading Strategy Summarizing Writing About Literature


To summarize is to put the main ideas of a reading in Evaluate Author’s Craft Thomas Paine wrote to
your own words and in a logical sequence. Here is a persuade his fellow colonists to fight the British. To do
useful way to think about summarizing a persuasive so, he used a number of persuasive techniques,
essay. Since most persuasion encourages people to including logical argument, emotional appeals, name-
act or think in a certain way, you can write your sum- calling, analogy, and allusions to history and the Bible.
mary in three parts: Write a brief essay in which you first state what you
understand his purpose to be and then give examples
1. What is the problem?
of his use of persuasive devices to achieve his purpose.
2. What are the reasons for it? Finally, tell how well you think he has succeeded.
Follow the writing path shown here to help you
3. What does the writer want you to do or think
organize your essay.
about it?
START
Write a very brief summary (two or three sentences)
of this excerpt from Paine’s The Crisis, No. 1. Be sure
to include answers to the three questions mentioned Introduction


State Paine’s purpose
above.

Vocabulary Practice ➧ ➧Body


Give examples of Paine’s use


of persuasive devices to achieve
Practice with Multiple-Meaning Words Use a Paragraph(s)
his purpose
dictionary to locate at least one other meaning for
each of these vocabulary words. List both the
meaning of the word as it is used by Paine and the
other meaning you have found. Conclusion

Evaluate Paine’s success

Word Paine’s Meaning Other Meaning


1. resolution F INISH
2. petrified
3. exploit After you complete a first draft, meet with a peer
reviewer to evaluate each other’s work and suggest
revisions. Then proofread and edit your draft for
errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Academic Vocabulary
Here are two vocabulary words from the vocab- Literary Criticism
ulary list on page R86.
Group Activity Thomas Paine has been described
philosophy (fə los ə fē) n. a particular system as “the sparkplug of the American Revolution.” Meet
of thought or principles for the conduct of life with a few of your classmates to discuss the mean-
ing of this metaphor. After you have discussed it,
issue (ish y¯¯¯
oo) n. a point or question to be dis-
individually write statements that begin: “Thomas
cussed or decided
Paine was the sparkplug of the American Revolution
because . . . ” Then regroup to compare notes.
Practice and Apply
1. Describe Thomas Paine’s philosophy regarding
offensive and defensive warfare.
2. In the essay, why does Paine make an issue of
Britain’s declaration to extend its rights “to bind
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
us in all cases whatsoever”? Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

128 U N IT 1 EA R LY AME R ICA


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

To His Excellency, General Washington


M E E T PH I LLIS W H E AT LE Y free use of the home
library and was supported
and encouraged in her
studies and writing. She
“We whose Names are underwritten, mastered English and Latin,
do assure the World, that the Poems read many of the ancient
Greek and Latin classics, and
. . . were (as we verily believe) studied the Bible.
written by Phillis, a young Negro Girl, Wheatley first published a poem in 1767, when she
who . . . [is] under the Disadvantage was thirteen years old. Three years later, she pub-
lished a poem honoring the famous evangelist
of serving as a Slave. . . .” Reverend George Whitefield. The poem resulted
—Phillis Wheatley in favorable publicity for the young writer.

Book Published In May of 1773, the Wheatleys


sent Phillis to London. A doctor had recommended a

I
n 1773 most readers would have doubted that an sea voyage for Phillis’s health, and the Wheatleys’ son
enslaved woman had written a book of poetry. Nathaniel was bound for London on business. There
The above statement was taken from the intro- Wheatley was able to publish her first and only vol-
duction to Phillis Wheatley’s book of poetry, Poems on ume of poetry. Many of the poems contained pleas for
Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, published when justice, as shown in these lines from her poem “To the
Wheatley was only nineteen or twenty years old. Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth”:
Signed by eighteen of “the most respectable charac- “That from a father seiz’d his babe belov’d: / Such,
ters in Boston,” including John Hancock and the such my case. And can I then but pray / Others may
royal governor, the statement was testimony to the never feel tyrannic sway?”
authenticity of the poems. Wheatley was the first
African American to publish a book of poetry. Freedom When Phillis returned from England, the
family freed her from enslavement. However, she
Wheatley was born in the Senegal/Gambia region on remained in the Wheatley household until John
the west coast of Africa around 1753. In 1761, when Wheatley died in 1778. In April of that same year,
she was just seven or eight, she was captured by slave she married John Peters, a freed African American.
traders and brought to New England on the slave Her husband’s business failed, and their two chil-
ship Phillis. John and Susanna Wheatley, wealthy dren died as infants. In 1784, alone and working as
Bostonians, purchased her to be a personal attendant a servant, she wrote her last poem. Her husband died
for Mrs. Wheatley. They gave the child the family in debtor’s prison, and on December 5, she died of
name Wheatley and the first name Phillis (the name malnutrition when she was only thirty-one. A brief
of the ship she arrived on). announcement in Boston’s Independent Chronicle
read, “Last Lord’s Day, died Mrs. Phillis Peters (for-
Early Promise Before long, the young girl was merly Phillis Wheatley), aged thirty-one, known to
often seen trying to form letters on the wall with a the world by her celebrated miscellaneous poems.”
piece of chalk or charcoal. When the Wheatley fam-
ily recognized her intelligence, they did not give her Phillis Wheatley was born around 1753 and died in 1784.
menial tasks or allow her to associate with their other
domestic slaves. Instead, Phillis was taught to read Author Search For more about
and write by Mrs. Wheatley’s daughter. She gained Phillis
AuthorWheatley,
Name, gogo
toto www.glencoe.com.
www.literature.glencoe.com.

PHILLIS WHEATLEY 129


Library of Congress
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W READI NG PREVI EW

Connecting to the Poem Reading Strategy Analyzing Structure


Have you ever sent a letter to a U.S. president or Poets often use inversion, or reversal of the usual
another leader? In her letter and poem to George word order, for emphasis or variety or to maintain a
Washington, Wheatley expresses her admiration for rhyme scheme. For example, look at this line in
him. Think about what you would write in a letter to Wheatley’s poem: “Thy ev’ry action let the goddess
the current president or another leader. guide.” In normal word order, this line would be “Let
the goddess guide thy ev’ry action.” Look for other
• What accomplishments would you thank the examples of inversion.
leader for?
• What solutions would you propose to local or Reading Tip: Understanding Inverted Sentences
national problems?
To better understand the meaning of the poem, copy
it onto a sheet of paper, changing each inversion to
Building Background a more natural word order. Then compare the rhyme,
When General George Washington traveled to rhythm, and emphasis in your modified version with
Boston in 1775 to assume leadership of the the rhyme, rhythm, and emphasis in Wheatley’s
Continental Army and to rid the city of occupying original poem.
British soldiers, Phillis Wheatley wrote to him. Her
letter and poem to the general were sent to his
headquarters in nearby Cambridge. Washington was
so impressed by Wheatley’s poem that he invited
her to visit him. The two met at his Cambridge
headquarters.

Setting Purposes for Reading


Big Idea The Road to Independence
The “Columbia” that Phillis Wheatley speaks of in her
poem is the United States of America, personified as
a goddess of liberty. Phillis Wheatley herself, however,
had not yet attained her own freedom in the United
States. Critics have ridiculed Wheatley for writing a
poem in which she glorifies our nation’s freedom yet
never speaks out against slavery. Others, however,
see Wheatley as a woman who was painfully aware
of the need to ingratiate herself with her supporters
and patrons. Think about how Wheatley’s experience
as a slave might have affected her reaction to the
American Revolution.
George Washington. Artist unknown, after Charles Wilson
Literary Element Couplet Peale. Oil on canvas. Chateau de Versailles, France.

A couplet is two consecutive, paired lines of poetry,


usually rhyming and often forming a stanza. Notice
how Wheatley uses the couplet in this poem. Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R4 go to www.glencoe.com.

OB J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • analyzing text structures
• understanding meter • relating literature to historical period

130 U N IT 1 EARLY AMERICA


Chateau de Versailles, France/ET Archive, London/SuperStock
Phillis Wheatley

Sir.
I Have taken the freedom to address your Excellency in the enclosed poem,
and entreat your acceptance, though I am not insensible of its inaccuracies.
Your being appointed by the Grand Continental Congress to be
Generalissimo of the armies of North America, together with the fame of
your virtues, excite sensations not easy to suppress. Your generosity,
therefore, I presume, will pardon the attempt. Wishing your Excellency all
possible success in the great cause you are so generously engaged in. I am,
Your Excellency’s most obedient humble servant,
Phillis Wheatley.
Providence, Oct. 26, 1775.
His Excellency Gen. Washington.
Celestial choir! enthron’d in realms of light,
Columbia’s scenes of glorious toils I write.
While freedom’s cause her anxious breast alarms,
She flashes dreadful in refulgent1 arms.
5 See mother earth her offspring’s fate bemoan,
And nations gaze at scenes before unknown!

1. Refulgent means “radiant.”

Reading Strategy Analyzing Structure How would you change the


inversion in this passage to a more natural word order?

PHILLIS WHEATLEY 131


Bettmann/CORBIS
See the bright beams of heaven’s revolving light
Involved in sorrows and the veil of night!
The goddess comes, she moves divinely fair,
10 Olive and laurel binds her golden hair:
Wherever shines this native of the skies,
Unnumber’d charms and recent graces rise.
Muse!2 bow propitious3 while my pen relates
How pour her armies through a thousand gates,
15 As when Eolus4 heaven’s fair face deforms,
Enwrapp’d in tempest and a night of storms;
Astonish’d ocean feels the wild uproar,
The refluent5 surges beat the sounding shore;
Or thick as leaves in Autumn’s golden reign,
20 Such, and so many, moves the warrior’s train.
In bright array they seek the work of war,
Where high unfurl’d the ensign6 waves in air.
Shall I to Washington their praise recite?
Enough thou know’st them in the fields of fight.
25 Thee, first in peace and honours,—we demand
The grace and glory of thy martial band.
Fam’d for thy valour, for thy virtues more,
Hear every tongue thy guardian aid implore!
One century scarce perform’d its destined round,
30 When Gallic7 powers Columbia’s fury found;
And so may you, whoever dares disgrace
The land of freedom’s heaven-defended race!
Fix’d are the eyes of nations on the scales,
For in their hopes Columbia’s arm prevails.
35 Anon8 Britannia9 droops the pensive head,
While round increase the rising hills of dead.
Ah! cruel blindness to Columbia’s state!
Lament thy thirst of boundless power too late.
Proceed, great chief, with virtue on thy side,
40 Thy ev’ry action let the goddess guide.
A crown, a mansion, and a throne that shine,
With gold unfading, WASHINGTON! be thine.

2. The poet asks for aid from a Muse. In Greek mythology, the
Muses (goddesses) preside over arts and sciences.
3. Here, propitious means “favorably.”
4. In Greek mythology, Eolus is the god of the winds.
5. Refluent means “back-flowing.”
6. The ensign here is a flag.
7. Gallic means “French.” Washington had fought the French during the
French and Indian War (1754–1763).
8. Anon means “soon.”
9. Britannia is Great Britain, personified as a goddess.

Literary Element Couplet How does this couplet work to form one
complete idea?

Big Idea The Road to Independence What does the speaker mean
by the “rising hills of dead”?

132 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. What is your impression of Phillis Wheatley from 5. (a)To whom are lines 29–38 addressed? (b)How
reading her letter and poem? does this section of the poem differ from the rest?
6. How do Wheatley’s allusions to mythology
Recall and Interpret strengthen or weaken the meaning of the poem?
Explain.
2. (a)In your own words, restate the message in
Wheatley’s letter to General Washington. (b)Based
on the letter, what can you infer about her opinion Connect
of Washington?
7. Big Idea The Road to Independence How do
3. (a)In the poem, what image of Columbia is
you think Wheatley’s experience of being enslaved
described in lines 9–12? (b)What does that image
affected her attitude toward the colonial cause of
convey about the speaker’s view of America?
freedom?
4. (a)In lines 13–22, to what things does the speaker
compare the colonial army? (b)In your opinion, why
might Wheatley have chosen to use these images?

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Couplet Reading Strategy Analyzing Structure


A couplet is two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme. Wheatley uses inversion in each of the following lines.
A heroic couplet (commonly used in epics that tell of Rewrite each without the use of inversion.
heroes) has a specific rhythm, or meter, called iambic
1. How pour her armies through a thousand gates,
pentameter. In this meter, each line consists of five
As when Eolus heaven’s fair face deforms . . .
units, or feet, and each foot consists of two syllables, an
unstressed one followed by a stressed one. 2. Shall I to Washington their praise recite?
1. Read aloud three heroic couplets from the poem. In
your opinion, does the heroic couplet form add to or Academic Vocabulary
detract from the meaning of the poem?
2. Why do you think Wheatley might have chosen to Here are two vocabulary words from the vocab-
write this poem in heroic couplets? ulary list on page R86.

dominate (dam ə nāt) v. to rule or control


Interdisciplinary Activity structure (struk shər) n. something arranged
Art: Choose one of the images from Wheatley’s poem in a definite pattern of organization
to illustrate. Then, in a drawing, painting, collage, or
computer-generated image, express your own visual Practice and Apply
interpretation of the poem. Remember to give your 1. According to the poem, what is the result of
work an appropriate title. Great Britain’s effort to dominate the colonies?
2. How does Wheatley’s sentence structure in this
poem differ from that of ordinary prose?

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

PHILLIS WHEATLEY 133


B EF O R E YO U R E A
ADD

Letter to John Adams and


Letter to Her Daughter
M E E T A BIG A I L A DA MS

I
n her day, Abigail Adams was known to the world
as the loyal wife of John Adams, second president
of the United States. Today she is just as famous
for her brilliant mind. Adams participated in the
events of some of the most tumultuous years of the
nation, writing about them with sparkling wit.

A Happy Childhood The daughter of an accom-


plished Massachusetts minister, Adams grew up sur-
rounded by people who valued strong principles and
enjoyed defending them. Adams was passionate for
knowledge and pursued her education in secret. She from the dearest connection in life, I would not
gained a wide knowledge of literature, but lamented exchange my country for the wealth of the Indies, or
what she felt was her ignorance. In letters to her hus- be any other than an American.”
band, she argued that women deserved education and
the right to own property. Later Years After the war, John Adams was selected
as the first U.S. ambassador to England, later became
the first vice president of the United States, and suc-
ceeded George Washington as president from 1797 to
“I desire you would remember the 1801. After John Adams lost the presidency, he and
Abigail retired to Quincy. Their eldest son, John
ladies, and be more generous and Quincy, went on to become the sixth president of the
favorable to them than your ancestors.” United States in 1825.

—Abigail Adams, Letter to John Adams Letters That Endure Abigail Adams’s letters
vibrate with personality. She could be unapologeti-
cally opinionated, seeking to enlarge her husband’s
sense of morality: “You know my mind upon this sub-
Wife and Mother Adams met John Adams, a ject,” she wrote him regarding slavery. “I wish most
Harvard-trained lawyer, when she was fifteen. In 1764 sincerely there was not a slave in the province. It
the two married and went to live on John’s farm at always appeared a most iniquitous scheme to me—
Braintree (later Quincy), Massachusetts. John Adams fight ourselves for what we are daily robbing and
soon rose to prominence as a believer in American plundering from those who have as good a right to
independence, requiring him to spend years in freedom as we have.” Her most famous observations
Philadelphia at the Continental Congress. Abigail, relate to women, who she felt needed expanded legal
deeply supportive of the cause, stayed in Braintree to rights and education. “If we mean to have heroes,
raise their five children. Outwardly cheerful, she felt, statesmen, and philosophers, we should have learned
but rarely expressed, deep pain at being separated women,” she said.
from her husband. After some months spent without
a word from him, she finally wrote: “I pray my guard- Abigail Adams was born in 1744 and died in 1818.
ian generous to waft me the happy tidings of your
safety and welfare . . . Difficult as the day is, cruel as Author Search For more about
this war has been, separated as I am on account of it Abigail Adams, go to www.glencoe.com.

134 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Getty Images
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Letters Reading Strategy Recognizing Author’s


When you need to communicate with someone far Purpose
away, you may use a telephone or e-mail. Imagine The author’s purpose is the author’s intent in writing
how much letters meant to people living before the a work. Authors usually write to persuade, to inform, to
days of instant communication. As you read, think explain, to entertain, or to describe. As you read, con-
about how writing letters can help a person deal with sider what Adams describes and what opinions she
separation from a loved one. expresses. What does her inclusion of these details tell
you about her purpose for writing?
Building Background
The Continental Congress met in 1774 in Philadelphia. Reading Tip: Double-Entry Journal Use a double-
With the onset of war in 1775, the Congress became entry journal to help you discover Adams’s purpose.
the provisional government for the American side.
While John Adams labored at the Congress, war raged
in Massachusetts. Troops occupied Boston for nearly a Questions to ask Answers
year, forcing Bostonians to house them. The British What does
retreated just a few days before Abigail wrote her Adams’s word
March 31, 1776, letter to her husband.
choice suggest
Twenty-four years later, President John Adams and First about her attitude
Lady Abigail Adams moved into the still-unfinished toward her
President’s House in the District of Columbia, the new readers?
nation’s capital. (The building was not officially known as
the White House until 1902.) Adams’s November 21,
1800, letter to her daughter describes her life there.

Setting Purposes for Reading Vocabulary

Big Idea The Road to Independence deprive (di pr¯ v ) v. to take away from; to keep
from enjoying or having; p. 136 Students should
As you read these letters, consider what Adams reveals
not deprive themselves of education.
about life during the Revolutionary War and the first years
of this country. Also consider how the letters reflect ideals tyrant (t¯ rənt) n. a ruler who exercises power
of the time, such as self-reliance and human rights. or authority in an unjust manner; one who has
absolute power; p. 137 Many colonists felt that
Literary Element Description King George was a tyrant.
Description is the use of details that appeal to the five extricate (eks trə kāt´) v. to set free from; to
senses to give the reader a vivid impression of a person, remove; p. 138 We need a plan to extricate our-
place, or thing. Good descriptive writing contributes to the selves from this dire situation.
overall purpose of a piece and avoids irrelevant details.
accommodate (ə kom ə dāt´) v. to provide room
As you read, notice details that give you a sense of being
or facilities for; p. 138 The hotel will accommo-
in colonial Boston and Washington, D.C.
date fifty people.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R4. recourse (rē kors´) n. resorting to a person or
thing for help; p. 139 Without a car, her only
recourse was to phone her mother for a ride.
Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • responding to description
• relating literature to a historical period • recognizing author’s purpose

ABIGAIL ADAMS 135


Abigail Adams

Birthplaces of John Adams and John Quincy Adams, 1849. G. N. Frankenstein.


Watercolor. Courtesy of the Adams National Historic Site, National Park Service.

Braintree, March 31, 1776 I have sometimes been ready to think that the
passion for liberty cannot be equally strong in
I wish you would ever write me a letter half as
the breasts of those who have been accustomed
long as I write you; and tell me if you may where
to deprive their fellow creatures of theirs. Of this
your fleet are gone? What sort of defense Virginia
I am certain: that it is not founded upon the
can make against our common enemy? Whether it
generous and Christian principle of doing to oth-
is so situated as to make an able defense? Are not
ers as we would that others should do unto us.
the gentry1 lords and the common people vassals?2
Do not you want to see Boston; I am fearful of
Are they not like the uncivilized natives Britain
the small pox, or I should have been in before
represents us to be? I hope their rifle men,3 who
this time. I got Mr. Crane to go to our house and
have shown themselves very savage and even
see what state it was in. I find it has been occu-
bloodthirsty, are not a specimen of the generality
pied by one of the doctors of a regiment, very
of the people.
dirty, but no other damage has been done to it.
I am willing to allow the colony great merrit
The few things which were left in it are all gone.
for having produced a Washington, but they
Crane has the key, which he never delivered up.
have been shamefully duped by a Dunmore.4

1. Gentry means the “upper,” or “ruling,” class.


Big Idea The Road to Independence How does
2. Here, a vassal is someone in a subordinate or inferior position.
3. Rifle men refers to British soldiers and Loyalists fighting pro- Adams’s criticism reflect her belief in human rights?
independence forces.
4. The Earl of Dunmore was Virginia’s last royal governor. He Vocabulary
promised freedom to slaves who would fight against the deprive (di pr̄v) v. to take away from; to keep from
Continental Congress and for England’s king, thus angering enjoying or having
American patriots.

136 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
National Park Service, Adams National Historical Park
I have wrote to him for it and am determined to a temporary peace, and the poor fugitives are
get it cleaned as soon as possible and shut it up. I returning to their deserted habitations.
look upon it a new acquisition of property, a Though we felicitate ourselves, we sympathize
property which one month ago I did not value at with those who are trembling lest the lot of
a single shilling, and could with pleasure have Boston should be theirs. But they cannot be in
seen it in flames. similar circumstances unless pusillanimity9 and
The town in general is left in a better state cowardice should take possession of them. They
than we expected, more owing to a precipitate5 have time and warning given them to see the
flight than any regard to the inhabitants, though evil and shun it.—I long to hear that you have
some individuals discovered a sense of honor and declared an independency—and by the way, in
justice and have left the rent of the houses in the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be
which they were for the owners and the furniture necessary for you to make, I desire you would
unhurt, or if damaged sufficient to make it good. remember the ladies, and be more generous and
Others have committed abominable ravages. favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not
The mansion house of your president6 is safe and put such unlimited power into the hands of the
the furniture unhurt, whilst both the house and the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants
furniture of the Solicitor General have fallen a prey if they could. If particular care and attention is
to their own merciless party. Surely the very fiends not paid to the ladies, we are determined to
feel a reverential awe for virtue and patriotism, foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves
whilst they detest the parricide7 and traitor. bound by any laws in which we have no voice,
I feel very differently at the approach of spring or representation.
to which I did a month ago. We knew not then That your sex are naturally tyrannical is truth
whether we could plant or sow with safety, so thoroughly established as to admit no dis-
whether when we had toiled we could reap the pute, but such of you as wish to be happy will-
fruits of our own industry, whether we could rest ingly give up the harsh title of master for the
in our own cottages, or whether we should not more tender and endearing one of friend. Why,
be driven from the sea coasts to seek shelter in then, not put it out of the power of the vicious
the wilderness, but now we feel as if we might sit and the lawless to use us with cruelty and indig-
under our own vine and eat the good of the land. nity with impunity. Men of sense in all ages
I feel a gaieté de coeur8 to which before I abhor those customs which treat us only as the
was a stranger. I think the sun looks brighter, vassals of your sex. Regard us then as beings
the birds sing more melodiously, and nature placed by providence under your protection,
puts on a more cheerful countenance. We feel and in imitation of the Supreme Being, make
use of that power only for our happiness.
5. Precipitate means “sudden” or “hasty.”
6. John Hancock was the president of the Continental Abigail 
Congress. When the British occupied Boston, General
William Howe took Hancock’s house as his headquarters.
7. Here, parricide means “a person who commits the crime of
treason.” 9. Pusillanimity (pū´sə lə nimə tē) means “cowardliness” or
8. Gaieté de coeur (ā ə tā də koer) is a French idiom “faintheartedness.”
meaning “lightheartedness” or “playfulness.”
Big Idea The Road to Independence How does this
Reading Strategy Recognizing Author’s Purpose Why comment reflect Adams’s support for the Revolution?
might Adams have included this information?
Vocabulary
Literary Element Description How do these details tyrant (t̄rənt) n. a ruler who exercises power or author-
express the emotional pitch of Adams’s situation? ity in an unjust manner; one who has absolute power

ABIGAIL ADAMS 137


Abigail Adams

Washington, 21 November, 1800.


My Dear Child,
I arrived here on Sunday last, and without meet-
ing with any accident worth noticing, except
losing ourselves when we left Baltimore, and
going eight or nine miles on the Frederick road,
by which means we were obliged to go the other
eight through woods, where we wandered two
hours without finding a guide, or the path.
Fortunately, a straggling black came up with us,
and we engaged him as a guide, to extricate us
out of our difficulty; but woods are all you see,
from Baltimore until you reach the city, which is
only so in name. Here and there is a small cot,1
without a glass window, interspersed amongst the
forests, through which you travel miles without Building the First White House, N. C. Wyeth. Location unknown.
seeing any human being.
In the city there are buildings enough, if they
comfort. To assist us in this great castle, and render
were compact and finished, to accommodate
less attendance necessary, bells are wholly wanting,
Congress and those attached to it; but as they are,
not one single one being hung through the whole
and scattered as they are, I see no great comfort for
house, and promises are all you can obtain. This is
them. The river, which runs up to Alexandria, is in
so great an inconvenience, that I know not what to
full view of my window, and I see the vessels as
do, or how to do. The ladies from Georgetown and
they pass and repass. The house is upon a grand
in the city have many of them visited me. Yester-
and superb scale, requiring about thirty servants to
day I returned fifteen visits,—but such a place as
attend and keep the apartments in proper order,
Georgetown appears,—why, our Milton is beautiful.
and perform the ordinary business of the house and
But no comparisons;—if they will put me up some
stables; an establishment very well proportioned to
bells, and let me have wood enough to keep fires, I
the President’s salary. The lighting of the apart-
design to be pleased. I could content myself almost
ments, from the kitchen to parlors and chambers, is
anywhere three months; but, surrounded with for-
a tax indeed; and the fires we are obliged to keep to
ests, can you believe that wood is not to be had,
secure us from daily agues is another very cheering
because people cannot be found to cut and cart
it! Briesler entered into a contract with a man
1. A cot is a small house. to supply him with wood. A small part, a few
Vocabulary
extricate (eks trə k āt´) v. to set free from; to remove Literary Element Description What does this detail tell
accommodate (ə komə dāt´) v. to provide room or you about the District of Columbia at the turn of the eigh-
facilities for teenth century?

138 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
N.C. Wyeth/Smithsonian Institution
Abigail Adams Hanging Laundry in the East Wing of the Unfinished White House.
Gordon Phillips. Oil on canvas. Collection of the White House Historical Association.
Viewing the Art: What does this painting tell you about Abigail’s character?

cords2 only, has he been able to get. Most of that is designed for the drawing-room, and has the crim-
was expended to dry the walls of the house before son furniture in it. It is a very handsome room now;
we came in, and yesterday the man told him it was but, when completed, it will be beautiful. If the
impossible for him to procure it to be cut and twelve years, in which this place has been consid-
carted. He has had recourse to coals; but we can- ered as the future seat of government, had been
not get grates made and set. We have, indeed, improved, as they would have been if in New
come into a new country. England, very many of the present inconveniences
You must keep all this to yourself, and, when would have been removed. It is a beautiful spot,
asked how I like it, say that I write you the situa- capable of every improvement, and, the more I
tion is beautiful, which is true. The house is made view it, the more I am delighted with it.
habitable, but there is not a single apartment fin- Since I sat down to write, I have been called
ished, and all withinside, except the plastering, has down to a servant from Mount Vernon4, with a
been done since Briesler came. We have not the billet5 from Major Custis, and a haunch of veni-
least fence, yard, or other convenience, without, son, and a kind, congratulatory letter from
and the great unfinished audience-room I make a Mrs. Lewis, upon my arrival in the city, with
drying-room of, to hang up the clothes in. The Mrs. Washington’s love, inviting me to Mount
principal stairs are not up, and will not be this win- Vernon, where, health permitting, I will go,
ter. Six chambers are made comfortable; two are before I leave this place. . . .
occupied by the President and Mr. Shaw; two lower Thomas comes in and says a House6 is made;
rooms, one for a common parlor, and one for a so to-morrow, though Saturday, the President
levee-room.3 Upstairs there is the oval room, which will meet them. Adieu, my dear. Give my love to
your brother, and tell him he is ever present
2. A cord is a quantity of wood equal to 128 cubic feet. upon my mind.
3. A levee-room is a room for holding formal receptions. Affectionately your mother,
Reading Strategy Recognizing Author’s Purpose Why A. Adams 
might Adams have made this request?
4. Mount Vernon, located near Washington, D.C., was the home
Vocabulary of George Washington and his wife, Martha.
5. Here, billet means “a short letter.”
recourse (rēko rs´) n. resorting to a person or thing
6. Enough members of the House of Representatives had
for help
arrived for a session of Congress to take place.

ABIGAIL ADAMS 139


White House Historical Association
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Would you like to have known Abigail Adams? Why 5. Adams expresses herself openly in her letter to
or why not? her husband. What does this tell you about their
relationship?
Recall and Interpret
6. Adams says that “all men would be tyrants if they
2. (a)From reading the first letter, what details did you
could.” (a)What do you think she means by this?
learn about the British occupation of Boston, the
(b)Are you convinced by her arguments?
role of Dunmore, and “those who are trembling
lest the lot of Boston should be theirs”? (b)What 7. (a)How can you tell that Adams is well informed
are Abigail Adams’s attitudes toward the conflict about current events? (b)Do Adams’s opinions
and the various people mentioned? Explain. seem fair to you? Explain.

3. (a)What does Adams urge her husband to consider 8. What character traits could you attribute to Abigail
as he creates a new code of laws? (b)What reasons Adams based solely on her letter to her daughter?
does she give for urging this consideration?
Connect
4. (a)In her letter to her daughter, what domestic
problems does Adams discuss? (b)Why do you 9. Big Idea The Road to Independence What do
think she instructs her daughter not to reveal her these letters tell you about life before and after the
feelings about these problems? American Revolution?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Description Reading Strategy Recognizing Author’s


Good descriptive writing gives the reader a picture of Purpose
a person, place, or thing. You can get a sharper idea of Abigail Adams’s purposes
1. Did Adams’s descriptions bring war-torn Boston to for writing by considering the context in which she wrote.
life for you? Explain why or why not. If so, be sure Think of what you know about John Adams’s responsibil-
to include specific examples of details that ities as well as the issues faced by colonists.
appealed to your senses. 1. After considering the context, what would you say is
2. Which descriptions in the second letter were most one purpose of Adams’s letter to her husband?
surprising or memorable to you? Explain. 2. What was the purpose of the second letter? How
well do you think it achieves its purpose?
Writing About Literature
Apply Form and Theme Imagine you’re correspond- Vocabulary Practice
ing with someone who is about to move to your area. Practice with Analogies Choose the word pair
Write this person a letter giving an accurate description that best completes each analogy below.
of the area, including the pros and cons of living there.
Adding details that appeal to the senses will help you 1. tyrant : abuse ::
create a vivid description. a. manager : mislead c. benefactor : aid
b. expert : speculate d. mentor : learn
2. accommodate : house
a. wound : bandage c. build : village
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to b. crawl : stroller d. transport : car
www.glencoe.com.

140 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Grammar Workshop
Mechanics

Using Commas with Nonessential Elements º Nonessential Elements

A nonessential element in a sentence is one that could be omitted without To determine whether a
changing the basic meaning of the sentence. Such elements should be set off by word, a phrase, or a clause
one comma if the element appears at the beginning or the end of the sentence is essential, try reading the
and by two commas if the element appears within the sentence. Examples of sentence without it. Here’s
nonessential elements are underlined in the sentences below. another tip: when you
read the sentence aloud,
Participle: He walked along, singing. you may notice that you
drop your voice slightly
Infinitive: To begin, he prepared himself for opposition. when reading nonessential
clauses and phrases.

Participial phrase: Abigail, disapproving of John’s short letters, gently º Test-Taking Tip
scolded him. When looking over a test
essay, check to see that no
Infinitive phrase: To be fair, John Adams was unusually busy in commas are missing. The
Philadelphia. meaning of a sentence
may seem clear to you,
Adjective clause: Abigail, who had been denied the advantages of but missing commas may
a formal education, was a great reader and tire- make it unclear to a
less correspondent. reader.

º Language Handbook
Appositive: Abigail, a wise woman, often advised her husband. For more on Missing
Commas with
Interjection: Alas, one of John and Abigail’s children died young. Nonessential Elements,
see Language Handbook,
Parenthetical expression: Mrs. Adams was, essentially, able to adjust to any p. R55.
circumstance.

eWorkbooks To link to
Exercise the Grammar and Language
eWorkbook, go to
Revise for Clarity Rewrite the sentences, adding commas where needed. www.glencoe.com.

1. People who lived in the 1800s if alive today would I feel certain be
astonished at the traffic between Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
2. To be sure Abigail’s letter to her daughter is full of details that express OB J ECTI V ES
her difficulties. • Learn about nonessential
3. The First Lady faced with the lack of wood was somewhat perturbed. elements.

4. The audience-room which was unfinished and empty was where clothes
• Learn how to identify
phrases that require a
were dried. comma.

5. An invitation from Mount Vernon Martha Washington’s home would


have been welcomed.
6. Heavens what a primitive place Washington seemed to be in 1800!

141
H I STO R I C A L P E R SP ECT IVE on John Adams
Informational Text

David McCullough
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize
Building Background
Letters between John and Abigail Adams reveal their
personal thoughts and feelings, providing insights into
their lives, the Revolutionary War, and the career of the
O f the courtship Adams had said not a
word in his diary. Indeed, for the entire year of
second president of the United States. The following 1764 there were no diary entries, a sure sign of
selection, from historian David McCullough’s biography how preoccupied he was.
John Adams, frequently refers to the correspondence At their first meeting, in the summer of 1759,
of the Adamses. Abigail had been a shy, frail fifteen-year-old.
Often ill during childhood and still subject to
Set a Purpose for Reading recurring headaches and insomnia, she appeared
Read to discover biographical information about Abigail more delicate and vulnerable than her sisters. By
and John Adams. the time of her wedding, she was not quite
twenty, little more than five feet tall, with dark
Reading Strategy
brown hair, brown eyes, and a fine, pale com-
Analyzing a Biographical Narrative plexion. For a rather stiff pastel portrait, one of a
Analyzing a biographical narrative involves looking pair that she and John sat for in Salem a few
closely at parts of a selection to determine what they years after their marriage, she posed with just a
reveal about a person’s life and character. As you read, hint of a smile, three strands of pearls at the
take notes about what the selection reveals about neck, her hair pulled back with a blue ribbon.
Abigail and John. Use word webs like the one below But where the flat, oval face in her husband’s
to help you. portrait conveyed nothing of his bristling intel-
ligence and appetite for life, in hers there was a
nicknamed Diana strong, unmistakable look of good sense and
character. He could have been almost any well-
Abigail’s life and
fed, untested young man with dark, arched brows
character and a grey wig, while she was distinctly attrac-
tive, readily identifiable, her intent dark eyes
clearly focused on the world.

142 U N IT 1 EA RLY AMERICA


(l r)National Park Service, Adams National Historical Park
Informational Text
One wonders how a more gifted artist might and again in correspondence, often making
have rendered Abigail. Long years afterward, small, inconsequential mistakes, an indication
Gilbert Stuart,1 while working on her portrait, that rather than looking passages up, she was
would exclaim to a friend that he wished to God quoting from memory.
he could have painted Mrs. Adams when she was Intelligence and wit shined in her. She was
young; she would have made “a perfect Venus,”2 consistently cheerful. She, too, loved to talk
to which her husband, on hearing the story, quite as much as her suitor, and as time would
expressed emphatic agreement. tell, she was no less strong-minded.
Year after year through the long courtship, Considered too frail for school, she had been
John trotted his horse up and over Penn’s Hill3 taught at home by her mother and had access to
by the coast road five miles to Weymouth4 at the library of several hundred books accumu-
every chance and in all seasons. She was his lated by her father. A graduate of Harvard, the
Diana, after the Roman goddess of the moon. He Reverend Smith8 was adoring of all his children,
was her Lysander, the Spartan hero. In the pri- who, in addition to the three daughters, included
vacy of correspondence, he would address her as one son, William. They must never speak
“Ever Dear Diana” or “Miss Adorable.” She unkindly of anyone, Abigail remembered her
nearly always began her letters then, as later, father saying repeatedly. They must say only
“My Dearest Friend.” She saw what latent abili- “handsome things,” and make topics rather than
ties and strengths were in her ardent suitor and persons their subjects—sensible policy for a par-
was deeply in love. Where others might see a son’s family. But Abigail had views on nearly
stout, bluff 5 little man, she saw a giant of great everything and persons no less than topics. Nor
heart, and so it was ever to be. was she ever to be particularly hesitant about
Only once before their marriage, when the expressing what she thought.
diary was still active, did Adams dare mention Open in their affections for one another, she
her in its pages, and then almost in code: and John were also open in their criticisms.
“Candor is my characteristic,” he told her, as
Di was a constant feast. Tender, feeling, though she might not have noticed. He thought
sensible, friendly. A friend. Not an she could improve her singing voice. He faulted
imprudent, not an indelicate, not a her for her “parrot-toed” way of walking and for
disagreeable word of action. Prudent, soft, sitting cross-legged. She told him he was too
sensible, obliging, active. severe in his judgments of people and that to
others often appeared haughty.9 Besides, she
chided10 him, “a gentleman has no business to
She, too, was an avid reader and attributed
concern himself about the legs of a lady.”
her “taste for letters” to Richard Cranch,6 who,
During the terrible smallpox epidemic of 1764,
she later wrote, “taught me to love the poets
when Boston became “one great hospital,” he
and put into my hands, Milton, Pope, and
went to the city to be inoculated, an often har-
Thompson,7 and Shakespeare.” She could quote
rowing, potentially fatal ordeal extending over
poetry more readily than could John Adams, and
many days. Though he sailed through with little
over a lifetime would quote her favorites again
discomfort, she worried excessively, and they cor-
responded nearly every day, Adams reminding
1. Born in Rhode Island, Gilbert Stuart (1755–1828) was the her to be sure to have his letters “smoked,” on
most highly regarded American portrait painter of his time.
2. Venus was the Roman goddess of love and beauty,
the chance they carried contamination.
associated with the Greek goddess Aphrodite. The rambling, old-fashioned parsonage at
3. Penn’s Hill is a hill near Boston. Weymouth and its furnishings were a step
4. Weymouth, a town in eastern Massachusetts, was Abigail removed from the plain farmer’s cottage of John’s
Adams’s birthplace.
5. Here, bluff means “outspoken and frank.”
6. Richard Cranch was Abigail Adams’s brother-in-law.
7. John Milton (1608–1674), Alexander Pope (1688–1744), 8. The Reverend William Smith was Abigail’s father.
and James Thomson (1700–1748)—whose name Abigail 9. Haughty means “disdainfully proud.”
misspells—were all prominent British poets. 10. Chided means “scolded constructively.”

DAV ID M C C ULLOUGH 143


Informational Text
boyhood or the house Abigail would move to what appreciation he already had of her ben-
once they were married. Also, two black slaves eficial, steadying influence.
were part of the Smith household. Bride and groom moved to Braintree the
According to traditional family accounts, the evening of the wedding. There was a servant to
match was strongly opposed by Abigail’s mother. wait on them—the same Judah who had been
She was a Quincy, the daughter of old John the cause of the family row years before—who
Quincy, whose big hilltop homestead, known as was temporarily on loan from John’s mother.13
Mount Wollaston, was a Braintree11 landmark. But as the days and weeks passed, Abigail did
Abigail, it was thought, would be marrying her own cooking by the open hearth, and while
beneath her. But the determination of both John busied himself with his law books and the
Abigail and John, in combination with their farm, she spun and wove clothes for their
obvious attraction to each other—like steel to a everyday use.
magnet, John said—were more than enough to Her more sheltered, bookish upbringing not-
carry the day. withstanding, she was to prove every bit as hard-
A month before the wedding, during a spell of working as he and no less conscientious about
several weeks when they were unable to see one whatever she undertook. She was and would
another because of illness, Adams wrote to her: remain a thoroughgoing New England woman
who rose at five in the morning and was seldom
Oh, my dear girl, I thank heaven that idle. She did everything that needed doing. All
another fortnight12 will restore you to me— her life she would do her own sewing, baking,
after so long a separation. My soul and body feed her own ducks and chickens, churn her own
have both been thrown into disorder by butter (both because that was what was expected
your absence, and a month or two more and because she knew her butter to be superior).
would make me the most insufferable cynic And for all her reading, her remarkable knowl-
in the world. I see nothing but faults, fol- edge of English poetry and literature, she was
lies, frailties and defects in anybody lately. never to lose certain countrified Yankee patterns
People have lost all their good properties or of speech, saying “Canady” for Canada, as an
I my justice or discernment. example, using “set” for sit, or the old New
But you, who have always softened and England “aya,” for yes.
warmed my heart, shall restore my benevo- To John’s great satisfaction, Abigail also got
lence as well as my health and tranquility of along splendidly with his very unbookish mother.
mind. You shall polish and refine my senti- For a year or more, until Susanna Adams was
ments of life and manners, banish all the remarried to an older Braintree man named John
unsocial and ill natured particles in my Hall, she continued to live with her son Peter in
composition, and form me to that happy the family homestead next door, and the two
temper that can reconcile a quick discern- women grew extremely fond of one another. To
ment with a perfect candor. Abigail her mother-in-law was a cheerful, open-
Believe me, now and ever your faithful minded person of “exemplary benevolence,” ded-
Lysander icated heart and soul to the welfare of her family,
which was more than her eldest son ever com-
His marriage to Abigail Smith was the most mitted to paper, even if he concurred.
important decision of John Adams’s life, as John and Abigail’s own first child followed not
would become apparent with time. She was in quite nine months after their marriage, a baby
all respects his equal, and the part she was to girl, Abigail or “Nabby,” who arrived July 14,
play would be greater than he could possibly 1765, and was, her mother recorded, “the dear
have imagined, for all his love for her and image of her still dearer Papa.”

11. Braintree, a town in eastern Massachusetts, was John 13. Judah was a homeless woman who, being unable to care
Adams’s birthplace. for herself, had been brought to the Adamses’ household by
12. A fortnight is two weeks. Braintree officials. Her arrival had caused a family argument.

144 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Informational Text
A second baby, John Quincy, was born two her and the “little ones,” became increasingly
years later, in 1767, also in mid-July, and Adams difficult. “God preserve you and all our family,”
began worrying about college for Johnny, fine he would write.
clothes for Nabby, dancing schools, “and all But in 1765, the same year little Abigail was
that.” To Abigail, after nearly three years of born and Adams found himself chosen surveyor
marriage, her John was still “the tenderest of of highways in Braintree, he was swept by events
husbands,” his affections “unabated.”14 into sudden public prominence. His marriage
For Adams, life had been made infinitely and family life were barely under way when he
fuller. All the ties he felt to the old farm were began the rise to the fame he had so long
stronger now with Abigail in partnership. She desired. “I never shall shine ’til some animating
was the ballast15 he had wanted, the vital center occasion calls forth all my powers,” he had writ-
of a new and better life. The time he spent away ten, and here now was the moment.
from home, riding the court circuit, apart from “I am . . . under all obligations of interest and
ambition, as well as honor, gratitude and duty, to
exert the utmost of abilities in this important
14. Unabated means “at full strength.” cause,” he wrote, and with characteristic honesty
15. Here, ballast means “something that provides stability.” he had not left ambition out.

RESP ON DI NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond 5. McCullough writes that “life had become infinitely
fuller” for John Adams after his marriage and the
1. In what ways do you think that the relationship
birth of his children. Do you think that Adams con-
between John and Abigail Adams is like relation-
sidered his marriage more fulfilling than his career?
ships between married people today? How is it
Why or why not?
different?

Recall and Interpret Connect


6. Abigail’s letters are notable partly because of their
2. (a)What nicknames taken from the classical world
plea for protections for women’s rights in the new
did John and Abigail give each other? (b)How do
American government. How does her reasoning
these names reveal the perceptions each had of
resemble the views of other writers involved in the
the other?
struggle for American independence?
3. At the beginning of this excerpt, what inferences
7. Do you think that the marriage of John and Abigail
does McCullough draw about John’s and Abigail’s
Adams represents a good model for a modern
characters from their portrait? How do these infer-
marriage? Why or why not?
ences contribute to his portrayal of the couple?

Analyze and Evaluate


4. (a)Why does McCullough call Adams’s marriage to O B J EC T IV ES
Abigail the “most important decision of John • Analyze biographical narrative.

Adams’s life”? (b)Do you agree with his assess- • Evaluate biographical information.
• Construct graphic organizers.
ment? Explain.

DAVID M C CULLOU GH 145


Writing Workshop
Persuasive Speech

The Writing Process


➥ Supporting Your Opinion
In this workshop, you will “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the
follow the stages of the price of chains and slavery?”
writing process. At any
stage, you may think of —Patrick Henry, from “Speech to the Second Virginia Convention”
new ideas to include and
better ways to express
them. Feel free to return to
earlier stages as you write. Connecting to Literature Patrick Henry’s direct and passionate “Speech to
the Second Virginia Convention” is an example of persuasive writing. To write
Prewriting a successful persuasive speech, focus on the goals of persuasive writing and the
Drafting strategies for achieving those goals. (For a review of persuasive strategies, see
“The Rhetoric of Revolution” on pages 104–105.) The list below highlights the
Revising core features of effective persuasive writing.

➥ Focus Lesson: Supporting


Reasons with Evidence
Rubric: Features of Persuasive Writing

Editing and Proofreading Goals Strategies

➥ Focus Lesson: Parallelism To present a clearly stated opinion ✓ Choose an issue that has opposing
viewpoints
Presenting
✓ State your opinion in a single sentence
in the introduction

To present a logically organized ✓ Give reasons for your opinion


argument ✓ Use relevant evidence to support your
reasons
Writing Models For models ✓ Analyze evidence to show how it
and other writing activities, go to supports your reasons
www.glencoe.com.
✓ Use transitions between ideas

To anticipate and address audience ✓ Identify your audience


concerns and counterarguments ✓ Put yourself in the shoes of someone
who disagrees with your opinion
OB J ECTIVES
•Write a persuasive speech as
To convince an audience that a ✓ Use appeals to logic, ethics, and emotion
an instrument for change in
your community or the world. particular point of view is correct ✓ Employ rhetorical devices to strengthen
• Include a clearly stated your argument
opinion supported by relevant
evidence.
✓ Maintain a respectful tone

14 6 UNIT 1 EA R LY AME R ICA


Persuasion

º Assignment Real-World Connection


Write a persuasive speech about a situation in your school or community Much writing is persua-
that you wish to change. As you move through the stages of the writing sive. Think about all the
process, keep your audience and purpose in mind. texts you encounter in a
day. Do those texts seek
Audience: your school or community to change your thoughts
or actions? Letters to
Purpose: to persuade others to improve a situation in the school or the Congress, editorials,
community advertisements, and
movie trailers all use
persuasive techniques.
As you work on your
Analyzing a Professional Model persuasive speech, use
relevant evidence and
In her persuasive speech, Becky Cain, the president of the League of Women the techniques you see
Voters, urges members of the House of Representatives to abolish the Electoral every day to encourage
College. As you read the following passage, notice how Cain clearly presents others to consider your
the debate and her position, supports her position with strong evidence, and position.
urges her audience to act. Pay close attention to the comments in the margin.
They point out features that you may want to include in your own persuasive
speech.

From “Proposals for Electoral College Reform” by Becky


Cain, President, League of Women Voters
Introduction
I am pleased to be here today to express the League’s support for a con- Identify and explain the
stitutional amendment to abolish the electoral college and establish the problem or the situation
you are addressing, and
direct election of the President and Vice President of the United States by propose a solution. Clarify
popular vote of the American people. your position in your the-
sis statement at the end
The electoral college system is fundamentally unfair to voters. In a
of the introduction.
nation where voting rights are grounded in the one-person, one-vote prin-
Reasons
ciple, the electoral college is a hopeless anachronism. Support your thesis
The current system is unfair for two reasons. statement with reasons.
Reasons focus your argu-
First, a citizen’s individual vote has more weight if he or she lives in
ments around central
a state with a small population than if that citizen lives in a state with a ideas. Appeal to your
large population. audience’s logic, ethics,
and emotions.
For example, each electoral vote in Alaska is equivalent to approxi-
Supporting Evidence/
mately 112,000 people. Each electoral vote in New York is equivalent to Statistics
approximately 404,000 eligible people (based on 1990 census data). And Support your reasons
that’s if everyone votes! with strong evidence,
including examples and
statistics.

WRITING WO RKSHOP 147


The system is also unfair because a citizen’s individual vote has more
weight if the percentage of voter participation in the state is low. For exam-
ple, if only half of all people in Alaska vote, then each electoral vote is
equivalent to roughly 56,000 people.
Moreover, the electoral vote does not reflect the volume of voter partici-
pation within a state. If only a few voters go to the polls, all the electoral
Supporting Evidence/Facts
votes of the state are still cast.
Support your reasons
with facts to appeal to
Finally, the electoral college system is flawed because the Constitution
your audience’s sense does not bind presidential electors to vote for the candidates to whom they
of logic.
have been pledged. For example, in 1948, 1960, and 1976, individual elec-
tors pledged to the top two vote getters cast their votes for third-place finish-
ers and also-rans. Defecting electors in a close race could cause a crisis of
Appeals to Emotion
confidence in our electoral system.
Create an emotionally
appealing viewpoint by
For all these reasons, the League believes that the presidential election
inviting your audience to method should incorporate the one-person, one-vote principle. The President
identify and empathize
should be directly elected by the people he or she will represent, just as
with the negative conse-
quences of inaction. the other federally elected officials are in this country. Direct election is
the most representative system. It is the only system that guarantees the
President will have received the most popular votes. It also encourages voter
participation by giving voters a direct and equal role in the election of the
President. . . .
The time has come to take the next step to ensure a broad-based, repre-
sentative democracy. Fairness argues for it. Retaining the fragile faith of
American voters in our representative system demands it. We urge the House
and the Senate to pass a constitutional amendment abolishing the electoral
college system and establishing the direct popular election of our President
Conclusion
and Vice President.
End your argument
with a call to action.
Persuade your audience
to agree or take sides
with your position.
Reading-Writing Connection Think about the writing techniques that you
have just encountered and try them out in the persuasive speech you write.

148 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Persuasion

Prewriting
Address Counterarguments
Choose an Issue Think of a situation you would like to change. Have you
noticed a rule or policy that is ineffective or unfair? Enacting change requires you Be sure your persua-
to persuade others that a situation can and should be improved, and that your sive speech considers
solution is the right one. both sides of an issue.
Anticipate and respond
º The purpose of a persuasive speech is to inform and influence. briefly to objections to
your position. Use a
º Determine your audience. Your audience should include people who have pro-and-con scale to help
the power to improve the situation you describe. As you write, think about you to separate the rea-
the background your audience will need in order to understand the issue and sons for your argument
which tone and types of evidence will help persuade them. (pros) from one or two
counterarguments (cons).
Clarify Your Position What is your opinion about the issue? In one or two
sentences, clearly state the issue and your opinion about it. This is your thesis.
PROS CONS

Support Your Position To persuade your audience that your position is valid,
you need to provide reasons and support them with relevant evidence. You should
make appeals to logic, ethics, and emotions. Defend your reasons with precise
and accurate evidence, such as facts, expert opinions, statistics, and examples.

Outline Your Argument Before drafting your persuasive speech, create an out-
line to organize your reasons and evidence. Your introduction should describe the
issue and propose your opinion. (For more information on types of proposals, see
“Delivering a Persuasive Speech” on page 154.) In each body paragraph, include Test Prep
a reason and relevant evidence. In your conclusion, summarize your position and
end with a call to action. Many tests include persua-
sive essays. As with a per-
suasive speech, clarify your
position (thesis) and before
Introduction • Reason: The electoral college system is flawed writing briefly organize your
• Thesis because the Constitution does not bind
reasons in an outline. For
presidential electors to vote for the can-
timed tests, spend only a

didates to whom they have been pledged.


few minutes prewriting and
Body Paragraph(s)
• Evidence: For example, in 1948, 1960, and 1976, the majority of your time
• Reasons
individual electors pledged to the top writing.
• Evidence
two vote getters cast their votes for
• Analysis
third-place finishers and also-rans.

• Analysis: Defecting electors in a close race


Conclusion could cause a crisis of confidence in
• Call to Action our electoral system.

Discuss Your Ideas Once you finish outlining your persuasive speech, share
your ideas with a partner. To develop your writing voice and to become more
comfortable speaking in front of an audience, read your thesis and reasons. Make
sure that each part is clear and that your tone is engaging and respectful.

WRIT ING WO RKSHOP 149


Drafting
Don’t Get Stuck Writers often modify their original thesis after developing the
rest of their argument. Keep in mind that it may be easier to start with a very
general thesis, to draft your body paragraphs, and to go back to clarify your thesis
afterward. Whichever order you choose, you will be able to revise your thesis
later to make your position clear.

Analyzing a Workshop Model


Here is a final draft of a persuasive speech. Read the speech and answer the ques-
tions in the margin. Use the answers to these questions to guide you as you write
your own speech.

Haunted House or Historical Attraction?


Hauntingly beautiful, perhaps—but not a haunted house!
Some neighbors claim that they hear strange sounds at night from the old
Dillard mansion at the end of Briar Street. Others complain that with the
Introduction
sprawling weeds, teetering fence, and peeling paint, the house might just as
Will the opening grab
the audience’s atten-
well be haunted. Now the Briar Street Neighborhood Association is pressur-
tion? Why or why not? ing the city government to bulldoze the old house.
Background The Dillard mansion has been empty since 1971, and no doubt the neglect
How does citing this has made it quite an eyesore. Still, the house remains one of the town’s old-
information help the
est standing structures, and a decision to tear it down should not be made
audience?
without considering other options. Instead of destroying an important part of
Issue/Thesis Statement
Dillard history, we should attempt to renovate and restore it. The renovated
What is the issue, or
problem, according to mansion would serve as an ideal site for a town museum.
the writer? What is the
Many of our citizens recognize that Dillard needs a town museum. In fact,
writer’s solution to the
problem? the Dillard Historical Society has been talking about building a museum for
Supporting Evidence/ some time now. As historian and Society member Adam Frasier explains,
Expert Opinion
“With no central location, Dillard’s historic objects risk being damaged or
How might this evi-
dence help persuade a
lost. There is no systematic organization in place. The longer we postpone
reluctant audience? the decision, the worse it will get.” In July 2004, the Dillard Post noted that
an estimated 65 percent of archived material is currently in storage, unavail-
able to the public or even most researchers. Why not solve this need for a
Rhetorical Question
public museum by restoring the Dillard mansion?
How does this rhetorical
question contribute to
Some critics may argue that the cost of restoring the old house would out-
the writer’s argument? weigh the benefits. The town would need to replace the existing plumbing

150 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Persuasion

and electricity to bring it up to safety codes. A complete restora-


Counterarguments
tion would require expensive specialists and hours of costly research.
How might including a
However, the cost of building a new museum from the ground up would counterargument help per-
probably be more expensive overall. The town would need not only to suade the audience? What
is the effect of addressing
purchase all new materials, fixtures, and labor, but also to pay for an
the counterargument?
architect and for land to build on. Moreover, a newer building could not
Appeals to Logic
achieve the look and atmosphere of an authentically historic space.
What logical evidence
Records at Dillard City Hall indicate that the town’s founder, Evan does the writer provide?
Dillard, built the house in 1798. Not only is the house more than How does this evidence
invite the audience to
200 years old, it includes a number of architectural features that can-
come to the same conclu-
not be found anywhere else in the city. A hidden staircase leads to a sions as the writer?
secret room, and rare amethyst-glass windows and unexpected gables
decorate the roof. Such a unique museum would appeal to both
experts and amateurs, and it would probably draw tourists from all Reasons and Supporting
Evidence
over the state.
Why might the writer have
Let’s preserve the cultural heritage, deep history, and unique archi- chosen to give support-
tecture of our town. Let’s turn the Dillard eyesore into a historical ing evidence before the
proposed action?
attraction. Renovating—not bulldozing—the Dillard mansion is the
Parallelism
first step.
How is this an example of
parallelism? What is the
effect of using this rhetorical
device in the conclusion?

Conclusion
How does the writer
appeal to the audience
and persuade the group
to act?

WRIT ING WO RKSHOP 151


Revising
Use the rubric below to evaluate your writing.

Traits of Strong Writing Rubric: Writing an Effective Persuasive Speech


Ideas message or theme
and the details that
✓ Does your issue have opposing viewpoints?
develop it ✓ Do you choose one side of the debate and clarify your position?
Organization arrange- ✓ Do you present your reasons and supporting evidence in a logical order?
ment of main ideas and ✓ Do you use rhetorical devices to strengthen your argument?
supporting details
✓ Do you use appeals to logic, ethics, and emotion?
Voice writer’s unique way
of using tone and style
✓ Do you present and respond to counterarguments in a respectful tone?
Word Choice vocabulary
✓ Do you persuade your audience to act?
a writer uses to convey
meaning º Focus Lesson
Sentence Fluency rhythm
Supporting Reasons with Evidence
and flow of sentences
A well-supported reason will demonstrate that you are informed about your
Conventions correct subject and that your argument is logical and valid. Make sure to support
spelling, grammar, usage, your reasons with convincing evidence from reliable sources. Here is a
and mechanics sentence from the Workshop Model followed by three kinds of supporting
evidence—example, expert opinion, statistic—that you may want to use in
Presentation the way
your persuasive speech.
words and design ele-
ments look on a page
Draft:
For more information
on using the Traits of
Strong Writing, see Many of our citizens recognize that Dillard needs a town museum.
pages R33–R34 of the
Writing Handbook.

Revision:

Many of our citizens recognize that Dillard needs a town museum. In fact,
the Dillard Historical Society has been talking about building a museum for
some time now.1 As historian and Society member Adam Frasier explains,
“With no central location, Dillard’s historic objects risk being damaged or
lost. There is no systematic organization in place. The longer we postpone
the decision, the worse it will get.”2 In July 2004, the Dillard Post noted that
an estimated 65 percent of archived material is currently in storage,
unavailable to the public or even most researchers.3
1: Example 2: Expert Opinion 3: Statistic

152 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Persuasion

Editing and Proofreading


Get It Right When you have completed the final draft of your speech, proof-
read for errors in grammar, usage, mechanics, and spelling. Refer to the Language
Handbook, pages R45–R59, as a guide.

º Focus Lesson

Parallelism Rhetorical Devices


Parallelism is the use of a series of words, phrases, or sentences that have Here are some other
similar grammatical form. It is a rhetorical device, or a technique writers use rhetorical devices you
to give their arguments more impact and to effectively express and emphasize may want to use in your
ideas. To write a parallel sentence, balance each item in a series by using the speech. To be most effec-
same grammatical construction. For example, a noun should be matched with tive, vary your use of
a noun, an adjective with an adjective, and a phrase with a phrase. these devices.

Repetition
Repeat a word, phrase,
Original: In this sentence, similar ideas are not connected or emphasized.
or clause for emphasis.
Let ’s preserve the cultural heritage and the deep history of our town, as “I came, I saw, I con-
well as its architecture, which is unique. quered.”
—Julius Caesar
Improved: Create parallel phrases to reflect the parallel meaning. Rhetorical Question

Let ’s preserve the cultural heritage, deep history, and unique These questions are not
architecture of our town. meant to be answered,
but are asked to empha-
size the obvious.
Original: In this sentence, the series does not use parallel grammatical forms.
“If you wrong us, shall
Others complain that with the weeds, teetering fence, and the paint we not revenge?”
that is cracked and peeling, the house might just as well be haunted. —William Shakespeare

Metaphor
Improved: Edit the sentence so that all items are parallel in form.
Metaphors compare two
Others complain that with the sprawling weeds, teetering fence, and seemingly unlike things.
peeling paint, the house might just as well be haunted. “No man is an island.”
—John Donne

Presenting
Writer’s Portfolio
Preparing Your Persuasive Speech Once you have finished writing, revis- Place a copy of your
ing, and editing your persuasive speech, you should think about how you’ll persuasive speech
present it to your audience. Many speakers read from note cards instead of from in your portfolio to
the paper itself. If you would rather read from your paper, you may wish to review later.
increase the type size and spacing, or add notes in the margins. Your teacher
may ask for a clean copy of your speech to grade, so be sure to check the pre-
sentation guidelines.

WRIT ING WO RKSHOP 153


Speaking, Listening,
and Viewing Workshop
Delivering a Persuasive Speech

Connecting to Literature In 1799, George Washington needed help.


Supporters of state independence were resisting the federal union. Fearing that
“the tranquility of the Union [was] hastening to an awful crisis,” Washington
turned to Patrick Henry, who came out of retirement to speak passionately for
the inviolability of the Union. Henry’s last speech turned sullen opponents into
cheering supporters.

Assignment

Deliver a persuasive speech to an audience.

Planning Your Presentation


You have written your speech about a topic you care about, which is good, since
it’s easier to be persuasive when expressing real conviction. You have researched
your topic and considered your audience as you wrote. Now it is time to work on
communicating your points directly to the audience.

• Review your speech for clarity and logic. Find out how much time you will be
allotted to speak. If necessary, shorten your speech while preserving your main
points and key evidence.
• Thoroughly familiarize yourself with your speech and research. This will
increase your confidence, help you speak fluently, and enable you to speak
spontaneously should the need arise.
• Think again about your audience—who they are, what they know about your
topic, and what their opinions might be. This will help you anticipate their
reactions and prepare for the questions they may ask.
• Consider what tone would be appropriate for the occasion.

—remembe
rt
your voice o modulate the tone of
—make eye
c
members ontact with audience

154 UNIT 1 EA R LY A M E R I C A
Creating Your Visual Media
Visual media or aids heighten the interest of a presentation and also help make
evidence easier to grasp. As you review your speech, think about how media such
as diagrams, photographs, or charts might support your points. Use the chart Use a Mirror
below to brainstorm ideas for visuals with a partner. Practice your gestures in front
of a mirror until your body
language looks natural.
Important Points Ideas for Visual Aids What Visual Aid Will
The town garbage Photograph of landfill Demonstrate
landfills are filling up at The urgency of acting Sound Check
a record rate. to prevent landfills from Record your presentation and
overflowing. play it back to check on
whether your voice expresses
the right mood and your
words are understandable.
Rehearsing
Rehearse your speech both in private and in front of friends and family. Videotape
Rehearsal helps you identify any grammar or spelling flaws that you may have Videotape your performance
missed—you don’t want to stumble over them when it comes time to speak. and provide your own critique.
Rehearsal will also help you present visual aids skillfully. Finally, rehearsal will
help you refine your delivery until it is smooth and effective.

Ask your listeners for feedback on your pronunciation, pacing, and volume. If
you will be fielding questions from your audience, ask your listeners for practice
questions. Keep your answers focused and to the point. As you practice, you will
grow more comfortable speaking.

Use some of the verbal and nonverbal techniques below.

Rubric: Techniques for Delivering a Presentation

Verbal Techniques Nonverbal Techniques


✓ Volume Speak loudly enough ✓ Posture Stand up tall with your
so that everyone can hear you. head straight.

✓ Pronunciation Speak clearly, ✓ Eye Contact Make eye contact


pronouncing all the words. with people throughout your
audience.
O B J ECT
ECTIV ES
✓ Pace Speak at a moderate ✓ Facial Expressions Vary your • Deliver a persuasive presen-
tation that develops a logical
speed but vary the rate and use facial expressions to reflect what
argument.
pauses. you are saying.
• Provide feedback on a pre-
sentation.
✓ Tone Speak in an animated ✓ Gestures Use natural gestures to • Use visual media to support
voice. reinforce your ideas. an oral presentation.

✓ Emphasis Stress important ✓ Visual Aids Use photographs or


words and ideas. other visuals to enhance your
presentation.

SPEAKING, LISTENING, AND VIEWING WO RKSHOP 155


Test Preparation and Practice
English Language Arts

Reading: Nonfiction
Carefully read the following passage. Use context clues to determine the meaning of words that
you are unfamiliar with. Pay close attention to the author’s main idea and use of rhetorical
devices. Then answer the questions on pages 157–158.

from The Whistle by Benjamin Franklin


line
When I was a child of seven years old, my friends, on a holiday, filled my pocket with coppers. I
went directly to a shop where they sold toys for children; and being charmed with the sound of a
whistle, that I met by the way in the hands of another boy, I voluntarily offered and gave all my
money for one. I then came home, and went whistling all over the house, much pleased with my
5 whistle, but disturbing all the family. My brothers, and sisters, and cousins, understanding the bargain I
had made, told me I had given four times as much for it as it was worth; put me in mind what good
things I might have bought with the rest of the money; and laughed at me so much for my folly, that I
cried with vexation; and the reflection gave me more chagrin than the whistle gave me pleasure.
This, however, was afterwards of use to me, the impression continuing on my mind; so that
10 often, when I was tempted to buy some unnecessary thing, I said to myself, Don’t give too much for
the whistle; and I saved my money.
As I grew up, came into the world, and observed the actions of men, I thought I met with many,
very many, who gave too much for the whistle.
When I saw one too ambitious of court favor, sacrificing his time in attendance on levees, his
15 repose, his liberty, his virtue, and perhaps his friends, to attain it, I have said to myself, This man gives
too much for his whistle.
When I saw another fond of popularity, constantly employing himself in political bustles, neglecting
his own affairs, and ruining them by that neglect, He pays, indeed, said I, too much for his whistle.
If I knew a miser, who gave up every kind of comfortable living, all the pleasure of doing good to
20 others, all the esteem of his fellow-citizens, and the joys of benevolent friendship, for the sake of
accumulating wealth, Poor man, said I, you pay too much for your whistle.
When I met with a man of pleasure, sacrificing every laudable improvement of the mind, or of his
fortune, to mere corporeal sensations, and ruining his health in their pursuit, Mistaken man, said I,
you are providing pain for yourself, instead of pleasure; you give too much for your whistle.

156 UNIT 1 E A R LY A M E R I C A
(continued)

25 If I see one fond of appearance, or fine clothes, fine houses, fine furniture, fine equipages, all
above his fortune, for which he contracts debts, and ends his career in a prison, Alas! say I, he has
paid dear, very dear, for his whistle.
When I see a beautiful sweet-tempered girl married to an ill-natured brute of a husband, What a
pity, say I, that she should pay so much for a whistle!
30 In short, I conceive that great part of the miseries of mankind are brought upon them by the
false estimates they have made of the value of things, and by their giving too much for their whistles.

1. From whom did Franklin get the whistle? 5. The word whistle, in line 11, is an example of
A. a shop which rhetorical device?
B. friends on a holiday A. connotative language
C. another boy B. hyperbole
D. a peddler C. parallelism
D. figurative language
2. Which rhetorical device is most evident in the
sentence beginning on line 5? 6. According to Franklin, what will happen if people
A. hyperbole neglect their affairs?
B. rhetorical question A. Their affairs will suffer.
C. connotative language B. They will succeed in politics.
D. parallelism C. They will become popular.
D. They will give up comfortable living.
3. From the context, what does the word folly in
line 7 mean? 7. In line 18, which literary device does Franklin use
A. a great deal in the phrase said I?
B. an agreement A. allusion
C. a mistake B. aphorism
D. good sense C. inversion
D. meter
4. From the context, what does the word reflection in
line 8 mean? 8. In the paragraph beginning on line 19, which is
A. likeness an example of connotative language?
B. mirror image A. pleasure
C. possibility B. miser
D. thought C. wealth
D. friendship

T E S T P R E PA R AT I O N AN D P RA CT IC E 157
9. From the context, what does the word fine in 13. On the basis of this passage, what is the overall
line 25 mean? tone of this piece?
A. penalty A. aphoristic
B. satisfactory B. ironic
C. elegant C. angry
D. thin D. formal

10. Where does Franklin say one “fond of 14. Which of the following best describes the
appearance” will end his career? author’s purpose?
A. with a fine house A. to explain
B. without benevolent friendship B. to persuade
C. in ruined health C. to entertain
D. in prison D. to describe

11. From where does Franklin say most of the 15. What is the main idea of this passage?
“miseries of mankind” come? A. Never spend money on things you cannot
A. false estimates of value afford.
B. the high value of things B. Avoid wasting time.
C. ill-natured brutes C. Always be aware of the true cost of your
D. contracted debts desires.
D. Always listen to advice from concerned
12. Starting with the second paragraph, which family members.
literary or rhetorical device does Franklin
employ at the end of each paragraph?
A. allusion
B. hyperbole
C. connotative language
D. repetition

158 UNIT 1 E A R LY A M E R I C A
Vocabulary Skills: Sentence Completion
For each item in the Vocabulary Skills section, choose the word or words that best complete
the sentence.

1. In the end, England’s attempts to the 6. The Native Americans viewed the Pilgrims with
colonists’ demand for representation were a great deal of , especially after so many
unsuccessful. began to arrive.
A. abate A. apprehension
B. rouse B. compassion
C. convene C. subjugation
D. lament D. providence

2. The in Boston Harbor frightened soldiers 7. The Native American oral tradition is populated
and woke many people. with powerful , animals, and ancestral
A. commodity spirits.
B. ration A. vaults
C. clamor B. mortifications
D. scruple C. scruples
D. conjurers
3. There were no reactions to Patrick Henry’s
powerful speech to the Second Virginia Convention, 8. According to Olaudah Equiano, the Africans,
which greatly the delegates. who were shown no during the Middle
A. petrified . . . alighted Passage, were by their captors’ use of
B. obliging . . . deprived violence.
C. feigned . . . roused A. mischief . . . appeased
D. ingenious . . . gratified B. hypocrisy . . . daunted
C. tyranny . . . spurned
4. Jonathan Edwards believed that his sermons could D. compassion . . . petrified
help repair the in people’s souls.
A. desolation 9. Thomas Jefferson hoped to protect America’s
B. prudence from tyranny when he drafted the
C. vault Declaration of Independence.
D. conjurer A. resolutions
B. infidels
5. Persecution in England motivated the Pilgrims to C. rations
on a very voyage across the D. posterity
Atlantic Ocean.
A. temper . . . abominable 10. During his lifetime, Benjamin Franklin created
B. embark . . . arduous many things.
C. revive . . . copious A. copious
D. abhor . . . insidious B. petrified
C. ingenious
D. insidious

TES T P REPARAT ION AND PRA C TIC E 159


Grammar and Writing Skills: Paragraph Improvement
In the following excerpt from a student draft of an essay, you will find underlined passages. The
number beneath each underlined passage corresponds to a numbered question below. Each
question will prompt you to replace an underlined passage. If you think the original should not
be changed, choose “NO CHANGE.”
For reference, each paragraph has a number above it. In paragraph 1, the sentences are
also numbered.

[1] [4]
[1] Of all of those who signed this What is truly incredible, though, is that so
document, though, Benjamin Franklin was certainly many of his inventions and concepts are still useful
the most important. [2] There are many important today. For example, Franklin was responsible for
Americans whose names appear on the Declaration bifocal glasses, the lightning rod, the Franklin stove
6
of Independence. [3] No other figure from this the first North American volunteer fire department,
6
period is as interesting or as consistently relevant as and the first North American public library.
6
Franklin continues to be. [5]
[2] While the other founders were important
Unlike many of the other founders Franklin figures who played prominent roles in the shaping of
2
was from a modest background and was largely self- this country, none was as exciting, were as diverse
2 7
educated. He did not have the kinds of advantages in talents, or had as much foresight as Benjamin
7
that Jefferson, and Washington took for granted. Franklin.
3
[3]
Franklin’s background is startling when
one considers his accomplishments. No other
founder can claim the same number of achievements
in so many different fields of study. Franklin was a
4
great scientist, writer, politician, philosopher, and
4
diplomat. Amazingly, his formal education ended
when he was only ten years old.

1. Which of the following sequences of sentences will 2. Which of the following is the best way to improve
make paragraph 1 most logical? passage 2?
A. NO CHANGE A. NO CHANGE
B. 3, 1, 2 B. Unlike many of the other founders, Franklin
C. 2, 1, 3 was from a modest background
D. 3, 2, 1 C. Unlike other founders Franklin was from a
modest background
D. Many of the other founders came from modest
backgrounds
160 UNIT 1 E A R LY A M E R I C A
3. Which of the following is the best revision of 7. Which of the following is the best way to
passage 3? improve passage 7?
A. NO CHANGE A. NO CHANGE
B. Washington, and Jefferson B. was as diverse in talents, or had as
C. Jefferson and Washington much foresight
D. Jefferson, Washington C. is as diverse in talents, or had as much
foresight
4. Which of the following is the best way to write D. that could be as diverse in talents, or
passage 4? have as much insight
A. NO CHANGE
B. Franklin was a great scientist, writer, 8. What could have been added to the last
politician and philosopher, diplomat. paragraph to make it stronger?
C. Franklin was a great scientist and diplomat. A. a summary of the key points
D. Franklin was a scientist and writer and a B. the introduction of new information
politician, and philosopher, and diplomat C. the introduction of opposing viewpoints
D. a visual aid
5. Which of the following sentences, if inserted at
the beginning of paragraph 4, would provide the Questions 9 and 10 ask about the essay as
most effective transition? a whole.
A. Benjamin Franklin was a good inventor.
9. The writer intends to add a paragraph
B. Franklin’s inventions and scientific findings
concerning Franklin’s contribution to the
were groundbreaking in the 1700s.
Revolutionary War. The most logical place
C. There were many things that Franklin knew,
to insert this paragraph is:
even without a strong formal education.
A. before the third paragraph
D. In the long run, Franklin’s formal education
B. after the last paragraph
wasn’t that important.
C. before the second paragraph
6. Which of the following is the best revision of D. after the fourth paragraph
passage 6?
10. What information could have been added
A. NO CHANGE
to this essay to make it more convincing?
B. the Franklin stove the first North American
A. rebuttals of specific arguments against
volunteer fire department and the first public
the author’s position
library in North America.
B. further examples of Franklin’s
C. the Franklin stove and the first volunteer fire
inventions
department and public library.
C. a thorough description of everyday life
D. the Franklin stove, the first North American
in America during the 1700s
volunteer fire department, and the first North
D. an account of Franklin’s time in Paris
American public library.

Essay
Benjamin Franklin wrote that “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little
temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Do you agree with this statement? Write
a short persuasive essay in which you argue for or against Franklin’s claim. As you write, keep in
mind that your essay will be checked for ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence
fluency, conventions, and presentation.

Unit Assessment To prepare for


the unit test, go to www.glencoe.com.

TE S T P RE PA RATIO N A N D P RACTICE 161


Independence (Squire Jack Porter), 1858. Frank Blackwell Mayer. Oil on paperboard.
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC.

162
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC/Art Resource, NY
AMERICAN
U N IT T WO

–----–––––-–––
ROMANTICISM
1800 1860
Looking Ahead
Powerful forces marked the period that produced the first great American
literature. The arrival of the European cultural movement known as
Romanticism strongly influenced many American writers of this time.
These writers also responded to social forces, including an outburst of
reform movements, the spread of industry, and the increasing sectional
strife that would soon bring the Civil War.

Keep the following questions in mind as you read:


How do you think the big ideas that shaped this period continue
to affect American culture today?
Which of the writers of this period reflect the positive side of
Romanticism? Which reflect its dark side?
In what ways does the Romantic period seem better than the
contemporary American period? In what ways does it seem worse?

O B J EC TI V ES
While studying American Romanticism, you will focus on the following:

• analyzing recognized works of American literature


• tracing the development of American literature
• contrasting major periods, themes, styles, and trends in American literature
• evaluating the philosophical, political, religious, ethical, and social influences on the literature of this period
• interpreting graphic information

16 3
TIMELINE
1800 1860
Godey's Lady's Book ▼

–----–---–-–––
AM E R I CAN L I T E R AT U R E

1800 1810 1820 1830


1800 1819 1828 1831
Library of Congress founded The Sketch Book by Noah Webster’s Ralph Waldo Emerson
Washington Irving first dictionary of resigns from the ministry
1805
(which includes tales such as American English ▼
Red Jacket, a Seneca 1836
“Rip Van Winkle”)
chief, gives a speech Transcendental Club
defending Native founded
American beliefs
1837
Sarah Josepha Hale is made
editor of Godey's Lady's
Chief Red Jacket

Book; it becomes one of


the most influential
literary magazines of
the century

U N I T E D STAT ES EV E NTS

1800 1810 1820 1830


1803 1812–1815 1820 1831
United States buys United States and Great Missouri Compromise Cyrus H. McCormick
Louisiana Territory from Britain fight War of 1812 preserves balance of slave invents the mechanical
France, more than doubling and free states reaper
1814
the country’s size
Francis Scott Key 1825 1833
1807 writes “The Star-Spangled Erie Canal opens, The American Anti-Slavery
Robert Fulton builds Banner” linking Atlantic Ocean Society is founded in
the Clermont, the first and Great Lakes Philadelphia; by 1838 there
1815
successful steamboat are 250,000 members
Victory over British at New 1828
Orleans makes Andrew Andrew Jackson 1838
Jackson a national hero elected president Cherokees are driven west
WO R L D EVE NTS along the Trail of Tears

1800 1810 1820 1830


1804 1810 1821 1837
Napoleon crowned emperor Miguel Hidalgo begins Mexico declares Victoria crowned queen of
of France revolution in Mexico independence from Spain Great Britain ▼
1805 1813 1825
Reign of Muhammad Ali Simón Bolívar seizes World’s first railway line
begins in Egypt Venezuela from Spain opens in England
1815 1829
Napoleon defeated at the Greece wins independence
Battle of Waterloo from Turkey

The Mosque of Timeline Visit


Muhammad Ali www.glencoe.com for an interactive timeline.

16 4 U N IT 2 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM
(t) British Museum, London, UK/Bridgeman Art Library, (cl) MPI/Getty Images, (cr) Bettmann/CORBIS (bl) Carmen Redondo/CORBIS, (br) Museum of London, UK/Bridgeman Art Library
Masthead from the


North Star newspaper

1840 1850
1840 1845 1850 1854
Tales of the Grotesque Henry David Thoreau goes The Scarlet Letter by Walden by Henry
and Arabesque by Edgar to live at Walden Pond Nathaniel Hawthorne David Thoreau
Allan Poe
1845 1851 1855
1841 Woman in the Nineteenth Moby-Dick by The Song of Hiawatha
Social reformers establish Century, an early work of Herman Melville by Henry Wadsworth
Brook Farm, an experiment feminism, by Margaret Fuller Longfellow
1852
in communal living
1847 Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet 1855
1841 Frederick Douglass begins Beecher Stowe Leaves of Grass by
Essays by Ralph publishing the North Star, an Walt Whitman
Waldo Emerson abolitionist newspaper
1845
The Raven and Other Poems
by Edgar Allan Poe

1840 1850
1844 1846–1848 1850 1859
Samuel Morse Mexican-American War Fugitive Slave Act, Antislavery activist
demonstrates the first fought; Mexico cedes forcing return of escaped John Brown is hanged
telegraph by sending a territory in Southwest to slaves to their owners, for raiding federal arsenal at
message from Washington, United States inflames sectional conflict Harpers Ferry, Virginia
D.C., to Baltimore
1848 1857
American gold coin ▼ First women’s rights In Dred Scott case,
convention held in Supreme Court rules that
Seneca Falls, New York slaves and former slaves
are not U.S. citizens
1849
California gold rush begins

1840 1850
1845 1850 ▲
Potato famine begins in Taiping Rebellion begins 1859
Ireland, leading to mass in China Charles Darwin publishes
immigration to America his theory of evolution
1855
1848 Coronation of Czar Alexander II,
Revolutions sweep Europe; who later frees the Russian serfs
Karl Marx and Friedrich
Engels publish the
Communist Manifesto
Reading Check
Analyzing Graphic Information What relationship can
you see between the events in U.S. history in 1815 and
Irish famine victims 1828 as they are related to the career of Andrew Jackson?

INTRODUCTION 16 5
(t) Library of Congress, (cl) Heritage Coins, (cr) Archivo Iconografico, S.A./CORBIS, (b) George Frederick Watts/Trustees of the Watts Gallery, Compton, Surrey, UK/Bridgeman Art Library
BY THE NUMBERS
–----––-–––––––––––––––––
URBAN AND RURAL POPULATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1810–1870

30
Rural Population
Millions of People

25
Urban Population
20
15
10
5
0
1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870
Source Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970

Purchasing Power
In 1851, a male textile worker earned BIG CITIES OF 1830 RAILROAD
$6.50 a week, a shoemaker or printer
City Population • In 1833, there were 380 miles
between $4 and $6 a week, and an of rails in the United States.
unskilled laborer about $1 a week. New York 200,000
Baltimore 80,000 By 1860, there were more
Only a small group of skilled workers, than 30,000 miles of rails in
such as blacksmiths, machinists, and Philadelphia 80,000
Boston 60,000 the United States.
carpenters, were able to make at
least $10.38 per week. This is the
amount that reformer Horace Greeley
IMMIGRATION FACTORIES
calculated as the weekly income that
a family of five needed to make ends • Between 1821 and 1840, In 1840, U.S. factories and mills
meet (see list below). 751,000 immigrants entered produced goods valued at less
the United States. than $500 million. In 1850, they
produced goods valued at more
• Between 1841 and 1860, than $1 billion.
Weekly Needs more than four million immi-
.63 grants came to the United
Flour
.32 States (most from Great VOTER PARTICIPATION,
Sugar
.63 Britain, Ireland, and Germany). 1824–1840
Butter
Milk .14
$1.40
Percentage of Eligible Voters Who Voted

Butcher’s meat EDUCATION 80 80.2%

Potatoes .50
70
Tea and coffee .25 • In 1850, 64.9 percent of
Candles and oil .14 white children and 31.3
60
57.6% 57.8%
Fuel .40 percent of African American 50 55.4%

Sundries .40 children attended school. 40


Household articles .25
Bedding .20 • In 1860, more than half 30
26.9%
Rent $3.00 of the country’s 321 20

Wearing apparel $2.00 high schools were in


1824 1828 1832 1836 1840
Newspapers .12 Massachusetts, New York, Presidential Election Years
and Ohio.
TOTAL $10.38 Source Historical Statistics of the United States:
Colonial Times to 1970

166 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


BEING THERE
–----––-––––––––––––
The major American writers of the period 1800–1860 lived
in the northeastern United States, roughly the area from
Maryland to New England. These images provide a glimpse
of this area.

A Boston as the Eagle and the Wild


Goose See It, 1860, James Wallace
Black. Photograph. This photo of
Boston is the first aerial photograph
����� B Market Street, Baltimore, 1850. Unknown
artist. Colored lithograph. Enoch Pratt
taken in the United States. Free Library, Baltimore MD. Painting of
downtown Baltimore.
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���� ��������

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������������

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� ���

������������ �������������
����
������������ ������

���������
�������� ��������
C Brook Farm, 1844. Josiah Wolcott. Oil on
panel. Massachusetts Historical Society,
Boston MA. Painting of a Transcendentalist
community outside Boston.

Maps in Motion Visit


www.glencoe.com for an interactive map.

Reading Check 2. How many more U.S. citizens lived in rural areas
than in urban areas in 1850?
Analyzing Graphic Information
1. In which presidential election year during this 3. What large cities are located in the area shown
period did voter participation increase the most on the map? Judging by the images, how were
from the previous one? the cities of the period like and unlike big U.S.
cities today?
�������
INT ROD UCTION 167
(tl) Boston Public Library, (tr) The New York Public Library / Art Resource, NY, (b) Josiah Wolcott / Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, MA, USA / Bridgeman Art Library
AMERICAN –-------––-–––
ROMANTICISM 1800 1860
Historical, Social, and Cultural Forces
The Industrial Revolution new factories were built. Francis C. Lowell, for
example, opened a series of mills in northeastern
In the mid-1700s, a huge economic change known
Massachusetts beginning in 1814. His Boston
as the Industrial Revolution began in Britain.
Manufacturing Company employed thousands of
Manufacturing shifted from skilled workers using
women and children, who worked for lower wages than
hand tools to unskilled laborers tending large, complex
men and in often dangerous conditions. An expanding
machines. Factories, some housing hundreds of
network of roads and canals united different sections
machines and workers, replaced home-based work-
of the country. Two new inventions—the steamboat
shops. Manufacturers sold their goods nationwide or
and the railroad—revolutionized transportation.
abroad instead of just locally.
The Industrial Revolution soon spread to the United
States, where it caused tremendous economic growth
Sectional Strife
and transformed American society. Hundreds of The Industrial Revolution brought economic growth
to the United States, but it was also one of several
factors that were dividing Americans into two
nations, the North and the South. The northern
states had large cities and an economy based on
manufacturing. The southern states had few large
cities, and their farming economy was dominated by
a single crop—cotton. Much of this cotton was
grown on large plantations worked by slaves. The
more fiercely northern reformers agitated to end
slavery, the more stubbornly southerners defended
the “peculiar institution” they saw as necessary to
their way of life. In time, these divisions would bring
the Civil War.

The Age of Reform


In the 1820s, idealistic Americans began an eager rush
to improve American society, producing an outburst of
reform movements. Many of these reformers were
inspired by the Second Great Awakening, a major reli-
gious movement that reached its peak in the 1820s
In the 1840s, railroads reduced the travel time from New York
and 1830s. During the Age of Reform, Americans
to Boston from a week (by stagecoach) to less than 12 hours. banded together in dozens of organizations to end slav-
ery, stop drunkenness, secure women’s rights, provide
better care for the mentally ill, and improve prisons.

168 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


© Minnesota Historical Society/CORBIS
Roots of Romanticism
Optimism and Individualism The spread of factories and new inventions such as
the railroad were changing the natural world.
Toward the end of the 1700s, bold new ideas began
to transform European civilization. In time, many of
these ideas would become part of Romanticism, a
movement in art and thought that dominated Europe “A man should learn to detect and watch
and the United States throughout much of the
1800s. Although Romanticism was not an organized that gleam of light which flashes across
cultural movement, Romantic writers did share two his mind from within.”
important attitudes. They valued imagination and
feeling over intellect and reason. Some celebrated — Ralph Waldo Emerson
individualism and freedom; they believed in the
basic goodness and equality of human beings and in
their right to govern themselves. Others took a more
pessimistic view of human life. Overall, Romanticism
The Power of Darkness
reflected a division between a “bright” and a “dark” There was also a dark side to Romanticism that
vision of the world. included a fascination with disease, madness, death,
evil, the supernatural, and the destructive aspects of
nature. Many Romantics were drawn to the nonra-
Kinship with Nature tional side of human nature, such as the emotions,
Another attitude that the Romantics shared was a imagination, intuition—even evil and insanity. They
belief in the importance of nature. In the 1700s, were also fascinated by remote periods of history and
many European thinkers had believed that nature was exotic places. All these interests came together in
merely a wilderness to be tamed. In opposition to this the type of writing known as Gothic literature. In liter-
view, the Romantics celebrated the beauty, power, ature the word Gothic applies to works with a brooding
and wonder of the natural world. They also stressed atmosphere that emphasize the unknown and inspire
the value of nature as a spiritual and moral guide for fear. Gothic novels typically feature wild and remote
humanity. The Romantics’ reverence for nature also settings, such as haunted castles or wind-blasted moors,
caused them to fear the destructive effects of industry. and their plots involve violent or mysterious events.

PREVIEW Big Ideas of American Romanticism

Optimism and Kinship with The Power of


1 Individualism 2 Nature 3 Darkness

Optimism is the belief that Many American Romantics There was a dark underside
the world around us is believed in the beneficial to American Romanticism.
always improving. Some effects of a close link It took a variety of forms,
American Romantics pre- between humanity and including a fascination with
sented an optimistic view of nature. This belief coexisted disease, madness, death, evil,
the possibility of human with a concern that the supernatural, and the
progress, based in part on a the spread of industry and destructive aspects of nature.
democratic confidence in the new technology threatened See pages 174 –175.
ability of ordinary individuals the natural world and isolated
to better themselves, their people from it.
political system, and society. See pages 172–173.
See pages 170–171.

INT ROD UCTION 169


Big Idea 1
Optimism and Individualism

E
ach of us has ambitions and plans, hopes club. Among those who participated in the talks at
and dreams. Our beliefs affect how we the Transcendental Club were Margaret Fuller,
feel about what we can achieve as indi- Henry David Thoreau, and Nathaniel Hawthorne.
viduals and citizens. Optimists believe
The essence of Transcendentalism was the philosophy
they can reach their goals in life. Ralph
known as Idealism. For Idealists, such as the German
Waldo Emerson (see pages 178–188) was a lifelong
philosopher Immanuel Kant, reality is not “out there”
optimist. He also celebrated the individual, proclaim-
in material objects but instead exists in our ideas
ing that by being true to their innermost selves, peo-
about those objects. The Transcendentalists believed
ple could accomplish great things.
that intuition is a more valuable guide than sensory
experience in grasping what nature really is. As
Rise of the Common People Emerson exulted in his essay “Nature,” “I see the
Beginning in the 1820s, the American belief in spectacle of morning from the hilltop over against my
the power of the ordinary citizen had a huge impact house, from daybreak to sunrise, with emotions which
on both political and social life. Changes in voting an angel might share.”
laws expanded the electorate to include nearly all
white males. In 1828, these voters elected frontiers-
man Andrew Jackson as president, marking the
Emerson’s Outlook
arrival of the common people in American politics. Emerson’s optimism convinced him that the universe
“Well, if Andrew Jackson can be president,” observed existed for humanity’s benefit. He told people that
one outraged North Carolina woman, “then anybody they simply needed to look within themselves to
can!” Americans of this period also became involved awaken a sense of wonder and recover their oneness
in a broad range of reform movements. These ordi- with the universe: “Every spirit builds itself a house,
nary citizens formed associations, raised money, wrote and beyond its house a world, and beyond its world
pamphlets, held rallies, gave speeches, and worked to a heaven. Know then that the world exists for you.”
pass laws designed to improve American society. He believed that ordinary human beings had limit-
less potential. His avid reading of mystical Hindu
philosophy influenced his conviction that humans
are divine because they share in the Over-soul,
“All that Adam had, all that Caesar Emerson’s name for the spirit that pervades the
could, you have and can do.” universe. Emerson summed up his ideas by saying
that he had really taught only one thing, that every
— Ralph Waldo Emerson person was infinite.

Emerson’s Essays
Transcendentalism Emerson is best known for his essays, such as “Self-
Emerson’s belief in the value of the individual was Reliance.” An essay is a short piece of nonfiction
shaped by the era in which he lived. In the 1830s, writing on any topic. Essays can range from serious,
the influence of Romanticism began to be felt in the formal analyses to light, personal reflections.
United States. One result was Transcendentalism, a Although Emerson’s essays are formal, they are not
loosely organized movement that embodied the ideas tightly unified around a single topic. Instead, he pre-
of thinkers who were active in New England in the sented his thoughts in a loosely organized series of
1830s and 1840s. Emerson was a leading figure in striking sentences. “The maker of a sentence,” he
this group, which began as an informal discussion observed, “launches out into the infinite.”

170 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


The Jolly Flatboatmen, 1877–78. George Caleb Bingham. Oil on canvas, 261/16 x 363/8 in. Daniel J. Terra Acquisition
Endowment Fund, 1992. Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, IL.

from Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Our houses are built with foreign taste; our shelves are soil, the length of the day, the wants of the people, the
garnished with foreign ornaments; our opinions, our habit and form of the government, he will create a house
tastes, our faculties, lean, and follow the Past and the in which all these will find themselves fitted, and taste
Distant. The soul created the arts wherever they have and sentiment will be satisfied also.
flourished. It was in his own mind that the artist sought Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can
his model. It was an application of his own thought to present every moment with the cumulative force of a
the thing to be done and the conditions to be observed. whole life's cultivation; but of the adopted talent of
And why need we copy the Doric or the Gothic model? another, you have only an extemporaneous, half posses-
Beauty, convenience, grandeur of thought, and quaint sion. That which each can do best, none but his Maker
expression are as near to us as to any, and if the can teach him. No man yet knows what it is, nor can, till
American artist will study with hope and love the precise that person has exhibited it. Where is the master who
thing to be done by him, considering the climate, the could have taught Shakespeare?

Reading Check
Analyzing Cause and Effect Why would Emerson’s
optimism have made him a reformer?

INT ROD UCTION 171


Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago/Art Resource, NY
Big Idea 2
Kinship with Nature

T
oday, many people are concerned about Thoreau and Nature
the effects of civilization on the wilder-
Another New Englander, Emerson’s friend Thoreau,
ness. Conflicts between environmentalists
also rejected a conventional life. Like Emerson,
and commercial interests are widespread.
Thoreau championed American individualism. He
How important is nature, and what can
spent two years in a cabin he built at Walden Pond
we learn from it? In the 1800s, Henry David Thoreau
near his home of Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau
(see pages 202–217) revealed his thoughts about this
sharply observed the natural surroundings there. “For
question in his journal. Thoreau believed that con-
many years,” he wrote, “I was self-appointed inspector
tact with wild nature refreshed the human spirit.
of snow storms and rain storms and did my duty faith-
Other writers have described the benefits of nature’s
fully.” Thoreau was not fond of luxuries and not
beauty and the feelings of peace that result from
afraid of striking out on his own.
being out-of-doors. Nature can also teach us respect
for its destructive ways and remind us that, though we Emerson’s and Thoreau’s concept of the natural world
try, we can never wholly subdue its powerful forces. had much in common with the Native American
viewpoint. Both traditions found harmony and pur-
pose in the unspoiled earth. At Walden, Thoreau
communed with nature. He wrote, “You only need sit
“I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and still long enough in some attractive spot in the woods
have it all to myself, than be crowded on that all its inhabitants may exhibit themselves to you
by turns.” Leslie Marmon Silko, a contemporary
a velvet cushion.” Native American author, expresses a similar view.
—Henry David Thoreau She writes, “I never feel lonely when I walk alone in
the hills: I am surrounded with living beings, with
these sandstone ridges and lava rock hills full of life.”

America — Garden or Wilderness? Thoreau and Politics


The natural environment of America has produced Thoreau’s extreme individualism led him to take cer-
very different responses in different people. Luther tain radical political positions. In the 1840s, as the
Standing Bear, a Teton Sioux, explained the Native southern states became more determined to protect
American view: “We did not think of the great open and extend slavery, he came to regard all government
plains, the beautiful rolling hills, and winding streams as a threat to liberty. During the Mexican-American
with tangled growth as ‘wild.’ Only to the white man War (1846–1848), which many opponents of slavery
was nature a ‘wilderness,’ and only to him was the believed was being fought to establish slavery in the
land ‘infested’ with ‘wild’ animals and ‘savage’ people. West, Thoreau wrote his essay “Civil Disobedience.”
To us it was tame.” He argued that the individual conscience is more
important than the law: “Law never made men a
The first European explorers and settlers viewed
whit more just; and by means of their respect for it,
America as both a paradise to be enjoyed and a wil-
even the well-disposed are daily made the agents
derness to be tamed. Many Europeans were amazed
of injustice.”
and delighted at the number of animals and plants
that were unknown in Europe. But to others, such as Thoreau was even willing to spend time in jail for
William Bradford, a leader of the Pilgrims who refusing to pay a tax that would have been used to
reached New England in 1620, America was a place finance the war. He later wrote that, behind bars, he
to be feared: “What could they see but a hideous and felt freer than his townspeople who stood outside the
desolate wilderness, full of wild beasts and wild men?” prison walls but lived in subjugation to the state.

172 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


from The Journal
by Henry David Thoreau

March 5. [1858] . . . We would fain know


something more about these animals and
stones and trees around us. We are ready to
skin the animals alive to come at them. Our sci-
entific names contain a very partial information
only. It does not occur to me that there are
other names for most of these objects, given by
a people who stood between me and them,
who had better senses than our race. . . . No
science does more than arrange what knowl-
edge we have of any class of objects. But, gen-
erally speaking, how much more conversant was
the Indian with any wild animal or plant than we
are, and in his language is implied all that inti-
macy, as much as ours is expressed in our lan-
guage. How many words in his language about
moose, or birch bark, and the like! The Indian
stood nearer to wild nature than we. The wildest
and noblest quadrupeds, even the largest fresh-
water fishes, some of the wildest and noblest
birds and fairest flowers have actually receded
as we advanced, and we have but the most
distant knowledge of them. A rumor has come
Cathedral Forest, Albert Bierstadt. Private collection. down to us that the skin of a lion was seen and
his roar heard here by an early settler. But there
was a race here that slept on his skin. It was a
new light when my guide gave me Indian
Thoreau’s Journals names for things for which I had only scientific
Many of Thoreau’s writings, including Walden, are ones before. In proportion as I understood the
based on his journal entries. A journal is a daily language, I saw them from a new point of view.
record of events kept by a writer. Thoreau kept a
journal from the time he was twenty and reshaped
and revised it throughout his life. When he died
at forty-four, the journal ran to 7,000 manuscript
pages containing nearly two million words.
Thoreau’s journal provides insights into the
extraordinary richness of his mind. In one entry,
he observed, “My Journal is that of me which
would else spill over and run to waste, gleanings
from the field which in action I reap. I must not
live for it, but in it for the gods.”
Reading Check
Interpreting How did Thoreau’s individualism affect
his attitude toward nature and politics?

INT ROD UCTION 173


Art Resource, NY
Big Idea 3
The Power of Darkness

O
ur experience of life and the world has a Settings are dark and often contain decayed dwellings
dark side. We fear the evils we know— with shadowy passageways, haunting sounds, and
poverty, violence, disease, madness, damp rooms.
death—and are troubled by nameless ter-
rors that might lurk in the shadows beyond
our knowledge. Not all the important American writ-
Poe and the Terror of the Soul
ers of Emerson’s time shared his optimism. Nathaniel A European tradition of Gothic literature existed
Hawthorne (see pages 265–278) admired Emerson long before Edgar Allan Poe (see pages 242–263), but
but thought him unrealistic. To Herman Melville he was the first American master of this type of hor-
(see pages 280–291), Emerson’s optimism was “non- ror. In his poems and stories, Poe often bettered ear-
sense” that ignored the “disagreeable facts” of life. lier Gothic writers in achieving spine-tingling effects.
Most of his stories and poems deal with loss and sor-
row, ruin and revenge, disease and death. Poe’s liter-
Hawthorne and Melville ary works reflected his own troubles and fears, but
Almost all of Hawthorne’s fiction is based on stories many readers responded favorably to his subject mat-
of the past, particularly the history and legends of his ter and the mood of his works, thus confronting their
Puritan ancestors in New England. Hawthorne was own fears. Emerson and the Transcendentalists
drawn to the Puritan past as Gothic writers were believed that humans are inherently good. By con-
drawn to the Middle Ages. In Puritan New England, trast, Poe seems to have had an instinctive feel for
he found a strange, stark world that provided a richly the dark impulses of human nature. Poe observed,
textured background for the explorations of the “The terror of which I write is not of Germany [the
nature of good and evil in his fiction. Hawthorne’s setting of much Gothic fiction], but of the soul.”
friend Melville first gained a literary reputation for He expressed this spiritual terror in haunting
romantic tales of adventure in the South Seas. In suc- literary works.
ceeding books, he used his sea stories to explore the
mystery of the evil that he saw in both human life
and the forces of nature. In Melville’s masterpiece,
Poe’s Short Stories
Moby-Dick, Ahab, the crazed captain of a whaling Poe was a master of the brief fictional narrative
ship, sees evil personified in a huge white whale. known as the short story. In addition to writing many
Gothic tales of terror, he invented a new type of short
fiction, the detective story. His first detective story,
Gothic Horror “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” combines Gothic
The dark side of European Romanticism can be horror with solid reasoning by Poe’s fictional detec-
seen in the tradition of Gothic literature. A classic tive, Dupin.
example from nineteenth-century England is Mary
Poe’s stories illustrate his idea that any artistic com-
Shelley’s Frankenstein, a novel about a monster that
position should have a single, unique effect. This
destroys its creator. The American Romantics also
effect is evident in the gloomy, ominous beginning of
recognized the power of darkness. Gothic horror relies
his short story “The Fall of the House of Usher,” guar-
chiefly on atmosphere, or mood, to achieve its effects.
anteed to make the reader long for sunshine or the
Writers create an atmosphere of horror through plot,
comfort of his or her own room.
characters, and settings that most people find chill-
ing. Plots often focus on mysterious happenings,
tragic events, and hideous outcomes. Characters are
often mad, half-mad, or frightened to death. They
may exhibit strange behavior and physical traits.

174 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Abbey in an Oak Forest, 1810. Caspar David Friedrich. Oil on canvas. Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

from The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe

During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in any of that half-pleasurable, because poetic, sentiment,
the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppres- with which the mind usually receives even the sternest
sively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on natural images of the desolate or terrible. I looked upon
horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; the scene before me—upon the mere house, and the
and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening simple landscape features of the domain—upon the
drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. bleak walls—upon the vacant eye-like windows—upon
I know not how it was—but, with the first glimpse of the a few rank sedges—and upon a few white trunks of
building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my decayed trees—with an utter depression of soul . . .
spirit. I say insufferable; for the feeling was unrelieved by

Reading Check
Comparing and Contrasting In what sense were Poe
and Emerson both Romantics (see pages 170 –174)?
How did their Romanticism differ?

INT ROD UCTION 175


Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, NY
WRAP-UP
–----––-––––––
Why It Matters Cultural Links
Some of the most important characteristics of Emerson’s essays had a great influence on
American Romanticism—such as optimism, individu- Walt Whitman, who later said, “I was simmering,
alism, and the impulse to reform—shaped American simmering, simmering. Emerson brought
experience from the time of the first explorers and me to a boil.”
settlers. The New England colonists saw their com-
Thoreau’s writings are among the basic texts of
munities as models for the rest of the world to imi-
the American environmental movement. John
tate. As John Winthrop of Massachusetts put it, “We
Muir, founder of the Sierra Club, shared the basic
shall be as a city upon a hill.” This sense of the
outlook that Thoreau famously expressed: “In
United States as a nation with a reforming mission—
wildness lies the preservation of the world.”
what Abraham Lincoln described as “the last, best
hope of earth”—continues today. As a pioneer of detective, horror, and science fic-
tion writing, Poe has had a huge impact on popu-
The Romantic view of human kinship with nature
lar culture worldwide.
has had a limited influence on American culture.
Beginning with a need to survive in a wilderness,
Americans have typically viewed the land as some- THREE-POCKET BOOK
thing to be “tamed.” This attitude has too often led
to exploitation that damaged or destroyed natural
environments. However, the modern environmental
movement is an important legacy of Romanticism,
which is also reflected in the nature writing of
authors such as Gary Snyder, N. Scott Momaday,
John McPhee, and Annie Dillard.

You might try using this graphic organizer to


Big Ideas Link to Web resources to
keep track of the three big ideas in this unit.
further explore the Big Ideas at www.glencoe.com.

Connect to Today
» Use what you have learned about the
period to do one of these activities.

1. Speaking/Listening Working with several other students, create a brief presentation for your class
about how one of this period’s big ideas affects American culture today. You can use examples from
literature, fine art, music, movies, or other kinds of expression.

2. Visual Literacy Create an illustrated diagram showing the bright and dark sides of Romanticism.
For example, you might present your diagram in the form of a color spectrum on which you position
cultural ideas and values, works of art, and writers associated with Romanticism’s two aspects.

3. Writing Taking into account the political, social, economic, and cultural characteristics of this
period, do you think the United States was a better place to live in then or now? Write a brief essay
exploring this question.

OB J EC TIVES
• Construct a graphic organizer
• Deliver an oral presentation Study Central Visit
• Analyze political, social, economic, and cultural characteristics www.glencoe.com and click on Study Central to
in writing review American Romanticism.

176 U N IT 2 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM


PART
–-----––

Individualism and Nature

Kindred Spirits, 1849. Asher Durand. Oil on canvas. The New York Public Library.

“We see the world piece by piece, as the sun, the moon, the animal,
the tree; but the whole, of which these are the shining parts, is the soul.”
—Emerson, “The Over-Soul”

177
Francis G. Mayer/CORBIS
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

from Nature, from Self-Reliance,


and Concord Hymn

M E E T R A LPH WA LDO E M E R SON

R
alph Waldo Emerson was the central figure
of American Romanticism. His ideas about
the individual, claims about the divine, and
attacks on society were revolutionary.
Emerson’s father was a Unitarian minister and
his mother a devout Anglican. When Emerson
was only eight years old, his father died, and
Mrs. Emerson was forced to open a boarding-
house. At the age of 14, Emerson entered
Harvard College. After graduation, he studied
at Harvard Divinity School. By 1829, Emerson
had been ordained a Unitarian minister and
was preaching in Boston’s Second Church.
Challenges to Optimism Emerson’s own opti-
In 1831 Ellen Tucker, Emerson’s wife, died sud- mism was challenged when his son Waldo died of
denly. Emerson had already been questioning his scarlet fever in 1842. Two years later, Emerson’s
religious convictions, and after Ellen’s death, he essay “The Tragic” appeared in The Dial, a tran-
experienced intense grief that further eroded his scendentalist magazine he had co-founded. In this
faith. Eventually, Emerson left the church to essay, Emerson claimed that the arts and the intel-
embark on a career as a writer. lect can “ravish us into a region whereinto these
passionate clouds of sorrow cannot rise.”
A Controversial Career In 1833 Emerson set-
After 1870, his memory began to fail and the
tled in Concord, Massachusetts, and began writing
quality of his essays diminished. He stayed in
Nature. This slim book was to become one of
Concord and wrote little in his last years; he
Emerson’s most influential works. Two years later,
died of pneumonia at the age of 79.
Emerson married Lydia Jackson, whom he called
“Lidian.” Emerson and Lydia had four children. Emerson influenced writers as diverse as essayist
Henry David Thoreau (page 202), novelist Louisa
During the late 1830s, Emerson gained fame for his
May Alcott, and poets Robert Frost (page 704),
lectures—notably “The American Scholar” and the
Wallace Stevens (page 689), and Hart Crane.
divinity school Address. These speeches, both deliv-
Emerson was a radical individualist, and his
ered at Harvard, rejected organized religion and
impact on American thought can still be felt
undue reverence for the past. Harvard’s conservative
today. As modern critic Harold Bloom wrote,
administration was outraged. As a result, he was not
“. . . no single sage, not Dr. Johnson nor
invited to speak at the college for the next 30 years.
Coleridge, is as inescapable as Emerson goes on
While Emerson’s ideas enraged some, they excited being for American poets and storytellers.”
many others and helped create the transcendental-
Ralph Waldo Emerson was born in 1803 and died
ist movement, of which Emerson was the spokes-
in 1882.
person. Optimism, self-reliance, intuition, and
idealism formed the core of transcendentalist
thought. Idealism is a philosophy that maintains Author Search For more about
the belief that reality is created by the mind. Ralph Waldo Emerson, goAuthor Search For more about
to www.glencoe.com.
this author, go to www.glencoe.com.

178 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Bettmann/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Essay Reading Strategy Recognizing Author’s


The following essay is a declaration of Emerson’s Purpose
belief in the power of nature. Emerson makes
The author’s purpose is the author’s intent in writing
some startling claims about how people relate to
a piece of literature. Authors typically write to per-
the natural world and how nature responds to the
suade, to inform, to explain, to entertain, or to
individual. As you read these essays, think about
describe. While reading this essay, try to determine
the following questions:
Emerson’s purpose.
• How do I interact with nature in my daily life?
• How does my mood affect the way I see the world? Reading Tip: Asking Questions It might be useful
to ask yourself questions as you read, such as the
following:
Building Background
The Romantics tended to emphasize two aspects of • What is the thesis or main idea statement?
nature—beauty and power. The darker Romantics, • How do the details support the thesis statement?
such as the Melville of Moby-Dick, stressed nature’s • What are Emerson’s special concerns? Does he
destructive power. Although Emerson was sensitive show any biases or prejudices? If so, what are they?
to the power of the untamed American wilderness,
he chose to dwell on the beauty of nature.
Vocabulary
Nature is now recognized as one of Emerson’s most
perpetual (pər pech oo¯¯¯ əl) adj. lasting forever;
important works. At the time of its anonymous pub-
eternal; p. 180 The leaders of the American
lication, however, it received little attention. In fact,
Revolution had hoped to create a perpetual union
during his lifetime, Emerson was better known as an
of states.
orator than as an essayist. Nevertheless, all of the
ideas found in Emerson’s later work are an exten- integrate (in tə rāt´) v. to bring all parts
sion or reevaluation of those initially expressed in together into a whole; p. 180 Can we integrate
Nature. the process by having all the committees report to
one chairperson?
Setting Purposes for Reading perennial (pə ren ē əl) adj. continuing year
after year; enduring; p. 181 Water pollution is a
Big Idea Kinship with Nature
perennial problem around factories and farms.
As you read this selection from Nature, notice how
Emerson links nature to optimism and individualism. blithe (bl¯ th) adj. lighthearted and carefree;
cheerful; p. 181 The old man was always blithe in
the company of his grandchildren.
Literary Element Theme
occult (ə kult ) adj. beyond human understand-
Theme is the central message of a work of litera-
ing; mysterious; p. 181 The old doctor was inter-
ture that readers can apply to life. As you read, try
ested in strange, occult research.
to determine the central theme of Emerson’s essay.

• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R18. Vocabulary Tip: Synonyms Words that have the
same meaning are called synonyms. The words
ragged and shabby, for example, are synonyms. Note
Interactive Literary Elements
that synonyms are always the same part of speech.
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying these selections, you will focus on the following: • analyzing figurative language
• analyzing literary periods • drawing conclusions
• recognizing an author’s purpose • analyzing metonymy
• analyzing theme • writing a comparison/contrast essay

RALPH WA L D O EMERSON 179


Ralph Waldo Emerson

To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as When we speak of nature in this manner, we
much from his chamber as from society. I am not have a distinct but most poetical sense in the
solitary whilst I read and write, though nobody is mind. We mean the integrity of impression
with me. But if a man would be alone, let him made by manifold4 natural objects. It is this
look at the stars. The rays that come from those which distinguishes the stick of timber of the
heavenly worlds will separate between him and wood-cutter from the tree of the poet. The
what he touches. One might think the atmo- charming landscape which I saw this morning is
sphere was made transparent with this design, to indubitably5 made up of some twenty or thirty
give man, in the heavenly bodies, the perpetual farms. Miller owns this field, Locke that, and
presence of the sublime. Seen in the streets of Manning the woodland beyond. But none of
cities, how great they are! If the stars should them owns the landscape. There is a property in
appear one night in a thousand years, how would the horizon which no man has but he whose eye
men believe and adore; and preserve for many can integrate all the parts, that is, the poet. This
generations the remembrance of the city of God is the best part of these men’s farms, yet to this
which had been shown! But every night come their warranty-deeds6 give no title.
out these envoys1 of beauty, and light the uni- To speak truly, few adult persons can see nature.
verse with their admonishing2 smile. Most persons do not see the sun. At least they
The stars awaken a certain reverence, have a very superficial seeing. The sun illuminates
because though always present, they are inac- only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye
cessible; but all natural objects make a kindred and the heart of the child. The lover of nature is
impression, when the mind is open to their he whose inward and outward senses are still truly
influence. Nature never wears a mean3 appear- adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit
ance. Neither does the wisest man extort her of infancy even into the era of manhood. His
secret, and lose his curiosity by finding out all intercourse with heaven and earth becomes part
her perfection. Nature never became a toy to a of his daily food. In the presence of nature a wild
wise spirit. The flowers, the animals, the moun- delight runs through the man, in spite of real
tains, reflected the wisdom of his best hour, as sorrows. Nature says,—he is my creature, and
much as they had delighted the simplicity of his
childhood.
4. Manifold means “many kinds or varieties.”
5. Indubitably means “without a doubt” or “certainly.”
6. Warranty-deeds are legal documents that state ownership of
1. Envoys are those sent as representatives of another.
property.
2. Admonishing means “gently warning” or “scolding.”
3. Here, mean means “poor,” “inferior,” or “shabby.” Reading Strategy Recognizing Author’s Purpose What
does this statement suggest to you about Emerson’s
Big Idea Kinship with Nature How does Emerson’s purpose?
statement relate nature to his belief in individualism?

Vocabulary
Vocabulary
integrate (intə rāt´) v. to bring all parts together into
perpetual (pər pech¯¯¯
oo əl) adj. lasting forever; eternal a whole

180 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


maugre7 all his impertinent8 griefs, he shall be
glad with me. Not the sun or the summer alone,
but every hour and season yields its tribute of
delight; for every hour and change corresponds to
and authorizes a different state of the mind, from
breathless noon to grimmest midnight. Nature is a
setting that fits equally well a comic or a mourn-
ing piece. In good health, the air is a cordial9 of
incredible virtue. Crossing a bare common,10 in
snow puddles, at twilight, under a clouded sky,
without having in my thoughts any occurrence of
special good fortune, I have enjoyed a perfect
exhilaration. I am glad to the brink of fear. In the View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a
woods, too, a man casts off his years, as the snake Thunderstorm—The Oxbow, 1836. Thomas Cole. Oil on canvas.
his slough, and at what period soever of life is Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
always a child. In the woods is perpetual youth. Viewing the Art: What elements in this painting reflect the
characteristics Emerson attributes to nature?
Within these plantations of God, a decorum and
sanctity reign, a perennial festival is dressed, and
the guest sees not how he should tire of them in a The greatest delight which the fields and woods
thousand years. In the woods, we return to reason minister is the suggestion of an occult relation bet-
and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me ween man and the vegetable. I am not alone and
in life,—no disgrace, no calamity (leaving me my unacknowledged. They nod to me, and I to them.
eyes), which nature cannot repair. Standing on The waving of the boughs in the storm is new to
the bare ground,—my head bathed by the blithe me and old. It takes me by surprise, and yet is not
air and uplifted into infinite space,—all mean unknown. Its effect is like that of a higher thought
egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball; or a better emotion coming over me, when I
I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the deemed I was thinking justly or doing right.
Universal Being circulate through me; I am part Yet it is certain that the power to produce
or parcel of God. The name of the nearest friend this delight does not reside in nature, but in
sounds then foreign and accidental: to be broth- man, or in a harmony of both. It is necessary to
ers, to be acquaintances, master or servant, is then use these pleasures with great temperance. For
a trifle and a disturbance. I am the lover of uncon- nature is not always tricked12 in holiday attire,
tained and immortal beauty. In the wilderness, I but the same scene which yesterday breathed
find something more dear and connate11 than in perfume and glittered as for the frolic of the
streets or villages. In the tranquil landscape, and nymphs is overspread with melancholy today.
especially in the distant line of the horizon, man Nature always wears the colors of the spirit. To
beholds somewhat as beautiful as his own nature. a man laboring under calamity, the heat of his
own fire hath sadness in it. Then there is a
kind of contempt of the landscape felt by him
7. Maugre means “in spite of.”
who has just lost by death a dear friend. The
8. Impertinent means “irrelevant.”
9. A cordial is a stimulant, such as a drink or medicine. sky is less grand as it shuts down over less
10. A common is community property, such as a park, owned worth in the population. 
or used by the public.
11. Connate means “being in harmony or sympathy.”
12. Here, tricked means “dressed.”
Literary Element Theme What does this statement tell
you about Emerson’s theme? Literary Element Theme Why does Emerson hold
this belief?
Vocabulary
perennial (pə ren ē əl) adj. continuing year after year; Vocabulary
enduring occult (ə kult) adj. beyond human understanding;
blithe (bl̄th
) adj. lighthearted and carefree; cheerful mysterious

RALPH WALD O EMERSON 181


Francis G. Mayer/CORBIS
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. (a)Which of Emerson’s ideas do you think are true 5. (a)In this essay, how does Emerson personify, or
in light of your own experience? (b)With which give human traits to nature? (b)Does Emerson’s
ideas do you disagree? personification of nature strengthen or weaken his
arguments? Explain.
Recall and Interpret
6. (a)How does Emerson show his idealism in this
2. (a)What does Emerson say would happen if the
essay? (b)How does idealism affect the theme of
stars appeared only one night in a thousand
Nature?
years? (b)What does his comment suggest about
human nature? 7. Emerson claims that the individual becomes
childlike while immersed in nature. (a)What evi-
3. (a)In Emerson’s view, how do adults and children
dence does he use to support this statement?
differ in the way they view nature? (b)What
(b)Do you agree with this claim? Why or why not?
does Emerson suggest accounts for this
difference? Connect
4. (a)According to Emerson, what effect does the 8. Big Idea Kinship with Nature How do your
experience of nature have on him? (b)What feelings about nature compare with those of
conclusion does he draw from that effect? Emerson?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Theme Reading Strategy Recognizing Author’s


Some works of literature have a stated theme, which Purpose
is expressed directly. More works have an implied Sometimes an author will have more than one pur-
theme, which is revealed gradually through events, pose for writing. However, authors generally consider
dialogue, or description. A literary work may have one purpose more important than the others.
more than one theme.
1. What do you think Emerson’s main purpose was
1. What is the central theme in Nature? Is this theme for writing Nature?
stated or implied? Explain.
2. In support of your opinion, list three details from
2. How is the theme of this essay consistent with the essay.
Emerson’s transcendentalism?

Vocabulary Practice
Writing About Literature
Practice with Synonyms Find the synonym for
Respond to Theme Emerson states, “Nature always each vocabulary word from Nature listed in the first
wears the colors of the spirit.” Write a one-page column. Use a dictionary or a thesaurus if you
response explaining why you agree or disagree with need help.
this statement. Use evidence from this essay and your
personal experience to defend your position. 1. blithe a. happy b. reckless
2. integrate a. dismantle b. synthesize
3. occult a. secret b. unhealthy
4. perennial a. long lasting b. frequent
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
5. perpetual a. unending b. stubborn
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

182 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Ralph Waldo Emerson

B E F O R E YO U R E A D

Literary Element Figurative Language Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions


Figurative language is descriptive language used to Drawing a conclusion is using details from the text to
convey ideas or emotions. Figurative expressions are arrive at a general statement. As you read “Self-
not literally true. They express some truth that reaches Reliance,” use the details Emerson presents as the
beyond the literal level. As you read the essay, basis for drawing a conclusion about his beliefs.
examine how Emerson uses figurative language to
help his readers understand his abstract ideas.

I read the other day some verses written by an flashes across his mind from within, more
eminent1 painter which were original and than the lustre of the firmament of bards2 and
not conventional. Always the soul hears an sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his
admonition in such lines, let the subject be thought, because it is his. In every work of
what it may. The sentiment they instill is of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts:
more value than any thought they may con- they come back to us with a certain alienated
tain. To believe your own thought, to believe majesty. Great works of art have no more
that what is true for you in your private heart, affecting lesson for us than this. They teach us
is true for all men,—that is genius. Speak your to abide by our spontaneous impression with
latent conviction and it shall be the universal good humored inflexibility then most when
sense; for always the inmost becomes the out- the whole cry of voices is on the other side.
most,—and our first thought is rendered back Else, tomorrow a stranger will say with mas-
to us by the trumpets of the Last Judgment. terly good sense precisely what we have
Familiar as the voice of the mind is to each, thought and felt all the time, and we shall be
the highest merit we ascribe to Moses, Plato, forced to take with shame our own opinion
and Milton is that they set at naught books from another.
and traditions, and spoke not what men, but There is a time in every man’s education
what they thought. A man should learn to when he arrives at the conviction that envy is
detect and watch that gleam of light which ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he
must take himself for better, for worse, as his
1. Eminent means “distinguished” or “prominent.”
portion; that though the wide universe is full

Vocabulary
2. Bards are poets.
admonition (ad mə nish´ ən) n. a warning; cautionary
advice Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions What does
latent (lā tənt) adj. present but not evident; hidden Emerson mean by this statement?

RALPH WALD O EMERSON 183


of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can through their hands, predominating6 in all
come to him but through his toil bestowed on their being. And we are now men, and must
that plot of ground which is given to him to accept in the highest mind the same transcen-
till. The power which resides in him is new in dent7 destiny; and not pinched in a corner,
nature, and none but he knows what that is not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but
which he can do, nor does he know until he redeemers and benefactors, pious aspirants8
has tried. Not for nothing one face, one char- to be noble clay plastic under the Almighty
acter, one fact makes much impression on him, effort, let us advance and advance on Chaos
and another none. It is not without preëstab- and the Dark. . . .
lished harmony, this sculpture in the memory. Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the
The eye was placed where one ray should fall, manhood of every one of its members. Society is a
that it might testify of that particular ray. joint-stock company in which the members agree
Bravely let him speak the utmost syllable of for the better securing of his bread to each share-
his confession. We but half express ourselves, holder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the
and are ashamed of that divine idea which eater. The virtue in most request is conformity.
each of us represents. It may be safely trusted Self-reliance is its aversion. It loves not realities
as proportionate and of good issues, so it be and creators, but names and customs.
faithfully imparted, but God will not have his Whoso would be a man must be a nonconform-
work made manifest by cowards. It needs a ist. He who would gather immortal palms9 must
divine man to exhibit any thing divine. A not be hindered by the name of goodness, but
man is relieved and gay when he has put his must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last
heart into his work and done his best; but sacred but the integrity of your own mind. . . .
what he has said or done otherwise, shall What I must do, is all that concerns me, not
give him no peace. It is a deliverance which what the people think. This rule, equally ardu-
does not deliver. In the attempt his genius ous10 in actual and in intellectual life, may serve
deserts him; no muse3 befriends; no invention, for the whole distinction between greatness and
no hope. meanness.11 It is the harder, because you will
Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that always find those who think they know what is
iron string. Accept the place the divine your duty better than you know it. It is easy in the
Providence4 has found for you; the society world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in
of your contemporaries, the connection of solitude to live after our own; but the great man is
events. Great men have always done so and he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with per-
confided themselves childlike to the genius5 fect sweetness the independence of solitude. 
of their age, betraying their perception that
the Eternal was stirring at their heart, working 6. Predominating means “having controlling power or
influence.”
7. Transcendent means “concerned with a spiritual reality that
3. In Greek mythology, the Muses were goddesses who is beyond the limits of experience and knowable only
presided over the arts and sciences. Here, muse is used to through intuition.”
mean “a source of genius or inspiration.” 8. Aspirants are those who seek, or aspire to, advancement or
4. The divine Providence is God. honors.
5. Here, genius means “the distinctive character” or 9. Palm leaves are a traditional symbol of victory or success.
“predominant spirit.” 10. Arduous means “difficult.”
11. Here, meanness means “the state of having little
Literary Element Figurative Language What comparison importance, worth, or consequence.”
is Emerson making here?
Big Idea Optimism and Individualism What does
Emerson think about relationships between individuals?
Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions According to
Emerson, what is the cause of our shame?
Vocabulary

Vocabulary benefactor (ben ə fak´ tər) n. one who gives help or


financial aid
manifest (man ə fest´) adj. apparent to the eye or the
mind; evident; obvious integrity (in te rə tē) n. moral uprightness; honesty

184 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. (a)What was your reaction to Emerson’s discussion 5. Emerson uses many religious references through-
of nonconformity? (b)In your experience, how valu- out the essay. (a)Why do you think he does so?
able a trait is the type of nonconformity that (b)How do they affect the essay’s meaning
Emerson recommends? and tone?
6. (a)What kinds of figurative language does Emerson
Recall and Interpret use to describe both society and the individual?
(b)How effective is his use of figurative language?
2. (a)According to Emerson, what is genius? (b)How
does his definition of genius relate to his belief in 7. (a)What parts of Emerson’s essay did you find
individualism? most persuasive? (b)What techniques did he use
to convince you of his arguments?
3. (a)According to Emerson, in what way should a
person approach his or her work? (b)What kind of Connect
“work” do you think he is describing?
8. Big Idea Optimism and Individualism Do you
4. (a)To what does Emerson compare society? think it is possible for people to live as individuals
(b)How does society affect what people value? and nonconformists in modern society? Why or
why not?

LI T E R A RY A N A LYS I S

Literary Element Figurative Language Review: Tone


There are many different kinds of figurative As you learned in a previous lesson, tone is the
language. Examples include imagery, personification, reflection of a writer’s attitude toward his or her
metaphor, metonymy, simile, and symbol. An author subject matter, as conveyed through word choice,
can use each of these devices to generate various punctuation, sentence structure, and figures of
moods, effects, or ideas. For example, when Emerson speech.
says that a person “should learn to detect and watch
Partner Activity Pair up with a classmate and dis-
that gleam of light which flashes across the mind from
cuss the tone of “Self-Reliance.” Working with your
within,” he is using a metaphor that compares a
partner, create a two-column chart similar to the
sudden idea to a flash of lightning.
one below. Fill in the left-hand column with exam-
1. When Emerson writes, “Trust thyself: every heart ples from the text that demonstrate a particular
vibrates to that iron string,” what kind of figura- tone. In the right-hand column, label each example
tive language is he using? with an adjective that describes the tone.
2. Find at least two other examples of figurative
language in the excerpt from “Self-Reliance.” Tell Examples Tone
how each helps to explain an idea or make it “It is a deliverance Resolute
more concrete. which does not
deliver.”

RALPH WALD O EMERSON 185


R E AD I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY WRITI NG AN D EXTEN DI NG

Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions Writing About Literature


Authors often incorporate their own beliefs into their Compare and Contrast Theme In many of his
writing. Sometimes they state these beliefs explicitly. In essays, Emerson treats related topics, arguments,
other cases, they merely imply, or hint at, their beliefs. and themes. How are the themes of “Self-Reliance”
The reader can infer an author’s beliefs by examining and Nature similar? How are they different? Write a
his or her word choice, figurative language, or rhetori- one- or two-page analysis, in which you compare
cal techniques. What do you think Emerson believes and contrast the themes of these essays. Use
about the relationship between the individual and soci- evidence from Emerson’s essays to defend your
ety? Is his belief stated or implied? List three details position.
that support your opinion. Before you begin drafting, take notes on the simi-
larities and differences in the two essays’ themes
Vocabulary Practice in a Venn diagram, such as the one below:

Practice with Antonyms Choose the best


antonym for each vocabulary word from “Self-
Reliance.” Use a dictionary if you need help.
1. admonition “Self-
Both Nature
a. betrayal c. adversary Reliance”
b. encouragement
2. latent
a. punctual c. obvious
b. tardy
3. manifest Include quotes from the texts related to the themes
a. celebration c. humane of each essay, as well as any impressions or ideas
b. hidden that struck you as you read. Once you have com-
4. benefactor pleted the diagram, begin drafting.
a. detractor c. donor After completing your draft, meet with a peer
b. critic reviewer to evaluate each other’s work and suggest
revisions. Then proofread and edit your draft for
errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Academic Vocabulary
Literature Groups
Here are two vocabulary words from the vocab-
ulary list on page R86. These words will help Being Courageous In what ways would it take
you think, write, and talk about the selection. courage for students today to trust themselves and
live according to their own convictions? Discuss this
approach (ə prōch) n. a method used to question in your group. Was Emerson courageous
make advances toward a full understanding or in expressing his beliefs? What might he have
accomplishment risked, if anything? What might he have gained?
Share your ideas with the class.
evident (ev ə dənt) adj. clear; obvious

Practice and Apply


1. What was Emerson’s approach to the issue
of conformity in “Self-Reliance”?
2. What do you believe was evident to Emerson
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
before he began writing this essay? Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

186 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Ralph Waldo Emerson

B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Building Background Literary Element Metonymy


On July 4, 1837, a monument was unveiled in Concord, Metonymy, a type of figurative language, is the use of
Massachusetts. There, on April 20, 1775, American one word to stand for a related term. For example, in
Minutemen fought the British in one of the first battles the aphorism “The pen is mightier than the sword,” the
of the Revolutionary War. At the request of the word pen stands for words or writing, and sword stands
Monument Committee, Emerson wrote the lyrics to for force or violence. Like other types of figurative
“Concord Hymn,” which was sung at the memorial language, metonymy is often used for descriptive effect
ceremony. or to convey a truth beyond the literal level.

Sung at the completion of Concord Monument, July 4, 1837.


By the rude bridge that arched the flood, On this green bank, by this soft stream,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled, 10 We set to-day a votive stone,
Here once the embattled farmers stood, That memory may their deed redeem,
And fired the shot heard round the world, When like our sires our sons are gone.

5 The foe long since in silence slept, Spirit! who made those freemen dare
Alike the Conqueror silent sleeps, To die, or leave their children free,
And Time the ruined bridge has swept 15 Bid time and nature gently spare
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps. The shaft we raise to them and Thee.

Literary Element Metonymy How does Emerson


use metonymy in this line?

RALPH WALD O EMERSON 187


Bettmann/CORBIS
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. What were your reactions to the poem? 5. (a)A hymn is a song of praise or thanksgiving. What
is Emerson praising or being thankful for in this
Recall and Interpret poem? (b)Do you think this hymn is a fitting dedi-
2. (a)What did the farmers do at the bridge in cation for a war monument? Explain.
Concord? (b)What does the speaker imply about
6. (a)What is the effect of the rhyme and rhythm of
the impact of their activities?
this poem? (b)Do think the use of rhyme is appro-
3. (a)Where are the battle’s participants now? priate to the subject matter? Explain.
(b)What has happened to the bridge?
Connect
4. (a)What wish do the last two lines express?
(b) Why do you think the speaker wishes for this? 7. Big Idea Optimism and Individualism How
does this poem relate to Emerson’s optimism and
belief in the individual?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Metonymy Reading Strategy Applying Background


Metonymy is a type of figurative language in which Knowledge
one word is used to stand for a related term. When Applying background knowledge can aid in evaluat-
Emerson writes that the “sun shines into a child’s ing a literary work. For example, apply background
heart,” he uses heart to stand for soul, or deep knowledge you learned in your American history
emotions. classes to evaluate the accuracy of Emerson’s poem.
1. To what is Emerson referring when he speaks of 1. Is Emerson’s portrayal of the battle accurate?
“the shot heard round the world”?
2. In support of your opinion, provide at least three
2. What kind of emotional response does the pieces of evidence from “Concord Hymn” and from
metonymy “the shot heard round the world” your background knowledge.
create?

Academic Vocabulary
Literature Groups
Why a Poem? Should Emerson have written a Here are two words from the vocabulary list
speech instead of a poem? Which form do you think on page R86. These words will help you think,
would have been more effective? In your group, dis- write, and talk about the selection.
cuss these questions and use evidence from the
poem to support your ideas. Summarize your ideas communicate (kə mū ni kāt´) v. to pass along
and share them with the class. information or knowledge
period (pēr e əd) n. a division of time

Practice and Apply


1. What ideas did Emerson most successfully
communicate in “Concord Hymn”?
2. How well did Emerson’s first stanza capture the
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to mood of the Revolutionary War period?
www.glencoe.com.

188 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


I n f o r m a t i o n a l Te x t

Media Link to
19 t h – C e n t u r y
Optimism
Preview the Article
The Biology of

JOY
Not only did Emerson’s optimism inspire
Scientists know
his writing, it may have helped him live plenty about
longer. New research shows that people depression.
with a positive attitude are more likely to Now they are
lead longer, happier lives.
starting to
1. Analyze the photos of the monk on
understand
page 190 and the babies on page
191. What might these tell you about the roots
the nature of the article? of positive
2. Skim the first paragraph. What emotion.
connection do you think the writer

I
By MICHAEL D. LEMONICK
is going to make between biology
and joy?
T ALL BEGAN WITH RICHARD DAVIDSON, A PROFESSOR OF
psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin.
Set a Purpose for Reading Davidson was in a lab observing a Buddhist monk sink deep
Read to discover the biological roots of into blissful meditation when he noticed something that sent
positive emotion and to connect the
his own pulse racing. Davidson checked the data streaming to
article’s ideas with the optimism of
his computer from electrodes attached to the monk’s skull. Electrical
Emerson and Thoreau.
activity in the left prefrontal lobe of the monk’s brain was shooting
up at a tremendous rate. “It was exciting,” Davidson recalls. “We
Reading Strategy
didn’t expect to see anything that dramatic.”
Analyzing Cause and Effect Relationships
Cause and effect describes the relationship When Davidson made his to lessen the risk or limit the severity
between an action and its consequence. discovery, he had been studying the of cardiovascular disease, lung
The cause, or action, directly results in the link between prefrontal-lobe activity disease, diabetes, high blood
effect, or consequence. and the bliss deep meditators pressure, and colds. According to a
experience. But even for someone Dutch study of elderly patients,
While you read, record cause-and-effect with his experience, watching the those upbeat mental states reduced
situations presented in “The Biology of brain crackle with activity as a an individual’s risk of death 50%.
Joy” in a chart like the one below. Share person entered a trancelike state Doctors have known for years
your findings with the class. was something never seen before. It that clinical depression—the
made clear, says Davidson, that extreme opposite of happiness—can
Cause Effect happiness isn’t just a vague feeling. worsen heart disease and other
Instead it’s a physical state of the illnesses. But the neurochemistry of
brain—one that you can bring on depression is much better known
deliberately. than that of happiness, mostly
That’s not all. As researchers because depression has been studied
have gained an understanding of more intensively and for much
the physical characteristics of a longer. Until about 10 years ago,
O B J EC TIVES happy brain, they have come to see says Dacher Keltner, a psychologist
• Make connections to text, within text,
that those traits have a powerful at the University of California,
and among texts across the subject areas.
influence on the rest of the body. Berkeley, “90% of emotion research
• Establish a reading vocabulary by identifying
and correctly using new words acquired Scientists have discovered that focused on the negative. There still
through study of their relationship to happiness or feelings of hopefulness, are all of these interesting questions
other words.
optimism, and contentment appear about the positive state.”
• Read for particular information.

THE BIOLOG Y OF J O Y 189


Informational Text

Happiness on the Brain predict which infants would cry in back from unpleasant emotions.
A growing number of researchers response to that brief but significant They’re like an exercise to strengthen
exploring the physiology and stress.” our happiness muscles.
neurology of happiness are starting to In short, some babies are just born
answer those questions. Perhaps most happy. But neuroscientists have also The Chemistry of Happiness
basic of all is what happiness is, in a learned that the brain is highly Exactly what is the physical difference,
clinical sense. At this point, nobody adaptable. It rewires itself in response though, between a left prefrontal
can say exactly. The word happiness, to experience, and that’s especially cortex that leans towards happiness
Davidson observes, “is kind of a true before the age of puberty. One and one that doesn’t? It almost
placeholder for a group of positive might assume, therefore, that negative certainly has in part to do with
emotional states. It’s a state of well- experiences might destroy a happy neurotransmitters. These chemicals
being where individuals are usually personality—and if they’re extreme ferry signals from one neuron to the
not motivated to change the way they and frequent enough, that might be next. Davidson believes that one of
are feeling. They’re motivated to true. Davidson has learned, however, these chemicals, dopamine, may be
preserve it.” But, Davidson notes, that mild to moderate doses of significant. Researchers are studying
there is much more that scientists negative experience are helpful. The the relationship of dopamine levels to
must learn about the qualities and reason, he believes, is that stressful feelings of extreme happiness and
effects of happiness in humans. Much events give us practice at bouncing depression.
of that information lies in a part of
the brain called the left prefrontal
cortex, the brain’s major center of
happiness.
Scientists want to know if the
prefrontal cortex creates the
sensation of happiness or whether it
merely reflects a person’s more
general emotional state. Davidson
thinks the answer is both: “We’re
confident that this part of the brain
is the cause of at least certain kinds
of happiness.” That suggests some
people are genetically predisposed to
be happy by virtue of their busy
prefrontal cortexes, and research in
infants confirms it. Davidson first
measured left prefrontal activity in
babies less than a year old. Then he
gave them a test in which their
mothers left the room briefly. “Some James Schnepf for TIME
babies will cry hysterically the instant NIRVANA CHECK
Davidson, right,
the mom leaves,” he says. “Others prepares to record
are more resilient.” It turns out that the brain activity
the babies with the higher left of a Buddhist monk
entering a state of
prefrontal activity are the ones who blissful meditation.
don’t cry. “We were actually able to

We’re just beginning to apply a lens to all those parts of


the nervous system in which the positive emotions are
—DACHER KELTNER,
embodied. This is really neat territory. University of California, Berkeley

190 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M ANTICIS M


Informational Text

ROBERT FROST BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Happiness makes Happiness consists more in


small conveniences or pleasures
up in height for that occur every day, than in

Bettmann/Corbis
great pieces of good fortune
what it lacks in that happen but seldom to a
length. man in the course of his life.

Dopamine pathways may be affects the rest of the body. As with


especially important in aspects of Is happiness wired in the brain studies, researchers tend to
happiness associated with moving focus on specific aspects of happiness.
toward some sort of goal such as
from the beginning? Harvard psychologist Laura
monks achieving a meditative state. A cheerful outlook may be inborn. Kubzansky is studying optimism. In a
“People have made progress telling Babies with less activity in the large study she tracked 1,300 men for
the difference between the positive left prefrontal cortex tend to cry 10 years and found that heart-disease
feeling you get when you approach when their mothers leave the rates among men who called
a goal, which maps onto dopamine, room; those with more activity themselves optimistic were half the
stay content. By looking at brain
and the sensory pleasure of enjoying scans, researchers could predict
rates for men who didn’t.
something, which maps onto the which infants would cry. “It was a much bigger effect than
opioid system,” says Berkeley’s we expected,” she says. Kubzansky
Keltner. “This is really neat also looked at pulmonary function,
territory.” since poor pulmonary function
Among those exploring that can signal a range of problems,
territory is Brian Knutson, an including early death and
assistant professor of psychology and cardiovascular disease. Again,
neuroscience at Stanford, who optimists did much better. “I’m an
monitors the brains of test subjects. optimist,” she says, “but I didn’t
The mental mode he studies is expect results like this.”
anticipation. “When people think In a separate study, Kubzansky,
of happiness,” says Knutson, “they working with Duke psychologist
think of feeling good. But a big part Laura Richman, looked at hopefulness
of happiness is also looking forward and curiosity—mental states that
to something.” Knutson’s research overlap with optimism in some ways.
was inspired by the classic work “We found them to be protective
of Ivan Pavlov, who trained against hypertension, diabetes,
dogs to salivate at the sound and upper-respiratory infection,”
of a bell, which they she says. Such protective effects
associated with mealtime. Penny Gentieu (2) may explain the longevity
Instead of food, Knutson used advantage found in that Dutch
money—a small cash payoff if kind of happy feelings we experience study of the elderly—an advantage
subjects won a video game. “When as excitement. The primary focus of for happy optimists that persisted
we looked at their brains just before his work is to understand how even when researchers corrected for
they got the reward,” he says, “we emotion and reason work together as diet, education, and other factors.
saw this spark that clearly had to do people make choices. But it could Exactly how states of mind
with how positive the idea of making also be a key to mapping out the affect the body’s biochemistry is
money was.” The spark showed up brain’s broader happiness circuitry. still far from clear. Optimists may
not in the left prefrontal cortex but simply feel less stress than
in the nucleus accumbens, located in Happiness and Physical Health pessimists and so they can avoid
the subcortex, at the bottom of the Understanding brain changes when the noxious biochemical cascades
brain. The bigger the prize, Knutson a person feels good is one aspect of that stress is known to trigger.
found, “the more activation.” happiness research. Another is Another likely factor: optimistic,
Knutson believes he is looking at the understanding how positive emotion happy types seem to take better

THE BIOLOGY OF JOY 191


Informational Text

EDITH WHARTON MARK TWAIN


If only we’d Happiness ain’t a
stop trying to thing in itself—it’s only
Bettmann/Corbis (2)

be happy
we’d have a
a contrast with
pretty good something that ain’t
time. pleasant.

care of themselves than sad sacks which they were grateful. way,” says Emmons. “They see life
do. Many studies—and common Despite being assigned randomly, as a gift, health as a gift. So they
sense—suggest that to be the case. the last group not only had the want to take certain measures to
In a series of studies begun in predicted jump in their overall preserve it.” Reminding yourself of
1998, psychologist Robert Emmons feelings of happiness, says Emmons, what you’re grateful for is a
of the University of California at but were also found to spend more technique open to anyone, but
Davis has found further evidence time exercising, be more likely to more sophisticated methods of
that happy people are better at have regular medical checkups, and manipulating happiness are
keeping themselves in good shape. routinely take preventive health showing promise as well. Behavior
Emmons randomly assigned 1,000 actions like wearing sunscreen. therapy and medication, for
adults to one of three groups. The Overall, the “gratitude” group were example, are used mostly to fight
first group kept daily journals of promoting better health. “They depression, but they may also be
their moods and rated them on a rate themselves as more energetic, useful in enhancing happiness.
scale of 1 to 6. The second group more enthusiastic, more alert,” Such positive results gratify
did that and listed the things that Emmons reports. In short, keeping happiness scientists. Thanks to
annoyed or hassled them throughout the diaries contributed to their Keltner, Davidson, and others,
their day. The third group kept a physical and emotional well-being. those findings have gained the
journal but added an activity that Not surprisingly, the advantages field a degree of respectability
has repeatedly been shown to were greatest when compared with that’s long overdue—and that
improve one’s sense of satisfaction the group that focused on life’s ultimately could make all of us a
with life: they were asked to write hassles. “People who are grateful whole lot happier.
down every day all the things for tend to view their body a certain –—From TIME, January 17, 2005

R E S P O N D I N G A N D T H I N K I N G C R ITI CALLY

Respond 5. How is your appreciation of Emerson and Thoreau


affected by the possibility that their optimism may
1. Were you surprised at the findings of the
have been biologically determined?
scientists? Why or why not?

Recall and Interpret Connect


2. What are some reasons given in the article for 6. Pretend that you are either Emerson or Poe and
why happier people live longer? write a letter to the editor agreeing or disagreeing
with the findings in “The Biology of Joy.” Try to
3. (a)Why did Davidson use a monk for his study?
imitate the tone and language of the author you
(b)What other professions or types of people
choose, using the excerpts from “Self-Reliance” on
would also be suitable for his experiment?
pages 183–184 and “The Pit and the Pendulum”
on pages 251–260 as guidelines. Be sure to
Analyze and Evaluate support your conclusions with evidence from the
4. (a)What kinds of evidence does the writer use to article.
support his point? (b)Why is the writer’s choice of
evidence appropriate to his purpose?

192 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M ANTICIS M


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

from Woman in the Nineteenth


Century
M E E T M A RG A R E T F U LLE R

N
ew England socialite, expatriate revolution- opportunities to use their
ary, transcendentalist, author, feminist—all learning. Fuller’s meetings
of these labels describe Margaret Fuller. Born provided an opportunity for
in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, Fuller received an women to discuss their ideas
extensive education in literature, languages, and the and speak their thoughts
arts from her father, Timothy Fuller Jr., a congress- freely. These meetings gave her
man from Massachusetts. She was a very precocious a formidable reputation, and in
child and continued to educate herself after attend- 1840 she was invited to edit The Dial,
ing several local academies. After her father’s sudden a transcendentalist magazine, in which she published
death in 1835, she became responsible for the educa- her essay “The Great Lawsuit.” She later expanded
tion of her eight younger siblings. this essay into her groundbreaking feminist work,
Woman in the Nineteenth Century. Her book reveals
her extensive knowledge of literature and philosophy.
It gained a wide audience and is an impressive argu-
“When people keep telling you that ment for the equal status of women.
you can’t do a thing, you kind of like
Activism Abroad In 1846 Fuller went to Europe as
to try it.” the first female foreign correspondent for the New
—Margaret Fuller York Tribune. While in Rome, she was involved with
Italian aristocrat and revolutionary Giovanni Angelo
Ossoli and eventually had a child with him. Ossoli
was active in the Risorgimento, a movement to over-
Feminist and Intellectual In 1836, Fuller first throw Rome’s papal state and to unify Italy; Fuller
met Ralph Waldo Emerson (page 178) and stayed at vigorously supported the movement. She felt at home
his house in Concord while he was finishing his in Italy and saw the Risorgimento as an opportunity
essay Nature. On first acquaintance he was uninter- for women and the laboring class to gain freedom
ested in Fuller, put off by what he described as her and human rights. When the 1848 revolution broke
“extreme plainness” and her “trick of opening and out, Fuller volunteered in a hospital and sent vivid
shutting her eyelids” and saying that the two would reports home to the Tribune while Ossoli fought. The
“never get far.” Like many who knew her, however, revolution failed, and in 1850 Fuller and Ossoli fled
he soon changed his opinion and developed great to the United States with their infant son, Angelo.
respect for Fuller. He wrote of Fuller, “she has noble Tragically, their ship sank off the coast of New York,
traits and powers and cannot fail of a permanent and all three were killed.
success.” They became close friends, and Fuller Fuller’s life is well summed up by her memorial in
eventually joined his Transcendentalist Club. Cambridge: “in youth an insatiable student . . . in
In 1839 Fuller moved to Boston and began a series of riper years teacher, writer, critic . . . in maturer age . . .
language classes and formal conversations for women earnest reformer in America and Europe.”
on topics such as literature, education, mythology, and Margaret Fuller was born in 1810 and died in 1850.
philosophy. She was described as a dazzling discussion
leader, and these meetings attracted many intellectu-
als and social activists. Though women were some- Author
Author Search
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For more
more about
about
times taught the same subjects as men, they had few Margaret Fuller,gogototowww.literature.glencoe.com.
Author Name, www.glencoe.com.

MAR GAR ET FULLER 193


Getty Images
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W READI NG PREVI EW

Connecting to the Essay Reading Strategy Summarizing


Would you challenge conventional wisdom to express Summarizing is briefly stating the
an unpopular opinion that you held? Consider how main ideas of a selection in your
Margaret Fuller challenges the accepted beliefs of own words and in a logical
her time. sequence. Summarizing what you
have read is an excellent tool for
Building Background understanding and remembering a
Fuller was one of the earliest and most vocal sup- passage. As you read, summarize
porters of women’s rights in the United States. She Fuller’s ideas to better understand
was writing at a time when laws were beginning to this selection.
be changed in order to give women more of an
equal status with men. Shortly before Woman in
the Nineteenth Century was published, for example,
laws were passed in some states allowing married
women to own property separately from their hus-
bands. Fuller’s book laid the groundwork for the
women’s suffrage movement that in 1920 resulted
in the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution,
which guarantees women’s right to vote. Horace
Greeley, publisher of the New York Tribune, called Vocabulary
her book “the ablest, bravest, broadest assertion yet
made of what are termed Woman’s Rights.”
ludicrous (l¯¯¯
oo də krəs) adj. deserving laughter;
foolish; false; p. 196 It would be ludicrous to go
Setting Purposes for Reading camping during this blizzard.

Big Idea Optimism and Individualism commensurate (kə men sər it) adj. equal to;
proportionate; p. 197 Our participation in the
As you read, notice how Fuller’s feminism is an exten-
development of this project was commensurate with
sion of Emerson’s belief in the divinity of the individual.
your own.

Literary Element Thesis arbitrary (ar bə trer´ ē ) adj. of a random or


unreasonable character; p. 197 The organization
A thesis is the main idea of a work of nonfiction. The of the police roadblocks appeared to be arbitrary.
thesis may be stated directly or implied. As you read
this essay, look for the thesis of Fuller’s essay. lot (lot) n. way of life or purpose as determined
by fate; fortune; p. 198 The lot of the poor family
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R19. was full of hardship.
reverence (rev ər əns) n. a feeling of respect or
deep affection; p. 198 The congregation had a
great deal of reverence for their minister.

Interactive Literary Elements


Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

OB J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • summarizing text
• analyzing literary periods • writing an evaluative essay
• recognizing a thesis statement

19 4 U N IT 2 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM
Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS
Margaret Fuller

K nowing that there exists in the minds of


men a tone of feeling toward women as toward
slaves, such as is expressed in the common
phrase, “Tell that to women and children”;
that the infinite soul can only work through
them in already ascertained limits; that the
gift of reason, Man’s highest prerogative,1 is
allotted to them in much lower degree; that
they must be kept from mischief and melan-
choly by being constantly engaged in active
labor, which is to be furnished and directed by
those better able to think, etc., etc.,—we need
not multiply instances, for who can review the
experience of last week without recalling words
which imply, whether in jest or earnest, these
views, or views like these,—knowing this, can
we wonder that many reformers think that
measures are not likely to be taken in behalf
of women, unless their wishes could be pub-
licly represented by women?
“That can never be necessary,” cry the other
side. “All men are privately influenced by
women; each has his wife, sister, or female
friends, and is too much biased2 by these rela-
tions to fail of representing their interests; and, if
this is not enough, let them propose and enforce
their wishes with the pen. The beauty of home
would be destroyed, the delicacy of the sex be

Mr. and Mrs. I. N. Phelps Stokes, 1897. John Singer Sargent. Oil on
1. Prerogative means “right.”
canvas, 841/4 x 393/4 in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
2. Here, biased means “influenced.”
Viewing the Art: What do you think of the different attitudes of
the husband and wife portrayed in this painting? How does her Reading Strategy Summarizing Summarize this state-
attitude compare or contrast with Margaret Fuller’s description ment in your own words.
of the role of women in marriage? Explain.

MAR GAR ET FULLER 195


Bettmann/CORBIS
The Morning Bell (a.k.a. The Old Mill), 1871. Winslow Homer. Oil on canvas,
24 x 381/8 x 1 in. Yale University Art Gallery.
Viewing the Art: What mood does this painting by Winslow Homer evoke? How would you
describe this mood in comparison with the tone of Fuller’s essay?

violated, the dignity of halls of legislation degraded, think it impossible for negresses4 to endure field-
by an attempt to introduce them there. Such duties work, even during pregnancy, or for sempstresses5
are inconsistent with those of a mother;” and then to go through their killing labors.
we have ludicrous pictures of ladies in hysterics at As to the use of the pen, there was quite as
the polls, and senate-chambers filled with cradles. much opposition to Woman’s possessing herself
But if, in reply, we admit as truth that Woman of that help to free agency as there is now to her
seems destined by nature rather for the inner cir- seizing on the rostrum6 or the desk; and she is
cle, we must add that the arrangements of civi- likely to draw, from a permission to plead her
lized life have not been, as yet, such as to secure cause that way, opposite inferences to what
it to her. Her circle, if the duller, is not the qui- might be wished by those who now grant it.
eter. If kept from “excitement,” she is not from As to the possibility of her filling with grace and
drudgery. Not only the Indian squaw carries the dignity any such position, we should think those
burdens of the camp, but the favorites of Louis XIV3 who had seen the great actresses, and heard the
accompany him in his journeys, and the washer- Quaker preachers of modern times, would not
woman stands at her tub, and carries home her doubt that Woman can express publicly the fulness
work at all seasons, and in all states of health. of thought and creation, without losing any of the
Those who think the physical circumstances of peculiar beauty of her sex. What can pollute and
Woman would make a part in the affairs of national tarnish is to act thus from any motive except that
government unsuitable, are by no means those who something needs to be said or done. Woman could
take part in the processions, the songs, the dances
3. Louis XIV was the king of France from 1638–1715.

Vocabulary 4. Negresses is an archaic term for women of black African


descent.
ludicrous (l¯¯¯oodə krəs) adj. deserving laughter;
5. Sempstresses are “seamstresses.”
foolish; false
6. A rostrum is a platform for speakers.

196 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Bettmann/CORBIS
of old religion; no one fancied her delicacy was that Man will always do justice to the interests
impaired by appearing in public for such a cause. of Woman? Can we think that he takes a suffi-
As to her home, she is not likely to leave it ciently discerning and religious view of her
more than she now does for balls, theatres, meet- office and destiny ever to do her justice, except
ings for promoting missions, revival meetings, when prompted by sentiment,—accidentally or
and others to which she flies,7 in hope of an ani- transiently, that is, for the sentiment will vary
mation for her existence commensurate with according to the relations in which he is
what she sees enjoyed by men. Governors of placed? The lover, the poet, the artist, are likely
ladies’-fairs are no less engrossed by such a to view her nobly. The father and the philoso-
charge, than the governor of a state by his; presi- pher have some chance of liberality; the man of
dents of Washingtonian societies8 no less away the world, the legislator for expediency, none.
from home than presidents of conventions. If Under these circumstances, without attaching
men look straitly to it, they will find that, unless importance, in themselves, to the changes
their lives are domestic, those of the women will demanded by the champions of Woman, we hail
not be. A house is no home unless it contain them as signs of the times. We would have every
food and fire for the mind as well as for the body. arbitrary barrier thrown down. We would have
The female Greek, of our day, is as much in the every path laid open to Woman as freely as to
street as the male to cry, “What news?” We Man. Were this done, and a slight temporary
doubt not it was the same in Athens of old. The fermentation12 allowed to subside, we should
women, shut out from the marketplace, made up see crystallizations more pure and of more various
for it at the religious festivals. For human beings beauty. We believe the divine energy would per-
are not so constituted that they can live without vade nature to a degree unknown in the history
expansion. If they do not get it in one way, they of former ages, and that no discordant collision,
must in another, or perish.9 but a ravishing harmony of the spheres,13 would
As to men’s representing women fairly at ensue.
present, while we hear from men who owe to Yet, then and only then will mankind be ripe
their wives not only all that is comfortable or for this, when inward and outward freedom for
graceful, but all that is wise, in the arrangement Woman as much as for Man shall be acknowl-
of their lives, the frequent remark, “You cannot edged as a right, not yielded as a concession. As
reason with a woman,”—when from those of the friend of the Negro assumes that one man
delicacy, nobleness, and poetic culture, falls the cannot by right hold another in bondage, so
contemptuous10 phrase “women and children,” should the friend of Woman assume that Man
and that in no light sally11 of the hour, but in cannot by right lay even well-meant restrictions
works intended to give a permanent statement on Woman. If the Negro be a soul, if the
of the best experiences,—when not one man, in woman be a soul, apparelled in flesh, to one
the million, shall I say? no, not in the hundred Master only are they accountable. There is but
million, can rise above the belief that Woman one law for souls, and, if there is to be an
was made for Man,—when such traits as these
are daily forced upon the attention, can we feel
12. Here, fermentation means “unrest.”
13. Fuller is referring to the ancient belief that the movement
of the stars and planets created a perfect music, known as
“the music of the spheres.”
7. Here, flies means “rushing toward.”
8. Washingtonian societies were patriotic groups similar to Big Idea Optimism and Individualism How does this
today’s Daughters of the American Revolution. statement relate to transcendentalism?
9. Fuller is suggesting here that the women of ancient Greece,
although excluded from male society, were able to find
Literary Element Thesis What details from the essay
alternative modes of expression.
support this statement?
10. Contemptuous means “scornful.”
11. Here, sally means “witty remark.”
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
arbitrary (a r bə trer´ ē) adj. of a random or unreason-
commensurate (kə men sər it) adj. equal to; proportionate able character

MAR GAR ET FULLER 197


interpreter of it, he must come not as man, or intellect. He respected his child, however, too
son of man, but as son of God. much to be an indulgent parent. He called on
Were thought and feeling once so far ele- her for clear judgment, for courage, for honor
vated that Man should esteem himself the and fidelity; in short, for such virtues as he
brother and friend, but nowise14 the lord and knew. In so far as he possessed the keys to the
tutor, of Woman,—were he really bound with wonders of this universe, he allowed free use
her in equal worship,—arrangements as to of them to her, and, by the incentive of a high
function and employment would be of no con- expectation, he forbade, so far as possible,
sequence. What Woman needs is not as a that she should let the privilege lie idle.
woman to act or rule, but as a nature to grow, Thus this child was early led to feel herself
as an intellect to discern, as a soul to live freely a child of the spirit. She took her place easily,
and unimpeded, to unfold such powers as were not only in the world of organized being, but
given her when we left our common home. If in the world of mind. A dignified sense of
fewer talents were given her, yet if allowed the self-dependence was given as all her portion,
free and full employment of these, so that she and she found it a sure anchor. Herself
may render back to the giver his own with securely anchored, her relations with others
usury,15 she will not complain; nay, I dare to say were established with equal security. She was
she will bless and rejoice in her earthly birth- fortunate in a total absence of those charms
place, her earthly lot. Let us consider what which might have drawn to her bewildering
obstructions impede this good era, and what flatteries, and in a strong electric18 nature,
signs give reason to hope that it draws near. which repelled those who did not belong to
I was talking on this subject with her, and attracted those who did. With men
Miranda,16 a woman, who, if any in the world and women her relations were noble,—affec-
could, might speak without heat and bitter- tionate without passion, intellectual without
ness of the position of her sex. Her father was coldness. The world was free to her, and she
a man who cherished no sentimental rever- lived freely in it. Outward adversity came, and
ence for Woman, but a firm belief in the inward conflict; but that faith and self-respect
equality of the sexes. She was his eldest child, had early been awakened which must always
and came to him at an age when he needed a lead, at last, to an outward serenity and an
companion. From the time she could speak inward peace.
and go alone, he addressed her not as a play- Of Miranda I had always thought as an
thing, but as a living mind. Among the few example, that the restraints upon the sex
verses he ever wrote was a copy addressed to were insuperable19 only to those who think
this child, when the first locks were cut from them so, or who noisily strive to break them.
her head; and the reverence expressed on this She had taken a course of her own, and no
occasion for that cherished head, he never man stood in her way. Many of her acts had
belied.17 It was to him the temple of immortal been unusual, but excited no uproar. Few
helped, but none checked her; and the many
men who knew her mind and her life, showed
14. Nowise means “not at all.”
15. Here, usury means “interest.”
to her confidence as to a brother, gentleness
16. Miranda is a fictional character based on Fuller’s own as to a sister. And not only refined, but very
experiences. coarse men approved and aided one in whom
17. Belied means “betrayed” or “misrepresented.” they saw resolution and clearness of design.
Reading Strategy Summarizing Summarize this Her mind was often the leading one, always
statement in your own words. effective. 

Vocabulary
18. Here, electric means “exciting.”
lot (lot) n. way of life or purpose as determined by fate; 19. Insuperable means “insurmountable.”
fortune
reverence (rev ər əns) n. a feeling of respect or deep Big Idea Optimism and Individualism How is this
affection statement similar to Emerson’s ideas in “Self-Reliance”?

198 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Which of Fuller’s arguments do you find most 5. (a)Why do you think Fuller presents opposing view-
convincing? Explain. points throughout the essay? (b)How effective is
her use of this rhetorical device?
Recall and Interpret
6. Fuller makes an analogy between the plight of
2. (a)Fuller says that women are kept from excite-
women and that of enslaved African Americans. Is
ment. In her judgment, what are they not kept
this a valid analogy? Why or why not?
from? (b)Based on this judgment, what can you
infer about the true motives of those opposed to 7. (a)Why do you think Fuller introduces Miranda into
women’s rights? this essay? (b)Does Miranda help advance Fuller’s
arguments? Explain.
3. (a)What are two examples that Fuller gives of
women who fill public positions with “grace and Connect
dignity”? (b)How do these examples strengthen
Fuller’s argument? 8. Big Idea Optimism and Individualism How
does Fuller’s feminism draw on the transcendental-
4. (a)How do men respond to Miranda? (b)What is ist belief in optimism and individualism?
the reason for their response, and what does it
suggest about women’s education?

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Thesis Reading Strategy Summarizing


The thesis statement in a nonfiction piece may be Summarizing can help you come to a conclusion
stated directly, or it may be implied. Writers often about an author’s beliefs. Briefly summarize the main
state the thesis in the opening paragraph. However, if ideas of this essay. On the basis on your summary,
the thesis is implied, the reader must closely examine state two of Fuller’s beliefs.
the facts, details, and rhetorical devices used by the
author to determine the thesis statement.
Vocabulary Practice
1. What is the thesis of this essay?
Practice with Analogies Choose the word pair
2. Is Fuller’s thesis stated directly or implied? that best completes the analogy.
1. arbitrary : logical ::
a. practical : instructions d. perfect : flawed
Writing About Literature b. anxious : nervous e. cautious : timid
Evaluate Contemporary Relevance Fuller says, “We c. cancer : disease
would have every arbitrary barrier thrown down. We 2. ludicrous : buffoon ::
would have every path laid open to Woman as freely a. word : language d. canoe : boat
as to Man.” Is this goal still relevant today? Write a brief b. festive : celebration e. captive : free
essay in which you assess Fuller’s goal in light of con- c. odd : strange
temporary relationships between men and women.
3. reverence : minister ::
a. fairness : injustice d. despair : comedian
b. scorn : fool e. schedule : agenda
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
c. page : book
www.glencoe.com.

MAR GAR ET FULLER 199


LITER ARY H I STORY

The Fireside Poets

I
N THE MID-1800s, A GROUP OF HIGHLY
popular American writers became known as the
“Fireside Poets” because it was thought that
families often sat by the fire and read or recited their
poems aloud. Eager to help establish a truly national
literature, these poets frequently created vivid pictures
of the New England countryside in their lyrics or of
famous events from American history in their
narrative poems.

William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878) was the oldest


of the Fireside Poets. Though his background was
Puritan, Bryant was influenced by the English
Romantic poets, such as William Wordsworth. He
was the first to portray the American landscape in
words. In such famous poems as “To a Waterfowl”
and “To the Fringed Gentian,” Bryant wrote of the
wildlife he encountered while he was hiking through
the Berkshire Mountains in western Massachusetts. USS Constitution vs. HMS Guerriere, c. 1813. Attributed to Thomas
Birch. Oil on canvas. US Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, MD.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) entered
Bowdoin College at the age of fifteen and graduated
in the same class as Nathaniel Hawthorne. In his Among his best-known poems are “The Chambered
poetry, such as the narrative poems Evangeline and The Nautilus” and “Old Ironsides,” the nickname for the
Song of Hiawatha, he mythologized the American past famous American warship, the USS Constitution.
by using rhyme and simple verse. Tales of a Wayside Rumors that the ship was about to be scrapped
Inn (1863), a collection of stories in verse supposedly inspired Holmes’s poem, which roused public
told by various people at an inn, includes one of sentiment in support of saving it.
Longfellow’s best known poems, “Paul Revere’s Ride.”
He was the first American to have a bust placed in James Russell Lowell (1819–1891) objected to
the Poet’s Corner of England’s Westminster Abbey. slavery and the war with Mexico. In 1846 the first
of The Biglow Papers, his antislavery and antiwar
John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892) came from poetry series, was published to great acclaim. Lowell
a poor Quaker farm family. His first book, Legends created the voice of a rural Yankee, Hosea Biglow,
of New England, was published in 1831, but he who expressed Lowell’s views with wit and humor.
became nationally famous with the work Snow-Bound, Lowell became the first editor of the Atlantic
published in 1866. “Storytelling was a necessary Monthly in 1857.
resource in the long winter evenings,” Whittier
wrote, and Snow-Bound tells of a family isolated Americans responded enthusiastically to the Fireside
and telling stories during a storm. Whittier was Poets, in part because their works celebrated the
devoted to the abolitionist movement, and much values of ordinary people—regard for hard work,
of his poetry, including “The Hunters of Men” and respect for family, courage in the face of danger, love
“Massachusetts to Virginia,” reflects his stance of one’s country, and love of nature. Because
against racism and slavery. Americans also believed that these writers were the
equals of the British poets of the time, they became
Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809–1894) studied both more confident about the future of their country’s
law and medicine but opted for a medical career. culture.

200 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Bettmann/CORBIS
To the Fringed Gentian Old Ironsides
William Cullen Bryant Oliver Wendell Holmes
Thou blossom bright with autumn dew, Ay, tear her tattered ensign down!
And colored with the heaven’s own blue, Long has it waved on high,
That openest when the quiet light And many an eye has danced to see
Succeeds the keen and frosty night— That banner in the sky;
5 Beneath it rung the battle shout,
5 Thou comest not when violets lean
And burst the cannon’s roar; —
O’er wandering brooks and springs unseen,
The meteor of the ocean air
Or columbines, in purple dressed,
Shall sweep the clouds no more.
Nod o’er the ground-bird’s hidden nest.
Her deck, once red with heroes’ blood,
Thou waitest late and com’st alone,
10 Where knelt the vanquished foe,
10 When woods are bare and birds are flown,
When winds were hurrying o’er the flood,
And frosts and shortening days portend
And waves were white below,
The aged year is near his end.
No more shall feel the victor’s tread,
Then doth thy sweet and quiet eye Or know the conquered knee; —
Look through its fringes to the sky, 15 The harpies of the shore shall pluck
15 Blue—blue—as if that sky let fall The eagle of the sea!
A flower from its cerulean wall. Oh, better that her shattered hulk
I would that thus, when I shall see Should sink beneath the wave;
The hour of death draw near to me, Her thunders shook the mighty deep,
Hope, blossoming within my heart, 20 And there should be her grave;
20 May look to heaven as I depart. Nail to the mast her holy flag,
Set every threadbare sail,
And give her to the god of storms,
The lightning and the gale!

Literary History For more about


the Fireside Poets, go to www.glencoe.com.

R ES P O N D I N G AN D TH I N K I N G C R ITI CALLY
1. What does the speaker in “To the Fringed Gentian” 3. According to the speaker in “Old Ironsides,” what
describe in lines 9–12? What do these lines add to events have taken place on the ship? What does his
your understanding of the speaker’s attitude towards description of these events suggest about his attitude
the gentian? towards Old Ironsides?
2. How does Bryant use personification in lines 13 and 4. In “Old Ironsides,” explain the terms of the metaphor
14? How do these lines relate to the end of the in lines 15–16.
poem?

O B J EC TIVES
• Analyze literary periods • Analyze figurative language
• Draw conclusions about a speaker’s attitudes

LITERARY HISTO RY 201


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

from Walden
M E E T H E N RY DAV I D T H O R E AU life occurred in
1845, when he

A
built a cabin on
lthough he is best known for his simple
land that Emerson
lifestyle at Walden Pond, Henry David
owned at Walden
Thoreau was a complex man: opinionated,
Pond near Concord.
cranky, nonconformist, compassionate, and subtly
Thoreau lived there
humorous. He was an unconventional thinker who
for more than two
expressed his ideas about major issues such as war,
years spending most of
slavery, wealth, taxes, friendship, vegetarianism,
his time reading, writing
and the lessons that nature can teach, yet he also
(including his most famous
wrote about topics as simple as hoeing his garden
book, Walden), observing
and walking in the woods. Much of what Thoreau
nature, and meditating.
did, thought about, or saw—and he was a keen
observer—later took the form of a journal entry, Thoreau was deeply affected by his brother’s
an essay, or part of a book. death in 1842, and three years later decided to
write an account of a camping and canoeing
Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts,
trip they had taken, referring to notes he had
and lived there most of his life. He graduated
made along the way. The account became his
from Harvard University in 1837 and took a
first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack
teaching job at his old grammar school. However,
Rivers, written during his time at Walden Pond
he refused to physically discipline his students and
and published in 1849. The publisher returned
quickly resigned. Thoreau founded a progressive
the unsold copies, prompting Thoreau to later
school with his brother John in Concord the
observe, “I now have a library of nearly nine
next year. Although the school was successful,
hundred volumes, over seven hundred of which
it had to close in 1841 because of his brother’s
I wrote myself.”
poor health.
Thoreau’s most famous book, Walden, or, Life in the
Woods, was first published in 1854 and over time
has become a classic. In Walden we learn what
“In Wildness is the preservation of Thoreau considered most important in life. For
the world.” example, he thought that most people spend too
much time working to afford luxuries and do not
—Thoreau, Walking take time to truly experience life. Walden also
reflects a changing New England and Thoreau’s
response to industrialization. Most importantly,
through Walden and his other works, Thoreau
Life in the Woods While at Harvard, Thoreau helped inspire a long tradition of nature writing in
was influenced by the works of Ralph Waldo the United States. He remains an inspiration for
Emerson, and the two men became friends. From environmentalists everywhere.
1841 to 1843, Thoreau lived with the Emerson
Henry David Thoreau was born in 1817 and died
family, assisting as a handyman. During this time
in 1862.
he contributed a variety of works to The Dial, a
Transcendentalist magazine, including poetry,
literary essays, and the first of his nature essays. Author Search For more about
The act that probably most changed Thoreau’s Henry David Thoreau, go to www.glencoe.com.

202 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Hulton Archive/Getty Images
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Essay Reading Strategy Connecting


Do you ever wish for a life with fewer distractions Connecting to personal experience means relating
and complications? In these excerpts from Walden, what you read to your own life. As you read, look for
Thoreau discusses his reasons for leaving the city connections between Thoreau’s observations and your
to live in the woods. Think about the following questions: own experiences and list ones that you find.

• What are the unimportant details in your life?


• What is really important to you? Vocabulary

Building Background deliberately (di lib ər it lē) adv. in a careful,


Thoreau lived in a rugged cabin that measured ten feet thoughtful way; p. 204 Thoreau deliberately
by fifteen feet at Walden Pond for two years, two nailed in place the roof to his cabin.
months, and two days. The cabin, which he built him- resignation (rez´ i nā shən) n. unresisting
self, was simple and sturdy, with plastered walls and a acceptance; submission; p. 204 He practiced
shingled roof. His equipment consisted of an ax, two calm resignation to life’s troubles.
knives and a fork, three plates, one cup, one spoon, a
jug for oil, a jug for molasses, and one lamp. He made sublime (səb l¯ m ) adj. of great spiritual or
his own furniture, including a bed, table, desk, and three intellectual value; noble; p. 204 To Emerson,
chairs. At Walden, Thoreau devoted himself to observing intuition was a sublime power.
the seasons, the animals, the plants and to writing his rudiment (r¯¯¯
oo də mənt) n. an imperfect or
journals; however, he was not a hermit. Thoreau was undeveloped part; p. 205 Though the rudi-
able to visit his relatives and friends nearly every day, ments of the plan look interesting, it needs more
since the pond was only a mile from Concord. elaboration and detail.

Setting Purposes for Reading myriad (mir ē əd) adj. countless, innumera-
ble; p. 205 There were myriad efforts to
Big Idea Kinship with Nature improve society during the Age of Reform.
As you read, look for the ways in which Thoreau stresses
the importance of a close relationship with nature. Vocabulary Tip: Context Clues When you
come across an unfamiliar word, examine its
context—the surrounding words and sentences—
Literary Element Metaphor
for clues to its meaning. One familiar type of
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares or context clue, known as contrast, provides a
equates two seemingly unlike things. In contrast to a word or phrase that is opposite in meaning to
simile, a metaphor implies the comparison instead of the unfamiliar word, as in the following example:
stating it directly, and does not use the connectives like “One is enough . . . what do you care for a
or as. For example, Thoreau uses the metaphor “this myriad” (p. 205).
chopping sea of civilized life” to suggest the perils and
difficulties of modern living. As you read, identify other
metaphors that Thoreau uses to convey his ideas.

• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R11.

Interactive Literary Elements


Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • connecting to personal experience
• analyzing literary periods • analyzing metaphors

HENRY DAVID THO REAU 20 3


Farrell Grehan/CORBIS
Henry David Thoreau

from proved to be mean,4 why then to get the whole


Where I Lived and What I Lived For and genuine meanness of it, and publish its
meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to
I went to the woods because I wished to live know it by experience, and be able to give a true
deliberately, to front only the essential facts of account of it in my next excursion. For most
life, and see if I could not learn what it had to men, it appears to me, are in a strange uncer-
teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that tainty about it, whether it is of the devil or of
I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was God, and have somewhat hastily concluded that it
not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to prac- is the chief end of man here to “glorify God and
tice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I enjoy him forever.”
wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow1 Still we live meanly, like ants; though the
of life, to live so sturdily and Spartanlike2 as to fable tells us that we were long ago changed into
put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad men;5 like pygmies we fight with cranes;6 it is
swath and shave close,3 to drive life into a cor- error upon error, and clout upon clout, and our
ner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it best virtue has for its occasion a superfluous and
evitable7 wretchedness. Our life is frittered away
1. Marrow is the soft tissue inside bones. It also means “the by detail. An honest man has hardly need to
best or most essential part.” count more than his ten fingers, or in extreme
2. Spartans were inhabitants of the ancient Greek city-state
of Sparta. Spartanlike means simple, economical, and
disciplined.
4. Here, mean means “of little importance, worth, or
3. [to cut . . . close] means “to gather as much of the essence
consequence” or “ignoble.”
of life as possible.”
5. The fable referred to is a Greek myth in which Zeus changes
Reading Strategy Connecting In what ways might ants into men.
people today “live what [is] not life”? 6. In Homer’s Iliad, the Trojans are compared to cranes battling
pygmies.
7. Evitable means “avoidable.”
Vocabulary
deliberately (di lib ər it lē) adj. in a careful, thoughtful way Vocabulary
resignation (rez´ i nā shən) n. unresisting acceptance; sublime (səb l¯m) adj. of great spiritual or intellectual
submission value; noble

204 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Farrell Grehan/CORBIS
cases he may add his ten toes, and lump the rest. thing new that has happened to a man any where
Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your on this globe,”—and he reads it over his coffee and
affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a rolls, that a man has had his eyes gouged out this
thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, morning on the Wachito River;11 never dreaming
and keep your accounts on your thumb nail. In the while that he lives in the dark unfathomed
the midst of this chopping sea of civilized life, mammoth cave of this world, and has but the
such are the clouds and storms and quicksands rudiment of an eye himself.
and thousand-and-one items to be allowed for, For my part, I could easily do without the post-
that a man has to live, if he would not founder8 office. I think that there are very few important
and go to the bottom and not make his port at communications made through it. To speak criti-
all, by dead reckoning,9 and he must be a great cally, I never received more than one or two letters
calculator indeed who succeeds. Simplify, sim- in my life—I wrote this some years ago—that were
plify. Instead of three meals a day, if it be neces- worth the postage. The penny-post is, commonly,
sary eat but one; instead of a hundred dishes, five; an institution through which you seriously offer a
and reduce other things in proportion. . . . man that penny for his thoughts which is so often
Why should we live with such hurry and waste of safely offered in jest. And I am sure that I never
life? We are determined to be starved before we are read any memorable news in a newspaper. If we
hungry. Men say that a stitch in time saves nine, read of one man robbed, or murdered, or killed by
and so they take a thousand stitches today to save accident, or one house burned, or one vessel
nine tomorrow. As for work, we haven’t any of any wrecked, or one steamboat blown up, or one cow
consequence. We have the Saint Vitus’ dance,10 and run over on the Western Railroad, or one mad dog
cannot possibly keep our heads still. If I should only killed, or one lot of grasshoppers in the winter,—we
give a few pulls at the parish bell-rope, as for a fire, never need read of another. One is enough. If you
that is, without setting the bell, there is hardly a are acquainted with the principle, what do you care
man on his farm in the outskirts of Concord, not- for a myriad instances and applications? . . .
withstanding that press of engagements which was Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at
his excuse so many times this morning, nor a boy, it; but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and
nor a woman, I might almost say, but would forsake detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away,
all and follow that sound, not mainly to save prop- but eternity remains. I would drink deeper; fish in
erty from the flames, but, if we will confess the the sky, whose bottom is pebbly with stars. I cannot
truth, much more to see it burn, since burn it must, count one. I know not the first letter of the alpha-
and we, be it known, did not set it on fire,—or to bet. I have always been regretting that I was not as
see it put out, and have a hand in it, if that is done wise as the day I was born. The intellect is a cleaver;
as handsomely; yes, even if it were the parish church it discerns and rifts its way into the secret of things.
itself. Hardly a man takes a half hour’s nap after din- I do not wish to be any more busy with my hands
ner, but when he wakes he holds up his head and than is necessary. My head is hands and feet. I feel
asks, “What’s the news?” as if the rest of mankind
had stood his sentinels. Some give directions to be 11. The Wachito River (now called the Ouachita) flows from
waked every half hour, doubtless for no other pur- southern Arkansas into northern Louisiana. People in
pose; and then, to pay for it, they tell what they Thoreau’s time thought that criminals went to that region
have dreamed. After a night’s sleep the news is as to escape from the law.

indispensable as the breakfast. “Pray tell me any Literary Element Metaphor What comparison is Thoreau
making here?

8. Founder means “to sink, as a boat.”


9. Dead reckoning is a method of navigation used by sailors Reading Strategy Connecting Do you think Thoreau’s
when the stars cannot be seen. arguments against mail and news are relevant today?
10. Saint Vitus’ dance is a nervous disorder characterized by
involuntary twitching of the muscles in the face, arms, Vocabulary
and legs.
rudiment (r¯¯¯
oo də mənt) n. an imperfect or undevel-
Reading Strategy Connecting In what ways might you oped part
say people today have the “Saint Vitus’ dance”? myriad (mir ē əd) adj. countless; innumerable

HENRY D AV ID T HO REAU 205


A Cabin on Greenwood Lake, 1879.
Jasper Francis Cropsey. Oil on canvas,
23.3 x 41.4 cm. Private collection.
Viewing the Art: How might your own
life be simpler if you lived in a cabin
like this one?

pines, into a larger wood about


the swamp. There, in a very
secluded and shaded spot,
under a spreading white pine,
there was yet a clean firm
sward13 to sit on. I had dug out
the spring and made a well of
clear gray water, where I could
dip up a pailful without roiling
it, and thither I went for this
purpose almost every day in
all my best faculties concentrated in it. My instinct mid-summer, when the pond was warmest.
tells me that my head is an organ for burrowing, as Thither too the woodcock led her brood, to probe
some creatures use their snout and fore-paws, and the mud for worms, flying but a foot above them
with it I would mine and burrow my way through down the bank, while they ran in a troop beneath;
these hills. I think that the richest vein is some- but at last, spying me, she would leave her young
where hereabouts; so by the divining rod12 and thin and circle round and round me, nearer and nearer
rising vapors I judge; and here I will begin to mine. till within four or five feet, pretending broken
wings and legs, to attract my attention, and get off
her young, who would already have taken up their
from march, with faint wiry peep, single file through
Brute Neighbors the swamp, as she directed. Or I heard the peep of
It is remarkable how many creatures live wild and the young when I could not see the parent bird.
free though secret in the woods, and still sustain There too the turtle-doves sat over the spring, or
themselves in the neighborhood of towns, sus- fluttered from bough to bough of the soft white
pected by hunters only. How retired the otter pines over my head; or the red squirrel, coursing
manages to live here! He grows to be four feet down the nearest bough, was particularly familiar
long, as big as a small boy, perhaps without any and inquisitive. You only need sit still long
human being getting a glimpse of him. I formerly enough in some attractive spot in the woods that
saw the raccoon in the woods behind where my all its inhabitants may exhibit themselves to you
house is built, and probably still heard their whin- by turns.
nering at night. Commonly I rested an hour or I was witness to events of a less peaceful charac-
two in the shade at noon, after planting, and ate ter. One day when I went out to my wood pile, or
my lunch, and read a little by a spring which was rather my pile of stumps, I observed two large ants,
the source of a swamp and of a brook, oozing from the one red, the other much larger, nearly half an
under Brister’s Hill, half a mile from my field. The inch long, and black, fiercely contending with one
approach to this was through a succession of another. Having once got hold they never let go,
descending grassy hollows, full of young pitch but struggled and wrestled and rolled on the
chips incessantly. Looking farther, I was surprised
12. A divining rod is a forked stick believed to indicate the
presence of underground minerals or water. 13. Sward means a grassy piece of land.

Big Idea Kinship with Nature Why does Thoreau make Big Idea Kinship with Nature How would you compare
this comment about the relationship between people and this suggestion with Thoreau’s comments in the chapter
nature? “Where I Lived and What I Lived For”?

206 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Christie’s Images
to find that the chips were covered with such nourished his wrath apart, and had now come
combatants, that it was not a duellum, but a bel- to avenge or rescue his Patroclus.17 He saw
lum, a war between two races of ants, the red this unequal combat from afar—for the blacks
always pitted against the black, and frequently were nearly twice the size of the red—he drew
two red ones to one black. The legions of these near with rapid pace till he stood on his guard
Myrmidons14 covered all the hills and vales in within half an inch of the combatants; then,
my wood-yard, and the ground was already watching his opportunity, he sprang upon the
strewn with the dead and dying, both red and black warrior, and commenced his operations
black. It was the only battle which I have ever near the root of his right foreleg, leaving the
witnessed, the only battlefield I ever trod while foe to select among his own members; and so
the battle was raging; internecine15 war; the red there were three united for life, as if a new
republicans on the one hand, and the black kind of attraction had been invented which
imperialists on the other. On every side they put all other locks and cements to shame. I
were engaged in deadly combat, yet without should not have wondered by this time to find
any noise that I could hear, and human sol- that they had their respective musical bands
diers never fought so resolutely. I watched a stationed on some eminent chip, and playing
couple that were fast locked in each other’s their national airs the while, to excite the
embraces, in a little sunny valley amid the slow and cheer the dying combatants. I was
chips, now at noonday prepared to fight till myself excited somewhat even as if they had
the sun went down, or life went out. The been men. The more you think of it, the less
smaller red champion had fastened himself the difference. And certainly there is not the
like a vice to his adversary’s front, and fight recorded in Concord history, at least, if
through all the tumblings on that field never in the history of America, that will bear a
for an instant ceased to gnaw at one of his moment’s comparison with this, whether for
feelers near the root, having already caused the numbers engaged in it, or for the patrio-
the other to go by the board; while the stron- tism and heroism displayed. For numbers and
ger black one dashed him from side to side, for carnage it was an Austerlitz or Dresden.18
and, as I saw on looking nearer, had already Concord Fight! Two killed on the patriots’
divested him of several of his members. They side, and Luther Blanchard wounded! Why
fought with more pertinacity than bulldogs. here every ant was a Buttrick—“Fire! for
Neither manifested the least disposition to God’s sake fire!”—and thousands shared the
retreat. It was evident that their battle-cry fate of Davis and Hosmer.19 There was not
was Conquer or die. In the meanwhile there one hireling there. I have no doubt that it
came along a single red ant on the hillside of was a principle they fought for, as much as our
this valley, evidently full of excitement, who ancestors, and not to avoid a three-penny tax
either had despatched his foe, or had not yet
taken part in the battle; probably the latter,
for he had lost none of his limbs; whose mother had 17. Patroclus was Achilles’ cousin and constant companion.
18. Austerlitz refers to the Battle of Austerlitz, which occurred on
charged him to return with his shield or upon it. Or
December 2, 1805 and was one of Napoleon’s greatest
perchance he was some Achilles,16 who had victories. Dresden refers to the Battle of Dresden, Napoleon’s
last big victory over Germany. It was fought on August 26
and 27, 1813. Concord refers to the Battle of Concord, April
14. The Myrmidons were a legendary group of Thessalians who 19, 1775, which was one of the opening battles of the
followed their king, Achilles, in the Trojan War. In modern American Revolutionary War.
English, Myrmidon can refer to any devoted, unquestioning 19. Luther Blanchard was a fifer who was killed at the Battle
follower. of Concord. Buttrick refers to Major John Buttrick, an
15. Internecine means “deadly” or “marked by destruction.” American commander at Concord. Davis and Hosmer refer
16. In Greek mythology, Achilles was king of the Myrmidons. to Captain Isaac Davis and Abner Hosmer, two American
A handsome warrior reknowned for his bravery and soldiers who died at the Battle of Concord.
greatness, he died in battle during the Trojan War.
Literary Element Metaphor How effective is this
Reading Strategy Connecting What other events among extended metaphor comparing the battling ants to human
animals might you compare to events among people? warfare?

HENRY D AV ID T HO REAU 207


on their tea;20 and the results of this battle will from
be as important and memorable to those whom it Conclusion
concerns as those of the battle of Bunker Hill,21
at least. . . . I left the woods for as good a reason as I
I took up the chip on which the three I have went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had
particularly described were struggling, carried it several more lives to live, and could not spare
into my house, and placed it under a tumbler on any more time for that one. It is remarkable
my window sill, in order to see the issue. Holding how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular
a microscope to the first-mentioned red ant, I route, and make a beaten track for ourselves. I
saw that, though he was assiduously gnawing at had not lived there a week before my feet wore
the near foreleg of his enemy, having severed his a path from my door to the pond-side; and
remaining feeler, his own breast was all torn though it is five or six years since I trod it, it is
away, exposing what vitals he had there to the still quite distinct. It is true, I fear that others
jaws of the black warrior, whose breastplate was may have fallen into it, and so helped to keep
apparently too thick for him to pierce; and the it open. The surface of the earth is soft and
dark carbuncles22 of the sufferer’s eyes shone with impressible by the feet of men; and so with the
ferocity such as war only could excite. They paths which the mind travels. How worn and
struggled half an hour longer under the tumbler, dusty, then, must be the highways of the world,
and when I looked again the black soldier had how deep the ruts of tradition and conformity!
severed the heads of his foes from their bodies, I did not wish to take a cabin passage,24 but
and the still living heads were hanging on either rather to go before the mast and on the deck of
side of him like ghastly trophies at his saddle- the world, for there I could best see the moon-
bow, still apparently as firmly fastened as ever, light amid the mountains. I do not wish to go
and he was endeavoring with feeble struggles, below now.
being without feelers and with only the remnant of I learned this, at least, by my experiment;
a leg, and I know not how many other wounds, to that if one advances confidently in the direc-
divest himself of them; which at length, after half tion of his dreams, and endeavors to live the
an hour more, he accomplished. I raised the glass, life which he has imagined, he will meet with
and he went off over the window sill in that crip- a success unexpected in common hours. He
pled state. Whether he finally survived that combat, will put some things behind, will pass an
and spent the remainder of his days in some Hôtel invisible boundary; new, universal, and more
des Invalides,23 I do not know; but I thought that liberal laws will begin to establish themselves
his industry would not be worth much thereafter. I around and within him; or the old laws be
never learned which party was victorious, nor the expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a
cause of the war; but I felt for the rest of that day as more liberal sense, and he will live with the
if I had had my feelings excited and harrowed by license of a higher order of beings. In propor-
witnessing the struggle, the ferocity and carnage, of tion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the
a human battle before my door. universe will appear less complex, and solitude
will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor
weakness weakness. If you have built castles in
20. Three-penny tax on their tea refers to the tea tax portion of the the air, your work need not be lost; that is
Townshend Acts, passed by the English Parliament in 1767 and where they should be. Now put the founda-
designed to collect revenue from the American colonies. After
tions under them. . . . 
protest from the colonists, the Townshend Acts were repealed
in 1770, but the tea tax remained in place. That tax required a
payment of three pennies per pound of imported tea. 24. A person who took a cabin passage on a sailing ship would
21. Bunker Hill was the first major battle of the American travel in a private compartment, sheltered from the weather.
Revolutionary War. It was fought in Charlestown (now
Boston, Massachusetts) on June 17, 1775. Literary Element Metaphor Why might Thoreau have
22. Here, carbuncle means a type of red precious stone. chosen to use this metaphor?
23. The Hôtel des Invalides is a famous complex in Paris,
France. Louis XIV founded the hospital to accommodate Reading Strategy Connecting How might you apply
7,000 elderly or injured veterans. Today, it houses several
Thoreau’s advice in your own life?
museums and a church.

208 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


A F TE R YO U R E A D

RESP ON DI NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. With which of Thoreau’s ideas do you strongly 5. (a)How does Thoreau characterize the animals he
agree? With which ideas do you strongly disagree? observes? (b)Do you agree with his observations?

Recall and Interpret 6. (a)Why does Thoreau insist that people need to
simplify their lives? (b)Is he a credible speaker on
2. (a)What did Thoreau hope to do at Walden?
this topic? Explain.
(b)How could being at Walden help him achieve
his goal? 7. (a)What is Thoreau’s central message in Walden?
(b)Does Thoreau’s decision to leave Walden affect
3. (a) What are Thoreau’s views of the news and the
your evaluation of his message?
mail? (b)What do these views tell you about his
values? Connect
4. (a)Summarize the battle between the ants that 8. Big Idea Kinship with Nature (a)What does
Thoreau describes. (b)Why do you think he Thoreau learn at Walden? (b)What role does
becomes so fascinated with this battle? nature play in what he learns?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R EAD I N G AN D VO CAB U L ARY

Literary Element Metaphor Reading Strategy Connecting


Thoreau frequently uses metaphor and other Connecting to Personal Experience Although
types of figurative language to help convey his Thoreau lived in the 1800s, his message remains
ideas. For example, the metaphor “Time is but the relevant. What are some of the things that surround
stream I go a-fishing in” (p. 205) compares time us in the United States today about which Thoreau
to a stream, suggesting that one moment follows might cry, “Simplify, simplify”?
another in an uninterrupted flow. Sometimes,
Thoreau develops a metaphor throughout an
entire paragraph—a technique called extended Vocabulary Practice
metaphor. Practice with Context Clues Choose the best
1. Why does Thoreau say he goes “a-fishing” meaning for each vocabulary word from Walden.
in time? 1. Trying not to jostle the ants, Thoreau
2. Give an example of another metaphor from deliberately picked up the chip on which
the reading. they were fighting.
a. carelessly c. carefully
b. forcefully d. contemplatively
Listening and Speaking 2. Realizing his own guilt, the prisoner bowed his
Guest Speaker Thoreau earned money and head and listened with resignation as the
spread his ideas by giving lectures to local groups. verdict was read.
Write and deliver a lecture that Thoreau might have a. anger c. disbelief
given to high school students in which he explains b. acceptance d. amazement
his ideas about nature, materialism, and progress. 3. Mozart’s music seems sublime, as if created by
Include examples from Walden. a higher power.
a. heavenly c. quiet
b. loud d. bizarre
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

HENRY DAVID THO REAU 20 9


Comparing Literature Across Time and Place

Connecting to the Reading Selections


How far would you go to carry out your principles, beliefs, or values? The three writers com-
pared here—Henry David Thoreau, Mohandas K. Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela—took a stand
against injustice. In the following selections, they speak out against the oppression they
witnessed during their lifetimes.

Henry David Thoreau


from Civil Disobedience ................................................. essay .................. 212
The highest duty of a citizen
United States, 1848

Mohandas K. Gandhi
On the Eve of Historic
Dandi March ..................................................................... speech .................. 218
Nonviolent resistance—a tool for social justice
India, 1930

Nelson Mandela
from Long Walk to Freedom ..................... autobiography ................220
A society transformed through sacrifice and commitment
South Africa, 1994

COM PAR I NG TH E Big Idea Optimism and Individualism


Some of the major American Romantic writers celebrated the spirit of individualism and opti-
mism. Thoreau, for instance, believed that ordinary citizens can better themselves, their political
system, and their society. Gandhi and Mandela, reformers from other cultures and eras, shared
Thoreau’s belief in the power of the individual to bring about change peacefully.

COM PAR I NG Persuasive Messages


To bring about reform, Thoreau, Gandhi, and Mandela swayed audiences to share their views,
gain their support, or rally them to take action. Each of these leaders used nonviolent methods
to convey his message with clarity and force.

COM PAR I NG Cultures


Thoreau, Gandhi, and Mandela belonged to different cultures and fought injustices that were
unique to their surroundings. Social and historical circumstances presented each of them with
distinct challenges. In meeting those challenges, they left their mark on their particular cultures—
and changed the course of history.

210 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


(t)George Caleb Bingham/Private Collection/Bridgeman Art Library, (c)Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, NY, (b)David Turnley/CORBIS
B E FO R E YO U R E A D Civil Disobedience
LITE R ATU R E P R EVI EW R EAD I N G P R E VI E W

Connecting to the Essay Reading Strategy Evaluating Evidence


Would you risk being put in jail to stand up for some- One way of evaluating the evidence presented in an
thing you believe in? In his essay, Thoreau reflects on argument is to distinguish between facts and opinions.
his choice to disobey the law. As you read the essay, Facts are statements that can be proved true, while
think about the following questions: opinions are statements that are based on personal
beliefs. As you read “Civil Disobedience,” ask yourself
• What is the basic purpose of government? these questions:
• How much power should government have
over citizens’ lives? • Do the facts seem relevant, reliable, and accurate?
Building Background • Do the opinions seem based on facts and thought-
ful observations?
Thoreau’s refusal to pay a tax led to his arrest—and
interrupted his stay at Walden Pond. Thoreau’s action Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart to list key
was a protest against the U.S. war with Mexico, which facts and opinions in Thoreau’s essay.
took place between 1846 and 1848. He believed the
government was fighting the war solely to expand terri-
tory and that it would lead to the expansion of slavery. Facts Opinions
In “Civil Disobedience” he reflects on the night he “I have paid no “That government is
spent in jail for refusing to pay the tax and criticizes poll-tax for six years.” best which governs
the government for straying from its true purpose—to (relevant least.” (unsupported
serve the people. information) judgment)
Setting Purposes for Reading
Big Idea Optimism and Individualism
Thoreau’s outlook reflected the Romantic spirit of opti- Vocabulary
mism and individualism—the belief that ordinary citi- din (din) n. loud, continuous noise; p. 212
zens could better themselves, their political system, The din of construction work kept me from
and their society. As you read, notice how Thoreau concentrating.
opposed limitations on personal freedom.
alacrity (ə lak rə tē) n. speed; swiftness; p. 212
The soccer player’s alacrity surprised the defense.
Literary Element Argument
expedient (ek spē dē ənt) adj. convenient or
An argument is a form of persuasion that uses logic,
efficient for a certain purpose; p. 213 In
reasons, and evidence to influence an audience’s
Thoreau’s era, the railroad was the most expedient
ideas or actions. For example, in “Civil Disobedience,”
means of traveling from Boston to New York.
Thoreau argues for limiting the power of government.
As you read Thoreau’s essay, analyze how he develops blunder (blun dər) n. a serious error or mistake
his argument through various persuasive techniques. resulting from carelessness or confusion;
p. 214 The police’s blunder allowed the criminal to
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R2. escape through the back door.
sanction (sank shən) n. approval or support;
p. 216 The troops awaited sanction from their
commanding officer before continuing their mission.

Interactive Literary Elements


Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

H E NRY D AV I D T HO R E AU 211
Henry David Thoreau

I heartily accept the motto, “That government This American government—what is it but a tra-
is best which governs least”; and I should like to dition, though a recent one, endeavoring to trans-
see it acted up to more rapidly and systemati- mit itself unimpaired to posterity,2 but each instant
cally. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, losing some of its integrity? It has not the vitality
which also I believe—“That government is best and force of a single living man; for a single man
which governs not at all”; and when men are can bend it to his will. It is a sort of wooden gun to
prepared for it, that will be the kind of govern- the people themselves. But it is not the less neces-
ment which they will have. Government is at sary for this; for the people must have some compli-
best but an expedient;1 but most governments cated machinery or other, and hear its din, to satisfy
are usually, and all governments are sometimes, that idea of government which they have. Govern-
inexpedient. The objections which have been ments show thus how successfully men can be
brought against a standing army, and they are imposed on, even impose on themselves, for their
many and weighty, and deserve to prevail, may own advantage. It is excellent, we must all allow. Yet
also at last be brought against a standing gov- this government never of itself furthered any enter-
ernment. The standing army is only an arm of prise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its
the standing government. The government way. It does not keep the country free. It does not
itself, which is only the mode which the people settle the West. It does not educate. The character
have chosen to execute their will, is equally lia- inherent in the American people has done all that
ble to be abused and perverted before the peo- has been accomplished; and it would have done
ple can act through it. Witness the present somewhat more, if the government had not some-
Mexican war, the work of comparatively a few times got in its way. For government is an expedient
individuals using the standing government as by which men would fain3 succeed in letting one
their tool; for, in the outset, the people would another alone; and, as has been said, when it is
not have consented to this measure.
2. Posterity means “future generations.”
3. Fain means “gladly” or “willingly.”
1. Expedient means “something employed to bring about a
desired result; a means to an end.” Vocabulary

Literary Element din (din) n. loud, continuous noise


Argument How does Thoreau support
his argument? alacrity (ə lakrə tē) n. speed; swiftness

212 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Jean Miele/CORBIS
there not be a government in which majorities
do not virtually decide right and wrong, but con-
science?—in which majorities decide only those
questions to which the rule of expediency is
applicable? Must the citizen ever for a moment,
or in the least degree, resign his conscience to
the legislator? Why has every man a conscience
then? I think that we should be men first, and
subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate
a respect for the law, so much as for the right.
The only obligation which I have a right to
assume is to do at any time what I think right. It
is truly enough said that a corporation has no
conscience; but a corporation of conscientious
men is a corporation with a conscience. Law
One of the notebooks in which Thoreau kept his journal never made men a whit4 more just; and, by
means of their respect for it, even the well-dis-
most expedient, the governed are most let alone by posed are daily made the agents of injustice. . . .
it. Trade and commerce, if they were not made of Some years ago, the State met me in behalf of
india-rubber, would never manage to bounce over the Church, and commanded me to pay a certain
the obstacles which legislators are continually put- sum toward the support of a clergyman whose
ting in their way; and if one were to judge these preaching my father attended, but never I myself.
men wholly by the effects of their actions and not “Pay,” it said, “or be locked up in the jail.” I
partly by their intentions, they would deserve to be declined to pay. But, unfortunately, another man
classed and punished with those mischievous per- saw fit to pay it. I did not see why the schoolmaster
sons who put obstructions on the railroads. should be taxed to support the priest, and not the
But, to speak practically and as a citizen, priest the schoolmaster: for I was not the State’s
unlike those who call themselves no-government schoolmaster, but I supported myself by voluntary
men, I ask for, not at once no government, but at subscription. I did not see why the lyceum5 should
once a better government. Let every man make not present its tax-bill, and have the State to back
known what kind of government would com- its demand, as well as the Church. However, at the
mand his respect, and that will be one step request of the selectmen,6 I condescended to make
toward obtaining it. some such statement as this in writing: “Know all
After all, the practical reason why, when the men by these presents, that I, Henry Thoreau, do
power is once in the hands of the people, a not wish to be regarded as a member of any incor-
majority are permitted, and for a long period porated society which I have not joined.” This I
continue, to rule, is not because they are most gave to the town clerk; and he has it. The State,
likely to be in the right, nor because this seems having thus learned that I did not wish to be
fairest to the minority, but because they are phys- regarded as a member of that church, has never
ically the strongest. But a government in which made a like demand on me since; though it said
the majority rule in all cases cannot be based on that it must adhere to its original presumption that
justice, even as far as men understand it. Can time. If I had known how to name them, I should
then have signed off in detail from all the societies
which I never signed on to; but I did not know
Reading Strategy Evaluating Evidence Is Thoreau’s
where to find a complete list.
opinion of majority rule fair or unfair? Explain.

Vocabulary 4. Whit means “a tiny amount” or “a bit.”


5. A lyceum is an organization that sponsers educational
expedient (ək spē dē ənt) adj. convenient or efficient
programs, such as concerts and lectures.
for a certain purpose
6. Selectmen refers to a group of elected local officials.

H E N RY D AV I D TH O R EAU 213
The Pierpont Morgan Library/Art Resource, NY
I have paid no poll-tax7 for six years. I was body, his senses. It is not armed with superior wit
put into a jail once on this account, for one or honesty, but with superior physical strength. I
night; and, as I stood considering the walls of was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my
solid stone, two or three feet thick, the door own fashion. Let us see who is the strongest.
of wood and iron, a foot thick, and the iron What force has a multitude? They only can force
grating which strained the light, I could not me who obey a higher law than I. They force me
help being struck with the foolishness of that to become like themselves. I do not hear of men
institution which treated me as if I were mere being forced to live this way or that by masses of
flesh and blood and bones, to be locked up. I men. What sort of life were that to live? When I
wondered that it should have concluded at meet a government which says to me, “Your
length that this was the best use it could put money or your life,” why should I be in haste to
me to, and had never thought to avail itself of give it my money? It may be in a great strait, and
my services in some way. I saw that, if there not know what to do: I cannot help that. It must
was a wall of stone between me and my towns- help itself; do as I do. It is not worth the while to
men, there was a still more difficult one to snivel about it. I am not responsible for the suc-
climb or break through, before they could get cessful working of the machinery of society.
to be as free as I was. I did not for a moment I am not the son of the engineer. I perceive that,
feel confined, and the walls seemed a great
waste of stone and mortar. I felt as if I alone
of all my townsmen had paid my tax. They They only can force
plainly did not know how to treat me, but
behaved like persons who are underbred. In me who obey a
every threat and in every compliment there was higher law than I.
a blunder; for they thought that my chief desire
was to stand the other side of that stone wall. I
could not but smile to see how industriously they when an acorn and a chestnut fall side by side,
locked the door on my meditations, which fol- the one does not remain inert to make way for
lowed them out again without let8 or hindrance, the other, but both obey their own laws, and
and they were really all that was dangerous. As spring and grow and flourish as best they can, till
they could not reach me, they had resolved to one, perchance, overshadows and destroys the
punish my body; just as boys, if they cannot other. If a plant cannot live according to its
come at some person against whom they have a nature, it dies; and so a man.
spite, will abuse his dog. I saw that the State was The night in prison was novel and interesting
half-witted, that it was timid as a lone woman enough. The prisoners in their shirt-sleeves were
with her silver spoons, and that it did not know enjoying a chat and the evening air in the doorway,
its friends from its foes, and I lost all my remain- when I entered. But the jailer said, “Come, boys, it
ing respect for it, and pitied it. is time to lock up”; and so they dispersed, and I
Thus the State never intentionally confronts a heard the sound of their steps returning into the
man’s sense, intellectual or moral, but only his hollow apartments. My room-mate was introduced
to me by the jailer as “a first-rate fellow and a clever
man.” When the door was locked, he showed me
7. A poll tax, now illegal, was a tax on people (not property).
Payment was often required in order to vote.
where to hang my hat, and how he managed mat-
8. Here, let means “an obstruction” or “an obstacle.” ters there. The rooms were whitewashed once a
month; and this one, at least, was the whitest, most
Big Idea Optimism and Individualism Why does simply furnished, and probably the neatest apart-
Thoreau believe he is freer than his “townsmen”?
ment in the town. He naturally wanted to know
where I came from, and what brought me there;
Vocabulary
and, when I had told him, I asked him in my turn
blunder (blun dər) n. a serious error or mistake result- how he came there, presuming him to be an honest
ing from carelessness or confusion
man, of course; and, as the world goes, I believe he

214 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Stump Speaking, 1853–54, George Caleb Bingham. Oil on canvas. Private collection.
Viewing the Art: What does the scene in the painting suggest about the relationship
between citizens and the government in Thoreau’s era?

was. “Why,” said he, “they accuse me of burning a there, and examined where former prisoners
barn; but I never did it.” As near as I could discover, had broken out, and where a grate had been
he had probably gone to bed in a barn when drunk, sawed off, and heard the history of the various
and smoked his pipe there; and so a barn was burnt. occupants of that room; for I found that even
He had the reputation of being a clever man, had here there was a history and a gossip which
been there some three months waiting for his trial never circulated beyond the walls of the jail.
to come on, and would have to wait as much lon- Probably this is the only house in the town
ger; but he was quite domesticated and contented, where verses are composed, which are afterward
since he got his board for nothing, and thought that printed in a circular form, but not published. I
he was well treated. was shown quite a long list of verses which were
He occupied one window, and I the other; composed by some young men who had been
and I saw that if one stayed there long, his prin- detected in an attempt to escape, who avenged
cipal business would be to look out the window. themselves by singing them.
I had soon read all the tracts9 that were left I pumped my fellow-prisoner as dry as I could,
for fear I should never see him again; but at length
9. Tracts are leaflets or pamphlets, especially those on religious he showed me which was my bed, and left me to
or political topics. blow out the lamp. It was like traveling into a far

H E N RY D AV I D TH O R EAU 215
George Caleb Bingham/Private Collection/Bridgeman Art Library
country, such as I had never expected to behold, and emerged a tottering and gray-headed man;
to lie there for one night. It seemed to me that I and yet a change had to my eyes come over the
never had heard the town-clock strike before, nor scene—the town, and State, and country—greater
the evening sounds of the village; for we slept than any that mere time could effect. I saw yet
with the windows open, which were inside the more distinctly the State in which I lived. . . .
grating. It was to see my native village in the light The authority of government, even such as I
of the Middle Ages, and our Concord was turned am willing to submit to—for I will cheerfully
obey those who know and can do better than I,
and in many things even those who neither
know nor can do so well—is still an impure one:
I saw yet more to be strictly just, it must have the sanction and
distinctly the State consent of the governed. It can have no pure
in which I lived. right over my person and property but what I
concede to it. The progress from an absolute to a
limited monarchy, from a limited monarchy to a
democracy, is a progress toward a true respect for
into a Rhine10 stream, and visions of knights and
the individual. Even the Chinese philosopher14
castles passed before me. They were the voices of
was wise enough to regard the individual as the
old burghers11 that I heard in the streets. I was an
basis of the empire. Is a democracy, such as we
involuntary spectator and auditor12 of whatever
know it, the last improvement possible in gov-
was done and said in the kitchen of the adjacent
ernment? Is it not possible to take a step further
village-inn—a wholly new and rare experience to
towards recognizing and organizing the rights of
me. It was a closer view of my native town. I was
man? There will never be a really free and
fairly inside of it. I never had seen its institutions
enlightened State until the State comes to recog-
before. This is one of its peculiar institutions; for
nize the individual as a higher and independent
it is a shire town.13 I began to comprehend what
power, from which all its own power and author-
its inhabitants were about.
ity are derived, and treats him accordingly. I
In the morning, our breakfasts were put
please myself with imagining a State at least
through the hole in the door, in small oblong-
which can afford to be just to all men, and to
square tin pans, made to fit, and holding a pint
treat the individual with respect as a neighbor;
of chocolate, with brown bread, and an iron
which even would not think it inconsistent with
spoon. When they called for the vessels again, I
its own repose15 if a few were to live aloof from it,
was green enough to return what bread I had left;
not meddling with it, nor embraced by it, who
but my comrade seized it, and said that I should
fulfilled all the duties of neighbors and fellow-
lay that up for lunch or dinner. Soon after he was
men. A State which bore this kind of fruit, and
let out to work at haying in a neighboring field,
suffered it to drop off as fast as it ripened, would
whither he went every day, and would not be
prepare the way for a still more perfect and glori-
back till noon; so he bade me good-day, saying
ous State, which also I have imagined, but not
that he doubted if he should see me again.
yet anywhere seen. 
When I came out of prison—for some one
interfered, and paid that tax—I did not perceive
that great changes had taken place on the com- 14. The Chinese philosopher is Confucius (c. 551–479 B.C.)
15. Here, repose refers to the state’s “peace of mind.”
mon, such as he observed who went in a youth
Big Idea Optimism and Individualism What type of
freedom does Thoreau desire?
10. Concord refers to the Concord River. The Rhine River flows
through Germany and the Netherlands.
11. Burghers is a term for inhabitants of a city. Vocabulary
12. Here, auditor means “someone who hears,” or “a listener.” sanction (sank shən) n. approval or support
13. A shire town, or county town, is similar to a county seat.

216 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


A F TE R YOU R E AD

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. What was your reaction to Thoreau’s opinion on 5. How does Thoreau’s perspective change when he
disobeying the government? is released from prison?

Recall and Interpret 6. How does the fact that Thoreau spent only one
night in jail affect your evaluation of his opinions?
2. (a)Why was Thoreau jailed? (b)What does this tell
you about Thoreau’s beliefs? 7. (a)How do you evaluate Thoreau’s criticism of
democracy? (b)Is it accurate; is it fair? (c)Cite
3. (a)Why is Thoreau’s cellmate in prison? (b)What
evidence from the story to support your opinion.
does Thoreau presume about his cellmate’s
conviction? Connect
4. (a)How does Thoreau react to his night in 8. Big Idea Optimism and Individualism (a)What
jail? (b)What does this say about his personality? do you think are some essential qualities for an
individual who wishes to reform society or the
government? (b)Which of these qualities does
Thoreau possess?

LITE R ARY AN ALYS I S R EAD I N G AN D VO C AB U L A RY

Literary Element Argument Reading Strategy Evaluating Evidence


A valid argument relies on logic—the process of clear, A successful persuasive essay relies on various kinds
well-organized thinking that leads to a reasonable of supporting evidence, such as facts and opinions.
conclusion.
1. What kind of evidence does Thoreau rely on
Partner Activity What does Thoreau conclude about more—facts or opinions?
freedom and the role of government? Meet with
2. Was the evidence presented in the essay strong
another classmate to discuss whether Thoreau’s con-
enough to persuade you to agree with Thoreau’s
clusions are logical.
viewpoints? Why or why not?

Writing About Literature


Vocabulary Practice
Evaluate Contemporary Relevance Based on the
ideas in “Civil Disobedience” consider how Thoreau Practice with Antonyms Choose the best ant-
might encourage young people to become involved in onym for each vocabulary word from “Civil
their government. Write a brief essay in which you Disobedience.”
give examples of the political roles that young people 1. alacrity
might play. a. simplicity c. wiliness
b. slowness d. custom
2. expedient
a. dated c. useless
b. careful d. creative
3. sanction
a. ban c. approval
b. increase d. innovation
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

H E NRY D AV I D T HO R E AU 217
Mohandas K. Gandhi

B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Building Background
Known as Mahatma, or “Great-Souled,” Mohandas K. Gandhi’s “salt march” in 1930 protested the salt
Gandhi led the movement against British rule in early monopoly, which required Indians to buy taxed salt
twentieth-century India. From his devout mother he from the British government. To demonstrate
learned the Hindu principle of ahimsa, or noninjury to opposition to British economic control, marchers to the
all life. Like his father he prepared for a government post. Arabian Sea defied British law by extracting salt from
After law school in England, he moved to South Africa, seawater.
where he helped lead the struggle against Indian
discrimination. After returning to India in 1914, Gandhi
led the opposition to British control. His method was
based on satyagraha—“truth persistence”—non-violent Author Search For more about
resistance to injustice. Mohandas K. Gandhi, go to www.glencoe.com.

In all probability this will be my last speech to you. But let there be not a semblance of breach of
Even if the Government allow me to march tomor- peace even after all of us have been arrested. We
row morning, this will be my last speech on the have resolved to utilize all our resources in the pur-
sacred banks of the Sabarmati.1 Possibly these may suit of an exclusively nonviolent struggle. Let no
be the last words of my life here. one commit a wrong in anger. This is my hope and
I have already told you yesterday what I had to prayer. I wish these words of mine reached every
say. Today I shall confine myself to what you should nook and corner of the land. My task shall be done
do after my companions and I are arrested. The pro- if I perish and so do my comrades. It will then be for
gram2 of the march to Jalalpur3 must be fulfilled as the Working Committee of the Congress5 to show
originally settled. The enlistment of the volunteers you the way and it will be up to you to follow its
for this purpose should be confined to Gujarat4 only. lead. So long as I have not reached Jalalpur, let
From what I have seen and heard during the last nothing be done in contravention to the authority
fortnight, I am inclined to believe that the stream vested in me by the Congress. But once I am
of civil resisters will flow unbroken. arrested, the whole responsibility shifts to the
Congress. No one who believes in nonviolence, as
1. The Sabarmati is a river in western India.
2. Here, program means “mission.”
3. Jalalpur, a city in India, was the last stop on Gandhi’s 5. By Congress, Gandhi is referring to the Indian National
march to Dandi. Congress, a political party led by Gandhi in the 1920s
4. Gujarat is a state in western India. and 1930s.

218 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Bettmann/CORBIS
a creed, need, therefore, sit still. My compact with The number of Government servants in the country
the Congress ends as soon as I am arrested. In does not exceed a few hundred thousand. What
that case there should be no slackness in the about the rest? Where are they to go? Even free
enrolment of volunteers. Wherever possible, civil India will not be able to accommodate a greater
disobedience of salt laws should be started. These number of public servants. A Collector then will
laws can be violated in three ways. It is an offense not need the number of servants he has got today.
to manufacture salt wherever there are facilities He will be his own servant. Our starving millions
for doing so. The possession and sale of contra- can by no means afford this enormous expenditure.
band salt, which includes natural salt or salt If, therefore, we are sensible enough, let us bid good-
earth, is also an offense. The purchasers of such bye to Government employment, no matter if it is
salt will be equally guilty. To carry away the natu- the post of a judge or a peon. Let all who are coop-
ral salt deposits on the seashore is likewise viola- erating with the Government in one way or
tion of law. So is the hawking of such salt. In another, be it by paying taxes, keeping titles, or
short, you may choose any one or all of these sending children to official schools, etc. withdraw
devices to break the salt monopoly. their cooperation in all or as many ways as possible.
We are, however, not to be content with this Then there are women who can stand shoulder to
alone. There is no ban by the Congress and wher- shoulder with men in this struggle.
ever the local workers have self-confidence other You may take it as my will. It was the message
suitable measures may be adopted. I stress only that I desired to impart to you before starting on the
one condition, namely, let our pledge of truth and march or for the jail. I wish that there should be no
non violence as the only means for the attain- suspension or abandonment of the war that com-
ment of Swaraj6 be faithfully kept. For the rest, mences tomorrow morning or earlier, if I am arrested
every one has a free hand. But, that does not give before that time. I shall eagerly await the news that
a license to all and sundry to carry on on their ten batches are ready as soon as my batch is arrested.
own responsibility. Wherever there are local lead- I believe there are men in India to complete the
ers, their orders should be obeyed by the people. work begun by me. I have faith in the righteousness
Where there are no leaders and only a handful of of our cause and the purity of our weapons. And
men have faith in the program, they may do what where the means are clean, there God is undoubt-
they can, if they have enough self-confidence. edly present with His blessings. And where these
They have a right, nay it is their duty, to do so. three combine, there defeat is an impossibility. A
The history of the world is full of instances of men Satyagrahi,7 whether free or incarcerated, is ever vic-
who rose to leadership, by sheer force of self-confi- torious. He is vanquished only when he forsakes
dence, bravery and tenacity. We too, if we sin- truth and nonviolence and turns a deaf ear to the
cerely aspire to Swaraj and are impatient to attain inner voice. If, therefore, there is such a thing as
it, should have similar self-confidence. Our ranks defeat for even a Satyagrahi, he alone is the cause of
will swell and our hearts strengthen, as the num- it. God bless you all and keep off all obstacles from
ber of our arrests by the Government increases. the path in the struggle that begins tomorrow. 
Much can be done in many other ways besides
these. The liquor and foreign cloth shops can be
picketed. We can refuse to pay taxes if we have the
requisite strength. The lawyers can give up practice.
The public can boycott the law courts by refraining 7. Satyagrahi means someone who embodies Gandhi’s ideal
of satyagraha and practices nonviolent resistance.
from litigation. Government servants can resign
their posts. In the midst of the despair reigning all Quickwrite
round people quake with fear of losing employment. Gandhi insists that his followers must have self-con-
Such men are unfit for Swaraj. But why this despair? fidence to succeed in their struggle against the
British. Why is self-confidence important for some-
one using nonviolence as a tool for social justice?
6. Swaraj means “home rule.” It refers to Indians’ desire to rule
Write a paragraph explaining your views.
themselves, rather than be ruled by the British.

M O H A N D A S K . GAN DH I 219
Nelson Mandela

B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Building Background
From prisoner to president of South Africa, Nelson favor of supporting acts of sabotage against
Mandela was one of the political miracles of the the government. In 1962 he was jailed and,
twentieth century. Born the son of an African tribal chief after a widely publicized trial, was sentenced to
in 1918, Mandela passed up his right to chieftainship to life in prison in 1964.Author
Over Search
the years,
For Mandela
more about
study law, starting a firm with fellow reformer Oliver became
Author thegoworld’s
Name, best-known political prisoner,
to www.literature.glencoe.com.
Tambo. In 1944 he became a leader in the African gaining international support in his fight against
National Congress (ANC), a political party that opposed apartheid.
apartheid, South Africa’s policy of racial segregation.
After a massacre of unarmed Africans in 1960, Author Search For more about
Mandela dropped his nonviolent reform method in Nelson Mandela, go to www.glencoe.com.

May 10 dawned bright and clear. For the past the seat of white supremacy, and now it was the
few days, I had been pleasantly besieged by site of a rainbow gathering of different colors and
arriving dignitaries1 and world leaders who were nations for the installation of South Africa’s first
coming to pay their respects before the inaugu- democratic, nonracial government.
ration.2 The inauguration would be the largest On that lovely autumn day I was accompanied
gathering ever of international leaders on South by my daughter Zenani. On the podium, Mr. de
African soil. Klerk4 was first sworn in as second deputy presi-
The ceremonies took place in the lovely dent. Then Thabo Mbeki5 was sworn in as first
sandstone amphitheater formed by the Union deputy president. When it was my turn, I
Buildings in Pretoria.3 For decades, this had been pledged to obey and uphold the constitution and

1. Dignitaries are people who hold a rank of dignity, or honor. 4. F. W. de Klerk served as president of South Africa from 1989
2. An inauguration is a ceremonial induction into office, or a to 1994.
formal beginning. 5. Thabo Mbeki is a politician who became the president of
3. Pretoria is the administrative capital of South Africa. South Africa in 1999.

220 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


David Turnley/CORBIS
to devote myself to the well-being of the republic whites singing “Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika” and blacks
and its people. To the assembled guests and the singing “Die Stem,” the old anthem of the repub-
watching world, I said: lic. Although that day, neither group knew the
Today, all of us do, by our presence here . . . lyrics of the anthem they once despised, they
confer6 glory and hope to newborn liberty. Out of would soon know the words by heart.
the experience of an extraordinary human disaster On the day of the inauguration, I was over-
that lasted too long, must be born a society of which whelmed with a sense of history. In the first
all humanity will be proud. decade of the twentieth century, a few years after
. . . We, who were outlaws not so long ago, have the bitter Anglo-Boer War10 and before my own
today been given the rare privilege to be host to the birth, the white-skinned peoples of South Africa
nations of the world on our own soil. We thank all of patched up their differences and erected a system
our distinguished international guests for having come of racial domination against the dark-skinned
to take possession with the people of our country of peoples of their own land. The structure they
what is, after all, a common victory for justice, for created formed the basis of one of the harshest,
peace, for human dignity. most inhumane societies the world has ever
We have, at last, achieved our political emancipa- known. Now, in the last decade of the twentieth
tion.7 We pledge ourselves to liberate all our people
from the continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation,
suffering, gender, and other discrimination.
Never, never, and never again shall it be that this
beautiful land will again experience the oppression of
one by another. . . . The sun shall never set on so
glorious a human achievement.
Let freedom reign. God bless Africa!

A few moments later we all lifted our eyes in


awe as a spectacular array of South African jets,
helicopters, and troop carriers roared in perfect for-
mation over the Union Buildings. It was not only a
display of pinpoint precision and military force, but
a demonstration of the military’s loyalty to democ-
racy, to a new government that had been freely and
fairly elected. Only moments before, the highest
generals of the South African Defense Force and
police, their chests bedecked8 with ribbons and Nelson Mandela visits schoolchildren in South Africa.
medals from days gone by, saluted me and pledged
their loyalty. I was not unmindful of the fact that
not so many years before they would not have century, and my own eighth decade as a man,
saluted but arrested me. Finally a chevron of Impala that system had been overturned forever and
jets9 left a smoke trail of the black, red, green, blue, replaced by one that recognized the rights and
white, and gold of the new South African flag. freedoms of all peoples regardless of the color of
The day was symbolized for me by the playing their skin.
of our two national anthems, and the vision of That day had come about through the unimagi-
nable sacrifices of thousands of my people, people
whose suffering and courage can never be counted
6. Confer means “to bestow, or give, an honor.” or repaid. I felt that day, as I have on so many
7. Emancipation means “the process of becoming free from
restraint or control.”
8. Bedecked means “adorned or clothed.” 10. The Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902) was fought between
9. Here, chevron is a V-shaped pattern; an Impala jet is a Great Britain and the Boers, who are South Africans of
military fighter plane. Dutch decent.

N EL SO N M A ND ELA 221
Louise Gubb/CORBIS SABA
other days, that I was simply the sum of all those comes more naturally to the human heart than
African patriots who had gone before me. That its opposite. Even in the grimmest times in
long and noble line ended and now began again prison, when my comrades and I were pushed to
with me. I was pained that I was not able to our limits, I would see a glimmer of humanity in
thank them and that they were not able to see one of the guards, perhaps just for a second, but
what their sacrifices had wrought.11 it was enough to reassure me and keep me going.
The policy of apartheid created a deep and Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but
lasting wound in my country and my people. All never extinguished.
of us will spend many years, if not generations, We took up the struggle with our eyes wide
recovering from that profound hurt. But the open, under no illusion that the path would be
decades of oppression and brutality had another, an easy one. As a young man, when I joined the
unintended effect, and that was that it produced African National Congress,13 I saw the price my
the Oliver Tambos, the Walter Sisulus, the Chief comrades paid for their beliefs, and it was high.
Luthulis, the Yusuf Dadoos, the Bram Fischers, For myself, I have never regretted my commit-
the Robert Sobukwes12 of our time—men of such ment to the struggle, and I was always prepared
extraordinary courage, wisdom, and generosity to face the hardships that affected me personally.
that their like may never be known again. But my family paid a terrible price, perhaps too
Perhaps it requires such depth of oppression to dear a price for my commitment.
create such heights of character. My country is In life, every man has twin obligations—obli-
rich in the minerals and gems that lie beneath its gations to his family, to his parents, to his wife
soil, but I have always known that its greatest and children; and he has an obligation to his
wealth is its people, finer and truer than the pur- people, his community, his country. In a civil
est diamonds. and humane society, each man is able to fulfill
It is from these comrades in the struggle that I those obligations according to his own inclina-
learned the meaning of courage. Time and again, tions and abilities. But in a country like South
I have seen men and women risk and give their Africa, it was almost impossible for a man of my
lives for an idea. I have seen men stand up to birth and color to fulfill both of those obliga-
attacks and torture without breaking, showing a tions. In South Africa, a man of color who
strength and resiliency that defies the imagina- attempted to live as a human being was punished
tion. I learned that courage was not the absence and isolated. In South Africa, a man who tried
of fear, but the triumph over it. I felt fear myself to fulfill his duty to his people was inevitably
more times than I can remember, but I hid it ripped from his family and home and was forced
behind a mask of boldness. The brave man is not to live a life apart, a twilight existence of secrecy
he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers and rebellion. I did not in the beginning choose
that fear. to place my people above my family, but in
I never lost hope that this great transforma- attempting to serve my people, I found that I was
tion would occur. Not only because of the great prevented from fulfilling my obligations as a son,
heroes I have already cited, but because of the a brother, a father, and a husband.
courage of the ordinary men and women of my In that way, my commitment to my people, to
country. I always knew that deep down in every the millions of South Africans I would never
human heart, there is mercy and generosity. No know or meet, was at the expense of the people I
one is born hating another person because of the knew best and loved most. It was as simple and
color of his skin, or his background, or his reli- yet as incomprehensible as the moment a small
gion. People must learn to hate, and if they can child asks her father, “Why can you not be with
learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love us?” And the father must utter the terrible words:
“There are other children like you, a great many
of them . . .” and then one’s voice trails off.
11. Here, wrought means “made.”
12. The people Mandela refers to—Tambo, Sisulu, Luthuli,
Dadoo, Fischer, and Sobukwe—are fellow South African 13. The African National Congress (ANC) is a South African
reformers and opponents of apartheid. political party founded by blacks in 1912.

222 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


I was not born with a hunger to be free. I was people were not free. Freedom is indivisible; the
born free—free in every way that I could know. chains on any one of my people were the chains
Free to run in the fields near my mother’s hut, on all of them, the chains on all of my people
free to swim in the clear stream that ran through were the chains on me.
my village, free to roast mealies14 under the stars It was during those long and lonely years that
and ride the broad backs of slow-moving bulls. my hunger for the freedom of my own people
As long as I obeyed my father and abided by the became a hunger for the freedom of all people,
customs of my tribe, I was not troubled by the white and black. I knew as well as I knew any-
laws of man or God. thing that the oppressor must be liberated just as
It was only when I began to learn that my boy- surely as the oppressed. A man who takes away
hood freedom was an illusion, when I discovered another man’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred, he
as a young man that my freedom had already been is locked behind the bars of prejudice and nar-
row-mindedness. I am not truly free if I am tak-
ing away someone else’s freedom, just as surely as
The oppressed and the I am not free when my freedom is taken from
oppressor alike are robbed me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are
robbed of their humanity.
of their humanity. When I walked out of prison, that was my
mission, to liberate the oppressed and the oppres-
sor both. Some say that has now been achieved.
taken from me, that I began to hunger for it. At But I know that is not the case. The truth is that
first, as a student, I wanted freedom only for we are not yet free; we have merely achieved the
myself, the transitory freedoms of being able to freedom to be free, the right not to be oppressed.
stay out at night, read what I pleased, and go We have not taken the final step of our journey,
where I chose. Later, as a young man in but the first step on a longer and even more dif-
Johannesburg, I yearned for the basic and honor- ficult road. For to be free is not merely to cast off
able freedoms of achieving my potential, of earn- one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects
ing my keep, of marrying and having a family and enhances the freedom of others. The true
—the freedom not to be obstructed in a lawful life. test of our devotion to freedom is just beginning.
But then I slowly saw that not only was I not I walked that long road to freedom. I have
free, but my brothers and sisters were not free. I tried not to falter; I have made missteps along
saw that it was not just my freedom that was cur- the way. But I have discovered the secret that
tailed, but the freedom of everyone who looked after climbing a great hill, one only finds that
like I did. That is when I joined the African there are many more hills to climb. I have taken
National Congress, and that is when the hunger a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glo-
for my own freedom became the greater hunger rious vista15 that surrounds me, to look back on
for the freedom of my people. It was this desire for the distance I have come. But I can rest only for
the freedom of my people to live their lives with a moment, for with freedom come responsibili-
dignity and self-respect that animated my life, that ties, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is
transformed a frightened young man into a bold not yet ended. 
one, that drove a law-abiding attorney to become
a criminal, that turned a family-loving husband
into a man without a home, that forced a life-lov- 15. Here, vista means a “wide viewpoint of history.”

ing man to live like a monk. I am not more virtu- Quickwrite


ous or self-sacrificing than the next man, but I
found that I could not even enjoy the poor and What qualities and values distinguish Nelson
Mandela as a leader of the people? Write a
limited freedoms I was allowed when I knew my
paragraph describing these qualities and values.
Use evidence from his autobiography to support
your position.
14. A mealie is an ear of Indian corn.

N EL SO N M A ND ELA 223
Wrap-up: Comparing Literature Across Time and Place

• from Civil Disobedience • On the Eve of Historic • from Long Walk


Henry David Thoreau Dandi March to Freedom
Mohandas K. Gandhi Nelson Mandela

COM PAR I NG TH E Big Idea Optimism and Individualism


Partner Activity With a partner, read each of the following quotations. Then discuss how each
quotation reflects the writer’s optimism and individualism. Cite evidence from the selections.

“The only obligation which I have a right to assume is


to do at any time what I think is right.”
—Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience

“A Satyagrahi, whether free or incarcerated, is ever


victorious.”
—Mohandas K. Gandhi, On the Eve of Historic Dandi March

“My country is rich in the minerals and gems that lie


beneath its soil, but I have always known that its
greatest wealth is its people, finer and truer than the
purest diamonds.”
—Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom Former South African President Nelson Mandela
gazes through the bars of the jail cell he spent more
than two decades in as a political prisoner.
COM PAR I NG Persuasive Messages
Group Activity Thoreau, Gandhi, and Mandela craft different arguments for social reform. With
a small group discuss the following questions.

1. What is each writer’s main message or philosophical assumption? What objections might
some readers raise to the viewpoints presented?
2. What is the historical context that shapes each writer’s message?
3. Evaluate the effectiveness of each writer’s argument for both friendly and hostile audiences.
Which writer best succeeds at stating his case? Why?
4. Which of the reading selections challenged you to think in a new way? Explain.

COM PAR I NG Cultures


Visual Display Cultural, historical, and political forces influenced these writers. Thoreau was
influenced by American Romanticism; Gandhi, by British colonialism; Mandela, by African culture
and apartheid. Create a three-panel collage of images—one panel for each writer—illustrating
these cultural, historical, and political forces.

OB J EC TIVES
• Compare and contrast authors’ messages • Analyze historical content • Evaluate argument
224 U N IT 2 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM
David Turnley/CORBIS
PART
–-----––

The Dark Side of Romanticism

The Fog Warning, 1885. Winslow Homer. Oil on canvas. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

“All that we see or seem


Is but a dream within a dream.”
—Edgar Allan Poe

225
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
LITER ARY H I STORY

The First American Short Stories

A
S THE AMERICAN NOVELIST
and critic Henry James observed,
“It takes a great deal of history to
produce a little literature.” At the beginning
of the 1800s, the United States was still a very
young country. American writers of the time
were painfully conscious of the lack of a native
literary tradition. This was particularly true in
the area of fiction.
Dominated by Puritanism, early American
culture had no place for made-up stories
created largely for entertainment. This
attitude toward fiction lingered for a long
time. It was not until the period of American
Romanticism that Washington Irving,
Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe
laid the foundations of the American short
story. In the process, they created literary The Headless Horseman Pursuing Ichabod Crane, 1858. John Quidor.
Oil on canvas. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC.
forms and ideas about how to write short
stories that remain important today.

Detective Stories and


“It has been a matter of marvel, to Science Fiction
my European readers, that a man Tales of robbery and murder had always existed. Poe’s
brilliant innovation was to combine such stories with
from the wilds of America should the use of reason in the investigation of crime. This
express himself in tolerable English.” new investigative approach had not existed until the
appearance of the first professional police forces in
—Washington Irving the early 1800s. In “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,”
Poe established many of the basic conventions that
mystery writers have followed ever since:
Literary Pioneers • the brilliant, eccentric detective
Irving, the first American writer to become famous • his less-gifted partner, who is an admiring foil
outside his own country, transplanted traditional • the blundering official police force
European narratives and gave them American
settings. For example, he based his story “Rip Van • the “impossible crime” taking place in a
Winkle” on old legends about people captured by locked room
fairies. Hawthorne used both European material and Poe also has a claim to be the “father of science
the histories and legends of Puritan New England as fiction.” In some of his stories, such as “A Descent
the basis for his fiction. Poe helped develop the new into the Maelstrom,” he created Romantic tales
American literary magazines (to which he contributed of terror with an emphasis on factual detail that
as both writer and editor) into mass-circulation anticipated later science fiction. Poe so convincingy
marketplaces for short stories. More importantly, he presented a hoax about a transatlantic balloon flight
was a true innovator who pioneered new literary in one of his short stories that it was widely believed
forms—detective stories and science fiction. to have actually taken place.

226 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC/Art Resource, NY
Theory and Practice Short Story Elements
Poe believed that the most effective short stories The short story generally includes these elements.
are those that can be read in a single sitting. He
theorized that every detail in a well-constructed Setting: the time and place in which the events
story should contribute to the creation of a certain occur
unique and single effect. By effect, Poe meant the Characters: the participants in the story. The
overall impact that the story makes upon the reader. main character is the protagonist. There may
Some favorite effects that Poe tried to achieve in his be an antagonist, a character in conflict with
stories were feelings of dread, horror, and suspense. the protagonist.
Poe’s theory of a unique single effect remains a
fundamental principle of short-story writing today. Point of view: the perspective of the storyteller,
or narrator
Although Hawthorne’s stories were finely crafted,
he showed little interest in constructing literary Theme: the central message of the story that
theories. Hawthorne chose to focus on moral and readers can apply to life. A theme may be stated
psychological themes, such as the struggle between clearly or implied.
good and evil and the isolation of people from their
fellow human beings. Unlike his friend Emerson, Plot: the sequence of related events in a story.
Hawthorne saw life as essentially tragic. His Most plots deal with a problem and develop
pessimistic view of human nature gave his stories a around a conflict, a struggle between opposing
dark, shadowy quality that Poe criticized as “a forces.
somewhat too general or prevalent tone—a tone of
melancholy and mysticism.” Hawthorne’s mystical
outlook led him to rely heavily on symbolism and
allegory to convey his meaning, often at the
expense of a realistic rendering of everyday life. His
distinguishing feature is his probing exploration of
the role of guilt in the inner lives of human
beings—an obsession that he inherited from his
Puritan ancestors.
Poster for Universal film
Murders in the Rue
Literary History For more about Morgue, unknown artist,
the first American short stories, go to www.glencoe.com. 1932. Everett Collection.

R ES P O N D I N G AN D TH I N K I N G C R ITI CALLY
1. What was the attitude of readers in early American 3. What were Poe’s important innovations in literary
culture toward fiction? Why do you think early form? Explain how these innovations can be seen in
American readers had this attitude? literature today.
2. What materials did Irving use as the basis of his 4. Compare and contrast Poe’s and Hawthorne’s attitudes
fiction? How did he use these materials? toward literary theory and practice. Name one literary
achievement that each author is famous for today.

O B J EC T IVES
• Analyze historical context. • Compare and contrast literary techniques.

LITERARY HISTO RY 227


Everett Collection
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

The Devil and Tom Walker


M E E T WA SH I NGTON I RV I NG

N
amed after his country’s first president,
Washington Irving won the battle for
America’s literary independence. He was
the first American storyteller to be internation-
ally recognized as a man of letters. The English
novelist William Makepeace Thackeray summed
up this accomplishment when he called Irving
“the first Ambassador from the New World of
Letters to the Old.”
During his time away from writing, Irving held a
Lawyer and Writer The youngest of eleven chil- variety of jobs. He traveled often, eventually moving
dren, Irving was born in New York City to a to Europe to manage his brother’s business interests.
wealthy family with strict moral values. Though In 1818, after the family business went bankrupt,
Irving had little formal education, he took an early Irving resumed writing.
interest in the study of law, later working in the
International Acclaim The Sketch Book of
law office of Josiah Ogden Hoffman. He soon fell
Geoffrey Crayon, Gent (1819–1820) established
in love with Hoffman’s daughter Matilda, and the
his literary reputation in Europe. The book included
couple were engaged.
two stories that were to become classics, “The
But his interest in law began to dwindle, and in 1802 Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle.”
he started to write, publishing a series of satirical Irving borrowed the plots of these stories from two
essays in a New York newspaper. He soon began to traditional German folktales before placing them in
publish a series of periodical essays called Salmagundi. the Hudson Valley setting. Irving’s ability to blend
The essays were witty sketches that poked fun at European sophistication with American flavor is the
everything from Thomas Jefferson’s politics to the most distinctive characteristic of his writing.
latest fashions. The success of Salmagundi steered
After several years in London, Paris, and Madrid,
Irving away from law and toward writing.
Irving returned to the United States. There, he
continued writing—travel books, histories, biogra-
Success and Heartbreak In 1809, under the
phies of Columbus and Washington, and more
pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker, he published
tales and sketches.
his most popular work, Knickerbocker’s A History
of New York from the Beginning of the World to the Irving’s enormous popularity at home and abroad
End of the Dutch Dynasty. A History was a humor- earned him recognition as the father of American let-
ous, tongue-in-cheek combination of history, folk- ters. His stories featured distinctively American set-
lore, and opinion that delighted readers with tings and character types. He influenced a broad
hilarious sketches of the customs, manners, and range of authors—from Romantics, such as Nathaniel
families of old New York. That same year, how- Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe, to regionalist writ-
ever, Irving’s fiancée, Matilda Hoffman, died sud- ers, such as Mark Twain and William Faulkner.
denly of tuberculosis. Overwhelmed by grief, Irving Washington Irving was born in 1783 and died in 1859.
put his writing career on hold. He later reflected
that he considered this period the darkest of his
life. Haunted perpetually by the memory of his lost Author Search For more about
fiancée, Irving was never to marry. Washington Irving, go to www.glencoe.com.

228 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Bettmann/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Making and Verifying


In Irving’s short story, the main character makes a fate- Predictions
ful decision he later regrets. As you read the story, Predicting is making an educated guess about what
think about the following questions: will happen in a story. Predicting helps you anticipate
• Have you ever made a decision that you later events and appreciate less obvious parts of a story. To
make predictions, combine clues the author provides
regretted?
• Have you ever committed to do something and with your own understanding of characters and events.
Adjust or change your predictions as you continue to
then changed your mind?
read and discover more clues.
Building Background
“The Devil and Tom Walker” is one of the stories Reading Tip: Predicting Ask yourself, “How do I think
in Irving’s popular collection, Tales of a Traveler this situation will be resolved based on the clues I have
(1824). The story takes place in New England in discovered so far?” Write down your ideas. After reading,
the 1720s—when Puritanism was fading and review your work to see whether your predictions were
commercialism was on the rise. The story is an correct.
adaptation of the old German legend of Faust, a
sixteenth-century astronomer who sold his soul Vocabulary
to the devil. The most famous retelling of the
Faust legend is a play written in the early 1800s prevalent (prev ə lent) adj. widespread; p. 230
by the German Romantic writer Johann Wolfgang The flu was so prevalent that nearly everyone at
von Goethe (yō han volf gang´ fon gur tə). school was sick.
discord (dis kord) n. lack of agreement or har-
Setting Purposes for Reading mony; conflict; p. 230 There was noisy discord in
Big Idea The Power of Darkness the courtroom when the verdict was announced.
As you read “The Devil and Tom Walker,” notice how it melancholy (mel ən kol´ ē) adj. depressing; dis-
reflects Romanticism’s interest in exotic settings and mal; gloomy; p. 231 The dark clouds put us in a
supernatural events. melancholy mood.
surmise (sər m¯z ) v. to infer from little evidence;
Literary Element Characterization to guess; p. 233 She surmised that the roses, which
Characterization refers to the methods a writer uses arrived unexpectedly, came from a secret admirer.
to reveal the personality of a character. In direct char- speculate (spek yə lāt´) v. to engage in risky
acterization the writer makes explicit statements about business ventures, hoping to make quick profits;
a character. In indirect characterization the writer p. 236 He speculated by purchasing older houses for
reveals a character through the character’s words and little money and then reselling them at high prices.
actions and through what other characters think and
say about that character. As you read, record details Vocabulary Tip: Analogies Comparisons based on
from the story about Tom Walker. relationships between words are known as analo-
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R3. gies. For example, in the analogy weak : strong ::
dark : light, each pair of words is opposite in mean-
ing. To complete an analogy, decide on the relation-
Interactive Literary Elements ship represented by the first pair of words. Then
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements, apply that relationship to the second set of words.
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • analyzing literary periods
• making predictions
• understanding characterization and archetypes

WASHINGTON IRVING 229


Washington Irving

A few miles from Boston, in Massachusetts, there is the woman could lay hands on she hid away; a
a deep inlet, winding several miles into the interior hen could not cackle but she was on the alert to
of the country from Charles Bay, and terminating secure the new laid egg. Her husband was contin-
in a thickly wooded swamp or morass. On one side ually prying about to detect her secret hoards, and
of this inlet is a beautiful dark grove; on the oppo- many and fierce were the conflicts that took place
site side the land rises abruptly from the water’s about what ought to have been common property.
edge into a high ridge, on which grow a few scat- They lived in a forlorn-looking house that stood
tered oaks of great age and immense size. alone and had an air of starvation. A few strag-
Under one of these gigantic trees, according to gling savin trees, emblems of sterility, grew near it;
old stories, there was a great amount of treasure no smoke ever curled from its chimney, no trav-
buried by Kidd the pirate. The inlet allowed a facil- eler stopped at its door. A miserable horse, whose
ity to bring the money in a boat, secretly and at ribs were as articulate as the bars of a gridiron,
night, to the very foot of the hill; the elevation of stalked about a field where a thin carpet of moss,
the place permitted a good lookout to be kept that scarcely covering the ragged beds of pudding
no one was at hand; while the remarkable trees stone,1 tantalized and balked his hunger; and
formed good landmarks by which the place might sometimes he would lean his head over the fence,
easily be found again. The old stories add, more- look piteously at the passer-by, and seem to peti-
over, that the devil presided at the hiding of the tion deliverance from this land of famine.
money, and took it under his guardianship; but this, The house and its inmates had altogether a bad
it is well known, he always does with buried trea- name. Tom’s wife was a tall termagant,2 fierce of
sure, particularly when it has been ill gotten. Be temper, loud of tongue, and strong of arm. Her
that as it may, Kidd never returned to recover his voice was often heard in wordy warfare with her
wealth, being shortly after seized at Boston, sent husband, and his face sometimes showed signs
out to England, and there hanged for a pirate. that their conflicts were not confined to words.
About the year 1727, just at the time that No one ventured, however, to interfere between
earthquakes were prevalent in New England and them. The lonely wayfarer shrunk within himself
shook many tall sinners down upon their knees, at the horrid clamor and clapperclawing,3 eyed
there lived near this place a meager, miserly fel- the den of discord askance, and hurried on his
low, of the name of Tom Walker. He had a wife as way, rejoicing, if a bachelor, in his celibacy.
miserly as himself; they were so miserly that they
even conspired to cheat each other. Whatever
1. Pudding stone is a rock consisting of pebbles and gravel
embedded in cement, like plums in a pudding.
Literary Element Characterization What does this detail 2. A termagant is a quarrelsome, scolding woman.
tell you about Tom Walker and his wife? 3. Clapperclawing is scratching or clawing with the fingernails.

Vocabulary
Vocabulary
discord (dis kord) n. lack of agreement or harmony;
prevalent (prev ə lent) adj. widespread conflict

230 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


One day that Tom Walker had been to a dis- sinking to the level of the surrounding earth, and
tant part of the neighborhood, he took what he already overgrown in part by oaks and other for-
considered a short cut homeward, through the est trees, the foliage of which formed a contrast
swamp. Like most short cuts it was an ill-chosen to the dark pines and hemlocks of the swamp.
route. The swamp was thickly grown with great It was late in the dusk of evening when Tom
gloomy pines and hemlocks, some of them Walker reached the old fort, and he paused there
ninety feet high, which made it dark at noonday, awhile to rest himself. Any one but he would
and a retreat for all the owls of the neighbor- have felt unwilling to linger in this lonely,
hood. It was full of pits and quagmires, partly melancholy place, for the common people had a
covered with weeds and mosses, where the green bad opinion of it, from the stories handed down
surface often betrayed the traveler into a gulf of from the time of the Indian wars, when it was
black, smothering mud; there were also dark and asserted that the savages held incantations5 here,
stagnant pools, the abodes of the tadpole, the and made sacrifices to the evil spirit.
bullfrog, and the water snake, where the trunks Tom Walker, however, was not a man to be
of pines and hemlocks lay troubled with any fears of the kind. He reposed
half drowned, half rotting, himself for some time on the trunk of a fallen
looking like alligators hemlock, listening to the boding cry of the tree
sleeping in the mire. toad, and delving with his walking staff into a
Tom had long been pick- mound of black mold at his feet. As he turned up
ing his way cautiously the soil unconsciously, his staff struck against
through this treacherous something hard. He raked it out of the vegetable
forest, stepping from tuft to mold, and lo! a cloven6 skull, with an Indian
tuft of rushes and roots, tomahawk buried deep in it, lay before him. The
Visual Vocabulary
which afforded precarious rust on the weapon showed the time that had
A bittern is a marsh- footholds among deep elapsed since this death blow had been given. It
dwelling wading bird sloughs, or pacing carefully, was a dreary memento of the fierce struggle that
with mottled brown- like a cat, along the pros- had taken place in this last foothold of the
ish plumage and a
trate4
trunks of trees, star- Indian warriors.
deep, booming cry.
tled now and then by the “Humph!” said Tom Walker, as he gave it a
sudden screaming of the kick to shake the dirt from it.
bittern or the quacking of a wild duck rising on “Let that skull alone!” said a gruff voice. Tom
the wing from some solitary pool. At length he lifted up his eyes, and beheld a great black man
arrived at a firm piece of ground, which ran out seated directly opposite him on the stump of a
like a peninsula into the deep bosom of the tree. He was exceedingly surprised, having nei-
swamp. It had been one of the strongholds of the ther heard nor seen any one approach, and he
Indians during their wars with the first colonists. was still more perplexed on observing, as well as
Here they had thrown up a kind of fort, which the gathering gloom would permit, that the
they had looked upon as almost impregnable, stranger was neither negro nor Indian. It is true
and had used as a place of refuge for their squaws he was dressed in a rude, half Indian garb,7 and
and children. Nothing remained of the old had a red belt or sash swathed round his body,
Indian fort but a few embankments, gradually
5. Incantations are the recitations of verbal charms or spells to
produce a magical effect.
4. Prostrate means “lying down.” 6. Cloven means “split” or “divided.”
7. Garb means “clothing” or “attire.”
Reading Strategy Making and Verifying Predictions
Big Idea The Power of Darkness How does Irving’s
How does this detail of the setting help you predict what
might happen description reflect Romanticism’s interest in exotic settings?

Vocabulary
Reading Strategy Making and Verifying Predictions
What purpose might this fort serve in the story? What clues melancholy (mel ən kol´ē) adj. depressing; dismal;
lead you to this prediction? gloomy

WA SHINGT ON IRVING 231


Photo Researchers, Inc.
but his face was neither black nor copper color, in others. In this neighborhood I am known by
but swarthy and dingy, and begrimed with soot, the name of the ‘black woodsman.’ I am he to
as if he had been accustomed to toil among fires whom the red men consecrated this spot, and in
and forges. He had a shock of coarse black hair, honor of whom they now and then roasted a
that stood out from his head in all directions, white man, by way of sweet-smelling sacrifice.
and bore an ax on his shoulder. Since the red men have been exterminated by
He scowled for a moment at Tom with a pair you white savages, I amuse myself by presiding at
of great red eyes. the persecutions of Quakers and Anabaptists;10 I
“What are you doing on my grounds?” said the am the great patron and prompter of slave deal-
black man, with a hoarse, growling voice. ers, and the grand master of the Salem witches.”
“Your grounds!” said Tom with a sneer, “no “The upshot of all which is that, if I mistake
more your grounds than mine; they belong to not,” said Tom sturdily, “you are he commonly
Deacon Peabody.” called ‘Old Scratch.’”11
“Deacon Peabody be d——d,” said the “The same, at your service!” replied the black
stranger, “as I flatter myself he will be if he does man, with a half civil nod.
not look more to his own sins and less to those Such was the opening of this interview,
of his neighbors. Look yonder, and see how according to the old story, though it has almost
Deacon Peabody is faring.” too familiar an air to be credited. One would
Tom looked in the direction that the stranger think that to meet with such a singular person-
pointed, and beheld one of the great trees, fair age, in this wild, lonely place, would have
and flourishing without, but rotten at the core, shaken any man’s nerves; but Tom was a hard-
and saw that it had been nearly hewn through, minded fellow, not easily daunted, and he had
so that the first high wind was likely to blow it lived so long with a termagant wife that he did
down. On the bark of the tree was scored the not even fear the devil.
name of Deacon Peabody, an eminent man who It is said that after this commencement they
had waxed8 wealthy by driving shrewd bargains had a long and earnest conversation together, as
with the Indians. He now looked around, and Tom returned homeward. The black man told
found most of the tall trees marked with the him of great sums of money buried by Kidd the
name of some great man of the colony, and all pirate under the oak trees on the high ridge, not
more or less scored by the ax. The one on which far from the morass. All these were under his
he had been seated, and which had evidently command, and protected by his power, so that
just been hewn down, bore the name of none could find them but such as propitiated12
Crowninshield, and he recollected a mighty rich his favor. These he offered to place within Tom
man of that name, who made a vulgar display of Walker’s reach, having conceived an especial
wealth which it was whispered he had acquired kindness for him; but they were to be had only
by buccaneering.9 on certain conditions. What these conditions were
“He’s just ready for burning!” said the black may be easily surmised, though Tom never dis-
man, with a growl of triumph. “You see I am likely closed them publicly. They must have been very
to have a good stock of firewood for winter.” hard, for he required time to think of them, and he
“But what right have you,” said Tom, “to cut was not a man to stick at trifles when money was in
down Deacon Peabody’s timber?” view. When they had reached the edge of the
“The right of a prior claim,” said the other. swamp the stranger paused. “What proof have I that
“This woodland belonged to me long before one all you have been telling me is true?” said Tom.
of your white-faced race put foot upon the soil.” “There’s my signature,” said the black man,
“And pray, who are you, if I may be so bold?” pressing his finger on Tom’s forehead. So say-
said Tom. ing, he turned off among the thickets of the
“Oh, I go by various names. I am the wild
‘huntsman’ in some countries, the ‘black miner’
10. The Quakers and the Anabaptists were two religious groups in
Massachusetts that were persecuted for their beliefs.
8. Here, waxed means “grown” or “become.” 11. Old Scratch is a nickname for the devil.
9. Buccaneering is robbing ships at sea (piracy). 12. Propitiated means “won over” or “gained by pleasing acts.”

232 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Cleveland Museum of Art. Mr. & Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund, 1967.18
The Devil and Tom Walker, 1856. John Quidor. Oil on canvas. The Cleveland Museum of Art.
Cleveland, OH.
Viewing the Art: Is this a faithful depiction of Tom Walker’s encounter with the devil?

swamp, and seemed, as Tom said, to go down, cares!” He now felt convinced that all he had heard
down, down into the earth, until nothing but and seen was no illusion.
his head and shoulders could be seen, and so He was not prone to let his wife into his confi-
on, until he totally disappeared. dence, but as this was an uneasy secret he willingly
When Tom reached home he found the black shared it with her. All her avarice was awakened at
print of a finger burned, as it were, into his fore- the mention of hidden gold, and she urged her hus-
head, which nothing could obliterate. band to comply with the black man’s terms, and
The first news his wife had to tell him was the secure what would make them wealthy for life.
sudden death of Absalom Crowninshield, the rich However Tom might have felt disposed to sell him-
buccaneer. It was announced in the papers with the self to the devil, he was determined not to do so to
usual flourish, that a great man had fallen in Israel.13 oblige his wife, so he flatly refused, out of the mere
Tom recollected the tree which his black friend spirit of contradiction. Many and bitter were the
had just hewn down, and which was ready for burn- quarrels they had on the subject, but the more she
ing. “Let the freebooter14 roast,” said Tom; “who

13. Here, Israel is a biblical reference to 2 Samuel 3:38:


“Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen
Literary Element Characterization How does Irving use
this day in Israel?” The Puritans referred to New England as
the attitudes of Tom and his wife toward the devil to develop
“Israel,” their Promised Land.
their characters? Is this direct or indirect characterization?
14. A freebooter is a pirate.

Literary Element Characterization What does the man- Vocabulary


ner in which Tom speaks to Old Scratch reveal about Tom’s
character? surmise (sər m̄z) v. to infer from little evidence; to guess

WA SHINGT ON IRVING 233


Swamp Sunset, c. 1850–1884. Harold Rudolph. Oil on canvas. The Ogden Museum of
Southern Art, University of New Orleans.
Viewing the Art: What mood does this painting evoke? How would the mood be different
if the scene had been depicted in broad daylight? How is the swamp scene in the painting
similar to or different from the one where Tom Walker first met the devil?

talked the more resolute was Tom not to be damned night elapsed, another morning came, but no wife.
to please her. In a word, she was never heard of more.
At length she determined to drive the bargain on What was her real fate nobody knows, in
her own account, and, if she succeeded, to keep all consequence of so many pretending to know.
the gain to herself. Being of the same fearless tem- It is one of those facts which have become
per as her husband, she set off for the old Indian fort confounded by a variety of historians. Some
towards the close of a summer’s day. She was many asserted that she lost her way among the tan-
hours absent. When she came back she was reserved gled mazes of the swamp, and sank into some
and sullen in her replies. She spoke something of a pit or slough; others, more uncharitable,
black man whom she had met about twilight hew- hinted that she had eloped with the house-
ing at the root of a tall tree. He was sulky, however, hold booty,15 and made off to some other
and would not come to terms; she was to go again province; while others surmised that the
with a propitiatory offering, but what it was she for- tempter had decoyed her into a dismal quag-
bore to say. mire, on the top of which her hat was found
The next evening she set off again for the lying. In confirmation of this it was said a
swamp, with her apron heavily laden. Tom waited great black man, with an ax on his shoulder,
and waited for her, but in vain; midnight came, but was seen late that very evening coming out of
she did not make her appearance; morning, noon, the swamp, carrying a bundle tied in a check
night returned, but still she did not come. Tom now apron, with an air of surly triumph.
grew uneasy for her safety, especially as he found she The most current and probable story, how-
had carried off in her apron the silver teapot and ever, observes that Tom Walker grew so anx-
spoons and every portable article of value. Another ious about the fate of his wife and his property
that he set out at length to seek them both at
the Indian fort. During a long summer’s afternoon
Reading Strategy Making and Verifying Predictions
What do you think has happened to Tom’s wife?
15. Booty is stolen goods.

234 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, University of Nebraska
he searched about the gloomy place, but no gratitude towards the black woodman, who,
wife was to be seen. He called her name he considered, had done him a kindness.
repeatedly, but she was nowhere to be heard. He sought, therefore, to cultivate a further
The bittern alone responded to his voice, as acquaintance with him, but for some time
he flew screaming by, or the bullfrog croaked without success; the old blacklegs played shy,
dolefully from a neighboring pool. At length, for whatever people may think, he is not always
it is said, just in the brown hour of twilight, to be had for calling for; he knows how to
when the owls began to hoot and the bats to play his cards when pretty sure of his game.
flit about, his attention was attracted by the At length, it is said, when delay had whet-
clamor of carrion crows16 hovering about a ted Tom’s eagerness to the quick, and prepared
cypress tree. He looked up, and beheld a bun- him to agree to anything rather than not gain
dle tied in a check apron and hanging in the the promised treasure, he met the black man
branches of the tree, with a great vulture one evening in his usual woodman’s dress,
perched hard by, as if keeping watch upon it. with his ax on his shoulder, sauntering along
He leaped with joy, for he recognized his the swamp, and humming a tune. He affected
wife’s apron and supposed it to contain the to receive Tom’s advances with great indiffer-
household valuables. ence, made brief replies, and went on hum-
“Let us get hold of the property,” said he ming his tune.
consolingly to himself, “and we will endeavor By degrees, however, Tom brought him to
to do without the woman.” business, and they began to haggle about the
As he scrambled up the tree the vulture spread terms on which the former was to have the
its wide wings and sailed off, screaming, into the pirate’s treasure. There was one condition
deep shadows of the forest. Tom seized the check which need not be mentioned, being generally
apron, but, woeful sight! found nothing but a understood in all cases where the devil grants
heart and liver tied up in it! favors; but there were others about which,
Such, according to this most authentic old though of less importance, he was inflexibly
story, was all that was to be found of Tom’s obstinate. He insisted that the money found
wife. She had probably attempted to deal with through his means should be employed in his
the black man as she had been accustomed to service. He proposed, therefore, that Tom
deal with her husband; but though a female should employ it in the black traffic,—that is
scold is generally considered a match for the to say, that he should fit out a slave ship.
devil, yet in this instance she appears to have This, however, Tom resolutely refused; he was
had the worst of it. She must have died game, bad enough, in all conscience, but the devil
however, for it is said Tom noticed many himself could not tempt him to turn slave
prints of cloven feet deeply stamped about the trader.
tree, and found handfuls of hair that looked as Finding Tom so squeamish on this point, he
if they had been plucked from the coarse black did not insist upon it, but proposed, instead,
shock of the woodman. Tom knew his wife’s that he should turn usurer,17 the devil being
prowess by experience. He shrugged his shoul- extremely anxious for the increase of usurers,
ders as he looked at the signs of a fierce clap- looking upon them as his peculiar18 people.
perclawing. “Egad,” said he to himself, “Old To this no objections were made, for it was
Scratch must have had a tough time of it!” just to Tom’s taste.
Tom consoled himself for the loss of his “You shall open a broker’s shop in Boston
property with the loss of his wife, for he was a next month,” said the black man.
man of fortitude. He even felt something like
17. A usurer is a person who lends money, especially at an
16. Carrion crows are crows that feed on dead or decaying flesh. excessive or unlawfully high rate of interest.
18. Here, peculiar means “special.”
Literary Element Characterization Why does Irving use
humor to describe the disappearance of Tom’s wife? How Reading Strategy Making and Verifying
does this reflect on Tom? Predictions What will be the outcome of this relationship?

WA SHINGT ON IRVING 235


“I’ll do it tomorrow, if you wish,” said Tom a word, the great speculating fever which breaks out
Walker. every now and then in the country had raged to an
“You shall lend money at two percent a alarming degree, and everybody was dreaming of
month.” making sudden fortunes from nothing. As usual the
“Egad, I’ll charge four!” replied Tom Walker. fever had subsided, the dream had gone off, and the
“You shall extort19 bonds, foreclose mort- imaginary fortunes with it; the patients were left in
gages, drive the merchants to bankruptcy—” doleful plight, and the whole country resounded
“I’ll drive them to the d—l!” cried Tom Walker. with the consequent cry of “hard times.”
“You are the usurer for my money!” said
blacklegs with delight. “When will you want
the rhino?”20
His reputation for a
“This very night.”
“Done!” said the devil. ready-moneyed man,
“Done!” said Tom Walker. So they shook
who would lend money
hands and struck a bargain.
A few days’ time saw Tom Walker seated out for a good
behind his desk in a countinghouse in Boston.
consideration, soon
His reputation for a ready-moneyed man,
who would lend money out for a good consid- spread abroad.
eration, soon spread abroad. Everybody
remembers the time of Governor Belcher,21
when money was particularly scarce. It was a
time of paper credit. The country had been At this propitious time of public distress did Tom
deluged with government bills; the famous Walker set up as usurer in Boston. His door was
Land Bank22 had been established; there had soon thronged by customers. The needy and adven-
been a rage for speculating; the people had turous, the gambling speculator, the dreaming land
run mad with schemes for new settlements, for jobber, the thriftless tradesman, the merchant with
building cities in the wilderness; land jobbers23 cracked credit,— in short, everyone driven to raise
went about with maps of grants and townships money by desperate means and desperate sacrifices
and Eldorados,24 lying nobody knew where, hurried to Tom Walker.
but which everybody was ready to purchase. In Thus Tom was the universal friend of the needy,
and acted like a “friend in need”; that is to say, he
always exacted good pay and good security. In pro-
19. Extort means “to obtain by threats, force, or other types of
portion to the distress of the applicant was the hard-
oppression.”
20. Rhino is a slang term for money. ness of his terms. He accumulated bonds and
21. Jonathan Belcher was governor of Massachusetts and New mortgages, gradually squeezed his customers closer
Hampshire from 1730 to 1741. and closer, and sent them at length, dry as a sponge,
22. Boston merchants organized the Land Bank in 1739. from his door.
Landowners could borrow money in the form of mortgages
on their property and then repay the loans with cash or
In this way he made money hand over hand,
manufactured goods. When the bank was outlawed in became a rich and mighty man, and exalted his
1741, many colonists lost money. cocked hat upon ’Change.25 He built himself, as
23. Land jobbers are people who buy and sell land for profit. usual, a vast house, out of ostentation,26 but left the
24. Eldorados are places of great wealth or opportunity. The
term comes from the name El Dorado, a legendary region
greater part of it unfinished and unfurnished, out of
of South America sought by Spanish explorers for its gold parsimony. He even set up a carriage in the fullness
and jewels. of his vainglory,27 though he nearly starved the
Literary Element
horses which drew it; and as the ungreased wheels
Characterization What does Irving
show about Tom’s character with this dialogue?
25. The ’Change, or Exchange, was a financial center where
Vocabulary merchants, bankers, and brokers met to do business.
speculate (spek yə lāt´) v. to engage in risky business 26. Ostentation means “a display meant to impress others.”
ventures, hoping to make quick profits 27. Vainglory is boastful, undeserved pride in one’s
accomplishments or qualities.

236 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Tom Walker’s Flight, 1856. John Quidor. Oil on canvas. The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.
Viewing the Art: In what ways does this painting reflect the fantastic nature of Irving’s story?

groaned and screeched on the axletrees you traveling Zionward,28 were struck with self-reproach
would have thought you heard the souls of the poor at seeing themselves so suddenly outstripped in their
debtors he was squeezing. career by this new-made convert. Tom was as rigid
As Tom waxed old, however, he grew thoughtful. in religious, as in money, matters; he was a stern
Having secured the good things of this world, he supervisor and censurer of his neighbors, and
began to feel anxious about those of the next. He seemed to think every sin entered up to their
thought with regret on the bargain he had made account became a credit on his own side of the
with his black friend, and set his wits to work to page. He even talked of the expediency of reviving
cheat him out of the conditions. He became, there- the persecution of Quakers and Anabaptists. In a
fore, all of a sudden, a violent churchgoer. He word, Tom’s zeal became as notorious as his riches.
prayed loudly and strenuously, as if heaven were to Still, in spite of all this strenuous attention to
be taken by force of lungs. Indeed, one might always forms, Tom had a lurking dread that the devil, after
tell when he had sinned most during the week by all, would have his due. That he might not be taken
the clamor of his Sunday devotion. The quiet unawares, therefore, it is said he always carried a
Christians who had been modestly and steadfastly small Bible in his coat pocket. He had also a great
folio Bible on his countinghouse desk, and would
frequently be found reading it when people called
Reading Strategy Making and Verifying Predictions
Do you think Tom will succeed in cheating the devil?
28. Zionward means “toward heaven.”

Literary Element Characterization How does this state- Big Idea The Power of Darkness What is the effect of
ment develop Tom’s character? including details of the thunderstorm?

WA SHINGT ON IRVING 237


on business. On such occasions he would lay his pens behind their ears, and stared after him from
green spectacles in the book, to mark the place, the windows. Away went Tom Walker, dashing
while he turned round to drive some usurious down the streets, his white cap bobbing up and
bargain. down, his morning gown fluttering in the wind, and
Some say that Tom grew a little crack-brained in his steed striking fire out of the pavement at
his old days, and that, fancying his end approaching, every bound. When the clerks turned to look
he had his horse new shod, saddled, and bridled, for the black man he had disappeared.
and buried with his feet uppermost, because he sup- Tom Walker never returned to foreclose the
posed that at the last day the world would be turned mortgage. A countryman, who lived on the
upside down, in which case he should find his horse border of the swamp, reported that in the height of
standing ready for mounting, and he was deter- the thunder gust he had heard a great clattering of
mined at the worst to give his old friend a run for it. hoofs and a howling along the road, and running to
This, however, is probably a mere old wives’ fable. If the window caught sight of a figure such as I have
he really did take such a precaution it was totally described, on a horse that galloped like mad across
superfluous; at least, so says the authentic old leg- the fields, over the hills, and down into the black
end, which closes his story in the following manner. hemlock swamp towards the old Indian fort, and
One hot summer afternoon in the dog days,29 just that shortly after, a thunderbolt falling in that direc-
as a terrible, black thunder gust was coming up, tion seemed to set the whole forest in a blaze.
Tom sat in his counting-house, in his white linen The good people of Boston shook their heads and
cap and India silk morning gown. He was on the shrugged their shoulders, but had been so much
point of foreclosing a mortgage, by which he would accustomed to witches and goblins, and tricks of the
complete the ruin of an unlucky land speculator for devil, in all kinds of shapes, from the first settlement
whom he had professed the greatest friendship. The of the colony, that they were not so much horror-
poor land jobber begged him to grant a few months’ struck as might have been expected. Trustees were
indulgence. Tom had grown testy and irritated, and appointed to take charge of Tom’s effects. There was
refused another day. nothing, however, to administer upon. On search-
“My family will be ruined and brought upon the ing his coffers,31 all his bonds and mortgages were
parish,” said the land jobber. found reduced to cinders. In place of gold and silver
“Charity begins at home,” replied Tom; “I must his iron chest was filled with chips and shavings;
take care of myself in these hard times.” two skeletons lay in his stable instead of his half
“You have made so much money out of me,” said starved horses; and the very next day his great house
the speculator. took fire and was burned to the ground.
Tom lost his patience and his piety. “The devil Such was the end of Tom Walker and his ill-got-
take me,” said he, “if I have made a farthing.”30 ten wealth. Let all griping money brokers lay this
Just then there were three loud knocks at the story to heart. The truth of it is not to be doubted.
street door. He stepped out to see who was there. A The very hole under the oak trees, whence he dug
black man was holding a black horse, which Kidd’s money, is to be seen to this day, and the
neighed and stamped with impatience. neighboring swamp and old Indian fort are often
“Tom, you’re come for,” said the black fellow haunted in stormy nights by a figure on horseback,
gruffly. Tom shrank back, but too late. He had left in morning gown and white cap, which is doubtless
his little Bible at the bottom of his coat pocket, and the troubled spirit of the usurer. In fact, the story
his big Bible on the desk buried under the mortgage has resolved itself into a proverb, and is the origin of
he was about to foreclose; never was sinner taken that popular saying, so prevalent throughout New
more unawares. The black man whisked him like a England, of “the devil and Tom Walker.” 
child into the saddle, gave the horse a lash, and
away he galloped, with Tom on his back, in the
31. Coffers are strongboxes used to hold money or other
midst of the thunderstorm. The clerks stuck their valuables.

Big Idea The Power of Darkness Why do you think


29. Dog days are the hot, sultry days of summer.
Irving adds this detail?
30. A farthing was a British coin worth one-fourth of a penny.

238 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller III. 1979.7.84.
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. (a)What was your reaction to Tom Walker at the 6. (a)The narrator often uses disclaimers by saying
beginning of the story? (b)Did your opinion of him “people said” or “it is said.” Why might Irving have
change by the end? used this tactic? (b)How trustworthy does the nar-
rator appear to be?

Recall and Interpret 7. What can you infer about the narrator’s attitude
toward money and human greed?
2. (a)How does Tom react to the devil and his offer?
(b)What does this tell you about Tom? 8. Satire is a form of writing that uses humor as a
way of criticizing someone or something. (a)In
3. (a)What kind of person is Tom’s wife? (b)How does
what ways is this story a satire? (b)Do you agree
she contribute to Tom’s agreement with the devil?
with Irving’s implied criticisms?
4. (a)What eventually happens to Tom’s wife?
(b)Which version of what happened to her does Connect
the narrator want the readers to believe? Explain. 9. Big Idea The Power of Darkness Irving wrote
5. (a)What finally happens to Tom Walker? (b)How “The Devil and Tom Walker” when Puritanism was
do you interpret what happens to his possessions? fading and the urge to acquire wealth was growing.
How does Irving portray the dark side of both reli-
gion and wealth in his story?

YO U ’ R E T H E C R I T I C : Different Viewpoints

H OW C RE AT I V E WA S I RV I NG ?
Some of Washington Irving’s most famous stories,
“[In ‘The Devil and Tom Walker,’] Irving began
such as “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Devil and with the legends of Captain Kidd and his buried
Tom Walker,” are adaptations of European folktales. treasure and . . . he grafted upon this material a
As a result, some critics have faulted Irving for a much wider variety of motifs drawn from German
lack of originality, creativity, and imagination. folklore. . . . The devil himself, for example, is a
compound of German, American Indian, and
Read the two excerpts of literary criticism on Irving Puritan elements.”
from novelist and essayist Charles Dudley Warner —Edward Wagenknecht
and critic and biographer Edward Wagenknecht. As
you read the two excerpts, ask yourself how you
would define creativity and whether Irving dis- Group Activity
played creativity in “The Devil and Tom Walker.” Discuss the following questions with your classmates.
Refer to the two passages above and cite evidence
“It has been said that Irving lacked imagination. . . . from “The Devil and Tom Walker” to support your
Now, it seems to me that the transmutation of the answers.
crude and heretofore unpoetical materials which he
found in the New World into what is as absolute a 1. How does Washington Irving show imagination
creation as exists in literature, was a distinct work in “The Devil and Tom Walker”?
of the imagination.” 2. How important do you think it is for a writer to
—Charles Dudley Warner
be completely original in creating a literary
work? How can a writer be creative in using
existing sources?

WASHINGT ON IRV ING 239


L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Characterization Reading Strategy Making and Verifying


In “The Devil and Tom Walker,” Irving uses either Predictions
direct or indirect characterization at different points in Making Predictions About Plot An inference
the story. Through these methods of characterization, involves using reasoning and experience to come up
he creates dramatic effects, generates humor, and with an idea based on what a writer implies or sug-
foreshadows future events. gests but does not directly state. A prediction is a
1. Identify examples of both indirect and direct char- type of inference, one that involves making an edu-
acterization used in “The Devil and Tom Walker.” cated guess about what will happen in a story.
Record these details in a chart like the one shown 1. How did you use your own experiences and rea-
below. Why do you think Irving chose each method soning to predict the outcome of the story? Was
in each instance? the outcome of the story different from your origi-
nal prediction? Explain.
Tom Walker 2. List details in “The Devil and Tom Walker” that
Direct Indirect Irving uses to foreshadow later events in the story.
Characterization Characterization
p. 230 p. 235 Vocabulary Practice
“. . . a meager, “He leaped with joy, Practice with Analogies Choose the word that
miserly fellow” for he recognized his best completes each analogy.
wife’s apron and sup-
1. prevalent : common :: continual :
posed it to contain the a. low b. nonstop c. fast
household valuables.” 2. war : discord :: famine :
a. abundance b. scarcity c. happiness
3. surmise : evidence :: prove :
a. facts b. ideas c. questions
2. If characters are tools used by the author to 4. preserve : save :: speculate :
develop a story, in what ways did Irving use the a. predict b. rebuild c. gamble
narrator? Tom’s wife? Tom?

Academic Vocabulary
Review: Archetype
Here are two vocabulary words from the vocab-
As you learned in Unit One, an archetype is a charac- ulary list on page R86. These words will help
ter type, a setting, an image, or a story pattern that you think, write, and talk about the selection.
occurs frequently in literature across many cultures
and evokes strong emotional responses. For example, commission (kə mish ən) n. an authorization or
heroes like Luke Skywalker are archetypal figures, as command to act in a certain manner or to perform
are evil-hearted villains like Darth Vader. What arche- certain acts
types does Irving use in “The Devil and Tom Walker”? benefit (ben ə fit) n. a positive gain resulting
Why do you think he chose to use them? from some other action

Practice and Apply


1. What commission does the devil give Tom
Walker when he receives Kidd’s treasure?
2. What benefit does the devil gain from his pact
with Tom Walker?

240 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


W R I T I N G A N D E X TE N D I N G G R A M M A R A N D ST Y L E

Writing About Literature Irving’s Language and Style


Analyze Character A character sketch is a profile Choosing the Right Word In “The Devil and Tom
that reveals personality and physical appearance. Write Walker,” Irving creates an eerie atmosphere by using
a brief character sketch of Tom Walker, using details precise nouns that require no modifiers and nouns
from the story to support your depiction of him. that are modified by colorful adjectives. Consider, for
example, how much less effective his description of
To create a vivid character sketch, you should
the swamp might be without these descriptive details:
• decide on the overall impression you want to convey “It was full of pits and quagmires, partly covered
• include details showing the person’s behavior, with weeds and mosses, where the green sur-
face often betrayed the traveler into a gulf of
appearance, and personality—for these details,
review the chart you completed for the Literary Ele- black, smothering mud; there were also dark and
ment activity on page 240 stagnant pools, the abodes of the tadpole, the
bullfrog, and the water snake, where the trunks
• describe possessions or other objects that reveal of pines and hemlocks lay half drowned, half rot-
character ting, looking like alligators sleeping in the mire.”

As you draft, follow the writing model shown here to Notice some of Irving’s most effective word choices:
help you organize your character sketch.
Descriptive Word Part of Speech
START
quagmires noun
smothering adjective
Introduction State your impression of Tom

Walker. stagnant adjective


rotting adjective

mire noun
Write several paragraphs that
Body

provide details to support your


Paragraph(s)
impression.
Activity Create a chart of your own, listing more
descriptive details from the passage above. For each of

Irving’s strong nouns, try to substitute a noun modified


Conclusion Provide a final insight about by an adjective. For each modified noun, try to substi-

the character. tute a noun specific enough not to need a modifier.

F IN I S H
Revising Check
After you complete your draft, meet with a peer
The Right Word Diction, or word choice, is important
reviewer to evaluate each other’s work and to suggest
to consider when revising your own writing. With a
revisions. Then proofread and edit your draft for errors
partner, go through your character sketch of Tom
in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Walker and note places where more precise nouns
and adjectives would make your sketch clearer and
more vivid. Revise your draft to improve diction. Use a
thesaurus if you need to.

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

WASHINGT ON IRVING 241


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

The Raven and


The Pit and the Pendulum
M E E T E DG A R A LL A N P O E

T
oday’s authors might well envy Edgar Allan
Poe. More than 150 years after his death, he
is still one of the world’s most popular writers
and continues to captivate a wide audience. Known
primarily as a master of horror and suspense tales, he
is also credited with inventing the detective story
and contributing to the development of science
fiction. Despite his talent, Poe led a troubled life
marked by poverty, restlessness, and loneliness. Still, he spent much of his life struggling—moving
from city to city, from job to job. He was unable to
escape his spirit-breaking poverty.
“They who dream by day are In 1847, just as Poe seemed to be gaining recognition
for his writing, his world collapsed. His wife died at
cognizant of many things which escape the age of twenty-four, and Poe plunged into a sorrow
those who dream only by night.” too deep to bear. Two years after his wife’s death, Poe
was found delirious on the streets of Baltimore and
—Edgar Allan Poe, from “Eleonora” died shortly thereafter, completely alone.

Poe’s Influence Nineteenth-century French poets


Poe’s Early Life Poe was born in Boston, the son such as Charles Baudelaire greatly admired Poe for his
of traveling actors. His father abandoned the family use of symbolism in his poetry. To the Irish poet W. B.
when Poe was an infant, and his mother died a year Yeats, Poe was “certainly the greatest of American
later. John and Frances Allan, a wealthy couple poets.” Poe’s story “The Unparalleled Adventures of
from Richmond, Virginia, became his foster parents. One Hans Pfaal” influenced Jules Verne and other
Though Poe got along well with his foster mother, science-fiction writers. Fictional detectives such as
he and John Allan frequently quarreled. Allan Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, and many others
refused to pay for Poe’s education at the University are modeled after C. Auguste Dupin, the detective
of Virginia because of his heavy gambling debts and Poe introduced in “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.”
wild life. Later, when Poe was expelled from West Modern writers of horror influenced by Poe include
Point for deliberately breaking rules, his relationship Richard Matheson, Anne Rice, and Stephen King.
with his foster father abruptly ended.
The Mystery Writers of America (MWA) annually
Penniless, Poe moved to Baltimore, where he lived confers the Edgar Allan Poe Awards® to recognize
with his aunt and her daughter, Virginia Clemm. He outstanding achievement in the mystery genre.
had already published three volumes of poems and The award is a statuette of Poe. But perhaps the
now began to write short stories. In 1835 he returned strongest proof of Poe’s enduring popularity is the
to Richmond, where he edited the Southern Literary name of the National Football League team in
Messenger and married his cousin Virginia. Baltimore—the Ravens.
Edgar Allan Poe was born in 1809 and died in 1849.
Poe’s World During Poe’s lifetime, the literary
world in the United States was centered in Boston,
New York, and Philadelphia. Poe contributed stories
Literature Online Author Author Search
Search For more about
For more
and poems to an assortment of journals in these cities. Edgar
aboutAllan Poe, go
this author, goto
to www.glencoe.com.
www.literature.glencoe.com.

242 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Bettmann/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Poem Reading Strategy Analyzing Sound Devices


Have you ever enjoyed a song, movie, or story that dealt Poets take advantage of words’ sounds as well as
with extremes of emotion? Perhaps it was a sad song their meanings. Two common sound devices are the
about lost love, a suspenseful film of high adventure, or repetition of words and alliteration, the repetition of
a chilling tale that riveted you to the edge of your seat. consonant sounds at the beginnings of words. For
example, Poe uses alliteration to create an almost
• Why do you think stories involving extremes of hypnotic effect in phrases like “weak and weary.” As
emotion are popular?
you read, look for examples of these sound devices.
• What types of settings in stories or movies can
produce extremes of emotion?
Reading Tip: Taking Notes On a chart, list examples
Building Background of repetition and alliteration and describe their effects.
“The Raven” was first published in 1845 in the
Evening Mirror, a New York newspaper. In commenting Sound Devices Examples Effects
on this work, Poe wrote that he set out to create a
alliteration “nodded, nearly
poem with a melancholy effect and that nevermore
napping”
was the first word that came into his mind, both for its
sound and for its meaning. The subject of the poem,
he decided, would be the death of a beautiful woman,
“unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world.”
His first thought was to have nevermore repeated by a
parrot, but he decided that a raven was “equally capa-
ble of speech, and infinitely more in keeping with the Vocabulary
intended tone.”
lattice (la təs) n. a structure of crisscrossed strips,
Setting Purposes for Reading commonly wood or metal, that forms a pattern of
openings; p. 246 The neighbor’s dog tried to push its
Big Idea The Power of Darkness nose through the fence lattice between our yards.
As you read, notice how the Romantics’ fascination
beguile (bi ¯ l ) v. to influence by deceit; to
with madness and death is displayed in “The Raven.”
trick; p. 246 The amateur magician’s tricks
beguiled only the children in the audience.
Literary Element Narrative Poem
placid (pla səd) adj. calm; peaceful; undisturbed;
A narrative poem is a poem that tells a story. p. 247 The surface of the placid lake reflected the
Although the story is told in lines and stanzas—and few clouds in the sky.
may include figurative language, imagery, rhythm,
and rhyme—narrative poetry also includes elements of respite (res pət) n. a period of rest or relief, as
storytelling such as setting, characters, and plot. As you from work or sorrow; p. 247 The students all
read “The Raven,” notice these elements of fiction. looked forward to the respite of summer vacation.
balm (bam) n. something that heals or soothes,
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R12. as an ointment; p. 248 The aloe gel worked as a
balm, cooling my painful sunburn.

Interactive Literary Elements


Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • understanding narrative poetry
• analyzing how a poem is related to themes of the • analyzing sound devices
historical period

EDGAR ALLAN POE 24 3


Edgar Allan Poe

244
Scala/Art Resource, NY
O nce upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber1 door.
5 “’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more.”

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;


And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow
10 From my books surcease2 of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain


Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
15 So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
“’Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door—
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;—
This it is and nothing more.”

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,


20 “Sir,” said I, “or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you”—here I opened wide the door;—
Darkness there and nothing more.

25 Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore!”
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, “Lenore!”
30 Merely this and nothing more.

1. A chamber is a room.
2. Surcease means “an end.”

Literary Element Narrative Poem What element of storytelling is established in these lines?

Reading Strategy Analyzing Sound Devices Why might Poe have used alliteration in
this line?

EDGAR ALLAN POE 245


Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
“Surely,” said I, “surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore—
35 Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;—
’Tis the wind and nothing more!”

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter
In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore.3
Not the least obeisance4 made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
40 But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door—
Perched upon a bust of Pallas5 just above my chamber door—
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,


By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance6 it wore,
45 “Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” I said, “art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore—
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian7 shore!”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

Much I marveled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,


50 Though its answer little meaning—little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door—
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as “Nevermore.”

3. Days of yore means “days of long ago.” Here Poe is referring to a Bible story in
which ravens feed the Hebrew prophet Elijah during a sojourn in the wilderness.
(1 Kings 17:1–7)
4. Obeisance means “a movement or gesture, such as a bow, that expresses respect.”
5. A bust is a statue of someone’s head and shoulders. Pallas refers to Pallas Athena,
the Greek goddess of wisdom.
6. Here, countenance means “facial expression.”
7. Plutonian refers to Pluto, the Roman god of the dead and ruler of the underworld.

Reading Strategy Analyzing Sound Devices What effect does Poe create by
repeating the description “above my chamber door”?

Big Idea The Power of Darkness How does this bit of dialogue reflect the
dark side of Romanticism?

Vocabulary
lattice (latəs) n. a structure of crisscrossed strips, commonly wood or metal,
that forms a pattern of openings
beguile (bi ̄ l) v. to influence by deceit; to trick

246 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY
55 But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing farther then he uttered—not a feather then he fluttered—
Till I scarcely more than muttered “Other friends have flown before—
On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before.”
60 Then the bird said “Nevermore.”

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,


“Doubtless,” said I, “what it utters is its only stock and store
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore—
65 Till the dirges8 of his Hope that melancholy burden bore
Of ‘Never—nevermore.’ ”

But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,


Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
70 Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore—
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking “Nevermore.”

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing


To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom’s core;
75 This and more I sat divining,9 with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion’s velvet lining that the lamplight gloated o’er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamplight gloating o’er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer10
80 Swung by Seraphim11 whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
“Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent thee—by these angels he hath sent thee
Respite—respite and nepenthe12 from thy memories of Lenore;
Quaff,13 oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

8. Dirges are slow, mournful pieces of music, such as funeral hymns.


9. Divining means “knowing through insight or intuition” or “guessing.”
10. A censer is a container in which incense is burned.
11. Seraphim are angels of the highest rank.
12. The ancient Greeks believed the drug nepenthe (ni pen thē) would ease pain and grief by causing
forgetfulness.
13. Quaff means “to drink heartily and deeply.”

Reading Strategy Analyzing Sound Devices How is this repetition of the word nevermore different
than others in the poem, and what is the significance of that difference?

Vocabulary
placid (plasəd) adj. calm; peaceful; undisturbed
respite (res pət) n. a period of rest or relief, as from work or sorrow

EDGAR ALLAN POE 247


85 “Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!—
Whether Tempter14 sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted—
On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I implore—
Is there—is there balm in Gilead?15—tell me—tell me, I implore!”
90 Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!


By that Heaven that bends above us—by that God we both adore—
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,16
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
95 Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore.”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

“Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked, upstarting—
“Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
100 Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting


On the pallid17 bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
105 And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted—nevermore!

14. Tempter refers to the devil.


15. Gilead was a region in ancient Palestine. Here Poe uses a phrase from the Bible (Jeremiah 8:22):
“Is there no balm in Gilead?” By this he means, “Is there no relief from my suffering?”
16. Aidenn means “Eden.”
17. Pallid means “lacking in color” or “pale.”

Reading Strategy Analyzing Sound Devices What is the effect of the repetition in this line?

Literary Element Narrative Poem How is the end of this poem similar to the end of a short story?

Vocabulary
balm (bam) n. something that heals or soothes, as an ointment

248 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. In your opinion, what is the most haunting image 5. (a)What is the effect of the repetition of the raven’s
in this poem? single word, nevermore? (b)Is the word appropri-
ate in the context of the poem, or would some
Recall and Interpret other word have been as effective?
2. (a)Why is the speaker reading at the beginning of 6. (a)How would you describe Poe’s purpose in writing
the poem? (b)How would you describe his emo- this poem? (b)Did he achieve his purpose? Explain.
tional state in the first six stanzas?
3. (a)What is the speaker’s first reaction to the raven’s Connect
entrance? (b)Why does he react this way?
7. Big Idea The Power of Darkness Which
4. (a)What will never be lifted from the raven’s details contribute to the mood of this poem, and
shadow? (b)What does the future probably hold how do they illustrate the dark side of
for the speaker? Romanticism?

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO CA B U L A RY

Literary Element Narrative Poem Reading Strategy Analyzing Sound Devices


Like short stories, narrative poems include a narrator, The music of Poe’s verses derives from his use of
or speaker. The speaker may take part in the story or sound devices, most of which are kinds of repetition.
retell a tale that he or she has heard.
1. What is the effect of the repetition of the word
1. Who is the “I” in “The Raven”? tapping?
2. What words would you use to describe this 2. The words grim, ungainly, ghastly, and gaunt
speaker? describe the raven. How do these words contribute
to the meaning of the poem?

Performing
Dramatic Reading Work with a classmate to deliver Vocabulary Practice
a dramatic reading of “The Raven.” One reader should Practice with Synonyms Choose the best
deliver the narrator’s words that are set off in quotation synonym for each vocabulary word.
marks; the other should read all the other lines.
1. lattice
• Vary your facial expressions, the pace of your read- a. border c. mesh
ing, and the tone and volume of your voice to b. barrier d. block
reflect the narrator’s mounting anxiety.
2. beguile
• One reader might provide background sounds, such
a. charm c. candor
as an intermittent tapping during the first six stanzas.
b. repel d. evade
3. placid
a. tempestuous c. chaotic
b. blustery d. serene
4. respite
a. persistence c. hesitation
Web Activities For eFlashcards, b. lull d. turmoil
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

EDGAR ALLAN POE 249


B EF O R E YO U R EA D The Pit and the Pendulum
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R E VI E W

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Identifying Sequence


Think about a moment when you felt terrified. What Sequence is the logical order of ideas or events. To
thoughts crossed your mind? How did you feel? In indicate time order, writers often use signal words or
“The Pit and the Pendulum,” you will read about a phrases, such as before, earlier that morning, or after
prisoner’s terrifying experience inside an underground that. As you read Poe’s story, look for signal words that
dungeon. Consider the following questions: indicate the sequence of events.

• What sorts of things scare people the most? Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart to record the
• What happens when someone is overcome by fear? sequence of events.
Building Background
SEQUENCE OF EVENTS
This story is set during the last years of the Spanish
Inquisition (1478–1834). Established in 1231 by the In the story, the problem begins when
Roman Catholic Church, the Inquisition was a court that
arrested and tried suspected heretics, or those who

➧ ➧
opposed Church teaching. Those convicted of heresy
were imprisoned for life or sentenced to death. Pope After that,
Innocent IV authorized the use of torture to obtain con-
fessions to heresy in 1252, and Pope Sixtus IV authorized
the Spanish Inquisition in 1478. Spanish inquisitors, or
judges, were especially harsh. None was more feared
Next,
than Tomás de Torquemada, named the grand inquisitor
for Castile in 1483. He was responsible for approximately
two thousand burnings at the stake. Today, the Inquisition
is remembered as a period of mercilessness and brutality.
Vocabulary
Setting Purposes for Reading
deduce (di d¯¯¯oos , ¯dūs ) v. to draw a conclusion
Big Idea The Power of Darkness from something known or assumed; p. 253 Several
As you read, note how darkness and terror, both aspects of clues helped us deduce the location of the runaways.
Romanticism, are portrayed in “The Pit and the Pendulum.”
impede (im pēd ) v. to slow or block progress
or action; obstruct; p. 253 Road construction will
Literary Element Suspense impede travel this summer.
Suspense is a feeling of curiosity, uncertainty, or even lethargy (leth ər jē) n. sluggish inactivity or
dread about what is going to happen next. Writers drowsiness; p. 255 Dad told Bill to be active and
heighten the suspense in a story by creating a threat get over his lethargy.
to the central character, or protagonist, and giving read-
ers clues about what might happen. As you read this proximity (prok sim ə tē) n. closeness in space,
story, examine how Poe creates suspense. time, sequence, or degree; nearness; p. 258 The
proximity of the cobra made us nervous.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R18. diffuse (di fuz ) v. to spread widely; to scatter
in all directions; p. 260 Green dye was diffused
Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements, into the river on St. Patrick’s Day.
go to www.glencoe.com.

OB J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • responding to suspense
• analyzing literary periods • identifying sequence

250 U N IT 2 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM


Edgar Allan Poe

I was sick—sick unto death with that long their expression of firmness—of immovable reso-
agony; and when they at length unbound me, and lution—of stern contempt of human torture. I
I was permitted to sit, I felt that my senses were saw that the decrees of what to me was Fate, were
leaving me. The sentence—the dread sentence still issuing from those lips. I saw them writhe
of death—was the last of distinct accentuation with a deadly locution.2 I saw them fashion the
which reached my ears. syllables of my name; and I shuddered because no
After that, the sound of the inquisitorial voices sound succeeded. I saw, too, for a few moments of
seemed merged in one dreamy indeterminate delirious horror, the soft and nearly imperceptible
hum. It conveyed to my soul the idea of waving of the sable draperies which enwrapped
revolution—perhaps from its association in fancy the walls of the apartment. And then my vision
with the burr of a millwheel. This only for a brief fell upon the seven tall candles upon the table.
period; for presently I heard no more. Yet, for a At first they wore the aspect of charity, and
while, I saw; but with how terrible an exaggera- seemed white slender angels who would save me;
tion! I saw the lips of the black-robed judges. but then, all at once, there came a most deadly
They appeared to me white—whiter than the nausea over my spirit, and I felt every fiber in
sheet upon which I trace these words—and thin my frame thrill as if I had touched the wire of a
even to grotesqueness;1 thin with the intensity of galvanic battery,3 while the angel forms became
meaningless specters,4 with heads of flame, and I
saw that from them there would be no help. And
1. Grotesqueness is the state of being distorted or unnatural in then there stole into my fancy, like a rich musical
shape or appearance.
note, the thought of what sweet rest there must
Literary Element Suspense The narrator obviously lives be in the grave. The thought came gently and
to tell his story despite his death sentence. How do you think
the author will maintain interest in his tale?
2. Locution is a form or style of verbal expression.
Big Idea 3. In a galvanic battery, direct electric current is produced by
The Power of Darkness What is the effect of
means of chemical action.
Poe’s description of extreme whiteness here?
4. Specters are ghosts or ghostly visions.

EDGAR ALLAN POE 251


Scala/Art Resource, NY
stealthily, and it seemed long before it attained meaning of some musical cadence which has
full appreciation; but just as my spirit came at never before arrested his attention.
length properly to feel and entertain it, the fig- Amid frequent and thoughtful endeavors to
ures of the judges vanished, as if magically, from remember; amid earnest struggles to regather
before me; the tall candles sank into nothingness; some token of the state of seeming nothingness
their flames went out utterly; the blackness of into which my soul had lapsed, there have been
darkness supervened; all sensations appeared moments when I have dreamed of success; there
swallowed up in a mad rushing descent as of the have been brief, very brief periods when I have
soul into Hades. Then silence, and stillness, and
5
conjured up remembrances which the lucid rea-
night were the universe. son of a later epoch assures me could have had
I had swooned; but still will not say that reference only to that condition of seeming
all of consciousness was lost. What of it there unconsciousness. These shadows of memory tell,
remained I will not attempt to define, or even indistinctly, of tall figures that lifted and bore me
to describe; yet all was not lost. In the deepest in silence down—down—still down—till a hid-
slumber—no! In delirium—no! In a swoon— eous dizziness oppressed me at the mere idea of
no! In death—no! even in the grave all is not the interminableness9 of the descent. They tell
lost. Else there is no immor- also of a vague horror at my
tality6 for man. Arousing heart, on account of that
from the most profound of
Very suddenly heart’s unnatural stillness.
7

slumbers, we break the gossa- Then comes a sense of sudden


mer web of some dream. Yet there came motionlessness throughout all
in a second afterward, (so things; as if those who bore
frail may that web have been) back to my soul me (a ghastly train!) had out-
we remember not that we motion and run, in their descent, the lim-
have dreamed. In the return its of the limitless, and paused
to life from the swoon there sound . . . . from the wearisomeness of
are two stages; first, that of their toil. After this I call to
the sense of mental or spiri- mind flatness and dampness;
tual; secondly, that of the sense of physical, and that all is madness—the madness of a mem-
existence. It seems probable that if, upon ory which busies itself among forbidden things.
reaching the second stage, we could recall the Very suddenly there came back to my soul
impressions of the first, we should find these motion and sound—the tumultuous motion of
impressions eloquent in memories of the gulf the heart, and, in my ears, the sound of its beat-
beyond. And that gulf is—what? How at least ing. Then a pause in which all is blank. Then
shall we distinguish its shadows from those of again sound, and motion, and touch—a tingling
the tomb? But if the impressions of what I sensation pervading my frame. Then the mere
have termed the first stage, are not, at will, consciousness of existence, without thought—
recalled, yet, after long interval, do they not a condition which lasted long. Then, very sud-
come unbidden, while we marvel whence they denly, thought, and shuddering terror, and ear-
come? He who has never swooned, is not he nest endeavor to comprehend my true state.
who finds strange palaces and wildly familiar Then a strong desire to lapse into insensibility.10
faces in coals that glow; is not he who beholds Then a rushing revival of soul and a successful
floating in midair the sad visions that the
many may not view; is not he who ponders
over the perfume of some novel8 flower—is 9. Interminableness means “endlessness.”
not he whose brain grows bewildered with the 10. The narrator is describing his wish to return to
unconsciousness (insensibility).

Reading Strategy Identifying Sequence Note the number


5. In Greek myth, Hades is the underground place of the dead. of times the narrator repeats the word then in this paragraph.
6. Here, immortality means “eternal life.” What does this repetition tell you about the stages the narra-
7. Here, profound means “complete” or “deep.” tor goes through as he gradually regains consciousness?
8. A novel flower is new and unusual.

252 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


effort to move. And now a full memory of the day of my trial. Had I been remanded to my
trial, of the judges, of the sable draperies, of the dungeon, to await the next sacrifice which
sentence, of the sickness, of the swoon. Then would not take place for many months? This I
entire forgetfulness of all that followed; of all at once saw could not be. Victims had been in
that a later day and much earnestness of immediate demand. Moreover, my dungeon, as
endeavor have enabled me vaguely to recall. well as all the condemned cells at Toledo,14 had
stone floors, and light was not altogether
So far, I had not opened my eyes. I felt that I excluded.
lay upon my back, unbound. I reached out my A fearful idea now suddenly drove the
hand, and it fell heavily upon something damp blood in torrents upon my heart, and for a
and hard. There I suffered11 it to remain for brief period, I once more relapsed into insen-
many minutes, while I strove to imagine where sibility. Upon recovering, I at once started to
and what I could be. I longed, yet dared not to my feet, trembling convulsively in every fiber.
employ my vision. I dreaded the first glance at I thrust my arms wildly above and around me
objects around me. It was not that I feared to in all directions. I felt nothing; yet dreaded
look upon things horrible, but that I grew to move a step, lest I should be impeded by
aghast lest there should be nothing to see. At the walls of the tomb. Perspiration burst from
length, with a wild desperation at heart, I every pore and stood in cold big beads on
quickly unclosed my eyes. My worst thoughts, my forehead. The agony of suspense grew at
then, were confirmed. The blackness of eternal length intolerable, and I cautiously moved
night encompassed me. I struggled for breath. forward, with my arms extended, and my eyes
The intensity of the darkness seemed to oppress straining from their sockets, in the hope of
and stifle me. The atmosphere was intolerably catching some faint ray of light. I proceeded
close. I still lay quietly, and made effort to exer- for many paces; but still all was blackness and
cise my reason. I brought to mind the inquisito- vacancy. I breathed more freely. It seemed evi-
rial proceedings,12 and attempted from that dent that mine was not, at least, the most hid-
point to deduce my real condition. The sen- eous of fates.
tence had passed; and it appeared to me that a And now, as I still continued to step cau-
very long interval of time had since elapsed. Yet tiously onward, there came thronging upon my
not for a moment did I suppose myself actually recollection a thousand vague rumors of the
dead. Such a supposition, notwithstanding what horrors of Toledo. Of the dungeons there had
we read in fiction, is altogether inconsistent been strange things narrated—fables I had
with real existence;—but where and in what always deemed them—but yet strange, and too
state was I? The condemned to death, I knew, ghastly to repeat, save in a whisper. Was I left
perished usually at the autos-da-fé,13 and one of to perish of starvation in the subterranean15
these had been held on the very night of the world of darkness; or what fate, perhaps even
more fearful, awaited me? That the result would
be death, and a death of more than customary
11. Here, suffered means “allowed.” bitterness, I knew too well the character of my
12. During the Inquisition, a person’s refusal to confess was
taken as evidence of guilt.
13. Often, the sentence was to be burned alive in public
ceremonies called autos-da-fé (o tōz də fā´). The phrase is 14. The Spanish city of Toledo was important during the
Portuguese for “acts of faith,” referring to the Inquisitors’ Inquisition.
faith that the condemned persons were guilty as charged. 15. Subterranean describes things that exist or occur below
the earth’s surface.
Big Idea The Power of Darkness How does the
narrator’s description of his surroundings reflect the Gothic Literary Element Suspense How do the narrator’s physi-
tradition? cal and psychological torments add to the suspense?

Vocabulary Vocabulary
deduce (di d¯¯¯
oos) v. to draw a conclusion from some- impede (im pēd) v. to slow or block progress or action;
thing known or assumed obstruct

EDGAR ALLAN POE 253


judges to doubt. The mode and the hour were
all that occupied or distracted me.

My outstretched hands at length encountered


some solid obstruction. It was a wall, seemingly
of stone masonry—very smooth, slimy, and
cold. I followed it up; stepping with all the
careful distrust with which certain antique nar-
ratives had inspired me. This process, however,
afforded me no means of ascertaining the
dimensions of my dungeon; as I might make its
circuit, and return to the point whence I set
out, without being aware of the fact; so per-
fectly uniform seemed the wall. I therefore
sought the knife which had been in my pocket,
when led into the inquisitorial chamber; but it Half length portrait of a man bending over,
18th c. Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Pen and ink on paper,
was gone; my clothes had been exchanged for a
15.8 x 21.6 cm. Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany.
wrapper of coarse serge. I had thought of forcing Viewing the Art: How might this drawing reflect the
the blade in some minute crevice of the masonry, emotional state of the narrator?
so as to identify my point of departure. The dif-
ficulty, nevertheless, was but trivial; although, in
the disorder of my fancy, it seemed at first insu- I had met, however, with many angles in the wall,
perable.16 I tore a part of the hem from the robe and thus I could form no guess at the shape of the
and placed the fragment at full length, and at vault; for vault I could not help supposing it to be.
right angles to the wall. In groping my way I had little object—certainly no hope—in
around the prison I could not fail to encounter these researches; but a vague curiosity prompted
this rag upon completing the circuit. So, at least me to continue them. Quitting the wall, I
I thought: but I had not counted upon the extent resolved to cross the area of the enclosure. At
of the dungeon, or upon my own weakness. The first I proceeded with extreme caution, for the
ground was moist and slippery. I staggered floor, although seemingly of solid material, was
onward for some time, when I stumbled and fell. treacherous with slime. At length, however, I
My excessive fatigue induced me to remain pros- took courage, and did not hesitate to step firmly;
trate; and sleep soon overtook me as I lay. endeavoring to cross in as direct a line as possi-
Upon awakening, and stretching forth an arm, ble. I had advanced some ten or twelve paces in
I found beside me a loaf and a pitcher with water. this manner, when the remnant of the torn hem
I was too much exhausted to reflect upon this cir- of my robe became entangled between my legs.
cumstance, but ate and drank with avidity.17 I stepped on it, and fell violently on my face.
Shortly afterward, I resumed my tour around the In the confusion attending my fall, I did not
prison, and with much toil, came at last upon the immediately apprehend a somewhat startling cir-
fragment of the serge. Up to the period when I fell cumstance, which yet, in a few seconds after-
I had counted fifty-two paces, and upon resuming ward, and while I still lay prostrate, arrested my
my walk, I counted forty-eight more;—when I attention. It was this—my chin rested upon the
arrived at the rag. There were in all, then, a hun- floor of the prison, but my lips and the upper
dred paces; and admitting two paces to the yard, I portion of my head, although seemingly at a less
presumed the dungeon to be fifty yards in circuit. elevation than the chin, touched nothing. At
the same time my forehead seemed bathed in a
clammy vapor, and the peculiar smell of decayed
16. Something that’s insuperable cannot be overcome. fungus arose to my nostrils. I put forward my
17. Avidity is eagerness and enthusiasm.

Literary Element Suspense How does this sentence Reading Strategy Identifying Sequence What signal
build tension? words indicate the sequence of events in this paragraph?

254 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Giovanni Battista Piranesi/Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany/Bridgeman Art Library
arm, and shuddered to find that I had fallen at Agitation of spirit kept me awake for many
the very brink of a circular pit, whose extent, long hours; but at length I again slumbered. Upon
of course, I had no means of ascertaining at the arousing, I found by my side as before, a loaf and a
moment. Groping about the masonry just below pitcher of water. A burning thirst consumed me,
the margin, I succeeded in dislodging a small and I emptied the vessel at a draught. It must
fragment, and let it fall into the abyss.18 For have been drugged; for scarcely had I drunk,
many seconds I hearkened to its reverberations before I became irresistibly drowsy. A deep sleep
as it dashed against the sides of the chasm in its fell upon me—a sleep like that of death. How
descent; at length there was a sullen plunge into long it lasted of course, I know not; but when,
water, succeeded by loud echoes. At the same once again, I unclosed my eyes, the objects around
moment there came a sound resembling the me were visible. By a wild sulphurous luster, the
quick opening, and a rapid closing of a door origin of which I could not at first determine, I
overhead, while a faint gleam of light flashed was enabled to see the extent and aspect of the
suddenly through the gloom, and as suddenly prison.
faded away. In its size I had been greatly mistaken. The
I saw clearly the doom which had been pre- whole circuit of its walls did not exceed twenty-
pared for me, and congratulated myself upon the five yards. For some minutes this fact occasioned
timely accident by which I had escaped. Another me a world of vain trouble; vain indeed! for what
step before my fall, and the world had seen me could be of less importance, under the terrible
no more. And the death just avoided, was of that circumstances which environed20 me, than the
very character which I had regarded as fabulous mere dimensions of my dungeon? But my soul
and frivolous19 in the tales respecting the took a wild interest in trifles, and I busied myself
Inquisition. To the victims of its tyranny, there in endeavors to account for the error I had com-
was the choice of death with its direst physical mitted in my measurement. The truth at length
agonies, or death with its most hideous moral flashed upon me. In my first attempt at explora-
horrors. I had been reserved for the latter. By tion I had counted fifty-two paces, up to the
long suffering my nerves had been unstrung, period when I fell; I must then have been within
until I trembled at the sound of my own voice, a pace or two of the fragments of serge; in fact,
and had become in every respect a fitting subject I had nearly performed the circuit of the vault.
for the species of torture which awaited me. I then slept, and upon awaking, I must have
Shaking in every limb, I groped my way back to returned upon my steps—thus supposing the cir-
the wall; resolving there to perish rather than risk cuit nearly double what it actually was. My con-
the terrors of the wells, of which my imagination fusion of mind prevented me from observing that
now pictured many in various positions about the I began my tour with the wall to the left, and
dungeon. In other conditions of mind I might have ended it with the wall to the right.
had courage to end my misery at once by a plunge I had been deceived, too, in respect to the
into one of these abysses; but now I was the veriest shape of the enclosure. In feeling my way
of cowards. Neither could I forget what I had read around I had found many angles, and thus
of these pits—that the sudden extinction of life deduced an idea of great irregularity; so potent
formed no part of their most horrible plan. is the effect of total darkness upon one arous-
ing from lethargy or sleep! The angles were
simply those of a few slight depressions, or
18. Here, abyss (ə bis) refers to “an extremely deep hole.” niches, at odd intervals. The general shape
19. Here, fabulous means “fictional,” and frivolous means
“silly” or “unimportant.”
20. To environ is to encircle or surround.
Literary Element Suspense How do the opening and Reading Strategy Identifying Sequence Why does the
closing of a door overhead help create suspense?
author alternate periods of activity with periods of inaction?

Big Idea The Power of Darkness How does this sen-


Vocabulary
tence reflect Romanticism’s fascination with disease and
madness? lethargy (leth ər jē) n. sluggish inactivity or drowsiness

EDGAR ALLAN POE 255


of the prison was square. What I had taken for machine which caused me to regard it more
masonry seemed now to be iron, or some other attentively. While I gazed directly upward at it
metal, in huge plates, whose sutures or joints (for its position was immediately over my own) I
occasioned the depression. The entire surface fancied that I saw it in motion. In an instant
of this metallic enclosure was rudely daubed afterward the fancy was confirmed. Its sweep was
in all the hideous and repulsive devices21 to brief, and of course slow. I watched it for some
which the charnel22 superstitions of the monks minutes, somewhat in fear, but more in wonder.
has given rise. The figures of fiends in aspects Wearied at length with observing its dull move-
of menace, with skeleton forms, and other ment, I turned my eyes upon the other subjects
more really fearful images, overspread and dis- in the cell.
figured the walls. I observed that the outlines A slight noise attracted my notice, and, look-
of these monstrosities were sufficiently dis- ing to the floor, I saw several enormous rats tra-
tinct, but that the colors seemed faded and versing it. They had issued from the well, which
blurred, as if from the effects of a damp atmo- lay just within view to my right. Even then,
sphere. I now noticed the floor, too, which was while I gazed, they came up in troops, hurriedly,
of stone. In the center yawned the circular pit with ravenous eyes, allured by the scent of the
from whose jaws I had escaped; but it was the meat. From this it required much effort and
only one in the dungeon. attention to scare them away.
All this I saw distinctly and by much effort: for It might have been half an hour, perhaps even
my personal condition had been greatly changed an hour, (for I could take but imperfect note of
during slumber. I now lay upon my back, and time) before I again cast my eyes upward. What
at full length, on a species of low framework of I then saw confounded and amazed me. The
wood. To this I was securely bound by a long strap sweep of the pendulum had increased in extent
resembling a surcingle.23 It passed in many convo- by nearly a yard. As a natural consequence, its
lutions about my limbs and body, leaving at liberty velocity was also much greater. But what mainly
only my head, and my left arm to such extent that disturbed me was the idea that it had perceptibly
I could, by dint of much exertion, supply myself descended. I now observed—with what horror
with food from an earthen dish which lay by my it is needless to say—that its nether extremity25
side on the floor. I saw, to my horror, that the was formed of a crescent of glittering steel,
pitcher had been removed. I say to my horror; for about a foot in length from horn to horn; the
I was consumed with intolerable thirst. This thirst horns upward, and the under edge evidently
it appeared to be the design of my persecutors to as keen as that of a razor. Like a razor also, it
stimulate: for the food in the dish was meat pun- seemed massy and heavy, tapering from the edge
gently seasoned. into a solid and broad structure above. It was
Looking upward I surveyed the ceiling of my appended to a weighty rod of brass, and the
prison. It was some thirty or forty feet overhead, whole hissed as it swung through the air.
and constructed much as the side walls. In one of I could no longer doubt the doom prepared
its panels a very singular figure riveted my whole for me by monkish ingenuity26 in torture. My
attention. It was the painted figure of Time as he cognizance of the pit had become known to
is commonly represented, save that, in lieu of 24 the inquisitorial agents—the pit whose horrors
a scythe, he held what, at a casual glance, I sup- had been destined for so bold a recusant27 as
posed to be the pictured image of a huge pendu- myself—the pit, typical of hell, and regarded by
lum such as we see on antique clocks. There was
something, however, in the appearance of this 25. The pendulum’s nether extremity is its lower end.
26. Ingenuity (in´ jə n¯¯¯
oo ə tē)—the noun form of ingenious—is
creative ability or inventiveness.
27. A recusant (re kyə zənt) is one who refuses to accept or
21. Here, the devices are ornamental designs.
obey established authorities.
22. Here, charnel means “gruesome” or “deathlike.” As a noun,
it refers to a vault where bones or bodies are placed. Reading Strategy Identifying Sequence How does this
23. A surcingle is a belt or band used to hold a saddle or pack
reference to the passage of time contribute to the suspense
on a horse or pack animal.
of the following sentence?
24. In lieu (in l¯¯¯
oo) of means “in place of” or “instead of.”

256 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Carceri d’Invenzione, Plate XIII, 1780. Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Etching, 16 x 22 in. Private collection.
Viewing the Art: What in this illustration suggests a setting similar to the one described by the narrator?

rumor as the Ultima Thule28 of all their punish- many days passed—ere it swept so closely over
ments. The plunge into this pit I had avoided me as to fan me with its acrid breath. The odor
by the merest of accidents, and I knew that sur- of the sharp steel forced itself into my nostrils. I
prise, or entrapment into torment, formed an prayed—I wearied heaven with my prayer for its
important portion of all the grotesquerie of these more speedy descent. I grew frantically mad, and
dungeon deaths. Having failed to fall, it was no struggled to force myself upward against the sweep
part of the demon plan to hurl me into the abyss; of the fearful scimitar.30 And then I fell suddenly
and thus (there being no alternative) a different calm, and lay smiling at the glittering death, as a
and a milder destruction awaited me. Milder! I child at some rare bauble.31
half smiled in my agony as I thought of such There was another interval of utter insensibil-
application of such a term. ity; it was brief; for, upon again lapsing into life
there had been no perceptible descent in the
What boots it29 to tell of the long, long hours of pendulum. But it might have been long; for I
horror more than mortal, during which I counted knew there were demons who took note of my
the rushing vibrations of the steel! Inch by inch— swoon, and who could have arrested the vibra-
line by line—with a descent only appreciable at tion at pleasure. Upon my recovery, too, I felt
intervals that seemed ages—down and still down very—oh, inexpressibly sick and weak, as if
it came! Days passed—it might have been that through long inanition.32 Even amid the agonies
of that period, the human nature craved food.
28. Here, Ultima Thule (ul tə mə th¯¯¯ oo lē) means “extreme
With painful effort I outstretched my left arm as
limit” or “greatest degree.” In ancient times, this was the
name of the northernmost part of the known world.
29. What boots it? is an expression meaning “What good is it?” 30. A scimitar is a curved, single-edged sword of Asian origin.
Literary Element 31. A bauble is any showy but worthless trinket.
Suspense What is to be his fate? Why is
32. The exhaustion caused by a lack of food or water is called
the destruction “milder?”
inanition.

EDGAR ALLAN POE 257


Giraudon/Art Resource, NY
far as my bonds permitted, and took possession of fastenings above the elbow, I would have seized and
the small remnant which had been spared me by attempted to arrest the pendulum. I might as well
the rats. As I put a portion of it within my lips, have attempted to arrest an avalanche!
there rushed to my mind a half formed thought Down—still unceasingly—still inevitably
of joy—of hope. Yet what business had I with down! I gasped and struggled at each vibration.
hope? It was, as I say, a half formed thought— I shrunk convulsively at its every sweep. My eyes
man has many such which are never completed. followed its outward or upward whirls with the
I felt that it was of joy—of hope; but I felt also eagerness of the most unmeaning despair; they
that it had perished in its formation. In vain I closed themselves spasmodically at the descent,
struggled to perfect—to regain it. Long suffering although death would have been a relief, oh!
had nearly annihilated all my ordinary powers of how unspeakable! Still I quivered in every nerve
mind. I was an imbecile—an idiot. to think how slight a sinking of the machinery
The vibration of the pendulum was at right would precipitate that keen, glistening axe upon
angles to my length. I saw that the crescent my bosom. It was hope that prompted the nerve
was designed to cross the region of the heart. to quiver—the frame to shrink. It was hope—the
It would fray the serge of my robe—it would hope that triumphs on the rack34—that whispers
return and repeat its operations—again—and to the death-condemned even in the dungeons
again. Notwithstanding its terrifically wide of the Inquisition.
sweep (some thirty feet or more) and the hiss- I saw that some ten or twelve vibrations would
ing vigor of its descent, sufficient to sunder bring the steel in actual contact with my robe, and
these very walls of iron, still the fraying of my with this observation there suddenly came over my
robe would be all that, for several minutes, it spirit all the keen, collected calmness of despair.
would accomplish. And at this thought I For the first time during many hours—or perhaps
paused. I dared not go farther than this reflec- days—I thought. It now occurred to me that the
tion. I dwelt upon it with a pertinacity33 of bandage, or surcingle, which enveloped me, was
attention—as if, in so dwelling, I could arrest unique. I was tied by no separate cord. The first
here the descent of the steel. I forced myself stroke of the razor-like crescent athwart any portion
to ponder upon the sound of the crescent as it of the band, would so detach it that it might be
should pass across the garment—upon the pecu- unwound from my person by means of my left
liar thrilling sensation which the friction of hand. But how fearful, in that case, the proximity
cloth produces on the nerves. I pondered upon of the steel! The result of the slightest struggle how
all this frivolity until my teeth were on edge. deadly! Was it likely, moreover, that the minions of
Down—steadily down it crept. I took a fren- the torturer had not foreseen and provided for this
zied pleasure in contrasting its downward with possibility! Was it probable that the bandage
its lateral velocity. To the right—to the left—far crossed my bosom in the track of the pendulum?
and wide—with the shriek of a damned spirit; to Dreading to find my faint, and, as it seemed, my
my heart with the stealthy pace of the tiger! I last hope frustrated, I so far elevated my head as to
alternately laughed and howled as the one or obtain a distinct view of my breast. The surcingle
the other idea grew prominent. enveloped my limbs and body close in all direc-
Down—certainly, relentlessly down! It vibrated tions—save in the path of the destroying crescent.
within three inches of my bosom! I struggled vio-
lently, furiously, to free my left arm. This was free
only from the elbow to the hand. I could reach the 34. The rack was an instrument of torture used to stretch or
latter, from the platter beside me, to my mouth, with pull a victim’s body in different directions.
great effort, but no farther. Could I have broken the Reading Strategy Identifying Sequence How does the
repetition of the word down at the beginning of each of
three paragraphs indicate the passing of time?
33. Pertinacity is stubborn persistence.
Vocabulary
Reading Strategy Identifying Sequence How does
the repetition of the signal word again heighten the feeling proximity (prok sim ə tē) n. closeness in space, time,
of terror? sequence, or degree; nearness

258 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Scarcely had I dropped my head back into its sought my own; I was half stifled by their thronging
original position, when there flashed upon my mind pressure; disgust, for which the world has no name,
what I cannot better describe than as the unformed swelled my bosom, and chilled, with a heavy clam-
half of that idea of deliverance to which I have miness, my heart. Yet one minute, and I felt that
previously alluded, and of which a moiety35 only the struggle would be over. Plainly I perceived the
floated indeterminately through my brain when I loosening of the bandage. I knew that in more than
raised food to my burning lips. The whole thought one place it must be already severed. With a more
was now present—feeble, scarcely sane, scarcely def- than human resolution I lay still.
inite,—but still entire. I proceeded at once, with the Nor had I erred in my calculations—nor had I
nervous energy of despair, to attempt its execution. endured in vain. I at length felt that I was free.
For many hours the immediate vicinity of the The surcingle hung in ribands from my body. But
low framework upon which I lay, had been literally the stroke of the pendulum already pressed upon
swarming with rats. They were wild, bold, raven- my bosom. It had divided the serge of the robe. It
ous; their red eyes glaring upon me as if they had cut through the linen beneath. Twice again it
waited but for motionlessness on my part to swung, and a sharp sense of pain shot through every
make me their prey. “To what food,” I thought, nerve. But the moment of escape had arrived. At a
“have they been accustomed wave of my hand my deliverers
in the well?” hurried tumultuously away.
They had devoured, in spite
of all my efforts to prevent
They were With a steady movement—cau-
tious, sidelong, shrinking, and
them, all but a small remnant
of the contents of the dish. I
wild, bold, slow—I slid from the embrace
of the bandage and beyond the
had fallen into an habitual see-
saw, or wave of the hand about
ravenous . . . . reach of the scimitar. For the
moment, at least, I was free.
the platter: and, at length, the Free!—and in the grasp of the
unconscious uniformity of the Inquisition! I had scarcely
movement deprived it of effect. In their voracity stepped from my wooden bed of horror upon the
the vermin frequently fastened their sharp fangs stone floor of the prison, when the motion of the
into my fingers. With the particles of the oily and hellish machine ceased and I beheld it drawn up, by
spicy viand which now remained, I thoroughly some invisible force through the ceiling. This was a
rubbed the bandage wherever I could reach it; lesson which I took desperately to heart. My every
then, raising my hand from the floor, I lay breath- motion was undoubtedly watched. Free!—I had but
lessly still. escaped death in one form of agony, to be delivered
At first the ravenous animals were startled and unto worse than death in some other. With that
terrified at the change—at the cessation of move- thought I rolled my eyes nervously around the barri-
ment. They shrank alarmedly back; many sought ers of iron that hemmed me in. Something
the well. But this was only for a moment. I had not unusual—some change which at first I could not
counted in vain upon their voracity. Observing that appreciate distinctly—it was obvious, had taken
I remained without motion, one or two of the bold- place in the apartment. For many minutes
est leaped upon the frame-work, and smelt at the in a dreamy and trembling abstraction,36 I busied
surcingle. This seemed the signal for a general rush. myself in vain, unconnected conjecture.37 During
Forth from the well they hurried in fresh troops. this period, I became aware, for the first time, of the
They clung to the wood—they overran it, and origin of the sulphurous light which illuminated the
leaped in hundreds upon my person. The measured cell. It proceeded from a fissure, about half an inch
movement of the pendulum disturbed them not at
all. Avoiding its strokes they busied themselves
with the anointed bandage. They pressed—they 36. Abstraction is the state of being lost in thought.
37. Conjecture is the forming of an opinion without definite or
swarmed upon me in ever accumulating heaps.
sufficient evidence.
They writhed upon my throat; their cold lips
Big Idea The Power of Darkness What view of nature
is presented here?
35. A moiety of something is a portion of it.

EDGAR ALLAN POE 259


in width, extending entirely around the prison at ague.40 There had been a second change in the
the base of the walls, which thus appeared, and were cell—and now the change was obviously in the
completely separated from the floor. I endeavored, form. As before, it was in vain that I, at first,
but of course in vain, to look through the aperture. endeavoured to appreciate or understand what was
As I arose from the attempt, the mystery of the taking place. But not long was I left in doubt. The
alteration in the chamber broke at once upon my Inquisitorial vengeance had been hurried by my
understanding. I have observed that, although the two-fold escape, and there was to be no more dally-
outlines of the figures upon the walls were suffi- ing with the King of Terrors.41 The room had been
ciently distinct, yet the colors seemed blurred and square. I saw that two of its iron angles were now
indefinite. These colors had now assumed, and were acute—two, consequently, obtuse. The fearful dif-
momentarily assuming, a startling and most intense ference quickly increased with a low rumbling or
brilliancy, that gave to the spectral and fiendish por- moaning sound. In an instant the apartment had
traitures an aspect that might have thrilled even shifted its form into that of a lozenge. But the
firmer nerves than my own. Demon eyes, of a wild alteration stopped not here—I neither hoped nor
and ghastly vivacity, glared upon me in a thousand desired it to stop. I could have clasped the red walls
directions, where none had been visible before, and to my bosom as a garment of eternal peace.
gleamed with the lurid luster38 of a fire that I could “Death,” I said, “any death but that of the pit!”
not force my imagination to regard as unreal. Fool! might I have not known that into the pit it
Unreal!—Even while I breathed there came to was the object of the burning iron to urge me?
my nostrils the breath of the vapor of heated iron! Could I resist its glow? or, if even that, could I
A suffocating odor pervaded the prison! A deeper withstand its pressure? And now, flatter and flatter
glow settled each moment in the eyes that glared grew the lozenge, with a rapidity that left me no
at my agonies! A richer tint of crimson diffused time for contemplation. Its center, and of course,
itself over the pictured horrors of blood. I panted! its greatest width, came just over the yawning gulf.
I gasped for breath! There could be no doubt of the I shrank back—but the closing walls pressed me
design of my tormentors—oh! most unrelenting! resistlessly onward. At length for my seared and
oh! most demoniac of men! I shrank from the writhing body there was no longer an inch of foot-
glowing metal to the center of the cell. Amid the hold on the firm floor of the prison. I struggled no
thought of the fiery destruction that impended, the more, but the agony of my soul found vent in one
idea of the coolness of the well came over my soul loud, long, and final scream of despair. I felt that I
like balm.39 I rushed to its deadly brink. I threw my tottered upon the brink—I averted my eyes—
straining vision below. The glare from the enkindled There was a discordant hum of human voices!
roof illumined its inmost recesses. Yet, for a wild There was a loud blast of many trumpets! There
moment, did my spirit refuse to comprehend the was a harsh grating as of a thousand thunders!
meaning of what I saw. At length it forced—it wres- The fiery walls rushed back! An outstretched arm
tled its way into my soul—it burned itself in upon caught my own as I fell, fainting, into the abyss. It
my shuddering reason.—Oh! for a voice to speak! was that of General Lasalle.42 The French army
oh! horror!—oh! any horror but this! With a shriek, had entered Toledo. The Inquisition was in the
I rushed from the margin, and buried my face in my hands of its enemies. 
hands—weeping bitterly.
The heat rapidly increased, and once again
40. Ague (ā ū) is a fever accompanied by chills and shivering.
I looked up, shuddering as with a fit of the 41. The King of Terrors could be either the “Inquisitorial
vengeance” or death.
38. The eyes are full of life (vivacity), with a fiery, reddish glare, 42. Lasalle was an officer of the French emperor Napoleon
(a lurid luster). Bonaparte, whose army invaded Spain in 1808.
39. Although destruction was about to occur (impended ), the
idea of coolness seemed to be something calming or Literary Element Suspense How has the mystery of the
soothing (a balm). pit heightened the suspense throughout the story?

Vocabulary
Big Idea The Power of Darkness An atmosphere of
diffuse (di fūz) v. to spread widely; to scatter in all horror is essential to Gothic fiction. How does this passage
directions create a sense of horror?

260 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. (a)What emotions did you experience while read- 6. (a)Why is the third method of torture especially
ing this story? (b)Were you surprised by the end- frightening for the narrator? (b)Is Poe’s portrayal of
ing? Why or why not? the third method as the most horrible convincing?

Recall and Interpret 7. (a)What do the narrator’s struggles and thoughts


throughout his ordeal tell you about Poe’s view of
2. (a)To what fate has the narrator been sentenced?
human nature? (b)Do you think the narrator’s
(b)What does his immediate reaction tell you
actions are realistic given his situation? Explain.
about his state of mind?
3. (a)How does the narrator determine the size of his Connect
prison? (b)Why might he feel that he must find out 8. Big Idea The Power of Darkness How would
about his surroundings? you describe the overall mood or atmosphere of
4. (a)What kind of death does he associate with the this story? How does Poe achieve this mood?
pit? (b)Why might the pit put him in such a state
of terror?
5. (a)What horror does the narrator face after avoiding
the pit? (b)Why do you think the narrator makes the
efforts he does in response to the second horror?

P R I M A RY V I S UA L A R T I FAC T

AT TAC K I NG T H E I N Q U ISI T ION


One of the fiercest critics of the Spanish Inquisition
was the painter and graphic artist Francisco de Goya
(1746–1828). Many of his works deal with the suffer-
ing experienced by those judged to be heretics.
Among these works is the series of prints known as
Los caprichos (The Caprices), published in 1799. In
number 23 of the series, titled Aquellos polbos (Those
Specks of Dust), Goya presents a disabled woman
arrested for selling love potions. Dressed in the typical
robe and conical hat worn by condemned heretics,
she slumps in front of the officers of the Inquisition.

Group Activity Discuss the following questions


with your classmates.

1. Why do you think Goya might have chosen to


depict the trial of this woman?
2. How are Poe’s story and Goya’s image alike and
different as depictions of the Inquisition?
After your discussion, create your own illustration
for Poe’s story.

EDGAR ALLAN POE 261


Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes/Private Collection, Index/Bridgeman Art Library
L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Suspense Reading Strategy Identifying Sequence


Suspense generally increases as the plot of a story In their stories, writers need not always present the
moves toward its climax. In “The Pit and the sequence, or the logical order of ideas or events, in
Pendulum,” Poe generates tension and uncertainty by the same way. In addition to using chronological, or
pitting the narrator against one horror after another. The time, order to retell events, authors can also use flash-
reader becomes more and more involved in the story, backs or flash-forwards to show events that happened
concerned about what will happen to the narrator. earlier or later in the sequence.
1. The narrator undergoes moments of both physical 1. What method does the narrator use to retell the
and psychological torment. Give two examples of events of his tale in “The Pit and the Pendulum”?
each. Describe the event, and tell how each event
2. The term deus ex machina originally meant a god
heightens the story’s suspense.
that suddenly appeared in a Greek tragedy—some-
2. In your opinion, what is the most suspenseful times lowered from a crane—to resolve a situation
moment in the story? Explain your choice. too complex for humans. Today, the term refers to an
improbable, contrived, or artificial solution to a prob-
lem in a piece of fiction. Do you think that the ending
Review: Point of View of “The Pit and the Pendulum” is a deus ex machina
or a part of the story’s logical sequence? Explain.
As you learned in Unit One, point of view refers to the
perspective from which a story is told. Poe’s story is
told in the first-person point of view. The narrator is a Vocabulary Practice
character in the story who uses the pronouns I, me,
Practice with Word Origins Match each vocabu-
and my. Everything that the reader learns is filtered
lary word from “The Pit and the Pendulum” with
through the eyes, ears, and thoughts of the narrator.
the word that has the same origin. Use a dictionary
Partner Activity With another classmate discuss how if necessary.
the story’s point of view helps create suspense. With
1. deduce a. pedometer
your partner, design a web diagram. List examples in
2. impede b. approximate
which the first-person point of view limits your knowl-
3. lethargy c. introduce
edge of events, characters, and setting.
4. proximity d. effusive
5. diffuse e. lethe

First-Person
Point of View
Academic Vocabulary
Here are two vocabulary words from the vocab-
Events Characters Setting ulary list on page R86.

environment (en v̄ rən mənt, v̄ ərn) n. sur-


roundings; the cultural and social conditions
affecting an individual or community
maximize (maksə m̄z´) v. to make as great as
possible; increase to the maximum

Practice and Apply


1. Which details in the narrator’s environment
are Gothic?
2. How does Poe maximize suspense?

262 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


W R I T I N G A N D E X TE N D I N G G R A M M A R A N D ST Y L E

Writing About Literature Poe’s Language and Style


Analyze Mood is the emotional quality or atmo- Using Abstract and Concrete Language In “The Pit
sphere of a literary work. Write a brief essay explaining and the Pendulum,” Poe uses concrete words, or
how Poe’s language, subject matter, setting, and tone words that appeal to the reader’s senses—sight, hear-
contribute to the mood of “The Pit and the ing, touch, taste, and smell—to help readers imagine
Pendulum.” the narrator’s ordeal. For example, Poe describes the
candles as “white slender angels,” the narrator’s last
To generate ideas for your essay, use a cluster diagram.
pleasant sight before being thrown into the dungeon.
Write a word or phrase describing the mood of the story
The description of the dungeon walls as “smooth,
in the middle of a sheet of paper. Then, under each cat-
slimy, and cold” allows readers to imagine the dank
egory, write related words. For example, write torture
chill that the narrator feels when his hand touches
under Subject Matter. Under the related words, jot down
the stone.
evidence from the story. The finished cluster will list the
main points of your essay and the supporting details. Poe also uses abstract words in the story, or words
that express ideas or qualities—such as order, hope,
and despair—to describe what the senses cannot
Language Subject Matter
reveal. For example, the speaker refers to his “charity,”
“thought,” and “immortality.” Concrete nouns and
Mood adjectives can be forceful, but abstract words are
essential in writing about ideas.
Setting Tone
Abstract Concrete
After you complete your draft, meet with a peer terrors rustling
reviewer to evaluate each other’s work and to suggest horror tapping
revisions. Then proofread and edit your draft for errors dreamy oily
in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Internet Connection Activity Scan “The Pit and the Pendulum” for other
Would you like to take a tour of the Poe museum in examples of concrete and abstract words that effec-
Richmond, Virginia? Do you want to learn more about tively convey the narrator’s ordeal. Add these words to
Poe’s life? Would you like to hear “The Raven” read your Mood cluster diagram.
aloud? You can do all this and more online. Use any
major search engine and enter key words and phrases
Revising Check
such as Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven, or other titles.
The Right Word Concrete and abstract words—which
appeal to the reader’s senses and convey ideas, con-
cepts, or qualities—can increase the effectiveness of your
writing. With a partner, review your essay on “The Pit and
the Pendulum.” Revise your writing by including effective
concrete and abstract words to establish a mood or
tone. If you wish, consult a thesaurus, to help you.

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Black bird perched on a vase. Imperial Period Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
(27 BCE–396 CE). Roman wall painting. Pompeii, Italy. www.glencoe.com.

EDGAR ALLAN POE 263


Scala/Art Resource, NY
Vocabulary Workshop
Context Clues

º Vocabulary Terms Determining the Meaning of Unfamiliar Words


The context of a word “I had swooned; but still will not say that all of consciousness was lost.”
refers to the other words
—Edgar Allan Poe, from “The Pit and the Pendulum”
and sentences surround-
ing that word. Synonyms
are words that have simi-
Connecting to Literature What does swooned mean in the quotation above?
lar meanings.
Sometimes the context, or placement, in which an unfamiliar word appears pro-
vides clues to the meaning of the word. If you are not familiar with the word
º Test-Taking Tip swooned, you can get an idea of its meaning from the way it is used in the sen-
When you are asked for tence. That the narrator “will not say that all of consciousness was lost” is a clue
the meaning of a word that swooned means “to fall in a faint.”
that appears in a reading
passage, you will usually One or more kinds of context clues may be provided.
find one or more context • Context sometimes provides an example or examples of a word’s meaning.
clues near the word. Falling into a dark pit would certainly be a calamity.
º Reading Handbook • Context may provide a definition of a difficult word.
For more about using con- Tom Walker was gullible, and his wife was just as easy to fool.
text clues, see Reading
• Context sometimes supplies a word or phrase with an opposite meaning to
Handbook, p. R20.
contrast with the unfamiliar word.
Most people would be fearful of a talking raven, but not the dauntless
narrator of “The Raven.”
• Context may provide a synonym for the unfamiliar word.
The devil provided sufficient, or enough, treasure to tempt the Walkers.

Exercise
For each item below, use context clues to figure out the meaning of the under-
lined word. Identify the type of context clue used to uncover its meaning.

eFlashcards For eFlashcards 1. Edgar Allan Poe is credited with writing the first crime stories that use
and other vocabulary activities, go ratiocination, or logical thinking, to solve a mystery.
to www.glencoe.com. a. reasoning b. characters c. mathematics d. footprints
2. In one of Poe’s stories, “The Purloined Letter,” a detective is asked to
O B J ECTIVES get the stolen document back.
• Use context clues to under-
a. ancient b. personal c. damaged d. taken without
stand unfamiliar words.
• Verify word meanings using consent
context clues.
3. Other characters may think that a problem is inexplicable, but Poe’s
detective, C. Auguste Dupin, finds it easy to understand.
a. mysterious b. boring c. simple d. dangerous
4. Many modern sleuths, from Encyclopedia Brown and Nancy Drew to the
police investigators on TV crime shows, owe their methods to Dupin.
a. criminals b. readers c. detectives d. authors

26 4 U N IT 2
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

The Minister’s Black Veil


M E E T N AT H A N I E L H AW T H O RN E

W
hat do you think it would be like to
spend a dozen years in self-imposed soli-
tude? Nathaniel Hawthorne did just
that, reading widely in New England history and
perfecting his skills as a writer. The dark Puritan
past haunted Hawthorne’s imagination. His ances-
tors included one judge who had prosecuted
Quakers in the 1650s and another who had served Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. However,
in the notorious witchcraft trials at Salem, Hawthorne was not in sympathy with Emerson’s
Massachusetts, in 1692. No churchgoer, Hawthorne optimistic outlook and goals of reforming society.
was still as keenly aware of problems of sin and guilt
as any early Puritan. He explored complex questions Literary Success Unable to support his growing
of right and wrong in tales he called “allegories of family as a writer, Hawthorne returned to Salem and
the heart”—stories that teach a moral principle. took a government job that he disliked. When he
lost the job, he turned again to writing, completing
his masterpiece, The Scarlet Letter, in early 1850.
Although he feared it would be a failure, the book
was a sensation, and Hawthorne soon followed it
“What other dungeon is so dark as with another successful novel, The House of the Seven
one’s own heart! What jailer so Gables. During this period, he moved his family from
Salem to the countryside, where a close neighbor was
inexorable as one’s self!”
the writer Herman Melville. The two writers, who
—Nathaniel Hawthorne shared a dark view of human life, spent a great deal
from The House of the Seven Gables of time together.
Hawthorne’s final years were shadowed by the
coming of the Civil War. Not motivated by anti-
Habits of Solitude Born in Salem, young slavery zeal, he saw the conflict as a collapse of the
Hawthorne was an avid reader of poetry and stories social order, not a sacred cause. In ill health, strug-
of adventure. He also spent long periods alone in the gling to continue writing, and depressed,
remote Maine woods, where “I first got my cursed Hawthorne died while on a journey.
habits of solitude.” After attending college in Maine, In his novels and stories, Hawthorne set himself the
Hawthorne returned to Salem, where he secluded challenge of creating “a neutral ground where the
himself at home for the “twelve lonely years” of his Actual and the Imaginary might meet.” When he
apprenticeship as a writer. He produced two books, succeeds, his fiction has, as the literary critic Alfred
first a novel titled Fanshawe and later a collection of Kazin observes, “the mysterious authenticity and
short stories, Twice-Told Tales. The novel was a fail- the self-sufficient form of a dream.”
ure, but reviewers praised Twice-Told Tales, and the
book sold well. In the late 1830s, as Hawthorne was Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 and died in 1864.
beginning to establish his reputation as a writer, he
met and fell in love with Sophia Peabody, whom he
married in 1842. The couple moved to Concord, Author Search For more about
where Hawthorne socialized with Ralph Waldo Nathaniel Hawthorne, go to www.glencoe.com.

NATHANIEL HAWT HO RNE 265


Charles Osgood/Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA/Bridgeman Art Library
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W READI NG PREVI EW

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Making Inferences


Does everyone wear a “mask” of some kind? In To infer is to make a reasonable guess about the
Hawthorne’s short story, a New England minister con- meaning of a literary work from what a writer implies.
ceals his face literally with a black veil. As you read the In a symbolic story such as “The Minister’s Black Veil,”
story, think about the following questions: we must observe details to infer the writer’s meaning.

• Under what circumstances might you want to dis- Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart to record the
tance yourself from those around you?
inferences you draw from the details presented.
• How much does a person’s appearance affect how
people feel about him or her?
Detail Inference
Building Background
p. 269 “Many The members of the
“The Minister’s Black Veil” is set in a small town in Puritan
spread their congregation seem to
New England in the early 1700s. Puritanism was a sect
clasped hands on feel the minister can
that broke away from the Church of England in the
1500s. In the 1600s, Puritans came to New England and their bosoms.” see into their hearts.
founded a community based on biblical laws. Puritans
believed that human beings were sinful by nature and
deserved eternal punishment but that God had “elected”
some people to be saved. Puritans fought the “natural” Vocabulary
tendency to sin and felt responsible for the moral welfare
venerable (ven ər ə bəl) adj. deserving respect
of others. Keeping a close eye on the behavior of others
because of age, character, or position; p. 268
was elevated to a religious duty—“holy watching,” or
The people relied on the venerable judge’s wisdom.
“doing the Lord’s work.” The subtitle of “The Minister’s
Black Veil” is “A Parable.” A parable is a story with a moral iniquity (in ik wə tē) n. sin; p. 269 He was too
lesson that teaches forgiveness of sinners. steeped in iniquity to tell right from wrong.
sagacious (sə ā shəs) adj. having or showing
Setting Purposes for Reading wisdom and keen perception; p. 269 Careful
Big Idea The Power of Darkness planning is typical of a sagacious person.
As you read, notice how the Romantics’ dark fascina- irreproachable (ir´ i prō chə bəl) adj. free from
tion with the strange and sinister is displayed in “The blame; faultless; p. 274 The lawyer’s handling of
Minister’s Black Veil.” the case was irreproachable, but her client still lost.
zealous (zel əs) adj. filled with enthusiastic
Literary Element Symbol devotion; passionate; p. 274 Overly zealous,
A symbol is a person, place, or thing that has meaning the waiter kept asking if we needed anything.
in itself and also stands for something other than itself.
A crossroads, for example, may symbolize choices in Vocabulary Tip: Synonyms Synonyms are words
life. A symbol in a literary work may have many mean- that have the same or similar meanings. Note that
ings and feelings associated with it, or it may point to synonyms are always the same part of speech.
something that cannot be precisely defined. As you read
the story, examine how Hawthorne develops the sym-
bolic meaning of the minister’s decision to veil his face. Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R18. go to www.glencoe.com.

OB J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • interpreting literary symbols
• analyzing literary periods • expanding vocabulary
• making inferences • drawing upon your background

26 6 U N IT 2 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM
Nathaniel Hawthorne

T he sexton1 stood in the porch of Milford


meeting-house, pulling busily at the bell-rope.
pacing slowly his meditative way towards the
meetinghouse. With one accord3 they started,4
expressing more wonder than if some strange
minister were coming to dust the cushions of Mr.
The old people of the village came stooping Hooper’s pulpit.5
along the street. Children, with bright faces, “Are you sure it is our parson?” inquired
tripped merrily beside their parents, or mim- Goodman6 Gray of the sexton.
icked a graver gait, in the conscious dignity of “Of a certainty it is good Mr. Hooper,” replied
their Sunday clothes. Spruce2 bachelors looked the sexton. “He was to have exchanged pulpits
sidelong at the pretty maidens, and fancied with Parson Shute, of Westbury; but Parson
that the Sabbath sunshine made them prettier Shute sent to excuse himself yesterday, being to
than on week days. When the throng had preach a funeral sermon.”
mostly streamed into the porch, the sexton The cause of so much amazement may appear
began to toll the bell, keeping his eye on the sufficiently slight. Mr. Hooper, a gentlemanly
Reverend Mr. Hooper’s door. The first glimpse person, of about thirty, though still a bachelor,
of the clergyman’s figure was the signal for the was dressed with due clerical neatness, as if a
bell to cease its summons. careful wife had starched his band, and brushed
“But what has good Parson Hooper got upon
his face?” cried the sexton in astonishment.
All within hearing immediately turned about, 3. With one accord means “with complete agreement” or “with
and beheld the semblance of Mr. Hooper, unity.”
4. Here, started means “made a sudden involuntary movement,
as from fear or surprise.”
1. A sexton is a church employee who cares for church 5. A pulpit is a raised structure from which a minister delivers a
property and who may also ring the bells and dig graves. sermon or conducts a worship service.
2. Spruce means “neat and trim in appearance” or “dapper.” 6. Goodman is a title of polite address similar to “Mister.”

NATHANIEL HAWT HO RNE 267


CORBIS
the weekly dust from his Sunday’s garb. There people. He entered with an almost noiseless step,
was but one thing remarkable in his appearance. bent his head mildly to the pews on each side,
Swathed about his forehead, and hanging down and bowed as he passed his oldest parishioner, a
over his face, so low as to be shaken by his white-haired great grandsire, who occupied an
breath, Mr. Hooper had on a black veil. On a arm-chair in the center of the aisle. It was strange
nearer view it seemed to consist of two folds of to observe how slowly this venerable man became
crepe,7 which entirely concealed his features, conscious of something singular in the appearance
except the mouth and chin, but probably did not of his pastor. He seemed not fully to partake of the
intercept his sight, further than to give a dark- prevailing wonder, till Mr. Hooper had ascended
ened aspect to all living and inanimate things. the stairs, and showed himself in the pulpit, face
With this gloomy shade before him, good Mr. to face with his congregation, except for the black
Hooper walked onward, at a slow and quiet pace, veil. That mysterious emblem was never once
stooping somewhat, and looking on the ground, withdrawn. It shook with his measured breath, as
as is customary with abstracted8 men, yet nod- he gave out the psalm; it threw its obscurity
ding kindly to those of his parishioners who still between him and the holy page, as he read the
waited on the meeting-house steps. But so won- Scriptures; and while he prayed, the veil lay heav-
der-struck were they that his greeting hardly met ily on his uplifted countenance.10 Did he seek to
with a return. hide it from the dread Being
“I can’t really feel as if whom he was addressing?
good Mr. Hooper’s face was Such was the effect of this
behind that piece of crepe,” simple piece of crepe, that
said the sexton. He has changed more than one woman of del-
“I don’t like it,” muttered
an old woman, as she hobbled
himself into icate nerves was forced to
leave the meeting-house. Yet
into the meeting-house. “He
has changed himself into
something awful, perhaps the pale-faced con-
gregation was almost as fear-
something awful, only by hid- only by ful a sight to the minister, as
ing his face.” his black veil to them.
“Our parson has gone mad!” hiding his face. Mr. Hooper had the repu-
cried Goodman Gray, following tation of a good preacher, but
him across the threshold. not an energetic one: he
A rumor of some unac- strove to win his people heav-
countable phenomenon had enward by mild, persuasive
preceded Mr. Hooper into the meeting-house, and influences, rather than to drive them thither by
set all the congregation astir. Few could refrain the thunders of the Word. The sermon which he
from twisting their heads towards the door; many now delivered was marked by the same charac-
stood upright, and turned directly about; while teristics of style and manner as the general series
several little boys clambered upon the seats, and of his pulpit oratory. But there was something,
came down again with a terrible racket. There was either in the sentiment of the discourse itself, or
a general bustle, a rustling of the women’s gowns in the imagination of the auditors,11 which made
and shuffling of the men’s feet, greatly at variance it greatly the most powerful effort that they had
with that hushed repose which should attend the
entrance of the minister. But Mr. Hooper
appeared not to notice the perturbation9 of his 10. Countenance means “face.”
11. Auditors are “those who hear” or “listeners.”

7. Crepe is a light, soft fabric with a crinkled surface. Reading Strategy Making Inferences Why do you think
8. Here, abstracted means “lost in thought” or “preoccupied.” Mr. Hooper may find his congregation a fearful sight?
9. Perturbation (pur´ tər bā shən) means “agitation” or
“uneasiness.” Vocabulary
Literary Element Symbol How does Mr. Hooper’s veil venerable (ven ər ə bəl) adj. deserving respect because
affect the way he views the world around him? of age, character, or position

268 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


ever heard from their pastor’s lips. It was tinged, another, he paid due reverence to the hoary
rather more darkly than usual, with the gentle heads,17 saluted the middle aged with kind dig-
gloom of Mr. Hooper’s temperament. The subject nity as their friend and spiritual guide, greeted
had reference to secret sin, and those sad myster- the young with mingled authority and love, and
ies which we hide from our nearest and dearest, laid his hands on the little children’s heads to
and would fain12 conceal from our own con- bless them. Such was always his custom on the
sciousness, even forgetting that the Omniscient13 Sabbath day. Strange and bewildered looks
can detect them. A subtle power was breathed repaid him for his courtesy. None, as on former
into his words. Each member of the congrega- occasions, aspired to the honor of walking by
tion, the most innocent girl, and the man of their pastor’s side. Old Squire Saunders, doubt-
hardened breast, felt as if the preacher had crept less by an accidental lapse of memory, neglected
upon them, behind his awful veil, and discovered to invite Mr. Hooper to his table, where the
their hoarded iniquity of deed or thought. Many good clergyman had been wont18 to bless the
spread their clasped hands on their bosoms. food, almost every Sunday since his settlement.
There was nothing terrible in what Mr. Hooper He returned, therefore, to the parsonage, and, at
said, at least, no violence; and yet, with every the moment of closing the door, was observed to
tremor of his melancholy voice, the hearers look back upon the people, all of whom had
quaked. An unsought pathos14 came hand in their eyes fixed upon the minister. A sad smile
hand with awe. So sensible were the audience of gleamed faintly from beneath the black veil, and
some unwonted15 attribute in their minister, that flickered about his mouth, glimmering as he
they longed for a breath of wind to blow aside disappeared.
the veil, almost believing that a stranger’s vis- “How strange,” said a lady, “that a simple
age16 would be discovered, though the form, ges- black veil, such as any woman might wear on her
ture, and voice were those of Mr. Hooper. bonnet, should become such a terrible thing on
At the close of the services, the people hurried Mr. Hooper’s face!”
out with indecorous confusion, eager to commu- “Something must surely be amiss with Mr.
nicate their pent-up amazement, and conscious Hooper’s intellects,” observed her husband, the
of lighter spirits the moment they lost sight of physician of the village. “But the strangest part of
the black veil. Some gathered in little circles, the affair is the effect of this vagary,19 even on a
huddled closely together, with their mouths all sober-minded man like myself. The black veil,
whispering in the center; some went homeward though it covers only our pastor’s face, throws its
alone, wrapt in silent meditation; some talked influence over his whole person, and makes him
loudly, and profaned the Sabbath day with osten- ghostlike from head to foot. Do you not feel it so?”
tatious laughter. A few shook their sagacious “Truly do I,” replied the lady; “and I would not
heads, intimating that they could penetrate the be alone with him for the world. I wonder he is
mystery; while one or two affirmed that there not afraid to be alone with himself!”
was no mystery at all, but only that Mr. Hooper’s “Men sometimes are so,” said her husband.
eyes were so weakened by the midnight lamp, as The afternoon service was attended with simi-
to require a shade. After a brief interval, forth lar circumstances. At its conclusion, the bell
came good Mr. Hooper also, in the rear of his tolled for the funeral of a young lady. The rela-
flock. Turning his veiled face from one group to tives and friends were assembled in the house,
and the more distant acquaintances stood about
the door, speaking of the good qualities of the
12. Fain means “gladly” or “willingly.”
13. The Omniscient is “the all-knowing,” or God.
deceased, when their talk was interrupted by the
14. Pathos is a feeling of pity, compassion, or sorrow. appearance of Mr. Hooper, still covered with his
15. Unwonted means “not customary” or “unusual.”
16. Visage means “face.”
17. Hoary heads are white-haired heads.
Vocabulary 18. Wont means “accustomed.”
19. A vagary is an odd or erratic action or idea.
iniquity (in ik wə tē) n. sin
sagacious (sə ā shəs) adj. having or showing wisdom Literary Element Symbol What meaning does this com-
and keen perception ment give to the symbolism of the veil?

NATHANIEL HAWT HO RNE 269


The Sermon, 1886. Julius Gari Melchers.
Oil on canvas. Smithsonian American Art
Museum, Washington, DC.
Viewing the Art: How does this artist show
different responses to the minister’s preaching?

the dead before them, and Mr.


Hooper in his black veil behind.
“Why do you look back?” said
one in the procession to his partner.
“I had a fancy,” replied she, “that
the minister and the maiden’s spirit
were walking hand in hand.”
“And so had I, at the same
moment,” said the other.
That night, the handsomest cou-
black veil. It was now an appropriate emblem. The ple in Milford village were to be joined in wedlock.
clergyman stepped into the room where the corpse Though reckoned a melancholy man, Mr. Hooper
was laid, and bent over the coffin, to take a last had a placid cheerfulness for such occasions, which
farewell of his deceased parishioner. As he stooped, often excited a sympathetic smile where livelier
the veil hung straight down from his forehead, so merriment would have been thrown away. There
that, if her eyelids had not been closed forever, the was no quality of his disposition which made him
dead maiden might have seen his face. Could Mr. more beloved than this. The company at the wed-
Hooper be fearful of her glance, that he so hastily ding awaited his arrival with impatience, trusting
caught back the black veil? A person who watched that the strange awe, which had gathered over him
the interview between the dead and living, scru- throughout the day, would now be dispelled. But
pled20 not to affirm, that, at the instant when the such was not the result. When Mr. Hooper came,
clergyman’s features were disclosed, the corpse had the first thing that their eyes rested on was the same
slightly shuddered, rustling the shroud21 and muslin horrible black veil, which had added deeper gloom
cap, though the countenance retained the compo- to the funeral, and could portend23 nothing but evil
sure of death. A superstitious old woman was the to the wedding. Such was its immediate effect on
only witness of this prodigy.22 From the coffin Mr. the guests that a cloud seemed to have rolled dusk-
Hooper passed into the chamber of the mourners, ily from beneath the black crepe, and dimmed the
and thence to the head of the staircase, to make light of the candles. The bridal pair stood up before
the funeral prayer. It was a tender and heart-dis- the minister. But the bride’s cold fingers quivered in
solving prayer, full of sorrow, yet so imbued with the tremulous hand24 of the bridegroom, and her
celestial hopes, that the music of a heavenly harp, deathlike paleness caused a whisper that the maiden
swept by the fingers of the dead, seemed faintly to who had been buried a few hours before was come
be heard among the saddest accents of the minister. from her grave to be married. If ever another wed-
The people trembled, though they but darkly ding were so dismal, it was that famous one where
understood him when he prayed that they, and they tolled the wedding knell.25 After performing
himself, and all of mortal race, might be ready, as the ceremony, Mr. Hooper raised a glass of wine to
he trusted this young maiden had been, for the
dreadful hour that should snatch the veil from their 23. Portend means “to be a warning or an indication of.”
faces. The bearers went heavily forth, and the 24. A tremulous hand is one that is trembling or shaking.
mourners followed, saddening all the street, with 25. Hawthorne is referring to his own short story “The Wedding
Knell.” A knell is the solemn sound of a bell ringing, as at a
funeral.
20. Scrupled means “hesitated.” Big Idea Power of Darkness How does Hawthorne’s
21. A shroud is a cloth used to wrap a dead body for burial.
description of the imaginings of those at the funeral service
22. Here, prodigy means “an extraordinary event that causes
link his story to Gothic literature?
amazement.”

270 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC/Art Resource, NY
his lips, wishing happiness to the newmarried cou- concealed, which caused each to shift the
ple in a strain of mild pleasantry that ought to have responsibility upon another, till at length it
brightened the features of the guests, like a cheerful was found expedient to send a deputation27 of
gleam from the hearth. At that instant, catching a the church, in order to deal with Mr. Hooper
glimpse of his figure in the looking-glass, the black about the mystery, before it should grow into a
veil involved his own spirit in the horror with scandal. Never did an embassy so ill discharge
which it overwhelmed all others. His frame shud- its duties. The minister received then with
dered, his lips grew white, he spilt the untasted wine friendly courtesy, but became silent, after they
upon the carpet, and rushed forth into the darkness. were seated, leaving to his visitors the whole
For the Earth, too, had on her Black Veil. burden of introducing their important busi-
The next day, the whole village of Milford ness. The topic, it might be supposed, was
talked of little else than Parson Hooper’s black obvious enough. There was the black veil
veil. That, and the mystery concealed behind it, swathed round Mr. Hooper’s forehead, and
supplied a topic for discussion between acquain- concealing every feature above his placid
tances meeting in the street, and good women mouth, on which, at times, they could per-
gossiping at their open windows. It was the first ceive the glimmering of a melancholy smile.
item of news that the tavern-keeper told to his But that piece of crepe, to their imagination,
guests. The children babbled of it on their way to seemed to hang down before his heart, the
school. One imitative little imp covered his face symbol of a fearful secret between him and
with an old black handkerchief, them. Were the veil but cast
thereby so affrighting his play- aside, they might speak
mates that the panic seized freely of it, but not till then.
himself, and he well-nigh lost Thus they sat a considerable
his wits by his own waggery.26 time, speechless, confused,
It was remarkable that of For the Earth, and shrinking uneasily from
all the busybodies and Mr. Hooper’s eye, which
impertinent people in the too, had on her they felt to be fixed upon
parish, not one ventured to
put the plain question to Mr. Black Veil. them with an invisible
glance. Finally, the deputies
Hooper, wherefore he did returned abashed28 to their
this thing. Hitherto, when- constituents, pronouncing
ever there appeared the the matter too weighty to be
slightest call for such inter- handled, except by a council
ference, he had never lacked of the churches, if, indeed,
advisers, nor shown himself averse to be it might not require a general synod.29
guided by their judgment. If he erred at all, it But there was one person in the village
was by so painful a degree of self-distrust, that unappalled by the awe with which the black
even the mildest censure would lead him to veil had impressed all beside herself. When
consider an indifferent action as a crime. Yet, the deputies returned without an explanation,
though so well acquainted with this amiable or even venturing to demand one, she, with
weakness, no individual among his parishio- the calm energy of her character, determined
ners chose to make the black veil a subject of to chase away the strange cloud that appeared
friendly remonstrance. There was a feeling of to be settling round Mr. Hooper, every
dread, neither plainly confessed nor carefully moment more darkly than before. As his
plighted wife,30 it should be her privilege to
26. Waggery is mischievous or joking behavior.

Literary Element Symbol What is Earth’s “Black Veil”? 27. A deputation is a delegation.
28. Abashed means “ashamed” or “embarrassed.”
Reading Strategy 29. A synod is a council of church officials or a governing body
Making Inferences How might the
of all churches.
minister’s self-distrust have led him to conceal his face?
30. Plighted wife means “intended wife,” or “fiancée.”

NATHANIEL HAWT HO RNE 271


know what the black veil concealed. At the in the village. But Mr. Hooper’s mildness did not
minister’s first visit, therefore, she entered upon forsake him. He even smiled again—that same
the subject with a direct simplicity, which made sad smile, which always appeared like a faint glim-
the task easier both for him and her. After he mering of light, proceeding from the obscurity
had seated himself, she fixed her eyes steadfastly beneath the veil.
upon the veil, but could discern nothing of the “If I hide my face for sorrow, there is cause
dreadful gloom that had so overawed the multi- enough,” he merely replied; “and if I cover it for
tude: it was but a double fold of crepe, hanging secret sin, what mortal might not do the same?”
down from his forehead to his mouth, and And with this gentle, but unconquerable
slightly stirring with his breath. obstinacy did he resist all her entreaties.31 At
“No,” said she aloud, and smiling, “there is length Elizabeth sat silent. For a few moments
nothing terrible in this piece of crepe, except she appeared lost in thought, considering, prob-
that it hides a face which I am always glad to ably, what new methods might be tried to with-
look upon. Come, good sir, let the sun shine draw her lover from so dark a fantasy, which, if it
from behind the cloud. First lay aside your had no other meaning, was perhaps a symptom
black veil: then tell me why you put it on.” of mental disease. Though of a firmer character
Mr. Hooper’s smile glimmered faintly. than his own, the tears rolled down her cheeks.
“There is an hour to come,” said he, “when But, in an instant, as it were, a new feeling took
all of us shall cast aside our veils. Take it not the place of sorrow: her eyes were fixed insensi-
amiss, beloved friend, if I wear this piece of bly on the black veil, when, like a sudden twi-
crepe till then.” light in the air, its terrors fell around her. She
“Your words are a mystery, too,” returned the arose, and stood trembling before him.
young lady. “Take away the veil from them, at least.” “And do you feel it then, at last?” said he
“Elizabeth, I will,” said he, “so far as my mournfully.
vow may suffer me. Know, then, this veil is a She made no reply, but covered her eyes with
type and a symbol, and I am bound to wear it her hand, and turned to leave the room. He
ever, both in light and darkness, in solitude rushed forward and caught her arm.
and before the gaze of multitudes, and as with “Have patience with me, Elizabeth!” cried he,
strangers, so with my familiar friends. No mor- passionately. “Do not desert me, though this veil
tal eye will see it withdrawn. This dismal must be between us here on earth. Be mine, and
shade must separate me from the world: even hereafter there shall be no veil over my face, no
you, Elizabeth, can never come behind it!” darkness between our souls! It is but a mortal
“What grievous affliction hath befallen you,” veil—it is not for eternity! O! you know not how
she earnestly inquired, “that you should thus lonely I am, and how frightened, to be alone
darken your eyes forever?” behind my black veil. Do not leave me in this
“If it be a sign of mourning,” replied Mr. miserable obscurity forever!”
Hooper, “I, perhaps, like most other mortals, “Lift the veil but once, and look me in the
have sorrows dark enough to be typified by a face,” said she.
black veil.” “Never! It cannot be!” replied Mr. Hooper.
“But what if the world will not believe that it “Then farewell!” said Elizabeth.
is the type of an innocent sorrow?” urged She withdrew her arm from his grasp, and
Elizabeth. “Beloved and respected as you are, slowly departed, pausing at the door, to give
there may be whispers that you hide your face
under the consciousness of secret sin. For the 31. Entreaties are pleas.
sake of your holy office, do away this scandal!” Literary Element Symbol Hawthorne closely links the
The color rose into her cheeks as she intimated minister’s black veil with his “sad smile.” How does this affect
the nature of the rumors that were already abroad the meaning of the symbol?

Reading Strategy Making Inferences Why do you think


Literary Element Symbol How does Mr. Hooper’s reply to Elizabeth decides to break off her engagement with Mr.
Elizabeth indicate another view of the veil’s meaning? Hooper?

272 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


one long shuddering gaze, that seemed almost which enveloped the poor minister, so that love
to penetrate the mystery of the black veil. But, or sympathy could never reach him. It was said
even amid his grief, Mr. Hooper smiled to think that ghost and fiend consorted with him there.
that only a material emblem had separated him With self-shudderings and outward terrors, he
from happiness, though the horrors, which it walked continually in its shadow, groping darkly
shadowed forth, must be drawn darkly between within his own soul, or gazing through a medium
the fondest of lovers. that saddened the whole world. Even the lawless
From that time no attempts were made to wind, it was believed, respected his dreadful
remove Mr. Hooper’s black veil, or, by a direct secret, and never blew aside the veil. But still
appeal, to discover the secret which it was supposed good Mr. Hooper sadly smiled at the pale visages
to hide. By persons who claimed a superiority to of the worldly throng as he passed by.
popular prejudice, it was reckoned merely an Among all its bad influences, the black veil
eccentric whim, such as often mingles with the had the one desirable effect, of making its wearer
sober actions of men otherwise rational, and a very efficient clergyman. By the aid of his mys-
tinges them all with its own semblance of insanity. terious emblem—for there was no other apparent
But with the multitude, good Mr. Hooper was cause—he became a man of awful power over
irreparably a bugbear.32 He could not walk the souls that were in agony for sin. His converts
street with any peace of mind, so conscious was he always regarded him with a dread peculiar to
that the gentle and timid would turn aside to themselves, affirming, though but figuratively,
avoid him, and that others would make it a point that, before he brought them to celestial light,
of hardihood33 to throw themselves in his way. they had been with him behind the black veil.
The impertinence of the latter class compelled Its gloom, indeed, enabled him to sympathize
him to give up his customary walk at sunset to the with all dark affections. Dying sinners cried
burial ground; for when he leaned pensively over aloud for Mr. Hooper, and would not yield their
the gate, there would always be faces behind the breath till he appeared; though ever, as he
gravestones, peeping at his black veil. A fable stooped to whisper consolation, they shuddered
went the rounds that the stare of the dead people at the veiled face so near their own. Such were
drove him thence. It grieved him, to the very the terrors of the black veil, even when Death
depth of his kind heart, to observe how the chil- had bared his visage! Strangers came long dis-
dren fled from his approach, breaking up their tances to attend service at his church, with the
merriest sports, while his melancholy figure was mere idle purpose of gazing at his figure, because
yet afar off. Their instinctive dread caused him to it was forbidden them to behold his face. But
feel more strongly than aught else, that a preter- many were made to quake ere they departed!
natural34 horror was interwoven with the threads Once, during Governor Belcher’s36 administra-
of the black crepe. tion, Mr. Hooper was appointed to preach the
In truth, his own antipathy35 to the veil was election sermon.37 Covered with his black veil,
known to be so great, that he never willingly he stood before the chief magistrate, the council,
passed before a mirror, nor stooped to drink at a and the representatives, and wrought38 so deep
still fountain, lest, in its peaceful bosom, he an impression, that the legislative measures of
should be affrighted by himself. This was what that year were characterized by all the gloom and
gave plausibility to the whispers, that Mr. piety of our earliest ancestral sway.39
Hooper’s conscience tortured him for some great
crime too horrible to be entirely concealed, or
36. Jonathan Belcher was a governor of Massachusetts and
otherwise than so obscurely intimated. Thus, New Hampshire from 1730 to 1741.
from beneath the black veil, there rolled a cloud 37. Mr. Hooper was given the honor of preaching at the
into the sunshine, an ambiguity of sin or sorrow, governor’s inaugural ceremony.
38. Here, wrought means “made.”
39. Here, sway means “influence.”
32. A bugbear is a real or imaginary object of fear. Reading Strategy Making Inferences What does
33. Hardihood is offensive boldness or daring.
Hawthorne mean by “dark affections”? Why has Mr. Hooper
34. Preternatural means “supernatural.”
come to understand or share these emotions?
35. Antipathy is a feeling of intense dislike.

NATHANIEL HAWTHO RNE 273


In this manner Mr. Hooper spent a long life, black veil still swathed about his brow, and
irreproachable in outward act, yet shrouded in reaching down over his face, so that each more
dismal suspicions; kind and loving, though difficult gasp of his faint breath caused it to stir.
unloved, and dimly feared; a man apart from All through life that piece of crepe had hung
men, shunned in their health and joy, but ever between him and the world: it had separated him
summoned to their aid in mortal anguish. As from cheerful brotherhood and woman’s love,
years wore on, shedding their snows above his and kept him in that saddest of all prisons, his
sable veil,40 he acquired a name throughout the own heart; and still it lay upon his face, as if to
New England churches, and they called him deepen the gloom of his darksome chamber, and
Father Hooper. Nearly all his parishioners, who shade him from the sunshine of eternity.
were of mature age when he was settled, had For some time previous, his mind had been con-
been borne away by many a funeral: he had one fused, wavering doubtfully between the past and
congregation in the church, and a more crowded the present, and hovering forward, as it were, at
one in the churchyard; and having wrought41 so intervals, into the indistinctness of the world to
late into the evening, and done his work so well, come. There had been feverish turns, which tossed
it was now good Father Hooper’s turn to rest. him from side to side, and wore away what little
Several persons were visi- strength he had. But in his
ble by the shaded candlelight, most convulsive struggles, and
in the death chamber of the in the wildest vagaries of his
old clergyman. Natural con- intellect, when no other
nections42 he had none. But Are you ready thought retained its sober
there was the decorously influence, he still showed an
grave, though unmoved phy- for the lifting awful solicitude44 lest the black
sician, seeking only to miti- veil should slip aside. Even if
gate43 the last pangs of the of the veil his bewildered soul could have
patient whom he could not
save. There were the deacons,
that shuts in time forgotten, there was a faithful
woman at this pillow, who,
and other eminently pious from eternity? with averted eyes, would have
members of his church. covered that aged face, which
There, also, was the Reverend she had last beheld in the
Mr. Clark, of Westbury, a comeliness of manhood. At
young and zealous divine, length the death-stricken old
who had ridden in haste to pray by the bedside man lay quietly in the torpor45 of mental and
of the expiring minister. There was the nurse, no bodily exhaustion, with an imperceptible pulse, and
hired handmaiden of death, but one whose calm breath that grew fainter and fainter, except when a
affection had endured thus long in secrecy, in long, deep, and irregular inspiration seemed to pre-
solitude, amid the chill of age, and would not lude the flight of his spirit.
perish, even at the dying hour. Who, but The minister of Westbury approached the bedside.
Elizabeth! And there lay the hoary head of good “Venerable Father Hooper,” said he, “the
Father Hooper upon the death pillow, with the moment of your release is at hand. Are you ready
for the lifting of the veil that shuts in time from
40. [As years … veil] This phrase refers to the fact that his hair eternity?”
was turning white with time. Father Hooper at first replied merely by a
41. Here, wrought means “worked.” feeble motion of his head; then, apprehensive,
42. Natural connections are relatives.
43. Mitigate means “to make less intense, severe, or painful.”

Vocabulary 44. Solicitude means “concern” or “anxiety.”


45. Torpor is a state of being unable to move or feel.
irreproachable (ir´ i prō chə bəl) adj. free from blame;
faultless Literary Element Symbol Several times the narrator
zealous (zel´ əs) adj. filled with enthusiastic devotion; describes the movement of the veil caused by Mr. Hooper’s
passionate breath. What quality does this give to the symbol?

274 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


One of the most representative examples of American colonial craft is the tombstone, which
typically displays the sense of the nearness of death that was so deeply a part of this culture.

perhaps, that his meaning might be doubted, faint, sad smile, so often there, now seemed to
he exerted himself to speak. glimmer from its obscurity, and linger on Father
“Yea,” said he, in faint accents, “my soul hath Hooper’s lips.
a patient weariness until that veil be lifted.” “Why do you tremble at me alone?” cried he,
“And is it fitting,” resumed the Reverend Mr. turning his veiled face round the circle of pale
Clark, “that a man so given to prayer, of such a spectators. “Tremble also at each other! Have
blameless example, holy in deed and thought, so men avoided me, and women shown no pity,
far as mortal judgment may pronounce; is it fitting and children screamed and fled, only for my
that a father in the church should leave a shadow black veil? What, but the mystery which it
on his memory, that may seem to blacken a life so obscurely typifies, has made this piece of crepe
pure? I pray you, my venerable brother, let not so awful? When the friend shows his inmost
this thing be! Suffer us to be gladdened by your heart to his friend; the lover to his best
triumphant aspect as you go to your reward. beloved; when man does not vainly shrink from
Before the veil of eternity be lifted, let me cast the eye of his Creator, loathsomely treasuring
aside this black veil from your face!” up the secret of his sin; then deem me a mon-
And thus speaking, the Reverend Mr. Clark ster, for the symbol beneath which I have lived,
bent forward to reveal the mystery of so many and die! I look around me, and, lo! on every
years. But, exerting a sudden energy, that made visage a Black Veil!”
all the beholders stand aghast, Father Hooper While his auditors shrank from one another,
snatched both his hands from beneath the bed- in mutual affright, Father Hooper fell back upon
clothes, and pressed them strongly on the black his pillow, a veiled corpse, with a faint smile lin-
veil, resolute to struggle, if the minister of gering on the lips. Still veiled, they laid him in
Westbury would contend with a dying man. his coffin, and a veiled corpse they bore him to
“Never!” cried the veiled clergyman. “On the grave. The grass of many years has sprung up
earth, never!” and withered on that grave, the burial stone is
“Dark old man!” exclaimed the affrighted moss-grown, and good Mr. Hooper’s face is dust;
minister, “with what horrible crime upon your but awful is still the thought that it moldered46
soul are you now passing to the judgment?” beneath the Black Veil! 
Father Hooper’s breath heaved; it rattled in
his throat; but, with a mighty effort, grasping for-
46. Moldered means “turned to dust” or “crumbled.”
ward with his hands, he caught hold of life, and
held it back till he should speak. He even raised Literary Element Symbol To what “mystery” do you think
himself in bed; and there he sat, shivering with the minister is referring?

the arms of death around him, while the black


Big Idea The Power of Darkness How does this final
veil hung down, awful, at that last moment, in
detail reflect the dark side of Romanticism?
the gathered terrors of a lifetime. And yet the

NATHANIEL HAWT HO RNE 275


Lee Snider/Photo Image/CORBIS
A F TE R YO U R E A D

RESP ON DI NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. (a)What was your first reaction to the minister’s 5. (a)What is “the one desirable effect” that the veil has
black veil? (b)Did your reaction change as the story on Mr. Hooper? (b)What are the negative effects?
developed?
6. (a)What does Elizabeth’s changing relationship with
Mr. Hooper reveal about her personality? (b)Do
Recall and Interpret you find her a sympathetic character? Explain.

2. (a)How do the townspeople react when they first 7. (a)What do you think was most puzzling about the
see Mr. Hooper wearing the black veil? (b)Why story? (b)Write your thoughts down in the form of
might the veil affect them as it does? question.
3. (a)What is the subject of Mr. Hooper’s sermon on Connect
the first day he wears the black veil? (b)What do
8. Do you think that the veil eventually causes Mr.
you think is the association between the veil and
Hooper to become a better minister? Why or
congregation’s interpretation of the sermon?
why not?
4. (a)Briefly retell in your own words the main events
of the story. (b)Which of these events was most 9. Big Idea The Power of Darkness The Puritan
surprising? view of sin and human nature is a basic element of
this story. How is the Romantic view of human
nature also shown?

YO U ’ R E T H E C R I T I C : Different Viewpoints

H OW PESSI M IST IC WA S H AW T H O RN E ?
Read the two excerpts of literary criticism below. Both Group Activity Discuss the following questions with
critics agree that Hawthorne’s writing has a light and classmates. Refer to the excerpts and cite evidence
a dark side. As you read the excerpts, notice the differ- from “The Minister’s Black Veil” for support.
ence in emphasis between the two critics.
1. (a)What is the difference in emphasis between
James and Melville? (b)Which critic do you
“What pleased [Hawthorne in gloomy subjects] was think comes closer to an accurate assessment of
their picturesqueness, their rich duskiness of color, Hawthorne’s pessimism? Explain.
their chiaroscuro; but they were not the expression
of a hopeless, or even of a predominantly 2. Chiaroscuro is a
melancholy, feeling about the human soul.” technique used
—Henry James by visual artists
to balance light
and shadow.
“Perhaps no writer has ever wielded this terrific How might this
thought [Original Sin] with greater terror than this technique apply
same harmless Hawthorne. Still more: this black to Hawthorne’s
conceit pervades him through and through. You outlook on the
may be witched by his sunlight,—transported by human condition?
the bright gildings in the skies he builds over you;
but . . . even his bright gildings but fringe and play
upon the edges of thunder-clouds.”
—Herman Melville

276 U N IT 2 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM


Gustave Courbet/Musee de la Vie Romantique, Paris, France, Lauros/Giraudon/Bridgeman Art Library
L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Symbol Reading Strategy Making Inferences


There are two basic types of symbols—traditional and Inferences About Theme The subtitle of “The
original. Traditional symbols usually have a single Minister’s Black Veil” is “A Parable.” A parable is a story
meaning. For example, the theater masks shown here that teaches a moral lesson. By calling his story a par-
are traditional symbols representing the two sides of able, Hawthorne implies that it has a central message,
drama—comedy and tragedy. or theme, but this theme is never directly stated.
Review the inference chart you created for clues about
the theme of this story.
1. What do you think is the theme of “The Minister’s
Black Veil”?
2. In support of your opinion, list three important
details from the story and the inferences you drew
from them.
In contrast, writers often create original symbols that
have no familiar meanings to readers. This allows
writers more freedom to develop what the symbols Vocabulary Practice
represent. Practice with Synonyms Find the synonym for
1. What kind of symbol—traditional or original—does each vocabulary word from “The Minister’s Black
Hawthorne use in “The Minister’s Black Veil”? Explain. Veil” listed in the first column. Use a dictionary or a
thesaurus if you need help.
2. What different meanings do you think the black veil
represents for Mr. Hooper, Elizabeth, and the 1. venerable a. esteemed b. famous
townspeople? 2. iniquity a. guilt b. wickedness
3. Why do you think Hawthorne chose not to explain 3. sagacious a. wise b. foolish
why Mr. Hooper wears the veil? How does this
choice contribute to the power of the veil as a 4. irreproachable a. reckless b. faultless
symbol? 5. zealous a. uncaring b. enthusiastic

Review: Characterization
Characterization refers to the various methods that a Academic Vocabulary
writer uses to develop the personality of a character.
Here are two vocabulary words from the vocab-
Partner Activity Meet with a classmate and talk ulary list on page R86.
about how you got to know Mr. Hooper better as you
read the story. Working with your partner, create a culture (kul chər) n. a people’s unique way of
web diagram like the one below. Then fill it in with a life—customs, art, rituals, and beliefs
striking example for each method of characterization
that Hawthorne uses to portray Mr. Hooper. ideology (ə̄´ dē ŏl ə jē ) n. a set of principles
and thoughts that guides an individual or a
group
physical other characters’
appearance comments
Practice and Apply
1. What did you learn about Puritan culture from
Mr. Hooper reading “The Minister’s Black Veil”?
2. How would you describe the ideology that
actions
narrator’s guides Mr. Hooper’s role as minister?
comments
spoken words

NATHANIEL HAWT HO RNE 277


PhotoDisc
W R I T I N G A N D EX TE N D I N G G R A M M A R A N D ST Y L E

Writing About Literature Hawthorne’s Language and Style


Respond to Theme The narrator of “The Minister’s Choosing Precise Words In “The Minister’s Black
Black Veil” states that one’s own heart is “the saddest Veil,” Hawthorne chooses adjectives that evoke a
of all prisons” (page 274). Write a brief essay explain- gloomy mood, or atmosphere:
ing why you agree or disagree with this assertion. Use
“horrible black veil”
evidence from the story and examples from your own
“dreadful secret”
experience to defend your position.
“deathlike paleness”
As you draft, write from start to finish. Follow the writ-
To help your readers better picture your ideas, use
ing path shown here to help you organize your essay
words with specific meanings. For example, in “The
and keep you on track.
Minister’s Black Veil,” the noun bonnet is clearer than
START hat, the verb strove is clearer than tried, and the
adjective impertinent is clearer than impolite.

Introduction
Present your interpretation of
• Make sure that the word’s denotation, or literal

the quotation and the position


you plan to defend. definition, expresses the meaning you have in
mind. Be especially careful to differentiate between

words whose meanings are often confused, such


as the examples below.
Body

Add supporting evidence.


Paragraph(s)
imply infer

disinterested uninterested
Briefly summarize your
Conclusion respectfully respectively

position and consider offering


a related insight.

F INISH
• Be sensitive to a word’s connotation–the positive or
negative association that the word can evoke. Make sure
After you complete your draft, meet with a peer that the connotation of the words you choose supports
reviewer to evaluate each other’s work and to suggest the meaning and tone you intend. The words below
revisions. Then proofread and edit your draft for errors have similar meanings but very different connotations.
in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Positive Negative
curious nosy
Literary Criticism thin skinny
Group Activity In his review of Twice-Told Tales, a thrifty cheap
collection of Hawthorne’s short stories, Poe called
“The Minister’s Black Veil” a “masterly composition.”
Meet with a few of your classmates to collaborate on
Activity Scan Hawthorne’s story for other examples
writing five blurbs—short descriptions from reviews
of adjectives with positive or negative connotations
that might appear on a book jacket for “The Minister’s
suggesting gloom. Make a list of them to read aloud
Black Veil.” As you write the blurbs, praise the story for
and explain to the class.
its greatest merits.

Revising Check
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to Precise Words Work with a partner to improve word
www.glencoe.com. choices in your essay for “The Minister’s Black Veil.”

278 U N IT 2 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM


Grammar Workshop
Sentence Structure

Correcting Dangling Modifiers º Participial Phrases


A participle is a verb
“Children, with bright faces, tripped merrily beside their parents, or mimicked a
form that ends in –ed or
graver gait, in the conscious dignity of their Sunday clothes.”
–ing. Participial phrases
—Nathaniel Hawthorne, from The Minister’s Black Veil always act as adjectives.
A participial phrase at the
Connecting to Literature Notice how Hawthorne places the phrase “with beginning of a sentence
bright faces” directly after the noun it modifies, children. If he had placed that is usually followed by a
modifier later in the sentence, its meaning may not have been clear. For exam- comma.
ple, if Hawthorne had written “Children tripped merrily beside their parents with
º Test-Taking Tip
bright faces . . . ,” one could interpret that “with bright faces” modifies parents.
Read grammar questions
A modifier changes the meaning of a word. Although modifiers can help readers carefully on standardized
clarify meaning, a dangling modifier creates confusion. A dangling modifier is a tests, such as the SAT. It
phrase that does not clearly or logically modify any word in a sentence. Very is easy to miss dangling
often, a dangling modifier is a participle or participial phrase. modifiers. You may
understand the writer’s
The dangling modifier is circled in the first sentence of each pair below. As writ- intention while missing
ten, these sentences seem to mean that a fire worked all night and that a door the grammatical error.
ran across a room. To correct a sentence that has a dangling modifier, make sure º Language Handbook
that the participial phrase, or modifier, clearly and sensibly modifies a word.
For more on modifiers,
Below, an arrow points from the modifier to the word it modifies. see Language Handbook
p. R46–R47.
Dangling: Working all night long, the blaze was finally extinguished.

Corrected: Working all night long, the firefighters finally extinguished the blaze.

Dangling: Sprinting across the room, the heavy door slammed in my face. eWorkbooks To link to
the Grammar and Language
eWorkbook, go to
Corrected: Sprinting across the room, I saw the heavy door slam in my face. www.glencoe.com.

Exercise
OB J ECT IV ES
Revise for Clarity Rewrite these sentences, correcting the dangling • Correct dangling modifiers.
modifiers. • Demonstrate control over the
placement of modifiers.
1. Looking for movie ideas, Poe’s stories were discovered. • Use participles correctly.

2. Working feverishly, the script was finally finished.


3. Watching the 1926 film The Scarlet Letter, the theater was filled.
4. Gesturing wildly, the audience smiled at the silent film actress.
5. Admitted to the theater late, the lights were out.

279
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

from Moby-Dick
M E E T H E R M A N M E LV I LLE

N
O! in thunder.” This, according to
Herman Melville, is what the true writer
says. With his own great “NO!” Melville
set himself against the optimism of Emerson and
the Transcendentalists, challenged conformity, and
rejected the idea of progress and prosperity that inherently evil, and they wrote fiction that
dominated the American mind in the 1800s. explored the dark side of life.
Hawthorne’s influence can be seen in Melville’s later
Adventure and Fame Born in New York City,
work, beginning with his masterpiece, Moby-Dick, a
Melville faced many misfortunes in his youth despite
whaling story of great complexity and power, meant
being the son of a wealthy merchant. He was forced
to rival the work of Shakespeare. Published in 1851,
to leave school at twelve and instead of studying, he
this tale of the obsessed hero-villain Captain Ahab
focused on finding a profession. Unable to do so, in
and his doomed search for the white whale is now
1841 he became a sailor aboard the whale ship
regarded as one of the greatest American novels.
Acushnet, bound for the South Pacific.
When the novel first appeared, however, it met with
During his time as a sailor, Melville jumped ship neither critical nor popular acclaim.
and lived for a month with the Typee, a supposedly
The commercial failure of his next two works con-
cannibalistic tribe that nevertheless treated him
vinced Melville that he could not support his fam-
graciously, took part in a mutiny, and spent time in
ily by writing. He was forced to sell his farm and
jail on the island of Tahiti. These sailing years gave
spend nearly twenty years at a routine job, a cus-
him the background knowledge of ships and exotic
toms inspector in New York City. Literary circles
islands that served him well in his first two novels,
lost track of Melville. In his later years, he pub-
Typee (1846) and Omoo (1847), both popular tales
lished some poems, which were overlooked by the
of adventure.
public, and at his death he left behind the manu-
The success of these novels brought temporary script of his last work, the novel Billy Budd. It was
stability into Melville’s life. In 1847, he married published posthumously in 1924.
Elizabeth Shaw, the daughter of the chief justice
During his life, Herman Melville achieved fame
of Massachusetts. He became a literary celebrity
and then watched it fade to nothing. His most
in both England and America. His sudden suc-
important achievements were ridiculed by critics
cess, however, was short-lived because he refused
and ignored by the public. Nathaniel Hawthorne,
to continue writing the sort of adventure books
however, asserted that no “writer ever put . . . real-
the public craved. His third novel, Mardi (1849),
ity before his reader more unflinchingly” than did
written in a new allegorical style, was not what
Herman Melville. Generations later, readers began
readers of that era expected from an author of
to discover the depth and power of his writing and
adventures, and as a result it was poorly received.
to accept his bold rendering of reality.
Critical Neglect In 1850, Melville purchased a Herman Melville was born in 1819 and died in 1891.
farm near Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and befriended
the writer Nathaniel Hawthorne, who lived just
six miles away. The two writers had much in com- Author Search For more about
Author Search For more about
mon: they shared the Puritan view of humanity as Herman Melville, go to www.glencoe.com.
this author, go to www.literature.glencoe.com.

280 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Bettmann/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Monitoring


Have you ever met someone with a magnetic personal- Comprehension
ity, perhaps a teacher, a coach, or a political speaker? In Monitoring comprehension is a helpful way to make
the following selection, Melville presents such a character sure that you understand what you are reading.
in Captain Ahab. As you read, think about the following Melville’s style is highly ornate, with long, complicated
questions: passages and sentences rich in descriptive detail. To
• What makes a personality magnetic? get the most from this selection, reread challenging
• How do others usually respond to such an passages and break down difficult sentences.
individual’s message?
Reading Tip: Breaking Down Difficult Sentences
Building Background Use the following tips to break down difficult sentences:
Melville’s novel is set in the early 1800s. It describes 1. Identify the subject.
the voyage of the Pequod, a whale ship, which hunts 2. Isolate the verb or verb phrase.
and kills sperm whales for their oil. Ishmael, the young 3. Rephrase the sentence in your own words.
sailor who narrates the book, signs on because he is
penniless but curious to find out what life aboard a
whale ship is like. Such reasons for joining a whaling Vocabulary
crew were common during the height of the whaling
fortitude (for tə t¯¯¯
ood´) n. strength, particularly
industry. Despite dangerous work, fierce weather, low
strength of mind that enables one to encounter
pay, bad food, and harsh treatment, both Americans
danger or bear adversity with courage; p. 284
and foreigners alike were drawn to the adventure. Of
The soldier showed fortitude in facing the enemy.
course, the possibility of conquering “the mightiest
creature on earth”—and living to tell about it—also pro- genial (jēn yəl) adj. mild or friendly; p. 284
vided an incentive. Despite her severe illness, my grandmother
remained genial.
Setting Purposes for Reading
recluse (rek l¯¯¯
oos) n. someone who leads a
Big Idea The Power of Darkness secluded or solitary life; p. 284 The author was
As you read, consider why Captain Ahab regards the considered a recluse because he granted no inter-
white whale Moby Dick as evil. views and never spoke in public.
misanthropic (mis´ ən throp ik) adj. having
Literary Element Motivation hatred for humankind; p. 284 Lack of compas-
Motivation refers to the stated or implied reason or sion may be a sign of a misanthropic cast of mind.
cause for a character’s actions. A character’s motiva- inscrutable (in skr¯¯¯
oo tə bəl) adj. mysterious, or
tion helps the reader understand why he or she not able to be interpreted or understood; p. 287
behaves in a certain way. In a great literary work such Her actions may be clear, but her intentions are
as Moby-Dick, the main character’s motivation is com- inscrutable.
plex, but comprehensible. As you read, consider why
Captain Ahab acts as he does. Vocabulary Tip: Antonyms Words that have
opposite meanings and are the same part of
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R11. speech are called antonyms. For instance, incense
and pacify are antonyms.
Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • monitoring comprehension
• analyzing literary periods • analyzing motivation and metaphor

HERMAN MELVILLE 281


Herman Melville

Ahab
For several days after leaving Nantucket, nothing a perturbation. This was strangely heightened at
above hatches1 was seen of Captain Ahab. The times by the ragged Elijah’s diabolical incoher-
mates regularly relieved each other at the watches, ences uninvitedly recurring to me, with a subtle
and for aught2 that could be seen to the contrary, energy I could not have before conceived of. But
they seemed to be the only commanders of the poorly could I withstand them, much as in other
ship; only they sometimes issued from the cabin moods I was almost ready to smile at the solemn
with orders so sudden and peremptory, that after all whimsicalities of that outlandish prophet of the
it was plain they but commanded vicariously. Yes, wharves.4 But whatever it was of apprehensive-
their supreme lord and dictator was there, though ness or uneasiness—to call it so—which I felt,
hitherto unseen by any eyes not permitted to pen- yet whenever I came to look about me in the
etrate into the now sacred retreat of the cabin. ship, it seemed against all warranty to cherish
Every time I ascended to the deck from my such emotions. For though the harpooneers, with
watches below, I instantly gazed aft3 to mark if the great body of the crew, were a far more bar-
any strange face were visible; for my first vague baric, heathenish, and motley set than any of the
disquietude touching the unknown captain, tame merchant-ship companies which my previ-
now in the seclusion of the sea, became almost ous experiences had made me acquainted with,
still I ascribed this—and rightly ascribed it—to
1. Above hatches means “on deck.”
2. Here, aught means “anything” or “all.” 4. Before the Pequod set sail, an odd sailor, Elijah, warned
3. Aft means “the rear section of a ship.” Ishmael about Captain Ahab.

Literary Element Motivation Why does Ahab isolate Reading Strategy Monitoring Comprehension Whom
himself from his crew? does Ishmael describe in this passage?

282 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Paolo Curto/Getty Images
the fierce uniqueness of the very nature of that grooves out the bark from top to bottom, ere
wild Scandinavian vocation in which I had so running off into the soil, leaving the tree still
abandonedly embarked. But it was especially the greenly alive, but branded. Whether that mark
aspect of the three chief officers of the ship, the was born with him, or whether it was the scar
mates, which was most forcibly calculated to left by some desperate wound, no one could
allay these colorless misgivings, and induce certainly say. By some tacit consent, through-
confidence and cheerfulness in every presentment out the voyage little or no allusion was made
of the voyage. Three better, more likely sea-officers to it, especially by the mates. But once
and men, each in his own different way, could not Tashtego’s senior, an old Gayhead Indian7
readily be found, and they were every one of the among the crew, superstitiously asserted that
Americans; a Nantucketer, a Vineyarder, a Cape not till he was full forty years old did Ahab
man. Now, it being Christmas when the ship shot become that way branded, and then it came
from out her harbor, for a space we had biting Polar upon him, not in the fury of any mortal fray,
weather, though all the time running away from it but in an elemental strife at sea. Yet, this wild
to the southward; and by every degree and minute hint seemed inferentially negatived, by what a
of latitude which we sailed, gradually leaving that grey Manxman8 insinuated, an old sepulchral
merciless winter, and all its intolerable weather man, who, having never before sailed out of
behind us. It was one of those less lowering, but still Nantucket, had never ere this laid eye upon
grey and gloomy enough mornings of the transition, wild Ahab. Nevertheless, the old sea-tradi-
when with a fair wind the ship was rushing through tions, the immemorial credulities, popularly
the water with a vindictive sort of leaping and mel- invested this old Manxman with preternatural
ancholy rapidity, that as I mounted to the deck at powers of discernment. So that no white sailor
the call of the forenoon watch, so soon as I levelled seriously contradicted him when he said that if
my glance towards the taffrail, foreboding shivers ever Captain Ahab should be tranquilly laid
ran over me. Reality outran apprehension; Captain out—which might hardly come to pass, so he
Ahab stood upon his quarter-deck.5 muttered—then, whoever should do that last
There seemed no sign of common bodily ill- office for the dead, would find a birthmark on
ness about him, nor of the recovery from any. him from crown to sole.
He looked like a man cut away from the stake, So powerfully did the whole grim aspect of
when the fire has overrunningly wasted all the Ahab affect me, and the livid9 brand which
limbs without consuming them, or taking away streaked it, that for the first few moments I
one particle from their compacted aged robust- hardly noted that not a little of this overbearing
ness. His whole high, broad form, seemed made grimness was owing to the barbaric white leg
of solid bronze, and shaped in an unalterable upon which he partly stood. It had previously
mould, like Cellini’s cast Perseus.6 Threading its come to me that this ivory leg had at sea been
way out from among his grey hairs, and continu- fashioned from the polished bone of the sperm
ing right down one side of his tawny scorched whale’s jaw. “Aye, he was dismasted10 off Japan,”
face and neck, till it disappeared in his clothing, said the old Gayhead Indian once; “but like his
you saw a slender rod-like mark, lividly whitish. dismasted craft, he shipped another mast without
It resembled that perpendicular seam sometimes coming home for it. He has a quiver of ’em.”
made in the straight, lofty trunk of a great tree, I was struck with the singular posture he
when the upper lightning tearingly darts down it, maintained. Upon each side of the Pequod’s
and without wrenching a single twig, peels and quarter deck, and pretty close to the mizen

5. The quarter-deck is the part of a ship set aside by the


7. Gayhead Indian refers to a Native American from Gayhead,
captain for official use.
a town in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
6. Cellini’s cast Perseus refers to Benvenuto Cellini’s bronze
8. A Manxman is someone from the Isle of Man, an island in
statue that shows Perseus, a Greek mythological hero,
the Irish Sea.
holding Medusa’s severed head.
9. Here, livid means “pale.”
Big Idea The Power of Darkness How does this detail 10. Literally, dismasted means “with the mast removed or
suggest that Ahab is strange, perhaps even unnatural? broken off.” This term is used figuratively to describe Ahab’s
loss of his leg.

HER MAN MELVILLE 283


shrouds,11 there was an auger hole, bored about
half an inch or so, into the plank. His bone leg
steadied in that hole; one arm elevated, and
holding by a shroud; Captain Ahab stood erect,
looking straight out beyond the ship’s ever-
pitching prow. There was an infinity of firmest
fortitude, a determinate, unsurrenderable wil-
fulness, in the fixed and fearless, forward dedi-
cation of that glance. Not a word he spoke; nor
did his officers say aught to him; though by all
their minutest gestures and expressions, they
plainly showed the uneasy, if not painful, con-
sciousness of being under a troubled master-
eye. And not only that, but moody stricken
Ahab stood before them with a crucifixion in
his face; in all the nameless regal overbearing
dignity of some mighty woe.
Ere long, from his first visit in the air, he with-
drew into his cabin. But after that morning, he
was every day visible to the crew; either standing
in his pivot-hole, or seated upon an ivory stool he Breaching Sperm Whale’s tail fin.
had; or heavily walking the deck. As the sky grew New Zealand Photographer: Flip Nicklin.
less gloomy; indeed, began to grow a little genial,
he became still less and less a recluse; as if, when little or nothing, out of himself to employ or
the ship had sailed from home, nothing but the excite Ahab, now; and thus chase away, for that
dead wintry bleakness of the sea had then kept one interval, the clouds that layer upon layer were
him so secluded. And, by and by, it came to pass, piled upon his brow, as ever all clouds choose the
that he was almost continually in the air; but, as loftiest peaks to pile themselves upon.
yet, for all that he said, or perceptibly did, on the Nevertheless, ere long, the warm, warbling
at last sunny deck, he seemed as unnecessary there persuasiveness of the pleasant, holiday weather
as another mast. But the Pequod was only making we came to, seemed gradually to charm him from
a passage now; not regularly cruising; nearly all his mood. For, as when the red-cheeked, dancing
whaling preparatives needing supervision the girls, April and May, trip home to the wintry,
mates were fully competent to, so that there was misanthropic woods; even the barest, ruggedest,
most thunder-cloven old oak will at least send
forth some few green sprouts, to welcome such
11. Shrouds means “sails.”
glad-hearted visitants; so Ahab did, in the end, a
Literary Element Motivation What is revealed about little respond to the playful allurings of that girl-
Ahab’s past that may help explain his present or future ish air. More than once did he put forth the faint
actions? blossom of a look, which, in any other man,
would have soon flowered out in a smile.
Reading Strategy Monitoring Comprehension What is
happening in this sentence? Rephrase the sentence in your AS THE PEQUOD SAILS FARTHER SOUTH, AHAB
own words. GROWS INCREASINGLY RESTLESS.HE PACES THE
DECK EVEN IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT WHEN MOST OF
Vocabulary THE CREW ARE ASLEEP. NO LONGER ABLE TO
fortitude (for tə t¯¯¯
ood´) n. strength, particularly strength RELAX AND ENJOY SIMPLE PLEASURES, HE TOSSES
of mind that enables one to encounter danger or bear HIS PIPE INTO THE SEA.
adversity with courage
genial (jēn yəl) adj. mild or friendly Vocabulary
recluse (rek l¯¯¯
oos) n. someone who leads a secluded or misanthropic (mis´ ən throp ik) adj. having hatred for
solitary life humankind

28 4 U N IT 2 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM
Flip Nicklin/Getty Images
The Quarter-Deck “Sir!” said the mate, astonished at an order sel-
(Enter Ahab: Then, all.) dom or never given on shipboard except in some
It was not a great while after the affair of the extraordinary case.
pipe, that one morning shortly after breakfast, “Send everybody aft,” repeated Ahab. “Mast-
Ahab, as was his wont, ascended the cabin- heads, there! come down!”
gangway to the deck. There most sea-captains usu- When the entire ship’s company were assem-
ally walk at that hour, as country gentlemen, after bled, and with curious and not wholly unappre-
the same meal, take a few turns in the garden. hensive faces, were eyeing him, for he looked not
Soon his steady, ivory stride12 was heard, as to unlike the weather horizon when a storm is com-
and fro he paced his old rounds, upon planks so ing up, Ahab, after rapidly glancing over the bul-
familiar to his tread, that they were all over warks, and then darting his eyes among the crew,
dented, like geological stones, with the peculiar started from his stand-point; and as though not a
mark of his walk. Did you fixedly gaze, too, upon soul were nigh16 him resumed his heavy turns
that ribbed and dented brow; there also, you upon the deck. With bent head and half-
would see still stranger foot-prints—the foot- slouched hat he continued to pace, unmindful of
prints of his one unsleeping, ever-pacing thought. the wondering whispering among the men; till
But on the occasion in question, those dents Stubb cautiously whispered to Flask, that Ahab
looked deeper, even as his nervous step that morn- must have summoned them there for the purpose
ing left a deeper mark. And, so full of his thought of witnessing a pedestrian feat. But this did not
was Ahab, that at every uniform turn that he made, last long. Vehemently pausing, he cried:—
now at the main-mast and now at the binnacle,13 “What do ye do when ye see a whale, men?”
you could almost see that thought turn in him as he “Sing out for him!” was the impulsive
turned, and pace in him as he paced; so completely rejoinder17 from a score of clubbed voices.
possessing him, indeed, that it all but seemed the “Good!” cried Ahab, with a wild approval in
inward mould of every outer movement. his tones; observing the hearty animation into
“D’ye mark him, Flask?” whispered Stubb; which his unexpected question had so magneti-
“the chick that’s in him pecks the shell. ’Twill cally thrown them.
soon be out.” “And what do ye next, men?”
The hours wore on;—Ahab now shut up within “Lower away, and after him!”
his cabin; anon, pacing the deck, with the same “And what tune is it ye pull to, men?”
intense bigotry of purpose14 in his aspect. “A dead whale or a stove boat!”18
It drew near the close of day. Suddenly he More and more strangely and fiercely glad and
came to a halt by the bulwarks,15 and inserting approving grew the countenance19 of the old
his bone leg into the auger-hole there, and with man at every shout; while the mariners began to
one hand grasping a shroud, he ordered Starbuck gaze curiously at each other, as if marvelling how
to send everybody aft. it was that they themselves became so excited at
such seemingly purposeless questions.
But, they were all eagerness again, as Ahab, now
12. Ivory stride refers to Ahab’s walking with an artificial leg half-revolving in his pivot-hole, with one hand
made from a whale’s jawbone. reaching high up a shroud, and tightly, almost con-
13. A binnacle is a compartment on a ship for the ship’s lamp
vulsively grasping it, addressed them thus:—
and compass.
14. Bigotry of purpose refers to Ahab’s fierce single-mindedness.
“All ye mast-headers have before now heard
15. The sides of a ship above the upper deck are known as the me give orders about a white whale. Look ye!
bulwarks. d’ye see this Spanish ounce of gold?”—holding
Big Idea The Power of Darkness What effect does
Melville create by describing the routine walks of other
sea captains and country gentlemen before describing 16. Here, nigh means “close” or “near.”
Ahab’s pacing? 17. An impulsive rejoinder is a spontaneous response or reply.
18. A dead whale or a stove boat! is a whaler’s motto meaning,
“We kill a whale or wreck our boat in the attempt!”
Literary Element Motivation Why does Ahab pace the
19. Countenance refers to the appearance or expression of the
deck so resolutely?
face that reveals mood or emotion.

HER MAN MELVILLE 285


Man in Boat Looking at White Whale. Christopher Zacharow.
Viewing the Art: Does this painting match your view of Ahab’s character? Explain.

up a broad bright coin to the sun—“it is a six- “It’s a white whale, I say,” resumed Ahab, as he
teen dollar piece, men,—a doubloon. D’ye see it? threw down the topmaul; “a white whale. Skin
Mr. Starbuck, hand me yon topmaul.” your eyes for him, men; look sharp for white
While the mate was getting the hammer, water; if ye see but a bubble, sing out.”
Ahab, without speaking, was slowly rubbing the All this while Tashtego, Daggoo, and
gold piece against the skirts of his jacket, as if to Queequeg22 had looked on with even more
heighten its lustre, and without using any words intense interest and surprise than the rest, and at
was meanwhile lowly humming to himself, pro- the mention of the wrinkled brow and crooked
ducing a sound so strangely muffled and inarticu- jaw they had started as if each was separately
late that it seemed the mechanical humming of touched by some specific recollection.
the wheels of his vitality in him. “Captain Ahab,” said Tashtego, “that white
Receiving the topmaul from Starbuck, he whale must be the same that some call Moby
advanced towards the main-mast with the ham- Dick.”
mer uplifted in one hand, exhibiting the gold “Moby Dick?” shouted Ahab. “Do ye know the
with the other, and with a high raised voice white whale then, Tash?”
exclaiming: “Whosoever of ye raises20 me a “Does he fan-tail a little curious, sir, before he
white-headed whale with a wrinkled brow and a goes down?” said the Gayheader deliberately.
crooked jaw; whosoever of ye raises me that “And has he a curious spout, too,” said Daggoo,
white-headed whale, with three holes punctured “very bushy, even for a parmacetty,23 and mighty
in his starboard fluke21—look ye, whosoever of quick, Captain Ahab?”
ye raises me that same white whale, he shall “And he have one, two, tree—oh! good
have this gold ounce, my boys!” many iron in him hide, too, Captain,” cried
“Huzza! huzza!” cried the seamen, as with Queequeg disjointedly, “all twiske-tee betwisk,
swinging tarpaulins they hailed the act of nailing
the gold to the mast.
22. Tashtego, Daggoo, and Queequeg are the harpooneers on
the Pequod; Ishmael befriended Queequeg in Nantucket
before signing up for the voyage.
20. To raise a whale is to spot or identify it in the sea. 23. Parmacetty (or spermaceti) is a white, waxy solid found in
21. Starboard fluke means “the right half of a whale’s tail.” the oil of whales. Here, it refers to the whale itself.

28 6 U N IT 2 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM
Images.com/CORBIS
like him—him—” faltering hard for a word, and “God bless ye,” he seemed to half sob and half
screwing his hand round and round as though shout. “God bless ye, men. Steward! go draw the
uncorking a bottle—“like him—him—” great measure of grog.28 But what’s this long face
“Corkscrew!” cried Ahab, “aye, Queequeg, about, Mr. Starbuck; wilt thou not chase the white
the harpoons lie all twisted and wrenched in whale? art not game for Moby Dick?”
him;24 aye, Daggoo, his spout is a big one, like a “I am game for his crooked jaw, and for the jaws
whole shock of wheat, and white as a pile of our of Death too, Captain Ahab, if it fairly comes in
Nantucket wool after the great annual sheep- the way of the business we follow; but I came here
shearing; aye, Tashtego, and he fan-tails like a to hunt whales, not my commander’s vengeance.
split jib in a squall.25 Death and devils! men, it How many barrels will thy vengeance yield thee
is Moby Dick ye have seen—Moby Dick— even if thou gettest it, Captain Ahab? it will not
Moby Dick!” fetch thee much in our Nantucket market.”
“Captain Ahab,” said Starbuck, who, with “Nantucket market! Hoot! But come closer,
Stubb and Flask, had thus far been eyeing his Starbuck; thou requirest a little lower layer. If mon-
superior with increasing surprise, but at last ey’s to be the measurer, man, and the accountants
seemed struck with a thought which somewhat have computed their great counting-house the
explained all the wonder. “Captain Ahab, I have globe, by girdling it with guineas, one to every
heard of Moby Dick—but it was not Moby Dick three parts of an inch; then, let me tell thee, that
that took off thy leg?” my vengeance will fetch a great premium here!”
“Who told thee that?” cried Ahab; then paus- “He smites29 his chest,” whispered Stubb, “what’s
ing, “Aye, Starbuck; aye, my hearties all round; it that for? methinks it rings most vast, but hollow.”
was Moby Dick that dismasted me; Moby Dick “Vengeance on a dumb brute!” cried Starbuck,
that brought me to this dead stump I stand on “that simply smote thee from blindest instinct!
now. Aye, aye,” he shouted with a terrific, loud, Madness! To be enraged with a dumb thing,
animal sob, like that of a heart-stricken moose; Captain Ahab, seems blasphemous.”
“Aye, aye! it was that accursed white whale that “Hark ye yet again,—the little lower layer. All
razeed26 me; made a poor pegging lubber of me visible objects, man, are but as pasteboard masks.
for ever and a day!” Then tossing both arms, But in each event—in the living act, the
with measureless imprecations he shouted out: undoubted deed—there, some unknown but still
“Aye, aye! and I’ll chase him round Good Hope, reasoning thing puts forth the mouldings of its fea-
and round the Horn, and round the Norway tures from behind the unreasoning mask. If man
Maelstrom, and round perdition’s27 flames before will strike, strike through the mask! How can the
I give him up. And this is what ye have shipped prisoner reach outside except by thrusting through
for, men! to chase that white whale on both the wall? To me, the white whale is that wall,
sides of land, and over all sides of earth, till he shoved near to me. Sometimes I think there’s
spouts black blood and rolls fin out. What say ye, naught beyond. But ’tis enough. He tasks me; he
men, will ye splice hands on it, now? I think ye heaps me; I see in him outrageous strength, with an
do look brave.” inscrutable malice sinewing it. That inscrutable
“Aye, aye!” shouted the harpooneers and sea- thing is chiefly what I hate; and be the white
men, running closer to the excited old man: “A whale agent, or be the white whale principal, I
sharp eye for the White Whale; a sharp lance for
Moby Dick!”
28. Grog is alcoholic liquor, such as rum, often diluted
with water.
24. Moby Dick has survived many attacks and bears the 29. To smite is to strike sharply.
wounds (and mangled harpoons) inflicted by those who
Reading Strategy Monitoring Comprehension Whom
failed to kill him.
25. Like a split jib in a squall means “like a torn sail in a does Ahab describe in this passage?
storm.”
26. A razee is a “cut-off” ship, or a ship with its upper decks Vocabulary
removed. Ahab, too, has had a part of himself removed,
inscrutable (in skr¯¯¯
oo tə bəl) adj. mysterious, or not able
namely, his leg.
to be interpreted or understood
27. Here, perdition is hell.

HER MAN MELVILLE 287


will wreak that hate upon him. Talk not to me of hold; nor yet the presaging vibrations of the winds
blasphemy, man; I’d strike the sun if it insulted in the cordage;34 nor yet the hollow flap of the
me. For could the sun do that, then could I do sails against the masts, as for a moment their
the other; since there is ever a sort of fair play hearts sank in. For again Starbuck’s downcast eyes
herein, jealousy presiding over all creations. But lighted up with the stubbornness of life; the sub-
not my master, man, is even that fair play. Who’s terranean35 laugh died away; the winds blew on;
over me? Truth hath no confines. Take off thine the sails filled out; the ship heaved and rolled as
eye! more intolerable than fiends’ glarings is a before. Ah, ye admonitions and warnings! why
doltish stare! So, so; thou reddenest and palest; stay ye not when ye come? But rather are ye pre-
my heat has melted thee to anger-glow. But look dictions than warnings, ye shadows! Yet not so
ye, Starbuck, what is said in heat, that thing much predictions from without, as verifications of
unsays itself. There are men from whom warm the foregoing things within. For with little exter-
words are small indignity.30 I meant not to nal to constrain us, the innermost necessities in
incense31 thee. Let it go. Look! see yonder our being, these still drive us on.
Turkish cheeks of spotted tawn—living, breath- “The measure! the measure!” cried Ahab.
ing pictures painted by the sun. The Pagan32 Receiving the brimming pewter, and turn-
leopards—the unrecking and unworshipping ing to the harpooneers, he ordered them to
things, that live; and seek, and give no reasons produce their weapons. Then ranging them
for the torrid life they feel! The crew, man, the before him near the capstan, with their har-
crew! Are they not one and all with Ahab, in poons in their hands, while his three mates
this matter of the whale? See Stubb! he laughs! stood at his side with their lances, and the
See yonder Chilean! he snorts to think of it. rest of the ship’s company formed a circle
Stand up amid the general hurricane, thy one round the group; he stood for an instant
tost sapling cannot, Starbuck! And what is it? searchingly eyeing every man of his crew. But
Reckon it. ’Tis but to help strike a fin; no won- those wild eyes met his, as the bloodshot eyes
drous feat for Starbuck. What is it more? From of the prairie wolves meet the eye of their
this one poor hunt, then, the best lance out of leader, ere he rushes on at their head in the
all Nantucket, surely he will not hang back, trail of the bison; but, alas! only to fall into
when every foremast-hand has clutched a whet- the hidden snare of the Indian.
stone? Ah! constrainings seize thee; I see! the “Drink and pass!” he cried, handing the
billow lifts thee! Speak, but speak!—Aye, aye! heavy charged flagon to the nearest seaman.
thy silence, then, that voices thee. (Aside) “The crew alone now drink. Round with it,
Something shot from my dilated nostrils, he has round! Short draughts—long swallows, men;
inhaled it in his lungs. Starbuck now is mine; ’tis hot as Satan’s hoof. So, so; it goes round
cannot oppose me now, without rebellion.” excellently. It spiralizes in ye; forks out at the
“God keep me!—keep us all!” murmured serpent-snapping eye. Well done; almost
Starbuck, lowly. drained. That way it went, this way it comes.
But in his joy at the enchanted, tacit acquies- Hand it me—here’s a hollow! Men, ye seem
cence of the mate, Ahab did not hear his forebod- the years; so brimming life is gulped and gone.
ing invocation;33 nor yet the low laugh from the Steward, refill!
“Attend now, my braves. I have mustered ye
30. An indignity is an insult.
all round this capstan;36 and ye mates, flank me
31. Incense means “to cause extreme anger.”
32. Pagan describes someone with little or no religion.
34. Cordage is the rope used in a ship’s rigging.
33. An invocation is the act of calling on an authority for help
35. Here, subterranean refers to something below the deck of
or support.
the ship.
Big Idea 36. A capstan is a vertical drum around which a cable is turned
The Power of Darkness What does this pas-
to move or raise weights.
sage suggest about Ahab?
Reading Strategy Monitoring Comprehension What
Literary Element Motivation Why does Ahab not hear happens to the leader of the prairie wolves in this comparison?
Starbuck’s invocation? Who on the ship is compared to that leader?

288 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Scrimshaw on Whalebone.
New Bedford Whaling Museum,
New Bedford, MA.

pagan kinsmen there—yon


three most honorable gentle-
men and noblemen, my val-
iant harpooneers. Disdain the
task? What, when the great
Pope washes the feet of beg-
gars, using his tiara for ewer?
Oh, my sweet cardinals!41 your
own condescension, that shall
bend ye to it. I do not order
with your lances; and ye harpooneers, stand ye; ye will it. Cut your seizings and draw the
there with your irons; and ye, stout mariners, poles, ye harpooneers!”
ring me in, that I may in some sort revive a Silently obeying the order, the three har-
noble custom of my fisherman fathers before me. pooneers now stood with the detached iron
O men, you will yet see that—Ha! boy, come part of their harpoons so me three feet long,
back? bad pennies come not sooner. Hand it me. held, barbs up, before him.
Why, now, this pewter had run brimming again, “Stab me not with that keen steel! Cant them;
wert not thou St. Vitus’37 imp—away, thou ague! cant them over! know ye not the goblet end?
“Advance, ye mates! Cross your lances full Turn up the socket! So, so; now, ye cup-bearers,
before me. Well done! Let me touch the axis.” advance. The irons! take them; hold them while
So saying, with extended arm, he grasped the I fill!” Forthwith, slowly going from one officer
three level, radiating lances at their crossed to the other, he brimmed the harpoon sockets
centre; while so doing, suddenly and nervously with the fiery waters from the pewter.
twitched them; meanwhile, glancing intently “Now, three to three, ye stand. Commend the
from Starbuck to Stubb; from Stubb to Flask. It murderous chalices! Bestow them, ye who are now
seemed as though, by some nameless, interior made parties to this indissoluble league. Ha!
volition,38 he would fain39 have shocked into Starbuck! but the deed is done! Yon ratifying sun
them the same fiery emotion accumulated now waits to sit upon it. Drink, ye harpooneers!
within the Leyden jar40 of his own magnetic drink and swear, ye men that man the deathful
life. The three mates quailed before his strong, whaleboat’s bow—Death to Moby Dick! God
sustained, and mystic aspect. Stubb and Flask hunt us all, if we do not hunt Moby Dick to his
looked sideways from him; the honest eye of death!” The long, barbed steel goblets were lifted;
Starbuck fell downright. and to cries and maledictions42 against the white
“In vain!” cried Ahab; “but, maybe, ’tis well. whale, the spirits were simultaneously quaffed
For did ye three but once take the full-forced down with a hiss. Starbuck paled, and turned, and
shock, then mine own electric thing, that had shivered. Once more, and finally, the replenished
perhaps expired from out me. Perchance, too, it pewter went the rounds among the frantic crew;
would have dropped ye dead. Perchance ye when, waving his free hand to them, they all dis-
need it not. Down lances! And now, ye mates, I persed; and Ahab retired within his cabin. 
do appoint ye three cup-bearers to my three

37. St. Vitus’ or St. Vitus’ Dance is a nervous disorder that causes 41. Cardinals are high officials of the Roman Catholic Church;
shaking of the limbs. Ahab mocks the steward for having a Ahab addresses his three mates as cardinals.
shaky hand and spilling some of the liquor. An ague is a fever. 42. A malediction is a curse.
38. Volition is an act of choosing or willing something. Big Idea The Power of Darkness How does Ahab’s use
39. Here, fain means “rather.”
of religious language and ritual reveal the darker side of his
40. A Leyden jar is a form of capacitor, or “electrical circuit
intention?
element that can store an electrical charge temporarily.”

HER MAN MELVILLE 289


James L. Amos/CORBIS
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond 6. (a)Why does Starbuck accuse Ahab of
blasphemy? (b)Is Ahab guilty of blasphemy or not?
1. Would you want to sail with a captain like Ahab?
Explain.
Explain.
7. (a)Why does the crew choose to follow Ahab in
Recall and Interpret his mission to kill Moby Dick? (b)How do you
2. (a)What does Ishmael notice about Ahab’s account for the “magnetism” between Ahab and
appearance? (b)How does Ahab’s appearance his crew?
influence Ishmael’s impression of him?
8. Is Ahab justified in not revealing the Pequod’s true
3. (a)Describe Ahab’s posture as he stands on the mission until the voyage is well underway?
quarter-deck. (b)How does his stance affirm his Support your answer with evidence from the story.
position as captain?
Connect
4. (a)What is Starbuck’s reaction to Ahab’s intention to
hunt Moby Dick? (b)Why does he react this way? 9. Big Idea The Power of Darkness How does
Melville use Ahab and his mission as a means of
Analyze and Evaluate exploring the mystery of evil in the world?
5. (a)What does Moby Dick represent to Ahab,
Starbuck, and the crew of the Pequod? (b)Why does
Melville present different perceptions of the whale?

LI T E R A RY A N A LYS I S

Literary Element Motivation Review: Metaphor


Motivation is a central feature of psychological real- Metaphor refers to a figure of speech that equates
ism, the attempt to portray characters in a plausible, two seemingly unlike things. In a metaphor the com-
objective manner. Above all else, psychological realism parison is implied, rather than stated directly.
insists that characters be clearly motivated; they
Partner Activity With a partner, discuss the implied
should not act without apparent reason.
comparison in Ahab’s statement “it was Moby Dick
In Moby-Dick, Ahab’s words and actions as well as the that dismasted me.” Then review the story to identify
words and thoughts of the other characters, particu- at least two other metaphors and explain what is being
larly Ishmael, provide clues to Ahab’s motivation. compared in them.
1. Are Ahab’s motivations clearly depicted? Support
your answer. Metaphor What Is Why It Is
2. Is Ahab’s motivation in hunting Moby Dick purely Compared Appropriate
revenge? Explain. p. 287 “it was
Moby Dick that
dismasted me”

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

290 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


R E AD I N G A N D VO CA B U L A RY W R I T I N G A N D E XT E N D I N G

Reading Strategy Monitoring Writing About Literature


Comprehension Analyze Character Ishmael describes Ahab as seem-
Reread this passage from page 288. Then break it ingly “made of solid bronze, and shaped in an unalter-
down and answer the questions below. able mould, like Cellini’s cast Perseus” (page 283). The
statue to which Ishmael alludes shows Perseus holding
“And what is it? Reckon it. ’Tis but to help strike a fin; Medusa’s head after he has decapitated her. In the
no wondrous feat for Starbuck. What is it more? From Greek myth, Medusa is a gorgon, or monster, that
this one poor hunt, then, the best lance out of all turns to stone anyone who looks at her. Using a mir-
Nantucket, surely he will not hang back, when every rored shield for protection, Perseus is able to kill
foremast-hand has clutched a whetstone?” Medusa.
1. To whom is Ahab speaking? Analyze the importance of this allusion as a tool for
2. What is Ahab trying to do? understanding Ahab’s character. Identify and list details
in the story that reinforce the connection between Ahab
3. How would you summarize what happens in the and Perseus as monster-killers. Beside each detail, write
passage? a brief explanation of the connection.
After you complete your draft, meet with a peer
Vocabulary reviewer to evaluate each other’s work and to suggest
Practice with Antonyms Find the antonym for revisions. Then edit and proofread your draft for errors
each vocabulary word from Moby-Dick listed in the in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
first column. Use a dictionary or a thesaurus if you
need help.
1. fortitude morose
2. recluse clear
3. misanthropic cowardice
4. inscrutable charitable
5. genial socialite

Academic Vocabulary

Here are two words from the vocabulary list on


page R86. Literary Criticism
Reviews of Moby-Dick consisted of both the congratu-
authority (ə tho rə tē) n. the ability to influ- latory and the condemnatory. Despite the lack of criti-
ence others’ actions, thoughts, and behavior cal consensus on the book, the London Leader
goal (ōl) n. the desired result; aim proclaimed in its 1851 review that “Criticism may pick
many holes in this work; but no criticism will thwart its
Practice and Apply fascination. . . .” Do you agree with this statement?
1. How would you describe Ahab’s authority over Write a short literary review of the excerpts from
his crew? Moby-Dick that you read in this selection. Then
2. What is Ahab’s goal in hunting down Moby Dick? explain how the characteristics you identified in your
review affected your overall experience of the work.

HER MAN MELVILLE 291


Scala/Art Resource, NY
H I STO R I C A L P E R SP ECT IVE on Moby-Dick
Informational Text

Nathaniel Philbrick

National Book Award Winner

A
Building Background S DARKNESS APPROACHED AT THE END OF
In 1820 a sperm whale sank the Nantucket whaling the first day, the wind built steadily,
ship Essex. The crew was lost at sea for four months; kicking up a steep, irregular chop.1 The
eight survived. This event inspired Herman Melville’s Essex whaleboats were hybrids—built for rowing
Moby-Dick. In the chapters “Ahab” and “The Quarter- but now adapted to sail—and the men were still
Deck” (see pages 282–289), Melville models his por- learning how they handled. Instead of a rudder,
trayal of Captain Ahab on first mate Owen Chase’s each boat was equipped with a steering oar. This
account of the tragedy. The following selection, from eighteen-foot lever enabled a rowed whaleboat
historian Nathaniel Philbrick’s nonfiction book, to spin around in its own length, but it was not
describes the Essex crew’s first days stranded at sea. so effective in guiding a sailboat, and required
the helmsman to stand at the cumbersome oar.
Set a Purpose for Reading At this early stage in the voyage, the whaleboats
Read to discover the historical basis for Melville’s were dangerously overloaded. Instead of five
novel Moby-Dick. hundred pounds of whaling equipment, each
Reading Strategy boat contained close to a thousand pounds of
bread, water, and tortoises,2 and waves broke
Analyzing Historical Context over the built-up gunnels3 and soaked the men.
Analyzing historical context involves gathering back- The boats were also without centerboards or
ground information and exploring social forces that skegs4 to help them track through the water,
influenced the writing of a literary work. As you read, forcing the helmsmen to tug and push their
take notes on the historical context for Melville’s tale.
Use a two-column chart like the one below.
1. Here, chop means “waves.”
2. Tortoises were commonly kept aboard whaleships to be
World of Ahab World of Owen Chase used as food for the crew.
3. A gunnel is the upper edge of a boat’s side.
4. A skeg is the rear, or stern of a ship’s keel, or main timber.
A centerboard is a retractable keel.

292 U N IT 2 A MERICAN ROMANTIC ISM


William Page/Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA/Bridgeman Art Library
Informational Text
steering oars as their little, deeply laden boats boats’ lapped sides would accompany them for
corkscrewed in the turbulent seas. the duration of the voyage.
Each boat-crew was divided into two watches. Even at night the crews were able to maintain
While half the men attempted to rest—curling a lively three-way conversation among the boats.
up with the Galapagos tortoises in the bilge5 or The subject on everyone’s mind was of course the
leaning uncomfortably against the seats—the “means and prospects of our deliverance.” It was
others steered, tended the sails, and bailed. They agreed that their best chance of survival lay in
also attempted to keep an eye on the other happening upon a whaleship. The Essex had sunk
boats, which would sometimes disappear entirely about three hundred miles north of the Offshore
from view when they dipped down into the Ground.9 They still had about five days of sailing
trough of a wave. before they entered the Ground, where, they des-
At the start it had been decided that every perately hoped, they would come across a whaler.
effort would be made to keep the three boats A circumstance in their favor was that, unlike
together. Together they could help if one of them merchant vessels, whaleships almost always had a
ran into trouble; together they could keep one lookout posted at the masthead, so in whaling
anothers’ spirits up. “[U]naided, and territory they had a better chance of
unencouraged by each other,” Chase6 being seen. Against them was the
observed, “there were with us many immensity of the Offshore Ground.
whose weak minds, I am confident, It encompassed an enormous
would have sunk under the dismal amount of ocean—more than
retrospections of the past catas- twice the area of the state of
trophe, and who did not possess Texas, a rectangle about three
either sense or firmness enough hundred miles north to south
to contemplate our approaching and almost two thousand miles
destiny, without the cheering of from east to west. There were at
some more determined counte- least seven whaleships on the
nance than their own.” Offshore Ground at this time. But
There was also a more practical even if there were double that
reason for staying together: there First Mate Owen Chase number, the odds were poor that
was not enough navigational equip- three whaleboats sailing along a
ment to go around. Pollard7 and Chase straight line through the Ground (which
each had a compass, a quadrant, and a copy might take only four or five days to cross)
of Bowditch’s Navigator, but Joy8 had nothing. If would be spotted by a ship.
his boat-crew should become separated from the One possibility was to extend their time in
other two, they would be unable to find their the Offshore Ground and actively search for
way across the ocean. whalers. But that was a gamble. If they searched
Night came on. Although moon and starlight the region and didn’t find a ship, they would
still made it possible to detect the ghostly pale- jeopardize their chances of reaching South
ness of the whaleboats’ sails, the men’s field of America before their food supplies ran out. As it
vision shrank dramatically in the darkness even was, they would be entering the western extreme
as their perception of sounds was heightened. of the Ground and would have a difficult time
The whaleboats’ clinker, or lapstrake, construc- heading east against the southeasterly trades.10
tion (with planks overlapping, resembling the There was another factor influencing their
clapboards of a house) made them much noisier decision to continue on with the original plan.
than a smooth-bottomed boat, and the fussy, After having fallen victim to such a seemingly
fluted sound of water licking up against their random and inexplicable attack, the men felt an

5. In this context bilge means “the lowest part of a ship’s hull.“ 9. The Offshore Ground was a heavily whaled expanse of
6. Owen Chase was the first mate aboard the Essex. ocean off the coast of Peru.
7. George Pollard was the captain of the Essex. 10. The trades are trade winds, or winds that always move in
8. Matthew Joy was second mate aboard the Essex. the same direction.

NATHA NI E L P HI L B R I C K 293
Courtesy of Nantucket Historical Association
Informational Text
But as they would soon discover, their greatest
concern was not food but rather water. The human
body, which is 70 percent water, requires a bare
minimum of a pint a day to remove its waste prod-
ucts. The men of the Essex would have to make do
with half that daily amount. If they experienced
any hot weather, the deficit would only increase.
That first night of their journey, Chase,
Pollard, and Joy distributed the rations of bread
and water to their boat-crews. It was two days
after the sinking now, and the men’s interest in
The sea chest of food had finally returned; the bread was quickly
Captain George Pollard
eaten. There was something else they craved:
tobacco. A whaleman almost always had a quid11
overpowering need to reclaim at least some control of tobacco in his mouth, going through more
of their own destiny. Being sighted by a whaleship than seventy pounds of it in a single voyage. In
would, according to Chase, not “depend on our addition to all their other woes, the crew of the
own exertions, but on chance alone.” Reaching Essex had to contend with the jittery withdrawal
South America, on the other hand, depended “on symptoms associated with nicotine addiction.
our own labors.” From Chase’s perspective, this After the meager meal, the men not on watch
made all the difference and demanded that they went to sleep. “Nature became at last worn out
not “lose sight, for one moment, of the strong with the watchings and anxieties of the two pre-
probabilities which, under Divine Providence, ceding nights,” Chase recalled, “and sleep came
there were of our reaching land by the route we insensibly upon us.” But as his men fell into what
had prescribed to ourselves.” he judged to be a dreamless stupor, Chase found
The plan had one iron requirement: they had himself in the middle of a waking nightmare.
to make their provisions last two months. Each Unable to sleep for the third night in a row, he
man would get six ounces of hardtack and half a continued to dwell obsessively on the circum-
pint of water a day. Hardtack was a simple dried stances of the ship’s sinking. He could not get the
bread made out of flour and water. Baked into a creature out of his mind: “[T]he horrid aspect and
moisture-free rock to prevent spoilage, hardtack revenge of the whale, wholly engrossed my reflec-
had to be broken into small pieces or soaked in tions.” In his desperate attempts to find some
water before it was eaten, if a sailor didn’t want explanation for how a normally passive creature
to crack a tooth. could suddenly become a predator, Chase was
The daily ration was equivalent to six slices of plagued by what psychologists call a “tormenting
bread, and it provided about five hundred calo- memory”—a common response to disasters. Forced
ries. Chase estimated that this amounted to less to relive the trauma over and over again, the survi-
than a third of the nourishment required by “an vor finds larger, hidden forces operating through
ordinary man.” Modern dietary analysis indicates the incident. The philosopher William James felt
that for a five-foot, eight-inch person weighing this compulsion firsthand some years later. After
145 pounds, these provisions met about a quarter the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, he wrote: “I
of his daily energy needs. True, the men of the realize now how inevitable were men’s earlier
Essex had more than just bread; they had tor- mythological versions [of disaster] and how artificial
toises. Each tortoise was a pod of fresh meat, fat, and against the grain of our spontaneous perceiving
and blood that was capable of providing as many are the later habits which science educates us.”
as 4,500 calories per man—the equivalent of For most disaster victims, the repeated flashbacks
nine days of hardtack. Yet, even augmented by of a tormenting memory have a therapeutic value,
the tortoises, their daily rations amounted to a gradually weaning the sufferer from anxieties that
starvation diet. If they did succeed in reaching
South America in sixty days, each man knew he
would be little more than a breathing skeleton. 11. A quid means “a cut of something chewable.”

294 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Courtesy of Nantucket Historical Association
Sketch of the attack by cabin
boy Thomas Nickerson

might otherwise interfere with his ability to sur- Locked in his own private chamber of hor-
vive. There are some, however, who cannot rid rors, Ahab resolved that his only escape was
themselves of the memory. Melville, building upon through hunting down and killing Moby Dick:
Chase’s account, would make his Captain Ahab a “How can the prisoner reach outside except by
man who never emerged from the psychic depths thrusting through the wall? To me, the white
in which Chase had writhed these three nights. whale is that wall, shoved near to me.” Chase,
Just as Chase was convinced that the whale that on a tiny boat a thousand miles from land, did
attacked the Essex exhibited “decided, calculating not have the possibility of revenge. Ahab was
mischief,” so was Ahab haunted by a sense of the fighting a symbol; Chase and his shipmates
white whale’s “outrageous strength, with an inscru- were fighting for their lives.
table malice sinewing12 it.”

12. Sinewing means “supporting.”

R ES P O N D I N G AN D TH I N K I N G C R ITI CALLY
Respond 5. After being attacked by a whale, the Essex crew
“felt an overpowering need to reclaim at least some
1. Are you surprised that the whale’s attack on the
control of their own destiny”. Do you think that this
Essex haunted Chase? Why or why not?
need for control drove Ahab’s obsessive quest to
Recall and Interpret hunt Moby Dick? Why or why not?

2. Philbrick writes that “there was another factor influ- Connect


encing [the crew’s] decision to continue on with
6. In an interview, Philbrick states, “I think all of us
the original plan.” (a)What was that factor? (b)Do
wonder while reading a survival tale, what would I
you think the crew was right to consider this factor?
have done in this situation? Would I have made it?”
3. (a)According to Philbrick, how did Chase’s account What questions did you think about as you read
influence Melville’s portrayal of Ahab? (b)Why did the story? Explain.
Chase fascinate Melville?
STA N DA R D S F O C US
Analyze and Evaluate O B J EC T IV ES
• Read to enhance understanding of history and American
4. Both Chase and Ahab believe that the whales that culture.
attacked them had evil intentions. Do you think this • Analyze the influences of historical context that shape
elements of a literary work.
is a reasonable conclusion? Why or why not?
• Connect a literary work, including character, plot, and
setting, to the historical context.

NATHANIEL PHILBRICK 295


Courtesy of Nantucket Historical Association
Writing Workshop
Reflective Essay

The Writing Process


➥ Reflecting on Nature
In this workshop, you will “Crossing a bare common, in snow puddles, at twilight,
follow the stages of the
writing process. At any stage, under a clouded sky, without having in my thoughts any
you may think of new ideas occurrence of special good fortune, I have enjoyed a perfect
to include and better ways
to express them. Feel free
exhilaration. I am glad to the brink of fear.”
to return to earlier stages as —Ralph Waldo Emerson, from “Nature”
you write.

Prewriting

Drafting Connecting to Literature In his writing Emerson often looks back, or reflects,
on his experiences and uses them as jumping-off places for exploring his thoughts
Revising on a subject. This type of writing is usually referred to as the reflective essay. In
a reflective essay, you narrate and describe a personal experience to show both
➥ Elaborating
Focus Lesson:
Ideas
what the experience taught you and what it might teach others. To write a suc-
cessful essay you will need to learn the goals of reflective writing and the strate-
Editing & Proofreading gies to achieve those goals. These goals and strategies form the defining features
of a reflective essay.
➥ Focus Lesson: Correcting
Comma Splices

Presenting Rubric: Features of Reflective Essays

Goals Strategies

To share a life lesson or ✓ Explore the meaning of a personal


fresh insight experience or observation

To present events or actions ✓ Use narrative details to tell a story with


in a clear order a clear beginning, middle, and end

Writing Models For models To make vivid observations ✓ Use descriptive details to create a
and other writing activities, go to
www.glencoe.com. picture for your reader
✓ Use active verbs and striking adjectives

OB J EC TIVES
To connect with an audience ✓ Use first-person point of view
• Write a reflective essay

exploring the meaning of Use a thoughtful but conversational
a personal experience. style to help develop your personal
• Use narration and description
writing voice
in a reflective essay.

29 6 UNIT 2 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM


Narration / Description

Real-World Connection
º Assignment For college applications, you
Write a reflective essay that describes one of your experiences with the natu- might be asked to write an
ral world and expresses the insight you gained. As you move through the essay about a personal experi-
stages of the writing process, keep your audience and purpose in mind. ence. Think about some ideas
you might like to explore in
a college application essay.
Audience: peers and classmates
As you will see in this Writing
Purpose: to explore the significance of a personal experience Workshop assignment, the
key to success is to clearly
show the significance of your
experience.
Analyzing a Professional Model
In her autobiography, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annie Dillard reflects on the
significance of a childhood encounter with a moth. As you read the following
passage, note how Dillard uses both narrative and descriptive details to convey
her unique voice. Pay close attention to the comments in the margin. They
point out features that you might want to include in your own reflective essay.

From An American Childhood by Annie Dillard


First-Person Point of View
At school I saw a searing sight. It turned me to books; it turned me to jelly;
Use the pronoun I to speak
it turned me much later, I suppose, into an early version of a runaway, directly to your reader
a scapegrace. It was only a freshly hatched Polyphemus moth crippled Introduction
because its mason jar was too small. Connect with your reader by
starting your reflective essay
The mason jar sat on the teacher’s desk; the big moth emerged inside it.
in the middle of the action.
The moth had clawed a hole in its hot cocoon and crawled out, as if agoniz-
ingly, over the course of an hour, one leg at a time; we children watched
around the desk, transfixed. After it emerged, the wet, mashed thing turned
around walking on the green jar’s bottom, then painstakingly climbed the
twig with which the jar was furnished. Narrative Details/
Chronological Order
There, at the twig’s top, the moth shook its sodden clumps of wings.
Guide your reader from
When it spread those wings—those beautiful wings—blood would fill their one event to the next by
veins, and the birth fluids on the wings’ frail sheets would harden to make using transitional words and
phrases such as when, while,
them tough as sails. But the moth could not spread its wide wings at all;
and at the top.
the jar was too small. The wings could not fill, so they hardened while they
were still crumpled from the cocoon. A smaller moth could have spread its

WRITING WO RKSHOP 297


wings to their utmost in that mason jar, but the Polyphemus moth was big.
Its gold furred body was almost as big as a mouse. Its brown, yellow, pink,
and blue wings would have extended six inches from tip to tip, if there had
Descriptive Details
been no mason jar. It would have been as big as a wren.
Show, don’t tell. Use vivid
details to create a clear The teacher let the deformed creature go. We all left the classroom
picture. and paraded outside behind the teacher with pomp and circumstance. She
bounced the moth from its jar and set it on the school’s asphalt driveway.
Narrative Details
The moth set out walking. It could only heave the golden wrinkly clumps
Give precise details that
tell your audience what where its wings should have been; it could only crawl down the school
happened or what you driveway on its six frail legs. The moth crawled down the driveway toward
observed and when.
the rest of Shadyside, an area of fine houses, expensive apartments, and
fashionable shops. It crawled down the driveway because its shriveled wings
were glued shut. It crawled down the driveway toward Shadyside, one of
several sections of town where people like me were expected to settle after
college, renting an apartment until they married one of the boys and bought
Conversational Tone
a house. I watched it go.
Share your personal obser-
vations and thoughts by
I knew that this particular moth, the big walking moth, could not travel
using an open and conver- more than a few yards before a bird or cat began to eat it, or a car ran over
sational tone.
it. Nevertheless, it was crawling with what seemed wonderful vigor, as if, I
thought at the time, it was still excited from being born. I watched it go till
the bell rang and I had to go in. I have told this story before, and may yet
tell it again, to lay the moth’s ghost, for I still see it crawl down the broad
Conclusion
black driveway, and I still see its golden wing clumps heave.
Discuss the impact your
experience had on your
life. Explain any insights
or lessons you might have
learned and want to share. Reading-Writing Connection Think about the writing techniques that you
just encountered and try them out in the reflective essay that you write.

298 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M ANTICIS M


Royalty-Free/CORBIS
Narration / Description

Prewriting
Gather Ideas Prewriting is the stage of the writing process during which Top Ten
you generate ideas. You can use many different strategies: Create a personal “Nature’s
Best” list: best landscape,
º Approach the idea of the natural world from different angles. Keep in mind body of water, season,
that the natural world doesn’t just mean a wilderness or the countryside. time of day, weather, cloud
Weather is a part of nature. Nature is also present in cities and suburbs, as formation, tree, flower,
well as in parks, gardens, zoos, museums, and many other places. mammal, bird, fish, insect,
and so on. What experiences
º If you keep a journal, you might review it for entries dealing with nature.
do you associate with these
Thoreau referred to his journal as he wrote Walden.
choices?
º Look at family videos or photograph albums to recall events that relate to
the natural world, such as a trip to a national park, a zoo, or a natural
history museum.

º Use a cluster diagram. Start by putting the idea “nature” in the center and
jot down general areas that you associate with nature. Then move outward to
more specific associations until you think of an experience you want to write
about. Using the diagram below, one student focused on a meeting with an
animal rescuer.

landscape
nature poetry science
nature

“tame” “wild”

wild animals Test Prep

pets If you were writing this essay


as part of an examination,
animal rescue
how would you work differ-
ently? Time management is
crucial to success in an
essay test, especially in the
Choose a Subject After reviewing some of your experiences with nature,
prewriting stage.
choose one of them as a subject for your reflective essay.

Talk About Your Ideas Meet with a partner to help focus on what you will say to
your readers and how you will say it. Think about your essay as a conversation on the
page in which you, the writer, do all the talking. To help develop your writing voice,
take turns telling each other the most vivid details of your experience. As you and
your partner speak, listen to the style of your language and your original approach to
ideas. Jot down notes and refer to them when you are developing your essay.

Next, explore the significance of your experience.

º How did you feel about your experience at the time?


º Looking back, do you feel different about your experience now?

WRIT ING WO RKSHOP 299


Drafting
Just Jump In When you begin writing, don’t get bogged down trying
to find the perfect word or to make your sentences flow smoothly. You can
polish your essay later. Do take the time to stop occasionally and reflect
on your unfinished draft. If your writing is leading you in an unexpected
direction, you may want to follow it. You could gain new insights about
your experience—and yourself.

Analyzing a Workshop Model


Here is a final draft of a reflective essay. Read the essay and answer the
questions in the margin. Use the answers to these questions to guide you
as you write.

Animal 911
Introduction
I generally like nature to keep its distance—wild things belong outside. So
Do the opening sentences
introduce the essay topic in when I saw a white-flecked feather on the third step of the stairs leading up
an exciting and suspenseful to the second floor, I knew it was a bad sign. There were two more feathers
way? Why or why not?
on the fifth step. I followed the trail of fluff to the kitchen, where I found
First-Person Point of View the rest of the bird. I didn’t know what kind of bird it was—just a small
What are the advantages of round creature with a long bill. It had somehow managed to survive a meet-
using the first-person point
ing with our family cat. By the time I managed to corner and capture the
of view? What effect would
these sentences have if bird, it seemed to be in deep shock. I wasn’t feeling too well myself.
they were written in the With no bird experts around to consult, I had no way of knowing how
third-person?
seriously injured the poor creature was. Should I simply put the bird outside
Conversational Tone
on the porch and let nature—the neighborhood cats—take its course? I called
How does asking a
question create a the vet who looked after our cat. He suggested I get in touch with a Mrs.
conversational tone? Roberts, who lived not too far away. This woman took in injured animals that
people brought her and cared for them until they were well enough to return
to the wild. She sounded like just the person I needed. I put my injured bird
into a shoe box lined with tissue and took the bus to see Mrs. Roberts.
Narrative Details/ Along the way, I began to think about the person I was about to meet.
Chronological Order
To start with, what would Mrs. Roberts look like? Since she was in the busi-
How do transitional phrases
help your readers follow ness of looking after hurt animals, I began to picture her as a very sweet and
your ideas? gentle sort of person—sort of cuddly. I was wrong.
When I got to her house, I rang the bell. Nobody responded, so I walked
around to the back yard. I knew immediately I had come to the right place.

300 UNIT 2
Narration / Description

There were some large screened-in areas, where I could see a several
different animals, including a deer. There were also two or three upright
posts. A large, fierce-looking bird—some kind of hawk, I guess—
gripped the top of one of these. It glared at me as if I were a mouse. As I
Descriptive Details
stood there, I was startled by a clear, low voice behind me.
How do these details
“May I help you?” she asked. I spun around, nearly dropping my shoe box. help your readers visualize
“Mrs. Roberts?” I responded. She simply nodded in reply. My cuddly the scene? How do they
create tension?
fantasy of an animal rescuer was immediately replaced by a far tougher
reality. She was an old woman but clearly still very strong and sturdy,
Descriptive Details
with dark eyes and sharp features. She looked a bit like a hawk herself.
How do these details help
“I have an injured bird here,” I began, offering her my shoe box. the readers visualize Mrs.
As she took the box and removed the lid, I noticed she seemed to smile. Roberts? What do they tell
about her character?
It may have been the sight of the tissue paper in which I had put the
injured bird. She probably thought it looked like a doll bed created by a
little kid. She picked up the bird in one strong, brown hand and studied
it for a time before returning it to the box and replacing the cover.
“It’s a starling,” Mrs. Roberts said, as if she understood I wouldn’t
know. “I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do for it.”
“Really?” I asked, feeling a sharp stab of disappointment. “I thought
you took care of—are you sure there’s nothing?”
Narrative Details/Dialogue
“It’s a very old bird,” she explained.
How does the use of dia-
This comment was also a bit of shock. During my bus ride, I had logue show your readers
decided—based on no knowledge at all—that the bird was young. Part what is happening? Does
it place the readers in the
of my fantasy had been visiting the bird as it got better.
middle of the action?
“People bring me so many animals that I have to limit myself to aid-
ing those that are worth saving,” Mrs. Roberts explained. “This starling
just isn’t. Sorry. I’ll dispose of the bird for you.”
I was grateful she had relieved me of responsibility for the injured
bird, but I still felt that somehow Mrs. Roberts didn’t “care” for nature
in the way I had expected. She wasn’t cuddly. Thinking about her later,
however, it was clear that she cared very much; but she only applied her
Conclusion
concern to creatures that could benefit from it. My meeting with Mrs.
Why is it important that you
Roberts taught me that to love nature does not mean to be sentimental express how you felt at the
about wild creatures. You can be both realistic and caring. time of your experience and
how you feel now?

WRIT ING WO RKSHOP 301


Revising
Peer Review Ask a peer reviewer to help you assess your essay. Talk over your
ideas and ask your partner for feedback. Identify any strengths and weaknesses
Traits of Strong Writing you find. Remember to refer to the traits of strong writing.
Ideas message or theme Use the rubric below to evaluate your writing.
and the details that
develop it
Rubric: Writing an Effective Reflective Essay
Organization arrangement
of main ideas and support-
✓ Do you explore a personal experience about nature?
ing details ✓ Do you explain the insights you gained from the experience?
Voice writer’s unique way ✓ Does your essay have a clear beginning, middle, and end?
of using tone and style ✓ Do you vividly describe the details of your experience?
Word Choice vocabulary ✓ Do you use first-person point of view?
a writer uses to convey
meaning
✓ Do you write in a conversational tone that allows your own voice to come
through?
Sentence Fluency rhythm
and flow of sentences

Conventions correct º Focus Lesson


spelling, grammar, usage,
and mechanics
Elaborating Ideas
Give your readers a detailed picture of what is happening and when.
Presentation the way
Elaboration is a technique you can use to include details that develop,
words and design elements
support, or explain the ideas presented in your essay. Here is a sentence
look on a page
from the Workshop Model followed by three kinds of elaboration—reasons,
For more information on descriptions, and dialogue—you might want to try.
using the Traits of Strong
Draft:
Writing, see pages R33–R34
of the Writing Handbook.

As she took the box and removed the lid, I noticed she seemed to smile.

Revision:

As she took the box and removed the lid, I noticed she seemed to smile.
It might have been the sight of the tissue paper in which I had put the
injured bird.1 She probably thought it looked like a doll bed created by a
little kid.2 “It’s a starling,” Mrs. Roberts said.3
1: Reasons 2: Descriptions 3: Dialogue

30 2 UNIT 2 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM


Narration / Description

Editing and Proofreading


Get It Right When you have completed the final draft of your essay, proofread
for errors in grammar, usage, mechanics, and spelling. Refer to the Language
Handbook, pages R45–R59, as a guide.

º Focus Lesson

Corrrecting Comma Splices


Give It a Rest
A comma splice is a type of run-on sentence that occurs when two main
Try putting your essay
clauses are joined only by a comma. Below is an example of a run-on sentence
aside for a day or two.
from the Workshop Model. Note the three ways to correct this problem.
When you return to it after
a time, you may catch
Comma Splice: errors you missed earlier.

I was grateful she had relieved me of responsibility for the injured How Was That?
bird, I still felt that somehow Mrs. Roberts didn’t “care” for nature in Try reading your essay
the way I had expected. aloud. Often you will be
able to “hear” a mistake
Solution A: Replace the comma with an end mark of punctuation, such as that you might not “see.”
a period or a question mark, and begin the new sentence with a capital letter.

I was grateful she had relieved me of responsibility for the injured


bird. I still felt that somehow Mrs. Roberts didn’t “care” for nature
in the way I had expected.

Solution B: Place a semicolon between the two main clauses.

I was grateful she had relieved me of responsibility for the injured


bird; I still felt that somehow Mrs. Roberts didn’t “care” for nature
in the way I had expected.

Solution C: Add a coordinating conjunction after the comma.

I was grateful she had relieved me of responsibility for the injured


bird, but I still felt that somehow Mrs. Roberts didn’t “care” for nature
in the way I had expected.

Writer’s Portfolio
Place a copy of your
reflective essay in
Presenting your portfolio to
review later.
Appearance Matters Make your essay inviting to read. Handwritten papers
should be neat and legible. If you are working on a word processor, double-space
the lines of text and use a readable font, or typeface. Other design elements—
such as boldfaced headings or pictures—can help you present information effec- Writing Models For models
tively as well as make your essay look more appealing. Be sure to check with your and other writing activities, go to
teacher about presentation guidelines. www.glencoe.com.

WRIT ING WO RKSHOP 303


Philip Marazzi; Papilio/CORBIS
Speaking, Listening,
and Viewing Workshop
Delivering a Reflective Presentation

Connecting to Literature During Ralph Waldo Emerson’s lifetime, more


Americans probably became acquainted with his ideas from hearing him lecture
than from reading his essays. After he spoke in Cincinnati, a newspaper there
observed that “without his own language, his manner, his delivery,” no report
could really convey the effect he created. Emerson’s speaking style was very much
a part of the appeal of his thoughts. In this workshop, you will deliver an oral
presentation of your reflective essay on nature.

Assignment

Create an oral presentation of your reflective essay on


nature and perform it for an audience.

Planning Your Presentation


When you wrote your reflective essay, you were addressing an audience of
readers. When you deliver your reflective presentation, you will be addressing an
audience of listeners. Use your essay as a starting point.

• Read your essay aloud to a peer. Discuss which ideas you should keep or delete
and how your might adjust the language to fit the purpose. For example, you
might add informal expressions or vary sentence structure to make your essay
sound even more conversational.
• Jot down vivid details, striking dialogue, and key ideas on note cards. Arrange
the note cards in the same order as the elements appear in your essay. Use
your note cards as a speaking prompt.
• Make sure that you note the significance of the personal experience you
explored in your essay.

—to me, wil


d animals be
long outside
—not happy
w
bird in the k hen I found an injured
itchen

304 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


Creating Your Visual Media
As you work though the organization of your essay, think about how visual
media, such as a photograph, collage, drawing, or computer presentation can
make your ideas clearer to your audience. Reflect on how symbols, colors, and Use a Mirror
organization may work within your visual to effectively convey your point. Use
Practice your gestures in front
the chart below to brainstorm ideas with a partner.
of a mirror until your body
language looks natural.

What parts of my What images can How will I use my


Sound Check
essay best reflect I create of my essay to choice of media to
who I am? illustrate these parts? express myself? Record your presentation and
play it back to check on
whether your voice expresses
the right mood and your
words are understandable.
Rehearsing
Videotape
Rehearsing your speech will strengthen your presentation. You will become familiar
with the language and organization of your speech, and you will be able to identify Videotape your performance
any delivery flaws or grammar errors that you missed earlier. Rehearsing will also and provide your own critique.
help you know when best to utilize visual aids and how to present them skillfully. It
is helpful to rehearse in front of a family member or friend—you can practice eye
contact and get feedback on details such as your pronunciation and pacing. Speak
loudly, even when practicing, so you are familiar with volume, or how loudly you
need to speak so that the whole class can hear you.

Use some of the verbal and nonverbal techniques listed below to ensure that
your audience clearly understands you and is engaged in what you have to say.

Rubric: Techniques for Delivering a Presentation


Verbal Techniques Nonverbal Techniques

✓ Volume Speak loudly enough ✓ Posture Stand up tall with your


so that everyone can hear you. head straight.
✓ Pronunciation Speak clearly, ✓ Eye Contact Make eye contact
pronouncing all the words. with people throughout your
audience.
O B J ECTIV ES
✓ Pace Speak at a moderate ✓ Facial Expressions Vary your • Adapt a reflective essay for
speed, but vary the rate and use facial expressions to reflect what oral presentation.

pauses to convey your meaning. you are saying. • Use voice, gesture, sound,
and visual effects to enhance
your performance.
✓ Tone Speak in an animated ✓ Gestures Use natural gestures to
• Polish your presentation in
voice. reinforce your ideas. rehearsal.

✓ Emphasis Stress important ✓ Visual Aids Use a photograph,


words and ideas. collage, drawing, or computer
presentation to enhance your
presentation.

SPEAKING, LISTENING, AND VIEWING WO RKSHOP 30 5


LITER
LI T ER AT
ATUURE OF
O F TH
T H E TI
TIME

For Independent Reading


I
N THE LATE 1700s, READERS AND CRITICS BEGAN, FOR THE FIRST TIME,
to accept the novel as a legitimate literary form. This shift can be partly attributed to
the novels of English author Samuel Richardson. Specifically, his massive multi-volume
novels Pamela and Clarissa, which were touted as books that “cultivate the principles of
virtue and religion in the minds of the youth,” received overwhelming popular acclaim in
the mid-1700s. The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy, by William Hill Brown,
mimicked Richardson’s sentimental works and helped to inspire the rush of American
imitators that followed until the end of the century.
By the 1820s, however, the first truly American novels emerged. Romanticism started
to take hold in Europe and American writers embraced the movement’s celebration of
the individual, freedom from old forms, and love of nature.

Two Years Before the Mast


Richard Henry Dana (1840)
Dana’s novel is based on his own experiences as
a sailor for two years aboard the merchant ship
Pilgrim. Americans were fascinated by the day-
to-day duties of a Yankee captain and crew.
Dana’s vivid descriptions of the captain’s cruelty
toward the crew led to public outcry and legal
action against such treatment aboard ship. The
novel’s factual details influenced Herman
Melville’s writing of his sea adventures,
including Typee, Omoo, and his masterpiece,
The Last of the Mohicans Moby-Dick.
James Fenimore Cooper (1826)
James Fenimore Cooper’s five-part series The
Leatherstocking Tales, about a wilderness scout
named Natty Bumppo, contains the first novels
to depict realistic American frontier scenes
and characters. The Last of the Mohicans, the
second installment in the series, is set during the
French and Indian War and portrays a group of
Native Americans whose way of life is quickly
disappearing. The novel presents a thrilling chase,
punctuated by captures, escapes, unexpected
attacks, and heroic rescues. Two ways of life are
contrasted in the novel: the Native Americans’
freedom and reverence for nature, and the settlers’
drive to build farms and towns.

306 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A NTICIS M


(l)Stock Montage/SuperStock, (r)Bettmann/CORBIS
CRITICS’ CORNER

“[The Scarlet Letter] is so terrible in its pictures of diseased human nature


as to produce most questionable delight. The reader’s interest never flags for
a moment. There is nothing of episode or digression. The author is always
telling his one story with a concentration of energy which, as we can
understand, must have made it impossible for him to deviate. The reader
will certainly go on with it to the end very quickly, entranced, excited,
shuddering, and at times almost wretched. His consolation will be that he
too has been able to see into these black deeps of the human heart.”
—Anthony Trollope, The North American Review
September 1879

From the Glencoe Literature Library

Billy Budd
Herman Melville
An industrious young sailor
accidentally kills the
tyrannical master-at-arms
who victimized him.

The House of the Seven Gables


Nathaniel Hawthorne
For two centuries, the
inhabitants of a New
England mansion
experience mysterious
The Scarlet Letter misfortunes that stem
from the moral corruption
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1850)
of its first owner.
Rooted in American Puritanism, this tragic tale
of colonial New England examines three complex
characters—a woman who follows her heart rather Walden
than Puritan standards of behavior, a minister torn Henry David Thoreau
by guilt, and a husband consumed by hatred and
revenge. Hawthorne, who called this a novel of Thoreau abandons society
“frailty and human sorrow,” peers deeply into the and its comforts to pursue a
mind and heart of each character to reveal solitary and independent life
tortuous moral dilemmas. in the woods.

LITERATUR E OF T HE TIME 307


(t)North Wind Picture Archives, (cl)Christie’s Images, (c)North Wind Picture Archives, (Lit. Library)file photo
Test Preparation and Practice
English Language Arts

Reading: Nonfiction
Carefully read the following passage. Use context clues to help you define any words with which
you are unfamiliar. Pay close attention to the author’s main idea and use of rhetorical devices.
Then, on a separate sheet of paper, answer the questions on pages 309–310.

from Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson


line
Society is a wave. The wave moves onward, but the water of which it is composed does not. The
same particle does not rise from the valley to the ridge. Its unity is only phenomenal. The persons
who make up a nation to-day, next year die, and their experience with them.
And so the reliance on Property, including the reliance on governments which protect it, is the
5 want of self-reliance. Men have looked away from themselves and at things so long, that they have
come to esteem the religious, learned, and civil institutions as guards of property, and they deprecate
assaults on these, because they feel them to be assaults on property. They measure their esteem of
each other by what each has, and not by what each is. But a cultivated man becomes ashamed of his
property, out of new respect for his nature. Especially he hates what he has, if he see that it is
10 accidental,—came to him by inheritance, or gift, or crime; then he feels that it is not having; it does
not belong to him, has no root in him, and merely lies there, because no revolution or no robber
takes it away. But that which a man is does always by necessity acquire, and what the man acquires is
living property, which does not wait the beck of rulers, or mobs, or revolutions, or fire, or storm, or
bankruptcies, but perpetually renews itself wherever the man breathes. . . . It is only as a man puts off
15 all foreign support, and stands alone, that I see him to be strong and to prevail. He is weaker by every
recruit to his banner. Is not a man better than a town? Ask nothing of men, and, in the endless
mutation, thou only firm column must presently appear the upholder of all that surrounds thee. He
who knows that power is inborn, that he is weak because he has looked for good out of him and
elsewhere, and so perceiving, throws himself unhesitatingly on his thought, instantly rights himself,
20 stands in the erect position, commands his limbs, works miracles; just as a man who stands on his
feet is stronger than a man who stands on his head.
So use all that is called Fortune. Most men gamble with her, and gain all, and lose all, as her
wheel rolls. But do thou leave as unlawful these winnings, and deal with Cause and Effect, the
chancellors of God. In the Will work and acquire, and thou hast chained the wheel of Chance, and
25 shalt sit hereafter out of fear from her rotations. A political victory, a rise of rents, the recovery of your
sick, or the return of your absent friend, or some other favorable event, raises your spirits, and you
think good days are preparing for you. Do not believe it. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.
Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.

308 UNIT 2 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM


1. What literary or rhetorical device does Emerson 6. What can you infer from the sentence He is
use in the first sentence? weaker by every recruit to his banner in lines
A. parallelism 15 and 16?
B. connotative language A. The individual should look for support
C. hyperbole from others.
D. metaphor B. The individual cannot help but receive
E. rhetorical question support from others.
C. The individual becomes weak from relying
2. What type or types of rhetorical appeal does on the support of others.
Emerson make in the first paragraph? D. Every cause is weakened by the individual.
A. ethical appeal E. Only the individual can prevail.
B. appeal to reason
C. appeal to emotion 7. What literary or rhetorical device does Emerson
D. appeal to emotion and ethical appeal use in the sentence Is not a man better than a
E. appeals to emotion and reason town? in line 16?
A. parallelism
3. According to Emerson, why do people deprecate
B. connotative language
assaults on religious, learned, and civil institutions?
C. metaphor
A. They hate property.
D. rhetorical question
B. They believe that these assaults are on property.
E. allusion
C. They believe in self-reliance.
D. They believe that people should rely solely on 8. To what does endless mutation, in lines 16 and
the government. 17, refer?
E. They are afraid of all criticism. A. the physical world
B. the firm column
4. Why does the cultivated man become ashamed of
C. all people
his property?
A. No robber or revolution has taken it away. D. foreign support
E. inborn power
B. He has stolen his property.
C. His property comes from an inheritance.
9. From the context, what does the word rights in
D. He realizes that property is alien to his
line 19 mean?
true nature.
A. justifies
E. He has allowed his property to deteriorate.
B. subjects
5. From the context, what does the word beck in C. corrects
line 13 mean? D. claims as true
A. command E. liberates
B. failure
C. creation
D. loss
E. help

TE S T P RE PA RATIO N A N D P RACTICE 30 9
10. By referring to the wheel of fortune, what 13. On the basis of this passage, with which of the
literary technique is Emerson using? following statements would Emerson be most
A. foreshadowing likely to agree?
B. irony A. People are generally solitary.
C. allusion B. Individuals are stronger than communities.
D. motif C. There is no such thing as community.
E. analogy D. Only governments can protect private property.
E. Private property must be outlawed.
11. Which trait of good writing is Emerson
demonstrating in the sentence Do not believe it, 14. On the basis of this passage, what is the overall
in line 27? tone of this essay?
A. organization A. despairing
B. presentation B. ironic
C. word choice C. authoritative
D. sentence variety D. angry
E. voice E. sarcastic

12. What type of essay is this? 15. What is the main idea of this passage?
A. informal A. The individual is greedy and corrupt.
B. persuasive B. Individuals should reject society.
C. expository C. There is no such thing as chance.
D. narrative D. People must reject governments and property.
E. personal E. Individuals must look to themselves to be free.

310 UNIT 2 A M E R I C A N R O M A N TI C I S M
Vocabulary Skills: Sentence Completion
For each item in the Vocabulary Skills section, choose the word or words that best complete the sentence.
Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.

1. For the writers of the era, Romanticism was both a 6. In their writings, Poe and Hawthorne often deal
political and a literary movement. with evil, or .
A. prejudice A. expedient
B. ideology B. admonition
C. din C. iniquity
D. issue D. lethargy
E. debate E. torpor

2. The agrarian South had few cities, whereas the 7. Individualism, the concern of the
cities in the North were heavily Transcendentalists, remains an important issue
industrialized. to this day.
A. manifest A. diffuse
B. inherent B. occult
C. myriad C. impregnable
D. blithe D. perennial
E. latent E. melancholy
3. The Age of Reform was marked by the rise of 8. Poe crafted his stories of the in
many religious organizations that hoped to order to convey a sense of horror to the reader.
increase the overall of America. A. melancholy . . . occult
A. melancholy . . . lethargy B. irreproachable . . . culture
B. perennial . . . cognizance C. sublime . . . sage
C. expedient . . . alacrity D. sagacious . . . culture
D. deliberately . . . resignation E. prevalent . . . sublime
E. zealous . . . integrity
9. Ralph Waldo Emerson was a writer and
4. The and clamor of the cities drove
philosopher, known as “The Sage of Concord.”
Thoreau into nature and a quiet life of seclusion.
A. pessimistic
A. wealth
B. venerable
B. size
C. popular
C. greed
D. sinister
D. din
E. superficial
E. pollution

5. Thoreau’s life at Walden Pond was a response to 10. Hawthorne was drawn to the stark Puritan
his own to live simply and deliberately. of the past.
A. iniquity A. morality
B. cognizance B. behavior
C. decorum C. culture
D. admonition D. landscape
E. discord E. sermons

TE ST PRE PARATION AND P RAC TIC E 311


Grammar and Writing Skills: Paragraph Improvement
Paragraph Improvement As you read the following paragraphs from the first draft of a student’s
reflective essay, pay close attention to the writer’s use of grammar, parallel construction, modifiers,
and adjectives. Then answer the questions below. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.

1. Which of the following is the best way to


write sentences 2 and 3?
A. When troubles emerge; I try my hardest to
(1) I’ve always thought of myself as an optimistic make those troubles work to my advantage.
person. (2) When troubles emerge. (3) I try my hardest B. When troubles emerge, I try my hardest
to make those troubles work to my advantage. (4) I can to make them work to my advantage.
C. I try my hardest to make those troubles work
remember plenty of times throughout my life when to my advantage—when troubles emerge.
things seem particularly gloomy. (5) However, I D. I try my hardest to make troubles work to
my advantage—when those troubles emerge.
improved the situation by looking at it in another way.
E. Emerging troubles, I try my hardest to
turn to my advantage.
(6) I was on summer break. (7) Just before my 2. Which of the following is the best revision of
sophomore year. (8) My mom, dad, and sister have gone sentence 4?
A. I can remember plenty of times during my
to visit my grandmother, who had recently moved to
life when things seem particularly gloomy.
Alaska. (9) Stuck having rehearsal for jazz band, Alaska B. There have been plenty of times during my
was so far away. (10) It was horrible! (11) Even my life, when thing seemed particularly gloomy.
C. I can remember plenty of times
mom’s most trustworthy promise—to take us to visit throughout my life when things seemed
grandma that following Christmas—was not enough to particularly gloomy.
get rid of my deep disappointment. D. Plenty of times throughout my life, that I
can remember, seem gloomy.
E. There are many times that seem gloomy.
(12) They were going to be gone for two whole 3. Which of the following is the best way to
weeks, to go fishing, hike, and white-water rafting, while improve sentence 5?
A. Change improved to improve.
I stayed at home, practicing my drums. (13) If things
B. Change However to Although.
weren’t bad enough, all of my friends were either on C. Change I improved to I was usually able to
vacation with their families, or too busy with summer improve.
D. Change improved to seldom improved.
jobs, to notice that I was all by myself.
E. Change I improved to couldn’t possibly
improve.
4. Which of the following sentences could the
writer insert at the start of the second
paragraph to improve the essay’s organization?
A. Lots of bad things have happened to me.
B. In general I’ve been pretty lucky in the past.
C. Sometimes bad things happen to good
people.
D. A different perspective can be a really
good thing.
E. One occasion in particular springs to mind.

312 UNIT 2 AMERICAN ROMANTICISM


5. Which of the following is the best way to write 8. Which of the following sentences could replace
sentences 6 and 7? sentence 10 to illustrate better the reason for the
A. I was on summer break, just before my writer’s feelings?
sophomore year. A. Alaska was so far away!
B. Around the start of my sophomore year—I was B. I’d never been outside of my home state, and
on summer break. Alaska sure seemed exciting.
C. Just as my sophomore year was getting ready to C. I was pretty sure that Alaska wasn’t
start, I had summer break. horrible.
D. In August, before the start of my sophomore D. Going to Alaska is about as exciting as going
year in high school, I had summer break. to jazz band.
E. Just before the start of my sophomore year— E. It is really unfair—my family should never
I had summer break. have gone to Alaska.

6. Which of the following errors appears in sentence 8? 9. Which of the following errors appears in
A. run-on sentence sentence 12?
B. incorrect parallelism A. run-on sentence
C. fragment B. misplaced modifier
D. incorrect verb tense C. fragment
E. misplaced modifier D. incorrect verb tense
E. incorrect parallelism
7. Which of the following is the best revision of
sentence 9? 10. While writing the concluding paragraphs of this
A. Stuck having rehearsal for jazz band, Alaska draft, what information should the writer include
stays far away. to illustrate the essay’s general idea?
B. Because I was stuck with rehearsal for jazz A. examples of other people wasting their
band, I couldn’t go to Alaska. free time
C. Because there was rehearsal for jazz band, B. how to get a summer job
Alaska was far away from me. C. how the writer’s optimism improved the
D. I have rehearsal for jazz band, so Alaska was situation
far away. D. details about band rehearsal
E. Jazz band rehearsal had me stuck, so Alaska E. details about his family’s trip to Alaska
was so far away.

Essay
Ralph Waldo Emerson claimed that “nothing can bring you peace but yourself.” Do you agree
with this statement? Write a short reflective essay that expresses your ideas about individualism
and Emerson’s claim. As you write, keep in mind that your essay will be checked for ideas,
organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation.

Unit Assessment To prepare for


the Unit test, go to www.glencoe.com.

TEST PR EPARATI ON AND PRAC TIC E 313


Lincoln’s Drive Through Richmond, 1866. Dennis Malone Carter. Oil on canvas, 77.5 x 19.9 cm. Chicago Historical Society.

314
Dennis Malone Carter/The Bridgeman Art Library
U N IT TH R EE

The Civil War Era


Looking Ahead
By the 1850s, the Southern states had become increasingly isolated
from the rest of the country because of their support of slavery and
their exclusion from the industrial boom in the North. Tensions
between the North and South grew, and the end of the Union—or
a war to preserve it—hovered on the horizon. Writers responded to
the issues of slavery, regional conflict, and eventually the Civil War.
Many moved from Romanticism to a realistic portrayal of the
problems confronting the nation. Two major poets of the period
also found inspiration in personal feelings and ordinary events.

Keep the following questions in mind as you read:


How did the slavery question lead to the Civil War?
How was the Civil War reflected in the writing of the period?
What made the poetry of Whitman and Dickinson revolutionary?

O B J EC T IV ES
In learning about the Civil War era, you will focus on the following:

• reading to enhance your understanding of U.S. history and culture


• examining how works of literature are related to the issues and themes of their historical
periods
• tracing the historical development of poetry and other forms of literature
• connecting literature to its historical context, current events, and your own experiences

315
Timeline Uncle Tom’s Cabin


AM E R I CAN L I T E R AT U R E

1850 1860
1852 1855 1859–1865 1862
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Frederick Douglass’s Emily Dickinson writes more Julia Ward Howe’s “Battle
Uncle Tom’s Cabin autobiography, My Bondage than eight hundred poems Hymn of the Republic”
is published and My Freedom, is published is published
1861
1855 1858 Harriet Jacobs’s Incidents in 1863
Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Abraham Lincoln gives A the Life of a Slave Girl is Abraham Lincoln delivers
Grass is published House Divided speech published under the the Gettysburg Address
pseudonym Linda Brent
1865
Walt Whitman’s Drum-Taps
is published
U N I T E D STAT ES EV E NTS

1850 1860
1850 1860–1861 1861
Compromise of 1850 Pony Express runs from Confederate forces fire
strengthens Fugitive Slave Act Missouri to California on Fort Sumter in South
Carolina, starting the
1854 1860
Civil War
Congress passes Kansas- Abraham Lincoln wins
Nebraska Act presidential election 1861
First Battle of Bull Run
1856 1857 1860
is fought
Proslavery forces sack Dred Scott decision makes South Carolina secedes from
Lawrence, Kansas, and slavery legal in all territories the Union 1862
antislavery forces retaliate Richard Gatling patents the
1859 1861
with Pottawatomie Massacre first practical machine gun
John Brown raids federal Jefferson Davis becomes the
in “Bleeding Kansas” conflict
arsenal at Harpers Ferry, VA. Confederate president 1863
Union collects income tax
to fund the Civil War
WO R L D EVE NTS

1850 1860
1850 1856 1861 1865
Taiping Rebellion begins Crimean War ends Alexander II, czar of Russia, Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s
in China frees serfs Adventures in Wonderland
1857
is published
1850 Gustave Flaubert’s Madame 1861
Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Bovary is published Burke and Wills expedition 1867
Sonnets from the Portuguese reaches Australia Alfred Nobel receives
1857–1858
is published British patent on dynamite
Indian soldiers revolt in
1853 Sepoy Mutiny (known in 1868
Commodore Perry opens India as First War of Meiji Restoration reforms
Japan to world trade Independence) Japan’s government
1855 1858
David Livingstone names Benito Juárez becomes
Victoria Falls in Africa president of Mexico

316 U N IT 3 THE CIVIL WAR ERA


(t)Bettmann / CORBIS, (c)North Wind Picture Archives, (b)CORBIS
Medal of Honor


1870
1873 1878
Henry Timrod’s “Cotton Henry James’s Daisy
Boll” is published Miller and The Europeans
are published
1875
▲ Mary Baker Eddy’s Science 1879
1868 and Health with Key to the George W. Cable’s Old
Louisa May Alcott’s Little Scriptures is published Creole Days is published
Women is published
1876
Mark Twain’s Adventures of
Tom Sawyer is published

1870
1863 1865 1870
Emancipation Proclamation Abraham Lincoln is Hiram Revels becomes
declares freedom for assassinated by John Wilkes the first African
enslaved persons in the Booth American elected to
Confederate states the U.S. Senate
1865
1863 Civil War ends 1876
Battle of Gettysburg is fought Battle of the Little
1866
Bighorn (Custer’s Last
1864 Ku Klux Klan organizes in
Stand) is fought
Abraham Lincoln is Tennessee
reelected president 1877
1868
Reconstruction ends
Ulysses S. Grant is elected
president; he holds office
until 1877

1870
1870 1876 1879
Franco-German War begins First full production of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s
Richard Wagner’s Ring of House is published
Ferdinand de Lesseps, 1872
the Nibelung is performed
engineer for Suez Canal Claude Monet completes
at Bayreuth
Impression: Sunrise
1869
1874
Suez Canal opens in Egypt
The Three-Cornered Hat by
1869 Pedro Antonio de Alarcón y Reading Check
Mohandas K. Gandhi is born Ariza is published
Analyzing Graphic Information:
1. How long did the Civil War last?

Timeline Visit www.glencoe.com for 2. Which occurred first, the issuing of the Emancipation
an interactive timeline. Proclamation or the freeing of the serfs in Russia?

INTRODUCTION 317
(tl)Mary Evans Picture Library, (tr)Smithsonian Images, (c)New-York Historical Society, New York, USA, Bridgeman Art Library, (b)Mary Evans Picture Library/The Image Works
By the Numbers
DIVISION OF RESOURCES BETWEEN THE UNION AND THE CONFEDERACY

100
Percentage of Overall Resources

Union
90 94%
92% Confederacy
90%
80
82%
70
71% 72%
60 69%
67%

50 56%

40 44%
30 33%
29% 31%
20 28%

10 18%

10%
0 8% 6%

s n s on al
ion re
d
or
ts
hip of ck tio m
cti pit
lat tu p s les tra uc f far u a
pu c
fa s Ex a nt M ad i o d
ro o d g c
Po nu od rch pr be pr kin
lro n
Ma go e r a i a i m Ir o n
Ba
n
M Gr Nu
Source: Historical Statistics of the United States

SLAVERY AFRICAN AMERICAN


How the War Was Won SOLDIERS
To win the Civil War, the North took • At the start of the 1800s, there
advantage of its resources: soldiers,
were 700,000 enslaved per- • Some 180,000 African
sons in the South. By 1860, Americans served in the
supplies, and the industrial capacity
there were four million. Union army.
to finance war efforts. The South
had fewer soldiers and faced short- • There were 66 all-black regi-
ages of food, clothing, medicine, CIVIL WAR FORCES ments in the Union forces.
shelter, and money—both for troops
Union • Twenty-three African Americans
and civilians.
Troops: 2,100,000 won the Medal of Honor.
Casualties: 634,703
Military Deaths: 360,222 CIVIL WAR CASUALTIES
Confederate
Inflation in the South 400
Troops: 800,000 North
Limited resources caused Casualties: 483,000 350 South
Troops (in thousands)

severe inflation in the South Military Deaths: 260,000 300


during the war. Compare the
250
income of a Confederate
soldier with the prices for
POPULATION 200
these goods: Most populous states in 1880: 150
100
Monthly income: $18.00 State Population
50
Pound of coffee: $12.00 New York 5,082,871
Quart of milk: $10.00 0
Pennsylvania 4,282,891
Total Battle- Non-
Pound of butter: $6.25 Ohio 3,198,062 Deaths Related Battle
Dozen eggs: $6.00 Illinois 3,077,871 Deaths Deaths
Missouri 2,168,380 Source: For the Common Defense

318 UNIT 3 TH E C I V I L WA R E RA
Being T here
Before South Carolina seceded in December 1860,
the nation stood on the brink of destruction.
After secession began, the tensions between
A Plantation on the Mississippi, nineteenth
the industrial North and the agricultural South
century. Currier & Ives. Color lithograph.
Museum of the City of New York. came to a violent head.

Wounded Union soldiers being cared for by The Battle of Antietam, 1862. Captain James Hope. Oil on
B nurse Anne Bell, 1861–1865. Photograph. C canvas. U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC.

WV separated from VA
����������
in 1861 and was admitted ��
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������������������������ Maps in Motion Visit
www.glencoe.com for an interactive map.

Reading Check 2. How many slave states seceded, as shown on the


map, before the firing on Fort Sumter?
Analyzing Graphic Information:
��������������������������
1. In which category in the first bar graph is the differ- 3. How do the political boundaries west of the
�����������
ence��������the resources of the Union and the
between Mississippi River during the Civil War compare with
Confederacy greatest? those in the present-day United States?

INT ROD UCTION 319


(t)Currier & Ives/Art Resource, NY, (bl)CORBIS (br)James Captain Hope / Art Resource, NY
The Civil War Era
Historical, Social, and Cultural Forces
The Path to War
As the nation expanded westward, it became
evident that the legality of slavery in the new territo-
ries would have to be determined. Northerners in
Congress pushed to prohibit slavery in new territories,
while Southern senators argued that such a move
would deny slaveholders their constitutional rights.
In 1850, Senator Henry Clay, in an effort to save the
Union, proposed several compromise measures. For the
North, Congress admitted California as a free state.
To appease the South, Congress passed the Fugitive
Slave Act. This law mandated the return of enslaved
Africans who had fled to the North and penalized
individuals who helped them escape. The Compromise
of 1850 averted immediate disaster for the Union, but
it proved to be only a temporary solution.

Antislavery Movement
Most Northerners opposed the Fugitive Slave Act,
and most free-state legislatures passed laws in an
attempt to block it. The Underground Railroad, a
secret network that aided enslaved fugitives escaping
to the North, became more active than ever. The
fugitives were known as “freight” or “packages,” the
homes where they were sheltered were “stations,” and
those who guided them were “conductors.”
In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s best-selling novel Abraham Lincoln with General George Brinton
McClellan talking in a tent at the Antietam battlefield.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin depicted the cruelty of slavery and
Undated photo by Mathew Brady.
the fight for freedom. Abolitionists hailed the book;
one review proclaimed, “A slaveholder might read it
without anger, but not easily without a secret abhor- Secession
rence of the system which he himself upholds.” As the 1860 presidential election approached, the
Republican Party nominated Abraham Lincoln.
Lincoln was not an outright abolitionist; he simply
believed that slavery should be excluded from
the new territories. With Lincoln’s victory, many

320 UNIT 3 TH E C I V I L WA R E RA
Alexander Gardner/CORBIS
Southern states, anticipating that the new president S. Grant finally began to attack Southern resources
would abolish slavery, felt that they had no choice but as well as Confederate forces.
to leave the Union. On December 20, 1860, South
President Lincoln, assassinated on April 14, 1865,
Carolina seceded. Six more states soon followed.
did not witness the end to the struggle that had
These states formed the Confederate States
divided the nation. After more than 600,000 deaths
of America, or the Confederacy, which included
on both sides, the last Confederate soldiers surren-
eleven states by the start of the war. In Lincoln’s
dered in May 1865. The Thirteenth Amendment
inaugural address, he pleaded for the North and
became law in December 1865, officially ending
South to avoid bloodshed and violence. His plea
slavery in the entire nation. The North’s victory in
was not heeded, and on April 12, 1861, Confederate
the Civil War destroyed the South’s slave economy.
troops attacked Fort Sumter, a federal fort in the
Seceded states eventually returned to the Union,
harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. The Civil
but a legacy of bitterness lingered long after the last
War had begun.
Yankee soldier had marched home.

Reconstruction
“We failed, but in the good
Although the fighting had ended, the period of
providence of God apparent failure Reconstruction involved more than rebuilding and
often proves a blessing.” repairing the South. It would take years to restructure
Southern society, grant rights to those who had been
— Confederate General Robert E. Lee enslaved, and readmit the Southern states to the
Union. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act in 1866
and then the Fourteenth Amendment—redefining
citizenship to include African Americans and requir-
War ing their equal protection under the law—but the
The South’s long tradition of military service gave nation did little to help those who had been freed.
the Confederate army an early advantage over the After Reconstruction, the new South was in many
Union. As the war continued, however, the Union ways similar to the pre-Civil War South: White
grew stronger, while Confederate losses weakened Southern Democrats returned to power, and African
the South. To win the war, Union General Ulysses Americans lost many of their civil rights.

PREVIEW Big Ideas of the Civil War Era

Resistance A Nation A Poetic


1 to Slavery 2 Divided 3 Revolution

The culture of African During the Civil War, Poets Walt Whitman and
Americans was shaped by Americans created a literary Emily Dickinson experi-
their struggle against slav- record that ranged from vivid mented with new verse
ery. Spirituals and slave accounts of wartime life to forms during this period.
narratives testified to the profound expressions of faith In divergent ways, they
harshness of slavery and in American ideals. explored the self and its
African Americans’ fierce See pages 324–325. relation to the world.
resistance to it. See pages 326–327.
See pages 322–323.

INT ROD UCTION 321


Big Idea 1
Resistance to Slavery

S
uppose that you were not allowed to read or write drawn from the Bible, as slaves likened their situation
or own anything. Picture yourself being whipped to that of the Jews held captive in Egypt.
for disobeying orders or hunted after trying to
Many songs had a dual meaning, expressing both reli-
escape. Imagine that you could be sold away from
gious faith and a hunger for freedom. Some also
your family. That was life in slavery.
served as encoded messages. The first line of “Follow
the Drinking Gourd”—“When the sun comes back
and the first quail calls”—refers to late winter.
“There is no Negro problem. The “Conductors” on the Underground Railroad found
that it took about a year for escapees to journey from
problem is whether the American people the South to the Ohio River and that crossing the
have loyalty enough, honor enough, river was easiest during winter, when the river was
frozen. Thus, the song suggests that enslaved Africans
patriotism enough, to live up to their make their escape during winter and follow the
own Constitution.” “Drinking Gourd”—the Big Dipper constellation,
whose cup points to the North Star.
—Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass (see pages 337–344) was born on a
The Realities of Slavery Maryland plantation and was separated from his
Southern plantation owners purchased Africans for mother soon after birth. Early on Douglass realized
cultivating cotton, rice, or other crops. Southern laws that education was the path to freedom. As he taught
made enslaved people property for life; even their himself to read and write, he grew determined to gain
children could be sold. It was illegal to teach enslaved that freedom. After Douglass escaped at age twenty,
people to read or write, for owners feared that knowl- he spoke at an antislavery meeting, launching his
edge would bring revolt and the ruin of their eco- career as a powerful orator and an influential member
nomic system. Escape was difficult; night patrols of the abolitionist movement. In 1845, he authenti-
whipped or killed the slaves they caught. cated his life story and the brutality he had endured
by writing Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,
Slavery was legal in the North, too; however, condi-
an American Slave, later expanded into My Bondage
tions there were different. Some enslaved persons
and My Freedom and Life and Times of Frederick
were allowed to work in the industrial trades, and cer-
Douglass.
tain states allowed them to marry and acquire prop-
erty. An enslaved person could be punished, but an
owner who killed one could be charged with murder. Slave Narratives
Religious groups had always opposed slavery, and most Slave narratives became increasingly popular in the
Northerners came to believe that slavery was wrong. decades before the Civil War. In addition to Frederick
The argument over expanding slavery into new terri- Douglass, writers William Wells Brown, Solomon
tories began to tear the nation apart. Northup, and Sojourner Truth sold tens of thousands
of copies of their life stories. They not only provided
Strength in Religion Northerners and abolitionists with glimpses of the
horrors of slavery but also contradicted the claims of
Enslaved Africans combined traditional African
slave owners. Through these narratives, slaves could
music with Christian hymns to create spirituals, or
be seen as people rather than property. For many peo-
songs of salvation and religious beliefs (see pages
ple who knew no African Americans, these accounts
330–335). Much of the imagery in spirituals was
revealed a culture and community that were founded
on tradition, family, love, and respect.

322 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
The Hour of
Emancipation,
1863. William
Tolman Carlton.
Oil on canvas.
Private collection.

Frederick Douglass gave a speech to a white audience in Rochester, New York, on July 5, 1852.
The following paragraphs are taken from that speech.

from The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro by Frederick Douglass

The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of
enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, lib- tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty
erty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns,
fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious
brought light and healing to you has brought stripes and parade and solemnity, are, to him mere bombast, fraud,
death to me. This Fourth July is yours, not mine. You deception, impiety, and hypocrisy—a thin veil to cover up
may rejoice, I must mourn. . . . crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There
What, to the American slave, is your fourth of July? is not a nation on earth guilty of practices more shock-
I answer, a day that reveals to him, more than all other ing and bloody than are the people of the United States,
days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which at this very hour.
he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is
a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your
national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of
Reading Check
Analyzing Author’s Purpose How did Douglass try
to persuade his white readers and listeners to fight
against slavery?

INT ROD UCTION 323


William Tolman Carlton/The Bridgeman Art Library
Big Idea 2
A Nation Divided

F
ighting any war brings fear, loss, suffering, and Mary Chesnut’s World
death, but a war that turns the people of a coun-
Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut (see pages 360–366)
try against each other is doubly bitter. In the
grew up in luxury on a large South Carolina planta-
American Civil War, communities and sometimes
tion. Although she personally hated slavery, her fam-
even families became divided by the conflict.
ily owned hundreds of slaves, and both her father and
Letters home were written from places most people had
husband served as proslavery senators. Chesnut had
never heard of—Shiloh, Antietam, Gettysburg, and
little choice but to remain loyal to the South, but she
Chickamauga—all sites of major battles where thou-
documented the brutal cost of the war in her journal:
sands of soldiers were wounded or killed.
July 1st [1862] . . . Edward Cheves, only son of
John Cheves, killed. His sister kept crying, ‘Oh,
mother, what shall we do; Edward is killed,’ but
“Many are the hearts that are weary the mother sat dead still, white as a sheet, never
tonight, Wishing for the war to cease,” uttering a word or shedding a tear. Are our
women losing the capacity to weep?
— from the Civil War song “Tenting on the Old
Chesnut visited hospitals, rejoiced with friends at
Campground” by Walter C. Kittredge
Confederate victories, and cried over Confederate
losses. Through it all, she detailed the cruelties and
evils of war in her journal. Her story told of her own
Revolution or Treason? fears and reactions, the devaluation of Confederate
When Abraham Lincoln (see pages 386–392) was currency, and the inflation that forced families
elected to the U.S. Congress in 1846, he voted into starvation.
against abolishing slavery, because he thought it
would tear the Union apart. Although his goal was Lincoln’s Vision and Words
not to end slavery, he opposed its spreading to new
Abraham Lincoln initially wished only to limit slav-
territories. He believed that the territories should
ery and to preserve the Union, but he came under
remain “places for poor people to go and better their
increasing pressure to turn the war into a campaign
condition.” As antislavery sentiment grew in the
against slavery. He cautiously committed himself to
North, it became clear that the United States was
eliminating slavery throughout the country, begin-
in danger of becoming divided.
ning with the Emancipation Proclamation, which
In his speech A House Divided in 1858, Lincoln announced that he would free the enslaved people in
warned of the possible end of the Republic: the South on January 1, 1863. The proclamation
turned the war into a moral battle that aroused not
“We are now far into the fifth year, since a policy
only the spirit of the North but also the spirits of
was initiated with the avowed object and confident
those who were enslaved. Lincoln’s speeches reflected
promise of putting an end to slavery agitation. . . .
his dedication to the preservation of the Union and
In my opinion, it will not cease until a crisis shall
his desire to heal the nation. When Lincoln delivered
have been reached, and passed—‘A house divided
the Gettysburg Address in 1863, he expressed a new
against itself cannot stand.’”
vision of the United States.
When Lincoln was elected president in 1860, his
The language of the Bible and of William
words proved true. The North saw secession as an act
Shakespeare inspired Lincoln’s words. Lincoln’s
of treason. The South believed that it had launched a
speeches were eloquent and moving, effectively com-
second American revolution, and the Civil War
bining simplicity with grandeur, emotion with power,
began soon after Lincoln took office.
and respect for human government with divine ideals.

324 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
Civilians at 31st
Pennsylvania Infantry
Camp, 1862. Black
and white photograph.
Medford Historical
Society Collection.

from Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865 by Abraham Lincoln

The Almighty has his own purposes. “Woe unto the years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every
world because of offenses! for it must needs be that drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by
offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the another drawn with the sword, as was said three thou-
offense cometh!” If we shall suppose that American sand years ago, so still it must be said, “the judgments
slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.”
of God, must needs come, but which, having continued With malice toward none; with charity for all; with
through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let
and that He gives to both North and South, this terrible us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the
war, as the woe due to those by whom the offense nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne
came, shall we discern therein any departure from those the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all
divine attributes which the believers in a Living God which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace,
always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope—fervently do among ourselves, and with all nations.
we pray—that this mighty scourge of war may speedily
pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the
wealth piled by the bond-man’s two hundred and fifty
Reading Check
Summarizing Main Ideas What are the main ideas of
each of the two paragraphs from Lincoln’s Second
Inaugural Address?

INT ROD UCTION 325


Medford Historical Society/CORBIS
Big Idea 3
A Poetic Revolution

I
n the middle of the 1800s, two poets with dra- poems in Drum-Taps reflect his changing attitudes
matically contrasting lives and writing styles and experiences as a nurse.
altered the course of American poetry. Walt
Whitman cared for both Union and Confederate sol-
Whitman and Emily Dickinson explored their
diers in war hospitals. Being on the scene was essen-
emotions through poetry that broke with tradi-
tial to him, whether he was sharing the energy of city
tional themes and forms. Their work created two
life or the grief of battle casualties. In President
diverse inspirations for poets to this day.
Abraham Lincoln, Whitman found an American
hero. He celebrated the “Rail-Splitter” who had
emerged from humble origins to unify the nation and
“The genius of the United States is not felt profound grief when Lincoln was assassinated. In
best or most in its executives or the elegy “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard
Bloom’d,” Whitman reflects on Lincoln—“the great
legislatures, nor in its ambassadors or star early droop’d in the western sky.” The elegy
authors or colleges . . . but always most addresses the nature of grief and embraces a theme of
renewal in spite of the tragic assassination:
in the common people.”
“From deep secluded recesses,
—Walt Whitman From the fragrant cedars and the ghostly pines so
still, Came the carol of the bird.”
Critic Alfred Kazin wrote that Whitman’s elegy “is as
Whitman’s World much a monument as the Lincoln Memorial.”
Walt Whitman (see pages 394–422) found poetry in
the lives of everyday Americans. He took daily walks Dickinson’s Introspection
to absorb the sights and sounds of Brooklyn and its While Whitman experienced America and its people,
people, especially blue-collar workers. Whitman used Emily Dickinson (see pages 423–443) observed the
his experiences as a reporter, teacher, laborer, and life of Amherst, Massachusetts, from her second-story
Civil War nurse to create his poetry. His distinctive bedroom window, composing poetry that could turn
style is marked by long, rollicking lines written in free the ordinary into the deeply meaningful. Dickinson
verse—poetry based on the irregular rhythms of wrote approximately 1,775 poems, though less than a
speech, rather than on traditional poetic meter. dozen were published in her lifetime. She suggested
Whitman imagined his work as one long, boundless that her work had to make its points subtly: “The
poem that expressed his all-embracing view of the Truth must dazzle gradually / Or every man be blind.”
world. Leaves of Grass captured the colorful speech Although Dickinson created poetry during the Civil
and brash, optimistic spirit of a vital young nation. War, her poems do not place the reader on the battle-
In an essay on the ideal poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson field and in the action as Whitman’s do. Instead, her
had observed: “The poet has a new thought; he has themes connect the reader to moments and feelings.
a whole new experience to unfold; he will tell us how
it was with him, and all men will be the richer in his A presentiment is a premonition, or a feeling that
fortune.” Inspired by Emerson’s vision, Whitman saw something is about to happen. In her poem on the
himself as this poet. following page, Dickinson describes the time before
darkness envelops the day. Her metaphor relates sun-
set and darkness to death. Though this poem is not
Whitman on the War about the Civil War, it conveys a fear of dying, appro-
When the Civil War came, Whitman’s work reflected priate to a period of war. Dickinson’s poems could be
his sympathies for the struggles of the Union. The categorized in conventional terms—love, nature,

326 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
Central Park, 20th century. George Luks. Oil on canvas,
31.5 x 34.4 in. Private collection. “Cavalry Crossing a Ford”
by Walt Whitman
eternity, loneliness, and death—but she brought irony A line in long array where they wind betwixt
and keen observation to these common topics. Her
green islands,
poetry included unconventional use of punctuation,
They take a serpentine course, their arms flash
especially dashes, and short, clipped lines that took
in the sun—hark to the musical clank,
rhythmic influence from the hymns that she had
heard as a child. Dickinson has been described as an Behold the silvery river, in it the splashing
expert miniaturist because of the depth of expression horses loitering stop to drink,
contained in this tightly constructed poems. Behold the brown-faced men, each group, each
person a picture, the negligent rest on the
saddles,
5 Some emerge on the opposite bank, others are
“The Lightning is a yellow Fork” just entering the ford—while,
by Emily Dickinson Scarlet and blue and snowy white,
The guidon flags flutter gayly in the wind.
The Lightning is a yellow Fork
From Tables in the sky
By inadvertent fingers dropt
The awful Cutlery

5 Of mansions never quite disclosed Reading Check


And never quite concealed
Analyzing Imagery How does Whitman convey a
The Apparatus of the Dark
sense of motion in his poem? To how many senses
To ignorance revealed. does this poem appeal and in what lines?
Analyzing Metaphor What two things does
Dickinson compare in her poem?

INT ROD UCTION 327


George Luks/Private Collection, David Findlay Jr. Fine Art, NYC/Bridgeman Art Library
Wrap-Up
Why It Matters Cultural Links
Up to and during the Civil War, writers shifted from Whitman has influenced scores of poets, including
Romanticism to Realism in response to the cultural Allen Ginsberg, who called him “dear father, gray-
and social forces affecting the nation. Depictions of beard, lonely old courage-teacher.”
slavery, and of fugitives from slavery, by Frederick
One of the most famous movies ever made, Gone
Douglass and others stirred the Northern conscience
with the Wind, was based on a 1936 novel about
and infuriated Southern planters.
the Civil War and Reconstruction by Southerner
But the North’s resistance to slavery and the South’s Margaret Mitchell.
insistence on states’ rights resulted in a bloody con- You might try using this study organizer to take notes on the
flict that tore the nation apart. Civil War cemeteries people, settings, and events you read about in this unit.
and battlefields throughout Eastern and Southern
states today are grim reminders of lives shattered THREE-TAB BOOK
or ended.
Walt Whitman claimed that “the United States
themselves are essentially the greatest poem.” Poets
le s
continue to emulate the free verse of Whitman and op es nt
his exploration of the self in relationship to the Pe P lac Ev
e
world. Emily Dickinson is now recognized as one of
the greatest American poets. Her work—with its con-
cise style, experimental grammar and punctuation, The Civil War Era
and everyday subjects transformed into the meaning-
ful and universal—has influenced poets worldwide. Big Ideas Link to Web resources to
further explore the Big Ideas at www.glencoe.com.

Connect to Today Use what you have learned about the


period to do one of these activities.

1. Speaking/Listening Research a slave narrative and give an oral interpretation of part of it to


the class.

2. Visual Literacy Create a timeline that represents the American people and the struggles they faced
during the Civil War. Use works of art, photographs, advertisements, book covers, and posters in your
timeline. Include brief descriptions of how these works reflect the period.
3. Writing Poet James Russell Lowell read his poem “Commemoration Ode” at Harvard College
shortly after Lincoln’s death. In the poem, he called Lincoln “the first American.” Write a short essay
explaining what you think he meant by this. Consider Lincoln’s life, his writings, and his place in the
American consciousness.

O B J EC TIVES
• Evaluate how a historical period shaped its literature. Study Central Visit
• Use writing to discover and organize what is known about a topic. www.glencoe.com and click on Study Central to
• Communicate a specific message by using a variety of media forms. review The Civil War Era.
• Use effective verbal and nonverbal stategies in an oral interpretation.

328 U N IT 3 THE CIVIL WAR ERA


PART 1
Resistance to Slavery

A Ride for Liberty, or The Fugitive Slaves, 1862. J. Eastman Johnson. 55.9 x 66.7 cm. Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York.

“You have seen how a man was made a slave;


you shall see how a slave was made a man.”
—Frederick Douglass
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave

329
J. Eastman Johnson/The Bridgeman Art Library
B EFO R E YO U R E A D

Three Spirituals
W H O W ROT E T H E SPI R I T UA LS ?

T
he spirituals featured here came out of the
oral tradition of African Americans
enslaved in the South before the outbreak
of the Civil War. These “sorrow songs,” as they
were called, were created by anonymous artists and
transmitted by word of mouth. As a result, several
versions of the same spiritual may exist. According Some spirituals served as encoded messages by
to the Library of Congress, more than six thousand which enslaved field workers, forbidden to speak
spirituals have been documented, though some are to each other, could communicate practical infor-
not known in their entirety. mation about escape plans. Some typical code
African American spirituals combined the tunes words included Egypt, referring to the South or the
and texts of Christian hymns with the rhythms, state of bondage, and the promised land or heaven,
finger-snapping, clapping, and stamping of tradi- referring to the North or freedom. To communi-
tional African music. The spirituals allowed cate a message of hope, spirituals frequently
enslaved Africans to retain some of the culture of recounted Bible stories about people liberated from
their homelands and forge a new culture while fac- oppression through divine intervention. The spiri-
ing the hardships of captive life in the United tual “Keep Your Hand on the Plow,” for example,
States. Many spirituals followed a call-and- tells the story of Paul and Silas, who were released
response pattern in which a leader sang the verses from prison after God sent an earthquake to free
and was answered by a group of singers. The sing- them.
ers often improvised the songs by changing words The spirituals were saved from obscurity after the
or adding new verses. Civil War by the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University
in Nashville, Tennessee. To raise money for the
school during a time of financial hardship, the
small university choir sang spirituals to church
“Every tone [in the spirituals] was a groups around the country. The Jubilee Singers
testimony against slavery, and a prayer were soon in demand and eventually performed
the spirituals for President Ulysses S. Grant and
to God for deliverance from chains.” England’s Queen Victoria.
—Frederick Douglass The spirituals became a part of American pop cul-
ture, paving the way for other musical forms
including blues and jazz and influencing poets such
Enslaved African Americans sang spirituals both as James Weldon Johnson. When Martin Luther
in worship and while laboring in the field. Many King Jr. led the march in Washington, D.C., for
of the songs have a dual meaning, expressing both civil rights in March 1963, he quoted from the
religious faith and a hunger for freedom. The New spiritual “Free at Last”: “You can hinder me here,
York Tribune published “Go Down, Moses” after but you can’t hinder me there.”
Reverend Lewis Lockwood heard African
Americans singing it on September 3, 1861, and
submitted the lyrics.

330 U N IT 3 THE CIVIL WAR ERA


The Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Foundation / Art Resource, NY
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Spirituals Reading Strategy Analyzing Historical


Many people find listening to, singing, playing, or even Context
composing music to be a comfort in times of stress or Understanding the context in which the spirituals were
loss. As you read, think about these questions: created can help you better appreciate them. The era
• Why was it important for oppressed people to create that gave birth to the spirituals was an intensely diffi-
cult one for enslaved African Americans. They toiled
these songs?
• What music do you turn to for inspiration or comfort? long hours, were barred from communicating with
each other, and were frequently threatened with vio-
Building Background lence. They were also subjected to damaging stereo-
For many enslaved African Americans, the situation of types about their supposed lack of intelligence and
the Jews in the Bible was especially poignant. responsibility. Spirituals gave African Americans much-
According to the Bible, the Jews were forced into slav- needed encouragement, information about escape,
ery by a pharaoh, or ruler, of Egypt. Moses, a leader of and a chance to define themselves. In spirituals,
the Jews, asked the pharaoh to free his people, warn- African Americans were depicted as the beloved chil-
ing that otherwise God would send ten plagues upon dren of a just and mighty God, destined for freedom.
the Egyptians. The plagues came, and the pharaoh According to travelers in the South and the slaves
released the Jews. After Egyptian soldiers chased the themselves, spirituals were a fundamental part of slave
Jews to the shores of the Red Sea, Moses called upon life. They were sung during worship, rest, work, and
God to part the waters so his people could cross. The play. As you read the spirituals, jot down your thoughts
sea rolled back for the Jews to pass but closed in on about how they reflect the hopes and beliefs of slaves.
the Egyptian soldiers. When the Jews “reached the
other shore,” they were free people once again. Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart to record
your thoughts about the spirituals.
Setting Purposes for Reading
Big Idea Resistance to Slavery
Example from text How it reflects hope
As you read, consider the role spirituals played in the
African American struggle for freedom. But still my soul feels Even though life can be
heavenly bound very difficult, the
speaker believes his or
Literary Element Refrain her soul will find joy.
A refrain is a line or lines repeated in a poem or song.
For example, the line “Let my people go” is repeated
in every stanza of the spiritual “Go Down, Moses.” As
you read, think about how the refrains in each spiritual
help to emphasize a central idea.

• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R15.

Interactive Literary Elements


Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • understanding the influence of historical context on a work
• relating literature to a historical period • understanding the use of refrain in a poem or song

THREE SPIRITUALS 331


Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home,
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home.

5 I looked over Jordan1 and what did I see,


Coming for to carry me home?
A band of angels coming after me,
Coming for to carry me home.

If you get there before I do,


10 Coming for to carry me home,
Tell all my friends I’m coming too;
Coming for to carry me home.

I’m sometimes up, I’m sometimes down,


Coming for to carry me home,
15 But still my soul feels heavenly bound;
Coming for to carry me home.

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,1944. William H. Johnson. Oil on board,


Swing low, sweet chariot,
281/2 x 261/2 in. National Museum of American Art, Washington, DC. Coming for to carry me home,
Swing low, sweet chariot,
20 Coming for to carry me home.

1. Jordan refers to the Jordan River. In the Book of Exodus


in the Bible, when the Jews were fleeing from slavery in
Egypt, they had to cross the Jordan to reach their
Promised Land.

Literary Element Refrain How does the refrain func-


tion in the spiritual?

332 UNIT 3 THE CIVIL WAR ERA


National Museum of American Art, Washington, DC/Art Resource, NY
Hampton University Museum, Hampton, Virginia

Harriet Tubman Series No. 11, 1939-40. Jacob Lawrence. Casein tempera on gessoed hardboard,
12 x 177/8 in. Hampton University Museum, Hampton, VA.

Go down, Moses, The Lord told Moses what to do,


’Way down in Egypt’s land; Let my people go;
Tell ole Pharaoh 15 To lead the children of Israel thro’,
Let my people go. Let my people go.

5 When Israel was in Egypt’s land, When they had reached the other shore,
Let my people go; Let my people go;
Oppressed so hard they could not stand, They sang a song of triumph o’er.
Let my people go. 20 Let my people go.

Thus saith the Lord, bold Moses said, Go down, Moses,


10 Let my people go; ’Way down in Egypt’s land;
Let them come out with Egypt’s spoil, Tell ole Pharaoh
Let my people go. Let my people go.

Big Idea Resistance to Slavery How does this biblical


allusion reflect the enslaved people’s desire to escape slavery?

THR EE SPIR ITUALS 333


Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC / Art Resource, NY
Mary wo’ three links of chain,
Ev’ry link was Jesus’ name.
Keep your hand on the plow,
Hold on.

CHORUS
5 Hold on, hold on,
Keep your hand on the plow,
Hold on.

Paul and Silas bound in jail,1


Had nobody for to go their bail,
10 Keep your hand on the plow,
Going to Church, 1940–1941. William H. Johnson. Oil on burlap,
381/8 x 451/2 in. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, U.S.A.
Hold on.

Paul and Silas began to shout,


Jail doors opened and they walked out . . .

Peter was so nice and neat,2


15 Wouldn’t let Jesus wash his feet . . .

Jesus said, “If I wash them not,


You’ll have no father in this lot” . . .

Peter got anxious and he said,


“Wash my feet, my hands and head,” . . .

20 Got my hand on the gospel plow,


Wouldn’t take nothin’ for my journey now, . . .

1. In the Bible (Acts 16:16 – 40) the Apostle Paul and his
companion Silas are imprisoned, but an earthquake shakes
the prison and releases them.
2. In the Bible (John 13:4 – 20) the Apostle Peter objects at
first when Jesus wants to wash his feet.

Big Idea Resistance to Slavery How might these lines


have helped singers and listeners endure slavery?

Reading Strategy Analyzing Historical Context Why


might enslaved people have connected with these lines in
the spiritual?

334 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Which phrases or lines from these spirituals did you 6. Enslaved African Americans highly valued, and
find most comforting or inspiring? frequently retold, stories from the Gospels.
(a)In light of this, what do you think is the meaning
Recall and Interpret of lines 1–3 of “Keep Your Hand on the Plow”?
2. (a)What might the chariot in “Swing Low, Sweet (b)In what way do these lines illuminate the
Chariot” represent? (b)Who or what might be the theme, or overall message, of the song? Give
“band of angels” in line 7? details from the song to support your answer.
3. (a)What feelings does the speaker express in 7. Describe the mood, or overall feeling or emotion,
lines 13–16? (b)Why do you think the speaker’s created by each of the spirituals. Use specific
“soul feels heavenly bound”? examples from each song to support your
response.
4. (a)In lines 1–8 of “Go Down, Moses,” what is the
speaker asking Moses to do? (b)What might these
lines say about the experiences and hopes of Connect
enslaved African Americans?
8. Big Idea Resistance to Slavery What elements
5. (a)Summarize the two Bible stories retold in “Keep of the spirituals helped singers and listeners endure
Your Hand on the Plow.” (b)Why do you think these and overcome slavery? Include details from the
particular stories were included in a spiritual? Explain. spirituals in your answer.

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Refrain Reading Strategy Analyzing Historical


Spirituals usually contain at least one refrain that Context
emphasizes the central idea, or theme, and that also Spirituals often combined phrases from English hymns
helps establish the mood. In addition, refrains help with harmonies and rhythms found in African music.
create rhythm.
1. How do spirituals reflect the history of African
1. What mood is created by the refrain in “Swing Low, Americans?
Sweet Chariot”?
2. Why do you think people still sing spirituals today?
2. The words “Let my people go” are repeated in
every stanza of “Go Down, Moses.” What impact
does this repetition create? Academic Vocabulary
Here are two words from the vocabulary list on
Interdisciplinary Activity page R86. These words will help you think,
Music Trying to imagine how a song sounds based on
write, and talk about the selections.
reading it is a little like trying to explain the taste of a
specific (spi sif ik) adj. definite; particular
strawberry to someone who’s never eaten one. Working
with a group, locate and listen to recordings of all three rely (ri l ̄) v. to be dependent
spirituals. Then work together to prepare a performance
of one of the spirituals for the class. Practice and Apply
1. What is a specific example of farm imagery in
the spirituals?
Web Activities For eFlashcards, 2. Which code words did runaway slaves rely on
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to to communicate secret messages?
www.glencoe.com.

THR EE SPIR ITUALS 335


Comparing Literature Across Time and Place

(t)Corbis, (c)Art Resource, (b)David Muench/CORBIS


Connecting to the Reading Selections
What characteristics are vital in someone who battles oppression? The three authors compared
here—Frederick Douglass, Robert Hayden, and Quincy Troupe—portray people struggling against
limitations placed on them by society. The works of these writers show both the stubbornness
of racial oppression and the potential for individuals to overcome oppressive traditions.

Frederick Douglass
from My Bondage and My Freedom ........... autobiography .......... 339
The power of knowledge

Robert Hayden
Frederick Douglass .................................................................. poem .......... 345
Realizing the dream of freedom

Quincy Troupe
In Texas Grass ............................................................................ poem .........346
Lapses in the path to equality

COM PAR I NG TH E Big Idea Resistance to Slavery


The struggle against slavery has shaped African American culture. Literature about slavery and its
legacy illustrates the resilient spirit that has helped African Americans endure hard times with
dignity, overcome slavery, and resist the lingering effects of racism and discrimination.

COM PAR I NG Portrayals of People


A portrayal reveals the essential qualities of an individual or group. By taking an individual as the
subject, the writer of a literary portrayal explores that individual’s character and personality, in
addition to the social and cultural forces that shaped his or her life. A group portrayal reveals the
traits that members of the group have in common. Douglass, Hayden, and Troupe create vivid
portrayals of individuals and groups in the selections you are about to read.

COM PAR I NG Historical Context


Works of literature often reflect the historical events that shape the way people see the world
and live their lives. Recognizing the historical backdrop of a selection can increase your under-
standing of its themes and messages, as well as the author’s purpose. Douglas, Hayden, and
Troupe write within the historical context of slavery and its legacy of racism and discrimination.

336 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
B E FOR E YOU R EA D
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution/Art Resource, NY

from My Bondage and


My Freedom
M E E T F R E DE R IC K DO U GL A SS

Of all of the voices raised against slavery, few were


as powerful as that of Frederick Douglass’s. He was,
as women’s rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton
wrote, “conscious of his dignity and power, grand
in his proportions, majestic in his wrath.”

“Where justice is denied, where


poverty is enforced, where ignorance Author Search For more about
Society. While Douglass toured for the society, his
prevails, and where any one class is Author Name, go to www.literature.glencoe.com.
reputation quickly grew.
made to feel that society is in an
Public Life In 1845 Douglass wrote his autobiog-
organized conspiracy to oppress, rob, raphy, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an
and degrade them, neither persons nor American Slave. Because Douglass identified his for-
mer owner in the book, he sailed to Great Britain
property will be safe.” to avoid capture. Abolitionists welcomed Douglass
—Frederick Douglass and raised money to enable him to buy his freedom
and return home in 1847. That same year he started
publishing a newspaper, The North Star. The paper’s
From Bondage to Freedom Douglass was born masthead read: “Right is of no Sex—Truth is of no
on a Maryland plantation and given the name Color,” proclaiming both Douglass’s abolitionism
Frederick Bailey. When Frederick was eight years and his support for women’s rights.
old, he went to work as a house servant for the At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861,
Auld family in Baltimore. Mrs. Auld decided to President Lincoln appointed Douglass one of his
teach Frederick how to read, which violated a advisers. After the war, he remained a staunch sup-
Maryland state law. When her husband discovered porter of civil rights for formerly enslaved people.
what was happening, he forbade any further read- Before his death in 1895, Douglass served as the
ing lessons. Frederick then secretly continued marshal and recorder of deeds in Washington, D.C.,
his education on his own. At the age of twenty, and as consul general to Haiti. He also revised and
Frederick Bailey finally escaped to freedom. Soon republished his autobiography as My Bondage and
after, Frederick changed his last name from Bailey My Freedom in 1855, and then again as Life and
to Douglass to avoid capture and a forced return Times of Frederick Douglass in 1882. Douglass’s auto-
to slavery. biography remains one of the most important
In 1841 Douglass’s life took a remarkable turn. He chronicles of the enslaved person’s experience and
was asked to speak at an antislavery convention in displays the brilliance of Douglass’s literary mind.
Nantucket, Massachusetts. Although he was ner- Frederick Douglass was born around 1818 and died
vous about speaking, Douglass’s speech about his in 1895.
experiences as a slave was so eloquent that it
prompted abolitionist leaders to ask him to work Author Search For more about
as an agent for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Frederick Douglass, go to www.glencoe.com.

F R E D ER I C K D OU G L A S S 337
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R E V I EW

Connecting to the Autobiography Reading Strategy Analyzing Cause and


Do you agree with the saying “knowledge is power”? Effect
In Douglass’s autobiography, he reflects on his struggle When you analyze a literary work, you use your knowl-
to learn to read and write in a society that made it a edge of separate parts to form an overall judgment.
crime for enslaved persons to attain knowledge Analyzing cause-and-effect relationships means fig-
through literacy. As you read the autobiography, think uring out how a writer arranges details to show that
about the following questions: certain events and ideas can cause, or bring about,
• How can newfound knowledge make it necessary certain results or effects. As you read, ask yourself the
following questions:
to change one’s life?
• Is knowledge gained through reading essential to • What are the major events that Douglass writes
personal freedom? Why or why not? about in this excerpt?

Building Background • What effects were caused by these major events?


As a result of slave codes, or restrictive laws against Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart to record the
enslaved people, Douglass had to improvise to find cause-and-effect relationships you find in the selection.
ways of improving his reading and writing skills. For
example, while running errands for workers in the
Baltimore shipyards, he observed carpenters who were Cause Effect
painting signs on boards. Mrs. Auld introduces Douglass determines
Douglass to reading. to attain knowledge at
The original version of Douglass’s life story became a
any cost.
best seller when published in 1845. One reviewer
called it “a specimen of powers of the black race,
which prejudice persists in disputing.” Douglass spent
time with many other abolitionists during the 1850s,
including Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Vocabulary
Cabin. His revised autobiography My Bondage and My benevolent (bə nev ə lent) adj. doing or
Freedom includes more of his philosophy and personal desiring to do good; kind; p. 339 The benevolent
feelings toward the essential problems of slavery. girl helped the woman who was struggling to carry
bags of groceries.
Setting Purposes for Reading
depravity (di prav ə tē) n. the state of being
Big Idea Resistance to Slavery morally bad or corrupt; p. 339 The brutal tactics
In this excerpt, Douglass reveals his inner, day-to-day of slave traders showed a depravity that has shocked
thoughts about his life as an enslaved African modern audiences.
American. As you read, notice how Douglass asserts
induce (in d¯¯¯
oos) v. to lead by persuasion or
his belief that education can fight slavery.
influence; p. 340 The powerful speaker tried to
induce the members of his audience to change their
Literary Element Autobiography minds on the issue.
An autobiography is a narrative that a person writes vanquish (van kwish) v. to defeat; p. 342
about his or her life. Douglass wrote about his own life President Lincoln decided that military force would
in the wider historical context of slavery. As you read, be the only way to vanquish slavery in the South.
determine Douglass’s purposes in writing an account
of his experiences in the form of an autobiography. censure (sen shər) v. to express disapproval of;
to find fault with; to blame; p. 343 The writer
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R2. decided to censure the government policy in her
report.
Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

338 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
Frederick Douglass

Series No. 8. Jacob Lawrence (1917–2000). Casein tempera on gessoed hardboard, 12 x 17 7/8 in. Hampton University Museum, VA.

I lived in the family of master Hugh, at


Baltimore, seven years, during which time—as
me—was suddenly checked in her benevolent
design, by the strong advice of her husband. In
faithful compliance with this advice, the good
the almanac1 makers say of the weather—my
condition was variable. The most interesting fea- lady had not only ceased to instruct me, herself,
ture of my history here, was my learning to read but had set her face as a flint against my learning
and write, under somewhat marked disadvan- to read by any means. It is due, however, to my
tages. In attaining this knowledge, I was com- mistress to say, that she did not adopt this course
pelled to resort to indirections by no means in all its stringency at the first. She either thought
congenial to my nature, and which were really it unnecessary, or she lacked the depravity indis-
humiliating to me. My mistress—who, as the pensable to shutting me up in mental darkness. It
reader has already seen, had begun to teach was, at least, necessary for her to have some train-
ing, and some hardening, in the exercise of the
1. An almanac is a reference book that is published yearly. slaveholder’s prerogative, to make her equal to
It includes calendars with weather forecasts and forgetting my human nature and character, and to
astronomical information.
treating me as a thing destitute of a moral or an
Vocabulary intellectual nature. Mrs. Auld—my mistress—was,
benevolent (bə nev´ ə lent) adj. doing or desiring to do
good; kind Reading Strategy Analyzing Cause and Effect What is
depravity (di prav´ ə tē) n. the state of being morally the cause of the change in Mrs. Auld’s attitude toward
bad or corrupt Douglass’s reading instruction?

F REDERICK DOUGLASS 339


Hampton University Museum, Hampton, Va
as I have said, a most kind and tender-hearted and feeling—“that woman is a Christian.” There
woman; and, in the humanity of her heart, and was no sorrow nor suffering for which she had not
the simplicity of her mind, she set out, when I a tear, and there was no innocent joy for which
first went to live with her, to treat me as she sup- she had not a smile. She had bread for the hungry,
posed one human being ought to treat another. clothes for the naked, and comfort for every
It is easy to see, that, in entering upon the mourner that came within her reach. Slavery soon
duties of a slaveholder, some little experience is proved its ability to divest her of these excellent
needed. Nature has done almost nothing to pre- qualities, and her home of its early happiness.
pare men and women to be either slaves or slave- Conscience cannot stand much violence. Once
holders. Nothing but rigid training, long persisted thoroughly broken down, who is he that can repair
in, can perfect the character of the one or the the damage? It may be broken toward the slave,
other. One cannot easily forget to love freedom; on Sunday, and toward the master on Monday. It
and it is as hard to cease to respect that natural cannot endure such shocks. It must stand entire,
love in our fellow creatures. On entering upon the or it does not stand at all. If my condition waxed
career of a slaveholding mistress, Mrs. Auld was bad, that of the family waxed not better. The first
singularly deficient; nature, which fits nobody for step, in the wrong direction, was the violence
such an office, had done less for her than any lady done to nature and to conscience, in arresting the
I had known. It was no easy matter to induce her benevolence that would have enlightened my
to think and to feel that the curly-headed boy, young mind. In ceasing to instruct me, she must
who stood by her side, and even leaned on her begin to justify herself to herself; and, once con-
lap; who was loved by little Tommy, and who senting to take sides in such a debate, she was
loved little Tommy in turn; sustained to her only riveted to her position. One needs very little
the relation of a chattel.2 I was more than that, knowledge of moral philosophy, to see where my
and she felt me to be more than that. I could talk mistress now landed. She finally became even
and sing; I could laugh and weep; I could reason more violent in her opposition to my learning to
and remember; I could love and hate. I was read, than was her husband himself. She was not
human, and she, dear lady, knew and felt me to be satisfied with simply doing as well as her husband
so. How could she, then, treat me as a brute, with- had commanded her, but seemed resolved to bet-
out a mighty struggle with all the noble powers of ter his instruction. Nothing appeared to make my
her own soul. That struggle came, and the will poor mistress—after her turning toward the down-
and power of the husband was victorious. Her ward path—more angry, than seeing me, seated in
noble soul was overthrown; but, he that overthrew some nook or corner, quietly reading a book or a
it did not, himself, escape the consequences. He, newspaper. I have had her rush at me, with the
not less than the other parties, was injured in his utmost fury, and snatch from my hand such news-
domestic peace by the fall. paper or book, with something of the wrath and
When I went into their family, it was the abode consternation which a traitor might be supposed
of happiness and contentment. The mistress of to feel on being discovered in a plot by some dan-
the house was a model of affection and tender- gerous spy.
ness. Her fervent piety and watchful uprightness Mrs. Auld was an apt woman, and the advice of
made it impossible to see her without thinking her husband, and her own experience, soon demon-
strated, to her entire satisfaction, that education
2. An article of movable, personal property, such as furniture or and slavery are incompatible with each other.
livestock, is chattel. Enslaved people were sometimes When this conviction was thoroughly established,
referred to as chattel.

Big Idea Resistance to Slavery What does this state-


Literary Element Autobiography What is Douglass say-
ment say about the institution of slavery?
ing here about the effects of slavery on his own life?

Vocabulary
Big Idea Resistance to Slavery How does this incompat-
induce (in doo
¯¯¯ s´) v. to lead by persuasion or influence ibility motivate Douglass to resist the institution of slavery?

340 UNIT 3 TH E C I V I L WA R E RA
cessful, was that of using my young white play-
mates, with whom I met in the street, as teachers.
I used to carry, almost constantly, a copy of
Webster’s spelling book in my pocket; and, when
sent of errands, or when play time was allowed
me, I would step, with my young friends, aside,
and take a lesson in spelling. I generally paid my
tuition fee to the boys, with bread, which I also
carried in my pocket. For a single biscuit, any of
my hungry little comrades would give me a lesson
more valuable to me than bread. Not every one,
however, demanded this consideration, for there
were those who took pleasure in teaching me,
whenever I had a chance to be taught by them. I
am strongly tempted to give the names of two or
three of those little boys, as a slight testimonial of
the gratitude and affection I bear them, but pru-
dence forbids; not that it would injure me, but it
might, possibly, embarrass them; for it is almost an
unpardonable offense to do any thing, directly or
indirectly, to promote a slave’s freedom, in a slave
state. It is enough to say, of my warm-hearted lit-
tle play fellows, that they lived on Philpot street,
very near Durgin & Bailey’s shipyard.
Although slavery was a delicate subject, and
very cautiously talked about among grown up peo-
The Life of Frederick Douglass #29: The war was over. The slaves were literally ple in Maryland, I frequently talked about it—and
turned out by their masters into a world unknown to them. They had ceased to that very freely—with the white boys. I would,
be slaves of man and became slaves of nature, 1939. Jacob Lawrence. Casein sometimes, say to them, while seated on a curb
tempera on hardboard, 17 x 12. Hampton University Museum, Hampton, VA.
stone or a cellar door, “I wish I could be free, as
you will be when you get to be men.” “You will be
I was most narrowly watched in all my move-
free, you know, as soon as you are twenty-one, and
ments. If I remained in a separate room from the
can go where you like, but I am a slave for life.
family for any considerable length of time, I was
Have I not as good a right to be free as you have?”
sure to be suspected of having a book, and was at
Words like these, I observed, always troubled
once called upon to give an account of myself. All
them; and I had no small satisfaction in wringing
this, however, was entirely too late. The first, and
from the boys, occasionally, that fresh and bitter
never to be retraced, step had been taken. In
condemnation of slavery, that springs from nature,
teaching me the alphabet, in the days of her sim-
unseared and unperverted. Of all consciences, let
plicity and kindness, my mistress had given me
me have those to deal with which have not been
the “inch,” and now, no ordinary precaution could
bewildered by the cares of life. I do not remember
prevent me from taking the “ell.”3
ever to have met with a boy, while I was in slav-
Seized with a determination to learn to read, at
ery, who defended the slave system; but I have
any cost, I hit upon many expedients to accom-
often had boys to console me, with the hope that
plish the desired end. The plea which I mainly
something would yet occur, by which I might be
adopted, and the one by which I was most suc-

Literary Element Autobiography How does Douglass’s


3. An ell is an old English measure of length used mainly for
choice of the genre of autobiography enhance the impact of
cloth. It is equal to forty-five inches. Douglass is referring to
this statement?
the adage “give him an inch, and he’ll take an ell.”

F R E D ER I C K D OU G L A S S 341
The Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Foundation / Art Resource, NY
made free. Over and over again, they have told which he has performed toward the slave, and
me, that “they believed I had as good a right to be tells him he is permitted to speak for himself.
free as they had”; and that “they did not believe Thus invited to the debate, the quondam5 slave
God ever made any one to be a slave.” The reader made a spirited defense of himself, and thereafter
will easily see, that such little conversations with the whole argument, for and against slavery, was
my play fellows, had no tendency to weaken my brought out. The master was vanquished at every
love of liberty, nor to render me contented with turn in the argument; and seeing himself to be
my condition as a slave. thus vanquished, he generously and meekly
When I was about thirteen years old, and had emancipates the slave, with his best wishes for
succeeded in learning to read, every increase of his prosperity. It is scarcely necessary to say, that
knowledge, especially respecting the FREE a dialogue, with such an origin, and such an end-
STATES, added something to the almost intoler- ing—read when the fact of my being a slave was
able burden of the thought—“I AM A SLAVE FOR a constant burden of grief—powerfully affected
LIFE.” To my bondage I saw no end. It was a ter- me; and I could not help feeling that the day
rible reality, and I shall never be able to tell how might come, when the well-directed answers
sadly that thought chafed my young spirit. made by the slave to the master, in this instance,
Fortunately, or unfortunately, about this time in would find their counterpart in myself. . . .
my life, I had made enough money to buy what I had now penetrated the secret of all slavery
was then a very popular school book, viz:4 the and oppression, and had ascertained their true
“Columbian Orator.” I bought this addition to foundation to be in the pride, the power and the
my library, of Mr. Knight, on Thames street, avarice of man. The dialogue and the speeches
Fell’s Point, Baltimore, and paid him fifty cents were all redolent of the principles of liberty, and
for it. I was first led to buy this book, by hearing poured floods of light on the nature and character
some little boys say that they were going to learn of slavery. . . . Nevertheless, the increase of
some little pieces out of it for the Exhibition. knowledge was attended with bitter, as well as
This volume was, indeed, a rich treasure, and sweet results. The more I read, the more I was led
every opportunity afforded me, for a time, was to abhor and detest slavery, and my enslavers.
spent in diligently perusing it. Among much “Slaveholders,” thought I, “are only a band of
other interesting matter, that which I had successful robbers, who left their homes and went
perused and reperused with unflagging satisfac- into Africa for the purpose of stealing and reduc-
tion, was a short dialogue between a master and ing my people to slavery.” I loathed them as the
his slave. The slave is represented as having been meanest and the most wicked of men. As I read,
recaptured, in a second attempt to run away; and behold! the very discontent so graphically pre-
the master opens the dialogue with an upbraid- dicted by Master Hugh, had already come upon
ing speech, charging the slave with ingratitude, me. I was no longer the light-hearted, gleesome
and demanding to know what he has to say in boy, full of mirth and play, as when I landed first
his own defense. Thus upbraided, and thus called at Baltimore. Knowledge had come; light had
upon to reply, the slave rejoins, that he knows penetrated the moral dungeon where I dwelt;
how little anything that he can say will avail, and, behold! there lay the bloody whip, for my
seeing that he is completely in the hands of his back, and here was the iron chain; and my good,
owner; and with noble resolution, calmly says,
“I submit to my fate.” Touched by the slave’s
answer, the master insists upon his further speak- 5. Quondam means “that once was” or “former.”
ing, and recapitulates the many acts of kindness
Reading Strategy Analyzing Cause and Effect What
effect did reading this anecdote about the slave and his
4. Viz is an abbreviation for the Latin word videlicet, meaning master have on Douglass?
“namely” or “that is.”
Vocabulary
Reading Strategy Analyzing Cause and Effect What
was the ironic effect of Douglass’s learning to read? vanquish (vang´ kwish) v. to defeat

342 UNIT 3 TH E C I V I L WA R E RA
kind master, he was the author of my situation. angel stood in the way;7 and—such is the rela-
The revelation haunted me, stung me, and made tion of master and slave—I could not tell her.
me gloomy and miserable. As I writhed under the Nature had made us friends; slavery made us ene-
sting and torment of this knowledge, I almost mies. My interests were in a direction opposite
envied my fellow slaves their stupid content- to hers, and we both had our private thoughts
ment. This knowledge opened my eyes to the and plans. She aimed to keep me ignorant; and I
horrible pit, and revealed the teeth of the fright- resolved to know, although knowledge only
ful dragon that was ready to pounce upon me, increased my discontent. My feelings were not
but it opened no way for my escape. I have often the result of any marked cruelty in the treatment
wished myself a beast, or a bird—anything, I received; they sprung from the consideration of
rather than a slave. I was wretched and gloomy, my being a slave at all. It was slavery—not its
beyond my ability to describe. I was too thought- mere incidents—that I hated. I had been cheated.
ful to be happy. It was this everlasting thinking I saw through the attempt to keep me in igno-
which distressed and tormented me; and yet rance; I saw that slaveholders would have gladly
there was no getting rid of the subject of my made me believe that they were merely acting
thoughts. All nature was redolent of it. Once under the authority of God, in making a slave of
awakened by the silver trump6 of knowledge, my me, and in making slaves of others; and I treated
spirit was roused to eternal wakefulness. Liberty! them as robbers and deceivers. The feeding and
the inestimable birthright of every man, had, for clothing me well, could not atone for taking my
me, converted every object into an asserter of liberty from me. The smiles of my mistress could
this great right. It was heard in every sound, and not remove the deep sorrow that dwelt in my
beheld in every object. It was ever present, to young bosom. Indeed, these, in time, came only
torment me with a sense of my wretched condi- to deepen my sorrow. She had changed; and the
tion. The more beautiful and charming were the reader will see that I had changed, too. We were
smiles of nature, the more horrible and desolate both victims to the same overshadowing evil—
was my condition. I saw nothing without seeing she, as mistress, I, as slave. I will not censure her
it, and I heard nothing without hearing it. I do harshly; she cannot censure me, for she knows I
not exaggerate, when I say, that it looked from speak but the truth, and have acted in my oppo-
every star, smiled in every calm, breathed in sition to slavery, just as she herself would have
every wind, and moved in every storm. acted, in a reverse of circumstances. 
I have no doubt that my state of mind had
something to do with the change in the treat-
ment adopted, by my once kind mistress toward 7. Douglass is referring to a biblical tale (Numbers 22:21–35)
in which an ass (donkey), despite being beaten by its
me. I can easily believe, that my leaden, down-
master, Balaam, cannot obey and move on because its way
cast, and discontented look, was very offensive is blocked by an angel whom Balaam cannot see.
to her. Poor lady! She did not know my trouble,
and I dared not tell her. Could I have freely Literary Element Autobiography What does this state-
ment tell the reader about Douglass’s priorities in life?
made her acquainted with the real state of my
mind, and given her the reasons therefor, it
Big Idea Resistance to Slavery What does this state-
might have been well for both of us. Her abuse
ment say about the institution of slavery?
of me fell upon me like the blows of the false
prophet upon his ass; she did not know that an Vocabulary
censure (sen´ shər) v. to express disapproval of; to find
fault with; to blame
6. Trump is a trumpet.

F R E D E R I C K D OU G L A S S 34 3
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. How did this narrative affect your appreciation of 5. (a)From his reading, what conclusion does Douglass
your personal freedom? draw about the foundation of slavery? (b)Do you
agree with his analysis? Explain.
6. In your opinion, who is hurt more by the system of
Recall and Interpret
slavery—Douglass or the Auld family? Explain.
2. (a)How does Mrs. Auld treat Douglass when he
first arrives? (b)What does Douglass infer from her Connect
initial attitude toward him? 7. Douglass shows in his autobiography that his mind
3. (a)How does Mrs. Auld’s behavior toward Douglass and spirit still remained free while he was physically
change? (b)What does Douglass infer from these held captive. In what ways might a person held in
changes? captivity keep his or her mind free? Explain.

4. (a)Who later helps Douglass learn to read? 8. Big Idea Resistance to Slavery Why do you
(b)Compare these teachers’ attitudes toward think that slave narratives such as Douglass’s were
slavery with Mrs. Auld’s attitude. an important part of the antislavery effort?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Autobiography Reading Strategy Analyzing Cause and


Douglass’s autobiography recounts his experiences Effect
both during his enslavement and as a free man, but it Sometimes a cause can have more than one effect.
has another purpose—to provide a persuasive argu- Also, an effect can have multiple causes.
ment against slavery.
1. What effects did gaining knowledge through read-
1. What do you think is Douglass’s main idea or pur- ing have on Douglass’s ideas and behavior? What
pose in this excerpt from his autobiography? effect did his learning have on U.S. society?
2. Do you think Douglass presents himself as he 2. What were the causes of the alienation between
really was, or might he be presenting a biased, or Mrs. Auld and Douglass?
one-sided, view? Explain.

Listening and Speaking Vocabulary Practice


Role Play Imagine Frederick Douglass meeting Mrs. Practice with Word Parts The words on the
Auld again later in life, when he is a famous writer and right share a word part with the vocabulary words
a free man. In a group, discuss what they might talk on the left. Use a dictionary to do the following:
about. Then write a dialogue between these two char- (a)name the part of the word that is shared in each
acters and have two members of your group perform example; (b)identify the type of word part and its
the dialogue for the class. meaning; and (c)define each word on the right.
1. benevolent malevolent
2. depravity demote
3. induce produce

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

344 UNIT 3 TH E C I V I L WA R E RA
B E FOR E YOU R EA D

Building Background
Born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1913, Robert Hayden during the height of the civil rights movement in the
later worked as a researcher for the Federal Writers’ 1960s when political poetry was in vogue. However,
Project in Michigan, one of the government’s many Hayden’s poetry does confront racial issues and
New Deal programs intended to provide a livelihood features prominent African American historical figures
for victims of the Great Depression. Hayden viewed such as Nat Turner, Frederick Douglass, and Malcolm X.
history “as a long, tortuous, and often bloody Hayden taught at the university level for more than
process of becoming, of psychic evolution.” He thirty years, although he said that he considered
created elegant, well-crafted poetry, much of it himself to be “a poet who teaches in order to earn a
concerned with African American history. living so that he can write a poem or two now and
then.” In 1976 he was the first African American poet
Hayden wanted to be known as a poet rather than as
to be appointed poetry consultant to the Library of
a black poet. He believed that racial labeling restricted
Congress. Hayden died in 1980.
African American poets, placing them “in a kind of
literary ghetto,” where the standards of other writers
were not applied to them. Many African American Author Search For more about
writers disagreed with Hayden’s position, especially Robert Hayden, go to www.glencoe.com.

Robert Hayden

When it is finally ours, this freedom, this liberty, this beautiful


and terrible thing, needful to man as air,
usable as earth; when it belongs at last to all,
when it is truly instinct, brain matter, diastole,1 systole,2
5 reflex action; when it is finally won; when it is more
than the gaudy mumbo jumbo of politicians: Quickwrite
this man, this Douglass, this former slave, this Negro
beaten to his knees, exiled, visioning a world From reading this poetic
portrayal, what did you learn
where none is lonely, none hunted, alien,
about Frederick Douglass? Write
10 this man, superb in love and logic, this man
a paragraph explaining what you
shall be remembered. Oh, not with statues’ rhetoric,
learned about Douglass, using
not with legends and poems and wreaths of bronze alone,
examples from the text to
but with the lives grown out of his life, the lives support your points.
fleshing his dream of the beautiful, needful thing.

1. Diastole (d̄ as tə lē´) is the period of normal relaxation of the heart between beats.
2. Systole (sis tə lē) is the period of normal contraction between diastoles.

R OB E RT HAY D E N 34 5
B EFO R E YO U R E A D
Building Background
Poet Quincy Troupe, born in St. Louis, Missouri, in In the following poem, “In Texas Grass,” Troupe alludes
1939, experienced firsthand the limitations that racial to a “promise of forty acres & a mule.” At the end of
discrimination placed on generations of African the Civil War, General William T. Sherman promised
Americans. Speaking of the inability of African that freed African Americans would receive forty acres
Americans to achieve their potential, Troupe said, of land and a mule. However, few formerly enslaved
“When I would look into my grandmother’s eyes, and African Americans ever received land, or even a mule,
my uncle’s eyes, and my dad’s eyes, I would see from the government. As a result, that phrase came to
these holes full of loss and sadness.” Thus, the subject represent the failure of Reconstruction to assist African
matter of Troupe’s award-winning poetry, in addition to Americans emerging from slavery.
celebrating the elation of seeing Magic Johnson play
basketball or John Coltrane play the saxophone, also
explores darker subject matter, such as the brutality of Author Search For more about
a slaughterhouse or the rage against racism. Quincy Troupe, go to www.glencoe.com.

Quincy Troupe

all along the railroad 25 thinking of the master & his long forgotten
tracks of texas promise of forty acres & a mule
old train cars lay & even now, if you pass across
rusted & overturned this bleeding flesh
5 like new african governments ever changing landscape
long forgotten by the people 30 you will see the fruited
who built & rode them countryside, stretching, stretching
till they couldn’t run no more & old black men & young black
10 & they remind me of old race horses men, sitting on porches, waiting
who’ve been put out to pasture waiting for rusted trains
amongst the weeds 35 silent in texas grass
rain, sleet & snow
till they die & rot away Discussion Starter
15 like photos fading
in grandma’s picture book Although this poem is set after the end of slavery in
the United States, it describes in vivid and poignant
of old black men & women, in mississippi
detail slavery’s legacy. With a small group, discuss
texas, who sit on dilapidated porches
the literal and figurative examples the poem gives of
that fall away
the conditions African Americans experienced after
20 like dead man’s skin
slavery. What conclusions about the journey from
like white people’s eyes slavery to equality can you draw from these exam-
& inside the peeling photos ples? Share your group’s conclusions with the rest
old men sit, sad eyed of the class.
& waiting, waiting for worm dust

34 6 U N IT 3 THE CIVIL WAR ERA


Kaaria Mucherera/Private Collection/Bridgeman Art Library
Wrap-Up: Comparing Literature Across Time and Place

• from My Bondage • Frederick Douglass • In Texas Grass


and My Freedom

COM PAR I NG TH E Big Idea Resistance to Slavery


Writing About Literature In the three selections you have read, each writer uses a different
tone, or attitude toward his subject. How would you describe the tone used by each writer?
Whose tone is most optimistic? Whose is most bitter? Write a brief essay in which you compare
the tone used by each writer. Cite evidence from the selections to support your conclusions.

COM PAR I NG Portrayals of People


Partner Activity With a partner, read each of the following quotations aloud. Then discuss
how each quotation reflects people’s struggling against slavery and its legacy of racial discrimina-
tion. How are the three quotations related to one another? Cite evidence from the selections.

“How could she, then, treat me as a brute, without


a mighty struggle with all the noble powers of her
own soul.”
—Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom

“. . . this Douglass, this former slave, this Negro


beaten to his knees, exiled, visioning a world
where none is lonely, none is hunted, alien, . . .”
—Robert Hayden, “Frederick Douglass”

“. . . old black men, & young black


men, sitting on porches, waiting
waiting for rusted trains
silent in texas grass” Be Free Three, 21st c. Kaaria Mucherera. Oil and acrylic on
—Quincy Troupe, “In Texas Grass” canvas, 30 x 40 in. Private collection.
Viewing the Art: How does this painting reflect the
themes addressed by the three selections?
COM PAR I NG Historical Context
Group Activity These selections treat both the progress and the setbacks in the journey of
African Americans toward liberty and equality. With a small group, discuss the following questions.

1. What is the historical context that shapes each selection?


2. How effective is each writer’s use of historical background? Which author presents the most
compelling rendition of historical events?
3. Which of the selections most sparked your interest in the historical context? Explain.

O B J EC TIVES
• Compare historical context in literary works. • Analyze cause-and-effect relationships.
• Understand autobiography. • Role-play an interview.

COMPARING LITERATURE 347


LITER ARY H I STORY

Slave Narratives and Civil War Memoirs,


Letters, and Diaries

I
N THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, MANY
writers shared their personal accounts of the two
major issues of the day—slavery and the Civil
War. These writings, which recount the emotions
their authors felt, the details they saw, and the battles
they fought, contribute much to the understanding of
this tumultuous time in the United States.

Accounts of Slavery
Nineteenth-century African American writers, such
as Frederick Douglass (pp. 337–344) and Sojourner
Truth (pp. 354–357), told variations of one
compelling story—the story of life in slavery, escape
from bondage, and life as a free person. These
accounts, called slave narratives, were written as
early as 1760 and continued to be written after the
Civil War. The pre-war narratives were in part Sarah Gudger, age 121. North Carolina. Library of Congress
intended to recruit Northerners to the abolitionist photo.
cause, especially after the Fugitive Slave Act was
passed in 1850. BI From 1936 to 1938, during the Depression, writers
and journalists from the Works Progress
Administration (WPA) interviewed more than 2,300
former slaves and recorded their memories of the past.
“Reader, be assured this narrative is
These narratives are a rich source of details about life
no fiction. I am aware some of my on plantations and in cities.
adventures may seem incredible; but Slave narratives have had an influence on modern
they are, nevertheless, strictly true.” literature as well, in the works of such writers as
Richard Wright (pp. 900–908), Ernest J. Gaines,
—Harriet Jacobs Alice Walker (pp. 1153–1157), and Toni Morrison
from Preface to Incidents in the Life (pp. 1302–1308).
of a Slave Girl, 1861

Civil War Memoirs, Letters, and Diaries


Many people who lived through the Civil War felt
After the Civil War, emancipated slaves, such as
that it was the central event of their lives. Writers on
Elizabeth Keckley, who had worked for Mary Todd
both sides of the conflict composed memoirs, letters,
Lincoln as a dressmaker, continued to write
and diaries. These accounts ranged from those of
autobiographies. Many writers hoped to show how
generals recollecting great battles, to soldiers
well they had succeeded in a free society after the
commenting on life on the battlefields, to civilians
war. Others, especially those later in the century,
recounting details from the home front, especially in
expressed disappointment with the restrictions they
the South, where the battlefield and the home front
still encountered.
were side-by-side.

348 U N IT 3 THE CIVIL WAR ERA


Library of Congress
Mark Twain persuaded his friend Ulysses S. Grant to before a battle in Virginia: “The camp fires blaze with
write his acclaimed Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant. unwanted brightness, the sentry’s tread is still but
He completed the memoirs a week before he died in quick—the acres of little shelter tents are dark and
1885. Union Generals William T. Sherman, Philip H. still as death…”
Sheridan, and George B. McClellan also published
Diarists such as Mary Chesnut (pp. 360–366) and Rachel
memoirs of the war, but Grant’s are considered some
Cormany documented everyday occurrences along with
of the best military memoirs in history.
the worries, loneliness, and difficulties caused by the
The letters of Confederate General Robert E. Lee war. Chesnut’s diary recounts her fear as the Union
were saved and published after his death. Some army swept through the South. These diaries provide
letters, such as his letter to Grant agreeing to release unique details about day-to-day life on the home front.
prisoners of war on both sides, give details of the war
These first-person accounts of slavery and the Civil
and its aftermath. Others, such as his letters to his
War provide insight into what it was like to be
family, including the letter to his son (pp. 370–371),
enslaved, to face an enemy who was also a
express concern and describe the hardships of his
countryman, and to remain on the home front as
troops, many of whom had no shoes.
family and friends left for war. Nineteenth-century
writers documented their tumultuous lives and times
to understand and preserve their stories. Today, their
“I hope both you and Johnston will narratives, memoirs, letters, and diaries offer us great
historical insights.
write the history of your campaigns.
Every one should do all in his power
to collect and disseminate the truth,
in the hope that it may find a place in
history and descend to posterity.”
—Robert E. Lee
letter to Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard,
1865

Soldiers—often farm boys who had never been away


from home—also wrote letters to their families
describing the excitement, horrors, and hardships of
war as well as their longing for home. These letters
were often written from prisons or hospitals. Nurse Ulysses S. Grant, American Civil War general, and later president,
Clara Barton, in a letter to a cousin, wrote the night writing his memoirs at Mount McGregor, New York, 1885.

R E S P O N D I N G A N D T H I N K I N G C R I T I C A L LY
1. How might slave narratives have influenced the 3. Why are personal diaries and letters often of interest
abolitionist cause? to general readers in later times?
2. A memoir, unlike an autobiography, focuses on only
part of the writer’s life, often a significant part. What
Literary History For more about
are some reasons a person might choose to write a slave narratives and civil war memoirs, letters and diaries, go to
memoir? Explain. www.glencoe.com.

LIT ER ARY HISTO RY 349


Mary Evans Picture Library/The Image Works
I n f o r m a t i o n a l Te x t
Media Link to
Re s i s t a n c e t o
S l ave r y
Preview the Article
Slavery Under

GLASS
“Slavery Under Glass” examines how
newly built African American museums
educate the public on a dark period of
U.S. history.
1. Examine the photographs on
pages 351–353. What clues to the
content of the article do these images
give the reader?
2. Skim the first paragraph. From it, what New African American–history museums try to
do you think that this article might balance authenticity and to uplift.
teach you about slavery?

T
By RICHARD LACAYO

Set a Purpose for Reading HE GLASS-WALLED MAIN ENTRY OF THE UNDERGROUND


Read to learn about new museums built Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, faces
to educate the public about slavery and south across the banks of the Ohio River. The center
the struggle for freedom. faces that direction for good reason—the river is at
the heart of the story of the Underground Railroad.
Reading Strategy Separating free-soil Ohio from slave-holding Kentucky, the Ohio
Questioning River was a desperate crossing point for runaway slaves. The river’s
Questioning is asking yourself how north banks were the site of persistent low-intensity warfare
information in a selection is important between abolitionists and armed slave owners, who were permitted
and whether you have understood what by law to pursue their human “property” into free states. In that
you have read. Have a running
era of escalating confrontation, Cincinnati and nearby towns
conversation with yourself as you read
“Slavery Under Glass.” Try to answer
became important way stations in the Underground Railroad.
these questions: This informal network of safe houses, sympathetic whites, and
free African Americans helped conduct escaped slaves to safety.
• How is this idea important? Why?
• Do I understand this passage?
African American Life in Focus the 20th century civil rights
• How does this information relate to
The Freedom Center is part of a movement, like the Montgomery,
what I already know?
wave of more than 20 new museums Alabama, bus stop where Rosa
Create a graphic organizer to help you dedicated to African American Parks was arrested, are being
keep track of your answers. history that are in development turned into monuments and
around the country. They include pilgrimage points. Clearly, the
Question Answer the U.S. National Slavery Museum story of African American life, for
How is this idea in Fredericksburg, Virginia, the so long passed over in near silence,
important? International African American is finally being set down in stone.
Museum in Charleston, South
Carolina, the National Museum of The Delicate Subject of
African American History and Slavery
OB J EC TIVES Culture in Washington, D.C., and All the same, telling the part of
• Demonstrate the ability to make con- the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of that story concerning slavery can
nections between a text and prior
knowledge, other texts, and the world.
Maryland African History and be tricky. Any museum needs to
Culture in Baltimore, Maryland. inspire and instruct. It also needs
• Monitor comprehension and modify
to bring in paying customers.
reading strategies by questioning. In addition, numerous locales from

350 UNIT 3
Informational Text

Slavery is one of the most shameful Cincinnati—it was only in 2002 feelings of guilt (whites), anger
chapters of American history, but that the Ku Klux Klan stopped its (African Americans), and resent-
shameful stories are not the kind annual mounting of a Christmas ment (both), the center offers a
that everybody wants to pay money tree in the city’s main square. The final room that is not a gallery of
to hear. desire for reconciliation is built into any kind but a space for discus-
“There is a reluctance on the the center’s mission. Its focus, says sion. Trained facilitators will
part of African Americans and Spencer Crew, its executive director, encourage visitors to examine
whites to deal with slavery,” says “is not about finger pointing.” their feelings and share them.
former Virginia Governor Doug More than that, it also aims to “Productive, positive, uplifting”—
Wilder. He conceived the National be America’s first museum is this any way to tell a story so full
Slavery Museum, scheduled to open intended not just to arouse feel- of suffering? Well, maybe it is. For
in 2007. “People don’t want to ings but also to resolve them safely. one thing, the Freedom Center is in
discuss it. ‘Let’s get past it,’ they say. Concerned that people might exit many respects still the thing it
Well, I say that attitude is insulting the exhibition galleries with claims not to be: a museum of
to our history. We need to develop a
conscious awareness of how far CONNECTING Examining shackles
we’ve come and who we are.” in the Ohio museum

The museum envisioned by


Wilder, a descendant of enslaved
persons, will unabashedly be a
museum about the brutal merchan-
dising of human beings. The
Freedom Center in Cincinnati,
which cost $110 million to build
and hopes to attract 250,000 visi-
tors each year, is more cautious
about its approach to a difficult sub-
ject. Even the center’s name side-
steps the loaded word slavery. By
taking the Underground Railroad as
its focus, the center gets to empha-
size biracial resistance, not racial
victimization. The Underground
Railroad was a rare triumph of
African American and white coop-
eration in those days, not the far
more usual story of white oppres-
sion. “The story of the Underground
Railroad allows you to talk about
slavery in a way that’s productive,
positive, and uplifting,” says Ed
Rigaud, the center’s president.

Using the Past to Heal the


Present
The project was first conceived
11 years ago by Robert C. Harrod.
He is the executive director of the
regional chapter of what was then
called the National Conference of
Christians and Jews, now the
National Conference of Community
and Justice. His hope was that it
could help improve race relations in

SLAVERY UNDER GLASS 351


Andy Snow
Informational Text

A STARRY OPENING GALA


Joining in the center’s festivities were
Courtney Vance (left), Angela Bassett, and
Oprah Winfrey, who said the Freedom Center
honors those who “paid the price for me to be
who I am.”

slavery. Its largest feature is a two-


story, rough-hewn log cabin rescued
from a Kentucky farm. Built by slave
trader Captain John W. Anderson,
the structure held dozens of men
and women waiting to be sold,
shackled in pairs to a central chain
and confined to sitting or lying. It
lets visitors imagine themselves in
the cramped space where enslaved
persons were crammed. Carl
Westmoreland, a historian and
preservationist, was responsible for
rescuing the cabin. The great-
grandson of an enslaved blacksmith,
Westmoreland says, “It’s a place
that’s ugly and dark. But you’ve got
to look at the ugly side of the journey
to see the glory of our emergence.”

Eyes Still on the Prize


AS IT STOOD It took six years to dismantle and reassemble the pen.
The longest of the center’s display
areas is a series of galleries devoted
to the history of slave labor, the
miseries of the Middle Passage across
the Atlantic from Africa, and the
resistance struggles that eventually
led to emancipation. Visitors can
see an image of the scarred back of
a whipped enslaved person and hear
These captions from People Magazine, Let Freedom Ring, September 6, 2004

actors reading the testimonies of


enslaved people who described the
suffering they endured.
By placing so much stress on the
system of escape routes for runaways,
the center takes the risk of inflating
the real importance of the
Underground Railroad. By some
estimates, of the 4 million
enslaved persons in the United
States when the Civil War began,
no more than 100,000 benefited
from the system. But that emphasis
RELOCATED A curator calls the structure “a place of pain and awe.”
is essential for the center to sustain

352 UNIT 3 THE CIVIL WAR ERA


(tl)Taro Yamasaki, (tc)Taro Yamasaki, (c)Courtesy National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, (b)Taro Yamasaki
Informational Text
Andy Snow

CINCINNATI A gallery at
the Underground Railroad
Freedom Center

its uplifting message. Its next “The Struggle Continues.” Here both themes. “We will prove
significant section of exhibits is the interactive computer displays allow ourselves to be the museum of the
“Hall of Everyday Freedom Heroes.” you to learn about ongoing efforts future,” promises Naomi Nelson,
It offers portraits and touch-screen against oppression, hunger, illiteracy, the center’s director of education.
information about a whole spectrum bigotry, and modern-day slavery. She may be right about that. If it
of figures from throughout the world So you may well leave the last also always manages to do justice to
who fought for the rights of religious galleries with your mind far from the past, the future looks O.K.
and racial minorities, women, and the horrors of the slave experience — UPDATED 2006, from TIME,
just about anyone who ever stood up or even the struggles against it. But August 30, 2004, and People,
against an oppressive system. That the center will also have temporary September 6, 2004
leads in turn to a final area, called exhibitions that will expand on

R ES P O N D I N G AN D TH I N K I N G C R ITI CALLY

Respond Analyze and Evaluate


1. What was your initial reaction to the idea of 5. (a)According to the article, why is it difficult to
creating museums dedicated to the experience of create a successful museum dedicated to the
slavery? How did your reaction change after subject of slavery? (b)What evidence does the
reading the article? author present to support this claim?
6. (a)How do you think the author feels that the
Recall and Interpret goals of the Freedom Center compare with those
2. Return to the list of questions you created on of other slavery museums? (b)What evidence
page 350. What do you think are the most from the text supports your answer?
important ideas of the article?
3. (a)What is the emphasis of the Freedom Center? Connect
(b)Why do you think that this approach is favored 7. How do you think Frederick Douglass, Sojourner
in the center? Truth, and other abolitionists would want the
subject of slavery to be taught? How do you think
4. (a)What role did Cincinnati play in the antislavery
it should be taught?
movement? (b)Explain how the struggle for
freedom is a contemporary issue, as well as a
historical one.

SLAVERY UNDER GLASS 353


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

And Ain’t I a Woman?


M E E T SOJ O U RN E R T RU T H

A
rmed with common sense and sharp wit,
Sojourner Truth spent her long life bat-
tling slavery and demanding voting rights
“There is no use in one man, or one
for women. Nearly six feet tall, Truth had a deep, nation, to try to do or be everything. It
smooth voice that quieted rowdy crowds and won is a good thing to be dependent on each
devoted supporters. Resisting injustice, Truth
believed, was her divinely ordained duty. other for something, it makes us civil
Sojourner Truth, whose given name was Isabella, and peaceable.”
was born into slavery in Ulster County, New York, —Sojourner Truth
a Dutch-speaking region. She endured cruel slave
owners, backbreaking work, and harsh beatings
until, at age twenty-nine, she escaped. Given ref- Isabella had believed she saw visions and heard
uge by Isaac and Maria Van Wagener, she took the messages sent from God. In about 1843, she
name Isabella Van Wagener. Since childhood, changed her name to Sojourner Truth—meaning
that she would become a sojourner, or visiting
traveler, spreading the truth of God—and started
to preach throughout the northeastern United
States. Before long, she began to weave antislavery
messages into her preaching.
Truth also became an ardent champion of women’s
rights, especially the right to vote. In 1850 she
began traveling the Midwest, attracting large crowds
wherever she spoke. On this tour, in Akron, Ohio,
she delivered what would become her most famous
address, “And Ain’t I a Woman?” Truth then moved
to Battle Creek, Michigan, where she continued to
agitate for women’s rights and abolition. After the
start of the Civil War in 1861, Truth worked to
gather supplies and funds for black volunteer regi-
ments. Toward the end of the war, Truth moved to
Washington, D.C. where she accepted a job with the
National Freedmen’s Relief Association, counseling
former slaves. At the age of seventy-eight, Truth
returned to Battle Creek, where she remained until
her death. A monument in downtown Battle Creek
commemorates this remarkable woman.
Sojourner Truth was born in 1797 and died in 1883.

Author Search For more about


Sojourner Truth, go to www.glencoe.com.

354 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
Bettmann/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Speech Reading Strategy Evaluating Argument


Think of a time in your life when you felt you were To evaluate is to make a judgment or form an opinion
treated unfairly. What was the situation, and how did about something you read. In a persuasive speech
you handle it? As you read, compare your experience such as “And Ain’t I a Woman?,” we must evaluate the
with Truth’s. argument to determine whether Truth has persuaded
us. Think about how effective Truth is in convincing
you to adopt her positions.
Building Background
On the second day of the 1851 Women’s Rights Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart to record
Convention where Truth gave her speech, a number of Sojourner Truth’s major assertions, her reasons for
male ministers spoke, insisting that women were too those assertions, and whether you think her
weak and intellectually inferior to vote. One man gave arguments are effective.
religious reasons against women’s suffrage, or right to
vote. Truth’s speech is her answer to these critics.
Assertion Reason Effective?
Her speech was not written or rehearsed, so many
versions have survived—some in what might be inter- I have ploughed To prove that
preted as the dialect of an enslaved person from the and planted, and she is as
South. In reality, Truth spoke Standard English and was gathered into physically strong
originally from New York. So whose exact words are barns, and no man as a man
these? We may never know, but the spirit is certainly could head me.
that of Sojourner Truth.

Setting Purposes for Reading


Vocabulary
Big Idea Resistance to Slavery
Read Sojourner Truth’s speech to find out how one
racket (rak it) n. loud noise; clamor; din; p. 356
former enslaved woman spoke out against injustice
The twins made such a racket that we couldn’t hear
ten years before the start of the Civil War and many
the speaker.
years before women could vote. borne (born) v. past participle of bear; given
birth to; produced; p. 356 The peach trees have
Literary Element Oratory not borne any fruit yet.
Oratory is the art of effective public speaking, or the oblige (ə bl¯j ) v. to make grateful or indebted;
use of persuasive skills when speaking. Oratory is com- to do a favor or service for; p. 356 I would be
mon in politics, law, and religion. As you read the obliged if you would remove your hat.
speech, notice how Truth uses persuasive devices,
such as providing evidence from her personal experi- Vocabulary Tip: Context Clues Context clues are
ence, to achieve her purpose. the words and sentences around an unfamiliar
word that help you figure out the word’s meaning.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R12. For example, when reading the phrase “I have
borne thirteen children,” you might guess that
borne means “given birth to” or “produced”
Interactive Literary Elements
because of the word children.
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • understanding oratory
• connecting literature to historical context • evaluating an argument

SOJOURNER TRUTH 355


ell, children, where there is so much
racket there must be something out of
kilter.1 I think that ’twixt2 the Negroes
of the South and the women at the North, all
talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix
pretty soon. But what’s all this here talking about?
That man over there says that women need to be
helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and
to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever
helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or
gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman?
Look at me! Look at my arm. I have ploughed and
planted, and gathered into barns, and no man
could head3 me! And ain’t I a woman? I could
work as much and eat as much as a man—when I
could get it—and bear the lash as well! And ain’t
I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and
seen them most all sold off to slavery, and when I
cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus
Anna Washington Derry, 1927. Laura Wheeler Waring heard me! And ain’t I a woman?
(1887–1948). Oil on canvas, 20 x 16 in. Gift of the Then they talk about this thing in the head;
Harmon Foundation. Smithsonian American Art Museum,
Washington, DC.
what’s this they call it? [Intellect, someone whis-
pers.] That’s it, honey. What’s that got to do with
women’s rights or Negroes rights? If my cup
won’t hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart,
wouldn’t you be mean not to let me have my lit-
tle half-measure full?
Then that little man in black there, he says
women can’t have as much rights as men, ’cause
Christ wasn’t a woman! Where did your Christ
come from? Where did your Christ come from?
From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do
with Him.
If the first woman God ever made was strong
enough to turn the world upside down all alone,
these women together ought to be able to turn it
back, and get it right side up again! And now
they is asking to do it, the men better let them.
Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old
Sojourner ain’t got nothing more to say. 
Sojourner Truth

Big Idea Resistance to Slavery How does Truth connect


slavery and women’s rights? 1. The phrase out of kilter means “out of order” or “mixed up.”
2. ’Twixt is the shortened form of betwixt, an Old English word
Vocabulary meaning “between.”
3. Here, Truth uses head to mean “to do better than” or “to get
racket (rak it) n. loud noise; clamor; din ahead of.”
borne (born) v. past participle of bear; given birth to;
produced Reading Strategy Evaluating Argument Who is the
oblige (ə bl̄j) v. to make grateful or indebted; to do a “little man in black”? Why is it appropriate that she
favor or service for addresses him during her speech?

356 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C./ Art Resource, NY
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Imagine you are attending the Women’s Rights 5. An allusion is a reference to a well-known charac-
Convention in 1851. How might you respond to ter, place, or situation from history or from music,
Sojourner Truth’s speech? art, or another work of literature. (a)What allusion
to the Bible does Truth make in the paragraph just
before her closing statement? (b)Evaluate the
Recall and Interpret impact of that allusion on her message.
2. (a)How does Truth refute the first three reasons
given against women’s suffrage? (b)What does
Connect
Truth’s response tell you about her character?
6. Big Idea Resistance to Slavery (a)How does
3. (a)What repetition does Truth use in the first
Truth introduce the antislavery message into her
part of her argument? (b)What is the effect of this
speech? (b)How appropriate is this message, given
repetition?
the purpose of the convention?
4. (a)How does Truth answer the religious argument
against letting women vote? (b)What does her
argument tell you about her religious beliefs?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO CA B U L A RY

Literary Element Oratory Reading Strategy Evaluating Argument


Oratory is the art of effective public speaking, or the Evaluate one of Truth’s arguments by analyzing her
use of persuasive skills when speaking. reasoning. Do you agree with her reasoning? Why or
why not?
1. What is the purpose of Truth’s speech?
2. Identify the qualities that you think make this
speech effective and help Truth achieve her pur- Vocabulary Practice
pose. In your opinion, would these qualities appeal Practice with Context Clues Read the paragraph
to contemporary audiences? Use details from the below. Use context clues to recall the meaning of
speech to support your answer.
each boldfaced vocabulary word.

Writing About Literature My mother says that being a parent is a difficult


job, and I agree with her. She insists that preg-
Evaluate Rhetorical Devices Write a brief essay
nancy, while strenuous, is not the hardest part of
identifying and analyzing the rhetorical strategy that
motherhood: it is after a mother has borne her
Truth employs in her argument. Explain how successful
children that the real work starts. Instead of enter-
you think this strategy is.
ing a tranquil and noiseless home after work, she
is usually greeted by the racket of my younger
brothers’ playing basketball. However, despite the
trials of being a parent, my mother also insists that
it is the best job that she could ever have. For that
Web Activities For eFlashcards, sentiment and all of her hard work, I am obliged.
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

SOJOUR NER TRUTH 357


Vocabulary Workshop
Denotation and Connotation

º Vocabulary Terms Using Semantic Charts


The denotation of a word
Connecting to Literature During the famous speech “And Ain’t I a Woman,”
is its literal meaning; the
Sojourner Truth recounts the experience of watching helplessly as her children
connotation of a word is
are sold into slavery. She says, “And when I cried out with my mother’s grief,
its implied meaning.
none but Jesus heard me!” Truth could have used words other than grief. For
º Test-Taking Tip instance, she could have spoken of sorrow or regret—after all, those words have a
If, during a test, you are similar meaning to grief. But they also have subtle differences. Words can have
asked what the denotation similar denotations (dictionary definitions) but different connotations (ideas,
of a word is, think about images, or feelings suggested by the word). The power of a word to suggest an
how you would define the array of connotations enables precision in speaking and in writing.
word for someone else. To
describe the word’s con- A chart like the one below can help you look more closely at the words grief,
notations, think about the sorrow, and regret—at their similarities, their differences, and their shades of
images and ideas the meaning. Follow these instructions to create the chart:
word brings to mind.
• Place the words to be analyzed in the left-hand column of the chart.
º Reading Handbook • Check a dictionary to gather different definitions for each word. These
For more about denotation definitions are the words’ denotations.
and connotation, see • In the second column of the chart, enter the definition for each term.
Reading Handbook, R20. • In the third column of the chart, record ideas, images, or feelings that you
associate with each word. For example, you may associate grief with disasters
or funerals. Such associations are a word’s connotations.

A semantic features chart has been started below.

Denotation Connotation

eFlashcards For eFlashcards Grief


and other vocabulary activities, go
to www.glencoe.com. Sorrow
Regret

Exercise
1. Complete the chart. With your classmates, discuss the denotations and
connotations of the three words. Why do you think Truth chose to
describe her feeling as grief and not as sorrow or regret? Explain.
OB J EC TIVES 2. Find three or four words that have denotations that are similar to each
• Analyze denotation and other in other selections in Unit 3, Part 1. Create and fill in the mean-
connotation. ings for a semantic features chart with these words. Explain what partic-
• Create graphic organizers ular shades of meaning the connotations of the words help the authors
to understand text.
to suggest.
358 UNIT 3 TH E CIVI L WAR E RA
PART 1
Resistance to Slavery

A Ride for Liberty, or The Fugitive Slaves, 1862. J. Eastman Johnson. 55.9 x 66.7 cm. Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York.

“You have seen how a man was made a slave;


you shall see how a slave was made a man.”
—Frederick Douglass
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave

329
J. Eastman Johnson/The Bridgeman Art Library
B EFO R E YO U R E A D

Three Spirituals
W H O W ROT E T H E SPI R I T UA LS ?

T
he spirituals featured here came out of the
oral tradition of African Americans
enslaved in the South before the outbreak
of the Civil War. These “sorrow songs,” as they
were called, were created by anonymous artists and
transmitted by word of mouth. As a result, several
versions of the same spiritual may exist. According Some spirituals served as encoded messages by
to the Library of Congress, more than six thousand which enslaved field workers, forbidden to speak
spirituals have been documented, though some are to each other, could communicate practical infor-
not known in their entirety. mation about escape plans. Some typical code
African American spirituals combined the tunes words included Egypt, referring to the South or the
and texts of Christian hymns with the rhythms, state of bondage, and the promised land or heaven,
finger-snapping, clapping, and stamping of tradi- referring to the North or freedom. To communi-
tional African music. The spirituals allowed cate a message of hope, spirituals frequently
enslaved Africans to retain some of the culture of recounted Bible stories about people liberated from
their homelands and forge a new culture while fac- oppression through divine intervention. The spiri-
ing the hardships of captive life in the United tual “Keep Your Hand on the Plow,” for example,
States. Many spirituals followed a call-and- tells the story of Paul and Silas, who were released
response pattern in which a leader sang the verses from prison after God sent an earthquake to free
and was answered by a group of singers. The sing- them.
ers often improvised the songs by changing words The spirituals were saved from obscurity after the
or adding new verses. Civil War by the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University
in Nashville, Tennessee. To raise money for the
school during a time of financial hardship, the
small university choir sang spirituals to church
“Every tone [in the spirituals] was a groups around the country. The Jubilee Singers
testimony against slavery, and a prayer were soon in demand and eventually performed
the spirituals for President Ulysses S. Grant and
to God for deliverance from chains.” England’s Queen Victoria.
—Frederick Douglass The spirituals became a part of American pop cul-
ture, paving the way for other musical forms
including blues and jazz and influencing poets such
Enslaved African Americans sang spirituals both as James Weldon Johnson. When Martin Luther
in worship and while laboring in the field. Many King Jr. led the march in Washington, D.C., for
of the songs have a dual meaning, expressing both civil rights in March 1963, he quoted from the
religious faith and a hunger for freedom. The New spiritual “Free at Last”: “You can hinder me here,
York Tribune published “Go Down, Moses” after but you can’t hinder me there.”
Reverend Lewis Lockwood heard African
Americans singing it on September 3, 1861, and
submitted the lyrics.

330 U N IT 3 THE CIVIL WAR ERA


The Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Foundation / Art Resource, NY
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Spirituals Reading Strategy Analyzing Historical


Many people find listening to, singing, playing, or even Context
composing music to be a comfort in times of stress or Understanding the context in which the spirituals were
loss. As you read, think about these questions: created can help you better appreciate them. The era
• Why was it important for oppressed people to create that gave birth to the spirituals was an intensely diffi-
cult one for enslaved African Americans. They toiled
these songs?
• What music do you turn to for inspiration or comfort? long hours, were barred from communicating with
each other, and were frequently threatened with vio-
Building Background lence. They were also subjected to damaging stereo-
For many enslaved African Americans, the situation of types about their supposed lack of intelligence and
the Jews in the Bible was especially poignant. responsibility. Spirituals gave African Americans much-
According to the Bible, the Jews were forced into slav- needed encouragement, information about escape,
ery by a pharaoh, or ruler, of Egypt. Moses, a leader of and a chance to define themselves. In spirituals,
the Jews, asked the pharaoh to free his people, warn- African Americans were depicted as the beloved chil-
ing that otherwise God would send ten plagues upon dren of a just and mighty God, destined for freedom.
the Egyptians. The plagues came, and the pharaoh According to travelers in the South and the slaves
released the Jews. After Egyptian soldiers chased the themselves, spirituals were a fundamental part of slave
Jews to the shores of the Red Sea, Moses called upon life. They were sung during worship, rest, work, and
God to part the waters so his people could cross. The play. As you read the spirituals, jot down your thoughts
sea rolled back for the Jews to pass but closed in on about how they reflect the hopes and beliefs of slaves.
the Egyptian soldiers. When the Jews “reached the
other shore,” they were free people once again. Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart to record
your thoughts about the spirituals.
Setting Purposes for Reading
Big Idea Resistance to Slavery
Example from text How it reflects hope
As you read, consider the role spirituals played in the
African American struggle for freedom. But still my soul feels Even though life can be
heavenly bound very difficult, the
speaker believes his or
Literary Element Refrain her soul will find joy.
A refrain is a line or lines repeated in a poem or song.
For example, the line “Let my people go” is repeated
in every stanza of the spiritual “Go Down, Moses.” As
you read, think about how the refrains in each spiritual
help to emphasize a central idea.

• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R15.

Interactive Literary Elements


Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • understanding the influence of historical context on a work
• relating literature to a historical period • understanding the use of refrain in a poem or song

THREE SPIRITUALS 331


Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home,
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home.

5 I looked over Jordan1 and what did I see,


Coming for to carry me home?
A band of angels coming after me,
Coming for to carry me home.

If you get there before I do,


10 Coming for to carry me home,
Tell all my friends I’m coming too;
Coming for to carry me home.

I’m sometimes up, I’m sometimes down,


Coming for to carry me home,
15 But still my soul feels heavenly bound;
Coming for to carry me home.

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,1944. William H. Johnson. Oil on board,


Swing low, sweet chariot,
281/2 x 261/2 in. National Museum of American Art, Washington, DC. Coming for to carry me home,
Swing low, sweet chariot,
20 Coming for to carry me home.

1. Jordan refers to the Jordan River. In the Book of Exodus


in the Bible, when the Jews were fleeing from slavery in
Egypt, they had to cross the Jordan to reach their
Promised Land.

Literary Element Refrain How does the refrain func-


tion in the spiritual?

332 UNIT 3 THE CIVIL WAR ERA


National Museum of American Art, Washington, DC/Art Resource, NY
Hampton University Museum, Hampton, Virginia

Harriet Tubman Series No. 11, 1939-40. Jacob Lawrence. Casein tempera on gessoed hardboard,
12 x 177/8 in. Hampton University Museum, Hampton, VA.

Go down, Moses, The Lord told Moses what to do,


’Way down in Egypt’s land; Let my people go;
Tell ole Pharaoh 15 To lead the children of Israel thro’,
Let my people go. Let my people go.

5 When Israel was in Egypt’s land, When they had reached the other shore,
Let my people go; Let my people go;
Oppressed so hard they could not stand, They sang a song of triumph o’er.
Let my people go. 20 Let my people go.

Thus saith the Lord, bold Moses said, Go down, Moses,


10 Let my people go; ’Way down in Egypt’s land;
Let them come out with Egypt’s spoil, Tell ole Pharaoh
Let my people go. Let my people go.

Big Idea Resistance to Slavery How does this biblical


allusion reflect the enslaved people’s desire to escape slavery?

THR EE SPIR ITUALS 333


Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC / Art Resource, NY
Mary wo’ three links of chain,
Ev’ry link was Jesus’ name.
Keep your hand on the plow,
Hold on.

CHORUS
5 Hold on, hold on,
Keep your hand on the plow,
Hold on.

Paul and Silas bound in jail,1


Had nobody for to go their bail,
10 Keep your hand on the plow,
Going to Church, 1940–1941. William H. Johnson. Oil on burlap,
381/8 x 451/2 in. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, U.S.A.
Hold on.

Paul and Silas began to shout,


Jail doors opened and they walked out . . .

Peter was so nice and neat,2


15 Wouldn’t let Jesus wash his feet . . .

Jesus said, “If I wash them not,


You’ll have no father in this lot” . . .

Peter got anxious and he said,


“Wash my feet, my hands and head,” . . .

20 Got my hand on the gospel plow,


Wouldn’t take nothin’ for my journey now, . . .

1. In the Bible (Acts 16:16 – 40) the Apostle Paul and his
companion Silas are imprisoned, but an earthquake shakes
the prison and releases them.
2. In the Bible (John 13:4 – 20) the Apostle Peter objects at
first when Jesus wants to wash his feet.

Big Idea Resistance to Slavery How might these lines


have helped singers and listeners endure slavery?

Reading Strategy Analyzing Historical Context Why


might enslaved people have connected with these lines in
the spiritual?

334 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Which phrases or lines from these spirituals did you 6. Enslaved African Americans highly valued, and
find most comforting or inspiring? frequently retold, stories from the Gospels.
(a)In light of this, what do you think is the meaning
Recall and Interpret of lines 1–3 of “Keep Your Hand on the Plow”?
2. (a)What might the chariot in “Swing Low, Sweet (b)In what way do these lines illuminate the
Chariot” represent? (b)Who or what might be the theme, or overall message, of the song? Give
“band of angels” in line 7? details from the song to support your answer.
3. (a)What feelings does the speaker express in 7. Describe the mood, or overall feeling or emotion,
lines 13–16? (b)Why do you think the speaker’s created by each of the spirituals. Use specific
“soul feels heavenly bound”? examples from each song to support your
response.
4. (a)In lines 1–8 of “Go Down, Moses,” what is the
speaker asking Moses to do? (b)What might these
lines say about the experiences and hopes of Connect
enslaved African Americans?
8. Big Idea Resistance to Slavery What elements
5. (a)Summarize the two Bible stories retold in “Keep of the spirituals helped singers and listeners endure
Your Hand on the Plow.” (b)Why do you think these and overcome slavery? Include details from the
particular stories were included in a spiritual? Explain. spirituals in your answer.

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Refrain Reading Strategy Analyzing Historical


Spirituals usually contain at least one refrain that Context
emphasizes the central idea, or theme, and that also Spirituals often combined phrases from English hymns
helps establish the mood. In addition, refrains help with harmonies and rhythms found in African music.
create rhythm.
1. How do spirituals reflect the history of African
1. What mood is created by the refrain in “Swing Low, Americans?
Sweet Chariot”?
2. Why do you think people still sing spirituals today?
2. The words “Let my people go” are repeated in
every stanza of “Go Down, Moses.” What impact
does this repetition create? Academic Vocabulary
Here are two words from the vocabulary list on
Interdisciplinary Activity page R86. These words will help you think,
Music Trying to imagine how a song sounds based on
write, and talk about the selections.
reading it is a little like trying to explain the taste of a
specific (spi sif ik) adj. definite; particular
strawberry to someone who’s never eaten one. Working
with a group, locate and listen to recordings of all three rely (ri l ̄) v. to be dependent
spirituals. Then work together to prepare a performance
of one of the spirituals for the class. Practice and Apply
1. What is a specific example of farm imagery in
the spirituals?
Web Activities For eFlashcards, 2. Which code words did runaway slaves rely on
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to to communicate secret messages?
www.glencoe.com.

THR EE SPIR ITUALS 335


Comparing Literature Across Time and Place

(t)Corbis, (c)Art Resource, (b)David Muench/CORBIS


Connecting to the Reading Selections
What characteristics are vital in someone who battles oppression? The three authors compared
here—Frederick Douglass, Robert Hayden, and Quincy Troupe—portray people struggling against
limitations placed on them by society. The works of these writers show both the stubbornness
of racial oppression and the potential for individuals to overcome oppressive traditions.

Frederick Douglass
from My Bondage and My Freedom ........... autobiography .......... 339
The power of knowledge

Robert Hayden
Frederick Douglass .................................................................. poem .......... 345
Realizing the dream of freedom

Quincy Troupe
In Texas Grass ............................................................................ poem .........346
Lapses in the path to equality

COM PAR I NG TH E Big Idea Resistance to Slavery


The struggle against slavery has shaped African American culture. Literature about slavery and its
legacy illustrates the resilient spirit that has helped African Americans endure hard times with
dignity, overcome slavery, and resist the lingering effects of racism and discrimination.

COM PAR I NG Portrayals of People


A portrayal reveals the essential qualities of an individual or group. By taking an individual as the
subject, the writer of a literary portrayal explores that individual’s character and personality, in
addition to the social and cultural forces that shaped his or her life. A group portrayal reveals the
traits that members of the group have in common. Douglass, Hayden, and Troupe create vivid
portrayals of individuals and groups in the selections you are about to read.

COM PAR I NG Historical Context


Works of literature often reflect the historical events that shape the way people see the world
and live their lives. Recognizing the historical backdrop of a selection can increase your under-
standing of its themes and messages, as well as the author’s purpose. Douglas, Hayden, and
Troupe write within the historical context of slavery and its legacy of racism and discrimination.

336 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
B E FOR E YOU R EA D
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution/Art Resource, NY

from My Bondage and


My Freedom
M E E T F R E DE R IC K DO U GL A SS

Of all of the voices raised against slavery, few were


as powerful as that of Frederick Douglass’s. He was,
as women’s rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton
wrote, “conscious of his dignity and power, grand
in his proportions, majestic in his wrath.”

“Where justice is denied, where


poverty is enforced, where ignorance Author Search For more about
Society. While Douglass toured for the society, his
prevails, and where any one class is Author Name, go to www.literature.glencoe.com.
reputation quickly grew.
made to feel that society is in an
Public Life In 1845 Douglass wrote his autobiog-
organized conspiracy to oppress, rob, raphy, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an
and degrade them, neither persons nor American Slave. Because Douglass identified his for-
mer owner in the book, he sailed to Great Britain
property will be safe.” to avoid capture. Abolitionists welcomed Douglass
—Frederick Douglass and raised money to enable him to buy his freedom
and return home in 1847. That same year he started
publishing a newspaper, The North Star. The paper’s
From Bondage to Freedom Douglass was born masthead read: “Right is of no Sex—Truth is of no
on a Maryland plantation and given the name Color,” proclaiming both Douglass’s abolitionism
Frederick Bailey. When Frederick was eight years and his support for women’s rights.
old, he went to work as a house servant for the At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861,
Auld family in Baltimore. Mrs. Auld decided to President Lincoln appointed Douglass one of his
teach Frederick how to read, which violated a advisers. After the war, he remained a staunch sup-
Maryland state law. When her husband discovered porter of civil rights for formerly enslaved people.
what was happening, he forbade any further read- Before his death in 1895, Douglass served as the
ing lessons. Frederick then secretly continued marshal and recorder of deeds in Washington, D.C.,
his education on his own. At the age of twenty, and as consul general to Haiti. He also revised and
Frederick Bailey finally escaped to freedom. Soon republished his autobiography as My Bondage and
after, Frederick changed his last name from Bailey My Freedom in 1855, and then again as Life and
to Douglass to avoid capture and a forced return Times of Frederick Douglass in 1882. Douglass’s auto-
to slavery. biography remains one of the most important
In 1841 Douglass’s life took a remarkable turn. He chronicles of the enslaved person’s experience and
was asked to speak at an antislavery convention in displays the brilliance of Douglass’s literary mind.
Nantucket, Massachusetts. Although he was ner- Frederick Douglass was born around 1818 and died
vous about speaking, Douglass’s speech about his in 1895.
experiences as a slave was so eloquent that it
prompted abolitionist leaders to ask him to work Author Search For more about
as an agent for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Frederick Douglass, go to www.glencoe.com.

F R E D ER I C K D OU G L A S S 337
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R E V I EW

Connecting to the Autobiography Reading Strategy Analyzing Cause and


Do you agree with the saying “knowledge is power”? Effect
In Douglass’s autobiography, he reflects on his struggle When you analyze a literary work, you use your knowl-
to learn to read and write in a society that made it a edge of separate parts to form an overall judgment.
crime for enslaved persons to attain knowledge Analyzing cause-and-effect relationships means fig-
through literacy. As you read the autobiography, think uring out how a writer arranges details to show that
about the following questions: certain events and ideas can cause, or bring about,
• How can newfound knowledge make it necessary certain results or effects. As you read, ask yourself the
following questions:
to change one’s life?
• Is knowledge gained through reading essential to • What are the major events that Douglass writes
personal freedom? Why or why not? about in this excerpt?

Building Background • What effects were caused by these major events?


As a result of slave codes, or restrictive laws against Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart to record the
enslaved people, Douglass had to improvise to find cause-and-effect relationships you find in the selection.
ways of improving his reading and writing skills. For
example, while running errands for workers in the
Baltimore shipyards, he observed carpenters who were Cause Effect
painting signs on boards. Mrs. Auld introduces Douglass determines
Douglass to reading. to attain knowledge at
The original version of Douglass’s life story became a
any cost.
best seller when published in 1845. One reviewer
called it “a specimen of powers of the black race,
which prejudice persists in disputing.” Douglass spent
time with many other abolitionists during the 1850s,
including Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Vocabulary
Cabin. His revised autobiography My Bondage and My benevolent (bə nev ə lent) adj. doing or
Freedom includes more of his philosophy and personal desiring to do good; kind; p. 339 The benevolent
feelings toward the essential problems of slavery. girl helped the woman who was struggling to carry
bags of groceries.
Setting Purposes for Reading
depravity (di prav ə tē) n. the state of being
Big Idea Resistance to Slavery morally bad or corrupt; p. 339 The brutal tactics
In this excerpt, Douglass reveals his inner, day-to-day of slave traders showed a depravity that has shocked
thoughts about his life as an enslaved African modern audiences.
American. As you read, notice how Douglass asserts
induce (in d¯¯¯
oos) v. to lead by persuasion or
his belief that education can fight slavery.
influence; p. 340 The powerful speaker tried to
induce the members of his audience to change their
Literary Element Autobiography minds on the issue.
An autobiography is a narrative that a person writes vanquish (van kwish) v. to defeat; p. 342
about his or her life. Douglass wrote about his own life President Lincoln decided that military force would
in the wider historical context of slavery. As you read, be the only way to vanquish slavery in the South.
determine Douglass’s purposes in writing an account
of his experiences in the form of an autobiography. censure (sen shər) v. to express disapproval of;
to find fault with; to blame; p. 343 The writer
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R2. decided to censure the government policy in her
report.
Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

338 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
Frederick Douglass

Series No. 8. Jacob Lawrence (1917–2000). Casein tempera on gessoed hardboard, 12 x 17 7/8 in. Hampton University Museum, VA.

I lived in the family of master Hugh, at


Baltimore, seven years, during which time—as
me—was suddenly checked in her benevolent
design, by the strong advice of her husband. In
faithful compliance with this advice, the good
the almanac1 makers say of the weather—my
condition was variable. The most interesting fea- lady had not only ceased to instruct me, herself,
ture of my history here, was my learning to read but had set her face as a flint against my learning
and write, under somewhat marked disadvan- to read by any means. It is due, however, to my
tages. In attaining this knowledge, I was com- mistress to say, that she did not adopt this course
pelled to resort to indirections by no means in all its stringency at the first. She either thought
congenial to my nature, and which were really it unnecessary, or she lacked the depravity indis-
humiliating to me. My mistress—who, as the pensable to shutting me up in mental darkness. It
reader has already seen, had begun to teach was, at least, necessary for her to have some train-
ing, and some hardening, in the exercise of the
1. An almanac is a reference book that is published yearly. slaveholder’s prerogative, to make her equal to
It includes calendars with weather forecasts and forgetting my human nature and character, and to
astronomical information.
treating me as a thing destitute of a moral or an
Vocabulary intellectual nature. Mrs. Auld—my mistress—was,
benevolent (bə nev´ ə lent) adj. doing or desiring to do
good; kind Reading Strategy Analyzing Cause and Effect What is
depravity (di prav´ ə tē) n. the state of being morally the cause of the change in Mrs. Auld’s attitude toward
bad or corrupt Douglass’s reading instruction?

F REDERICK DOUGLASS 339


Hampton University Museum, Hampton, Va
as I have said, a most kind and tender-hearted and feeling—“that woman is a Christian.” There
woman; and, in the humanity of her heart, and was no sorrow nor suffering for which she had not
the simplicity of her mind, she set out, when I a tear, and there was no innocent joy for which
first went to live with her, to treat me as she sup- she had not a smile. She had bread for the hungry,
posed one human being ought to treat another. clothes for the naked, and comfort for every
It is easy to see, that, in entering upon the mourner that came within her reach. Slavery soon
duties of a slaveholder, some little experience is proved its ability to divest her of these excellent
needed. Nature has done almost nothing to pre- qualities, and her home of its early happiness.
pare men and women to be either slaves or slave- Conscience cannot stand much violence. Once
holders. Nothing but rigid training, long persisted thoroughly broken down, who is he that can repair
in, can perfect the character of the one or the the damage? It may be broken toward the slave,
other. One cannot easily forget to love freedom; on Sunday, and toward the master on Monday. It
and it is as hard to cease to respect that natural cannot endure such shocks. It must stand entire,
love in our fellow creatures. On entering upon the or it does not stand at all. If my condition waxed
career of a slaveholding mistress, Mrs. Auld was bad, that of the family waxed not better. The first
singularly deficient; nature, which fits nobody for step, in the wrong direction, was the violence
such an office, had done less for her than any lady done to nature and to conscience, in arresting the
I had known. It was no easy matter to induce her benevolence that would have enlightened my
to think and to feel that the curly-headed boy, young mind. In ceasing to instruct me, she must
who stood by her side, and even leaned on her begin to justify herself to herself; and, once con-
lap; who was loved by little Tommy, and who senting to take sides in such a debate, she was
loved little Tommy in turn; sustained to her only riveted to her position. One needs very little
the relation of a chattel.2 I was more than that, knowledge of moral philosophy, to see where my
and she felt me to be more than that. I could talk mistress now landed. She finally became even
and sing; I could laugh and weep; I could reason more violent in her opposition to my learning to
and remember; I could love and hate. I was read, than was her husband himself. She was not
human, and she, dear lady, knew and felt me to be satisfied with simply doing as well as her husband
so. How could she, then, treat me as a brute, with- had commanded her, but seemed resolved to bet-
out a mighty struggle with all the noble powers of ter his instruction. Nothing appeared to make my
her own soul. That struggle came, and the will poor mistress—after her turning toward the down-
and power of the husband was victorious. Her ward path—more angry, than seeing me, seated in
noble soul was overthrown; but, he that overthrew some nook or corner, quietly reading a book or a
it did not, himself, escape the consequences. He, newspaper. I have had her rush at me, with the
not less than the other parties, was injured in his utmost fury, and snatch from my hand such news-
domestic peace by the fall. paper or book, with something of the wrath and
When I went into their family, it was the abode consternation which a traitor might be supposed
of happiness and contentment. The mistress of to feel on being discovered in a plot by some dan-
the house was a model of affection and tender- gerous spy.
ness. Her fervent piety and watchful uprightness Mrs. Auld was an apt woman, and the advice of
made it impossible to see her without thinking her husband, and her own experience, soon demon-
strated, to her entire satisfaction, that education
2. An article of movable, personal property, such as furniture or and slavery are incompatible with each other.
livestock, is chattel. Enslaved people were sometimes When this conviction was thoroughly established,
referred to as chattel.

Big Idea Resistance to Slavery What does this state-


Literary Element Autobiography What is Douglass say-
ment say about the institution of slavery?
ing here about the effects of slavery on his own life?

Vocabulary
Big Idea Resistance to Slavery How does this incompat-
induce (in doo
¯¯¯ s´) v. to lead by persuasion or influence ibility motivate Douglass to resist the institution of slavery?

340 UNIT 3 TH E C I V I L WA R E RA
cessful, was that of using my young white play-
mates, with whom I met in the street, as teachers.
I used to carry, almost constantly, a copy of
Webster’s spelling book in my pocket; and, when
sent of errands, or when play time was allowed
me, I would step, with my young friends, aside,
and take a lesson in spelling. I generally paid my
tuition fee to the boys, with bread, which I also
carried in my pocket. For a single biscuit, any of
my hungry little comrades would give me a lesson
more valuable to me than bread. Not every one,
however, demanded this consideration, for there
were those who took pleasure in teaching me,
whenever I had a chance to be taught by them. I
am strongly tempted to give the names of two or
three of those little boys, as a slight testimonial of
the gratitude and affection I bear them, but pru-
dence forbids; not that it would injure me, but it
might, possibly, embarrass them; for it is almost an
unpardonable offense to do any thing, directly or
indirectly, to promote a slave’s freedom, in a slave
state. It is enough to say, of my warm-hearted lit-
tle play fellows, that they lived on Philpot street,
very near Durgin & Bailey’s shipyard.
Although slavery was a delicate subject, and
very cautiously talked about among grown up peo-
The Life of Frederick Douglass #29: The war was over. The slaves were literally ple in Maryland, I frequently talked about it—and
turned out by their masters into a world unknown to them. They had ceased to that very freely—with the white boys. I would,
be slaves of man and became slaves of nature, 1939. Jacob Lawrence. Casein sometimes, say to them, while seated on a curb
tempera on hardboard, 17 x 12. Hampton University Museum, Hampton, VA.
stone or a cellar door, “I wish I could be free, as
you will be when you get to be men.” “You will be
I was most narrowly watched in all my move-
free, you know, as soon as you are twenty-one, and
ments. If I remained in a separate room from the
can go where you like, but I am a slave for life.
family for any considerable length of time, I was
Have I not as good a right to be free as you have?”
sure to be suspected of having a book, and was at
Words like these, I observed, always troubled
once called upon to give an account of myself. All
them; and I had no small satisfaction in wringing
this, however, was entirely too late. The first, and
from the boys, occasionally, that fresh and bitter
never to be retraced, step had been taken. In
condemnation of slavery, that springs from nature,
teaching me the alphabet, in the days of her sim-
unseared and unperverted. Of all consciences, let
plicity and kindness, my mistress had given me
me have those to deal with which have not been
the “inch,” and now, no ordinary precaution could
bewildered by the cares of life. I do not remember
prevent me from taking the “ell.”3
ever to have met with a boy, while I was in slav-
Seized with a determination to learn to read, at
ery, who defended the slave system; but I have
any cost, I hit upon many expedients to accom-
often had boys to console me, with the hope that
plish the desired end. The plea which I mainly
something would yet occur, by which I might be
adopted, and the one by which I was most suc-

Literary Element Autobiography How does Douglass’s


3. An ell is an old English measure of length used mainly for
choice of the genre of autobiography enhance the impact of
cloth. It is equal to forty-five inches. Douglass is referring to
this statement?
the adage “give him an inch, and he’ll take an ell.”

F R E D ER I C K D OU G L A S S 341
The Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Foundation / Art Resource, NY
made free. Over and over again, they have told which he has performed toward the slave, and
me, that “they believed I had as good a right to be tells him he is permitted to speak for himself.
free as they had”; and that “they did not believe Thus invited to the debate, the quondam5 slave
God ever made any one to be a slave.” The reader made a spirited defense of himself, and thereafter
will easily see, that such little conversations with the whole argument, for and against slavery, was
my play fellows, had no tendency to weaken my brought out. The master was vanquished at every
love of liberty, nor to render me contented with turn in the argument; and seeing himself to be
my condition as a slave. thus vanquished, he generously and meekly
When I was about thirteen years old, and had emancipates the slave, with his best wishes for
succeeded in learning to read, every increase of his prosperity. It is scarcely necessary to say, that
knowledge, especially respecting the FREE a dialogue, with such an origin, and such an end-
STATES, added something to the almost intoler- ing—read when the fact of my being a slave was
able burden of the thought—“I AM A SLAVE FOR a constant burden of grief—powerfully affected
LIFE.” To my bondage I saw no end. It was a ter- me; and I could not help feeling that the day
rible reality, and I shall never be able to tell how might come, when the well-directed answers
sadly that thought chafed my young spirit. made by the slave to the master, in this instance,
Fortunately, or unfortunately, about this time in would find their counterpart in myself. . . .
my life, I had made enough money to buy what I had now penetrated the secret of all slavery
was then a very popular school book, viz:4 the and oppression, and had ascertained their true
“Columbian Orator.” I bought this addition to foundation to be in the pride, the power and the
my library, of Mr. Knight, on Thames street, avarice of man. The dialogue and the speeches
Fell’s Point, Baltimore, and paid him fifty cents were all redolent of the principles of liberty, and
for it. I was first led to buy this book, by hearing poured floods of light on the nature and character
some little boys say that they were going to learn of slavery. . . . Nevertheless, the increase of
some little pieces out of it for the Exhibition. knowledge was attended with bitter, as well as
This volume was, indeed, a rich treasure, and sweet results. The more I read, the more I was led
every opportunity afforded me, for a time, was to abhor and detest slavery, and my enslavers.
spent in diligently perusing it. Among much “Slaveholders,” thought I, “are only a band of
other interesting matter, that which I had successful robbers, who left their homes and went
perused and reperused with unflagging satisfac- into Africa for the purpose of stealing and reduc-
tion, was a short dialogue between a master and ing my people to slavery.” I loathed them as the
his slave. The slave is represented as having been meanest and the most wicked of men. As I read,
recaptured, in a second attempt to run away; and behold! the very discontent so graphically pre-
the master opens the dialogue with an upbraid- dicted by Master Hugh, had already come upon
ing speech, charging the slave with ingratitude, me. I was no longer the light-hearted, gleesome
and demanding to know what he has to say in boy, full of mirth and play, as when I landed first
his own defense. Thus upbraided, and thus called at Baltimore. Knowledge had come; light had
upon to reply, the slave rejoins, that he knows penetrated the moral dungeon where I dwelt;
how little anything that he can say will avail, and, behold! there lay the bloody whip, for my
seeing that he is completely in the hands of his back, and here was the iron chain; and my good,
owner; and with noble resolution, calmly says,
“I submit to my fate.” Touched by the slave’s
answer, the master insists upon his further speak- 5. Quondam means “that once was” or “former.”
ing, and recapitulates the many acts of kindness
Reading Strategy Analyzing Cause and Effect What
effect did reading this anecdote about the slave and his
4. Viz is an abbreviation for the Latin word videlicet, meaning master have on Douglass?
“namely” or “that is.”
Vocabulary
Reading Strategy Analyzing Cause and Effect What
was the ironic effect of Douglass’s learning to read? vanquish (vang´ kwish) v. to defeat

342 UNIT 3 TH E C I V I L WA R E RA
kind master, he was the author of my situation. angel stood in the way;7 and—such is the rela-
The revelation haunted me, stung me, and made tion of master and slave—I could not tell her.
me gloomy and miserable. As I writhed under the Nature had made us friends; slavery made us ene-
sting and torment of this knowledge, I almost mies. My interests were in a direction opposite
envied my fellow slaves their stupid content- to hers, and we both had our private thoughts
ment. This knowledge opened my eyes to the and plans. She aimed to keep me ignorant; and I
horrible pit, and revealed the teeth of the fright- resolved to know, although knowledge only
ful dragon that was ready to pounce upon me, increased my discontent. My feelings were not
but it opened no way for my escape. I have often the result of any marked cruelty in the treatment
wished myself a beast, or a bird—anything, I received; they sprung from the consideration of
rather than a slave. I was wretched and gloomy, my being a slave at all. It was slavery—not its
beyond my ability to describe. I was too thought- mere incidents—that I hated. I had been cheated.
ful to be happy. It was this everlasting thinking I saw through the attempt to keep me in igno-
which distressed and tormented me; and yet rance; I saw that slaveholders would have gladly
there was no getting rid of the subject of my made me believe that they were merely acting
thoughts. All nature was redolent of it. Once under the authority of God, in making a slave of
awakened by the silver trump6 of knowledge, my me, and in making slaves of others; and I treated
spirit was roused to eternal wakefulness. Liberty! them as robbers and deceivers. The feeding and
the inestimable birthright of every man, had, for clothing me well, could not atone for taking my
me, converted every object into an asserter of liberty from me. The smiles of my mistress could
this great right. It was heard in every sound, and not remove the deep sorrow that dwelt in my
beheld in every object. It was ever present, to young bosom. Indeed, these, in time, came only
torment me with a sense of my wretched condi- to deepen my sorrow. She had changed; and the
tion. The more beautiful and charming were the reader will see that I had changed, too. We were
smiles of nature, the more horrible and desolate both victims to the same overshadowing evil—
was my condition. I saw nothing without seeing she, as mistress, I, as slave. I will not censure her
it, and I heard nothing without hearing it. I do harshly; she cannot censure me, for she knows I
not exaggerate, when I say, that it looked from speak but the truth, and have acted in my oppo-
every star, smiled in every calm, breathed in sition to slavery, just as she herself would have
every wind, and moved in every storm. acted, in a reverse of circumstances. 
I have no doubt that my state of mind had
something to do with the change in the treat-
ment adopted, by my once kind mistress toward 7. Douglass is referring to a biblical tale (Numbers 22:21–35)
in which an ass (donkey), despite being beaten by its
me. I can easily believe, that my leaden, down-
master, Balaam, cannot obey and move on because its way
cast, and discontented look, was very offensive is blocked by an angel whom Balaam cannot see.
to her. Poor lady! She did not know my trouble,
and I dared not tell her. Could I have freely Literary Element Autobiography What does this state-
ment tell the reader about Douglass’s priorities in life?
made her acquainted with the real state of my
mind, and given her the reasons therefor, it
Big Idea Resistance to Slavery What does this state-
might have been well for both of us. Her abuse
ment say about the institution of slavery?
of me fell upon me like the blows of the false
prophet upon his ass; she did not know that an Vocabulary
censure (sen´ shər) v. to express disapproval of; to find
fault with; to blame
6. Trump is a trumpet.

F R E D E R I C K D OU G L A S S 34 3
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. How did this narrative affect your appreciation of 5. (a)From his reading, what conclusion does Douglass
your personal freedom? draw about the foundation of slavery? (b)Do you
agree with his analysis? Explain.
6. In your opinion, who is hurt more by the system of
Recall and Interpret
slavery—Douglass or the Auld family? Explain.
2. (a)How does Mrs. Auld treat Douglass when he
first arrives? (b)What does Douglass infer from her Connect
initial attitude toward him? 7. Douglass shows in his autobiography that his mind
3. (a)How does Mrs. Auld’s behavior toward Douglass and spirit still remained free while he was physically
change? (b)What does Douglass infer from these held captive. In what ways might a person held in
changes? captivity keep his or her mind free? Explain.

4. (a)Who later helps Douglass learn to read? 8. Big Idea Resistance to Slavery Why do you
(b)Compare these teachers’ attitudes toward think that slave narratives such as Douglass’s were
slavery with Mrs. Auld’s attitude. an important part of the antislavery effort?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Autobiography Reading Strategy Analyzing Cause and


Douglass’s autobiography recounts his experiences Effect
both during his enslavement and as a free man, but it Sometimes a cause can have more than one effect.
has another purpose—to provide a persuasive argu- Also, an effect can have multiple causes.
ment against slavery.
1. What effects did gaining knowledge through read-
1. What do you think is Douglass’s main idea or pur- ing have on Douglass’s ideas and behavior? What
pose in this excerpt from his autobiography? effect did his learning have on U.S. society?
2. Do you think Douglass presents himself as he 2. What were the causes of the alienation between
really was, or might he be presenting a biased, or Mrs. Auld and Douglass?
one-sided, view? Explain.

Listening and Speaking Vocabulary Practice


Role Play Imagine Frederick Douglass meeting Mrs. Practice with Word Parts The words on the
Auld again later in life, when he is a famous writer and right share a word part with the vocabulary words
a free man. In a group, discuss what they might talk on the left. Use a dictionary to do the following:
about. Then write a dialogue between these two char- (a)name the part of the word that is shared in each
acters and have two members of your group perform example; (b)identify the type of word part and its
the dialogue for the class. meaning; and (c)define each word on the right.
1. benevolent malevolent
2. depravity demote
3. induce produce

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

344 UNIT 3 TH E C I V I L WA R E RA
B E FOR E YOU R EA D

Building Background
Born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1913, Robert Hayden during the height of the civil rights movement in the
later worked as a researcher for the Federal Writers’ 1960s when political poetry was in vogue. However,
Project in Michigan, one of the government’s many Hayden’s poetry does confront racial issues and
New Deal programs intended to provide a livelihood features prominent African American historical figures
for victims of the Great Depression. Hayden viewed such as Nat Turner, Frederick Douglass, and Malcolm X.
history “as a long, tortuous, and often bloody Hayden taught at the university level for more than
process of becoming, of psychic evolution.” He thirty years, although he said that he considered
created elegant, well-crafted poetry, much of it himself to be “a poet who teaches in order to earn a
concerned with African American history. living so that he can write a poem or two now and
then.” In 1976 he was the first African American poet
Hayden wanted to be known as a poet rather than as
to be appointed poetry consultant to the Library of
a black poet. He believed that racial labeling restricted
Congress. Hayden died in 1980.
African American poets, placing them “in a kind of
literary ghetto,” where the standards of other writers
were not applied to them. Many African American Author Search For more about
writers disagreed with Hayden’s position, especially Robert Hayden, go to www.glencoe.com.

Robert Hayden

When it is finally ours, this freedom, this liberty, this beautiful


and terrible thing, needful to man as air,
usable as earth; when it belongs at last to all,
when it is truly instinct, brain matter, diastole,1 systole,2
5 reflex action; when it is finally won; when it is more
than the gaudy mumbo jumbo of politicians: Quickwrite
this man, this Douglass, this former slave, this Negro
beaten to his knees, exiled, visioning a world From reading this poetic
portrayal, what did you learn
where none is lonely, none hunted, alien,
about Frederick Douglass? Write
10 this man, superb in love and logic, this man
a paragraph explaining what you
shall be remembered. Oh, not with statues’ rhetoric,
learned about Douglass, using
not with legends and poems and wreaths of bronze alone,
examples from the text to
but with the lives grown out of his life, the lives support your points.
fleshing his dream of the beautiful, needful thing.

1. Diastole (d̄ as tə lē´) is the period of normal relaxation of the heart between beats.
2. Systole (sis tə lē) is the period of normal contraction between diastoles.

R OB E RT HAY D E N 34 5
B EFO R E YO U R E A D
Building Background
Poet Quincy Troupe, born in St. Louis, Missouri, in In the following poem, “In Texas Grass,” Troupe alludes
1939, experienced firsthand the limitations that racial to a “promise of forty acres & a mule.” At the end of
discrimination placed on generations of African the Civil War, General William T. Sherman promised
Americans. Speaking of the inability of African that freed African Americans would receive forty acres
Americans to achieve their potential, Troupe said, of land and a mule. However, few formerly enslaved
“When I would look into my grandmother’s eyes, and African Americans ever received land, or even a mule,
my uncle’s eyes, and my dad’s eyes, I would see from the government. As a result, that phrase came to
these holes full of loss and sadness.” Thus, the subject represent the failure of Reconstruction to assist African
matter of Troupe’s award-winning poetry, in addition to Americans emerging from slavery.
celebrating the elation of seeing Magic Johnson play
basketball or John Coltrane play the saxophone, also
explores darker subject matter, such as the brutality of Author Search For more about
a slaughterhouse or the rage against racism. Quincy Troupe, go to www.glencoe.com.

Quincy Troupe

all along the railroad 25 thinking of the master & his long forgotten
tracks of texas promise of forty acres & a mule
old train cars lay & even now, if you pass across
rusted & overturned this bleeding flesh
5 like new african governments ever changing landscape
long forgotten by the people 30 you will see the fruited
who built & rode them countryside, stretching, stretching
till they couldn’t run no more & old black men & young black
10 & they remind me of old race horses men, sitting on porches, waiting
who’ve been put out to pasture waiting for rusted trains
amongst the weeds 35 silent in texas grass
rain, sleet & snow
till they die & rot away Discussion Starter
15 like photos fading
in grandma’s picture book Although this poem is set after the end of slavery in
the United States, it describes in vivid and poignant
of old black men & women, in mississippi
detail slavery’s legacy. With a small group, discuss
texas, who sit on dilapidated porches
the literal and figurative examples the poem gives of
that fall away
the conditions African Americans experienced after
20 like dead man’s skin
slavery. What conclusions about the journey from
like white people’s eyes slavery to equality can you draw from these exam-
& inside the peeling photos ples? Share your group’s conclusions with the rest
old men sit, sad eyed of the class.
& waiting, waiting for worm dust

34 6 U N IT 3 THE CIVIL WAR ERA


Kaaria Mucherera/Private Collection/Bridgeman Art Library
Wrap-Up: Comparing Literature Across Time and Place

• from My Bondage • Frederick Douglass • In Texas Grass


and My Freedom

COM PAR I NG TH E Big Idea Resistance to Slavery


Writing About Literature In the three selections you have read, each writer uses a different
tone, or attitude toward his subject. How would you describe the tone used by each writer?
Whose tone is most optimistic? Whose is most bitter? Write a brief essay in which you compare
the tone used by each writer. Cite evidence from the selections to support your conclusions.

COM PAR I NG Portrayals of People


Partner Activity With a partner, read each of the following quotations aloud. Then discuss
how each quotation reflects people’s struggling against slavery and its legacy of racial discrimina-
tion. How are the three quotations related to one another? Cite evidence from the selections.

“How could she, then, treat me as a brute, without


a mighty struggle with all the noble powers of her
own soul.”
—Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom

“. . . this Douglass, this former slave, this Negro


beaten to his knees, exiled, visioning a world
where none is lonely, none is hunted, alien, . . .”
—Robert Hayden, “Frederick Douglass”

“. . . old black men, & young black


men, sitting on porches, waiting
waiting for rusted trains
silent in texas grass” Be Free Three, 21st c. Kaaria Mucherera. Oil and acrylic on
—Quincy Troupe, “In Texas Grass” canvas, 30 x 40 in. Private collection.
Viewing the Art: How does this painting reflect the
themes addressed by the three selections?
COM PAR I NG Historical Context
Group Activity These selections treat both the progress and the setbacks in the journey of
African Americans toward liberty and equality. With a small group, discuss the following questions.

1. What is the historical context that shapes each selection?


2. How effective is each writer’s use of historical background? Which author presents the most
compelling rendition of historical events?
3. Which of the selections most sparked your interest in the historical context? Explain.

O B J EC TIVES
• Compare historical context in literary works. • Analyze cause-and-effect relationships.
• Understand autobiography. • Role-play an interview.

COMPARING LITERATURE 347


LITER ARY H I STORY

Slave Narratives and Civil War Memoirs,


Letters, and Diaries

I
N THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, MANY
writers shared their personal accounts of the two
major issues of the day—slavery and the Civil
War. These writings, which recount the emotions
their authors felt, the details they saw, and the battles
they fought, contribute much to the understanding of
this tumultuous time in the United States.

Accounts of Slavery
Nineteenth-century African American writers, such
as Frederick Douglass (pp. 337–344) and Sojourner
Truth (pp. 354–357), told variations of one
compelling story—the story of life in slavery, escape
from bondage, and life as a free person. These
accounts, called slave narratives, were written as
early as 1760 and continued to be written after the
Civil War. The pre-war narratives were in part Sarah Gudger, age 121. North Carolina. Library of Congress
intended to recruit Northerners to the abolitionist photo.
cause, especially after the Fugitive Slave Act was
passed in 1850. BI From 1936 to 1938, during the Depression, writers
and journalists from the Works Progress
Administration (WPA) interviewed more than 2,300
former slaves and recorded their memories of the past.
“Reader, be assured this narrative is
These narratives are a rich source of details about life
no fiction. I am aware some of my on plantations and in cities.
adventures may seem incredible; but Slave narratives have had an influence on modern
they are, nevertheless, strictly true.” literature as well, in the works of such writers as
Richard Wright (pp. 900–908), Ernest J. Gaines,
—Harriet Jacobs Alice Walker (pp. 1153–1157), and Toni Morrison
from Preface to Incidents in the Life (pp. 1302–1308).
of a Slave Girl, 1861

Civil War Memoirs, Letters, and Diaries


Many people who lived through the Civil War felt
After the Civil War, emancipated slaves, such as
that it was the central event of their lives. Writers on
Elizabeth Keckley, who had worked for Mary Todd
both sides of the conflict composed memoirs, letters,
Lincoln as a dressmaker, continued to write
and diaries. These accounts ranged from those of
autobiographies. Many writers hoped to show how
generals recollecting great battles, to soldiers
well they had succeeded in a free society after the
commenting on life on the battlefields, to civilians
war. Others, especially those later in the century,
recounting details from the home front, especially in
expressed disappointment with the restrictions they
the South, where the battlefield and the home front
still encountered.
were side-by-side.

348 U N IT 3 THE CIVIL WAR ERA


Library of Congress
Mark Twain persuaded his friend Ulysses S. Grant to before a battle in Virginia: “The camp fires blaze with
write his acclaimed Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant. unwanted brightness, the sentry’s tread is still but
He completed the memoirs a week before he died in quick—the acres of little shelter tents are dark and
1885. Union Generals William T. Sherman, Philip H. still as death…”
Sheridan, and George B. McClellan also published
Diarists such as Mary Chesnut (pp. 360–366) and Rachel
memoirs of the war, but Grant’s are considered some
Cormany documented everyday occurrences along with
of the best military memoirs in history.
the worries, loneliness, and difficulties caused by the
The letters of Confederate General Robert E. Lee war. Chesnut’s diary recounts her fear as the Union
were saved and published after his death. Some army swept through the South. These diaries provide
letters, such as his letter to Grant agreeing to release unique details about day-to-day life on the home front.
prisoners of war on both sides, give details of the war
These first-person accounts of slavery and the Civil
and its aftermath. Others, such as his letters to his
War provide insight into what it was like to be
family, including the letter to his son (pp. 370–371),
enslaved, to face an enemy who was also a
express concern and describe the hardships of his
countryman, and to remain on the home front as
troops, many of whom had no shoes.
family and friends left for war. Nineteenth-century
writers documented their tumultuous lives and times
to understand and preserve their stories. Today, their
“I hope both you and Johnston will narratives, memoirs, letters, and diaries offer us great
historical insights.
write the history of your campaigns.
Every one should do all in his power
to collect and disseminate the truth,
in the hope that it may find a place in
history and descend to posterity.”
—Robert E. Lee
letter to Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard,
1865

Soldiers—often farm boys who had never been away


from home—also wrote letters to their families
describing the excitement, horrors, and hardships of
war as well as their longing for home. These letters
were often written from prisons or hospitals. Nurse Ulysses S. Grant, American Civil War general, and later president,
Clara Barton, in a letter to a cousin, wrote the night writing his memoirs at Mount McGregor, New York, 1885.

R E S P O N D I N G A N D T H I N K I N G C R I T I C A L LY
1. How might slave narratives have influenced the 3. Why are personal diaries and letters often of interest
abolitionist cause? to general readers in later times?
2. A memoir, unlike an autobiography, focuses on only
part of the writer’s life, often a significant part. What
Literary History For more about
are some reasons a person might choose to write a slave narratives and civil war memoirs, letters and diaries, go to
memoir? Explain. www.glencoe.com.

LIT ER ARY HISTO RY 349


Mary Evans Picture Library/The Image Works
I n f o r m a t i o n a l Te x t
Media Link to
Re s i s t a n c e t o
S l ave r y
Preview the Article
Slavery Under

GLASS
“Slavery Under Glass” examines how
newly built African American museums
educate the public on a dark period of
U.S. history.
1. Examine the photographs on
pages 351–353. What clues to the
content of the article do these images
give the reader?
2. Skim the first paragraph. From it, what New African American–history museums try to
do you think that this article might balance authenticity and to uplift.
teach you about slavery?

T
By RICHARD LACAYO

Set a Purpose for Reading HE GLASS-WALLED MAIN ENTRY OF THE UNDERGROUND


Read to learn about new museums built Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, faces
to educate the public about slavery and south across the banks of the Ohio River. The center
the struggle for freedom. faces that direction for good reason—the river is at
the heart of the story of the Underground Railroad.
Reading Strategy Separating free-soil Ohio from slave-holding Kentucky, the Ohio
Questioning River was a desperate crossing point for runaway slaves. The river’s
Questioning is asking yourself how north banks were the site of persistent low-intensity warfare
information in a selection is important between abolitionists and armed slave owners, who were permitted
and whether you have understood what by law to pursue their human “property” into free states. In that
you have read. Have a running
era of escalating confrontation, Cincinnati and nearby towns
conversation with yourself as you read
“Slavery Under Glass.” Try to answer
became important way stations in the Underground Railroad.
these questions: This informal network of safe houses, sympathetic whites, and
free African Americans helped conduct escaped slaves to safety.
• How is this idea important? Why?
• Do I understand this passage?
African American Life in Focus the 20th century civil rights
• How does this information relate to
The Freedom Center is part of a movement, like the Montgomery,
what I already know?
wave of more than 20 new museums Alabama, bus stop where Rosa
Create a graphic organizer to help you dedicated to African American Parks was arrested, are being
keep track of your answers. history that are in development turned into monuments and
around the country. They include pilgrimage points. Clearly, the
Question Answer the U.S. National Slavery Museum story of African American life, for
How is this idea in Fredericksburg, Virginia, the so long passed over in near silence,
important? International African American is finally being set down in stone.
Museum in Charleston, South
Carolina, the National Museum of The Delicate Subject of
African American History and Slavery
OB J EC TIVES Culture in Washington, D.C., and All the same, telling the part of
• Demonstrate the ability to make con- the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of that story concerning slavery can
nections between a text and prior
knowledge, other texts, and the world.
Maryland African History and be tricky. Any museum needs to
Culture in Baltimore, Maryland. inspire and instruct. It also needs
• Monitor comprehension and modify
to bring in paying customers.
reading strategies by questioning. In addition, numerous locales from

350 UNIT 3
Informational Text

Slavery is one of the most shameful Cincinnati—it was only in 2002 feelings of guilt (whites), anger
chapters of American history, but that the Ku Klux Klan stopped its (African Americans), and resent-
shameful stories are not the kind annual mounting of a Christmas ment (both), the center offers a
that everybody wants to pay money tree in the city’s main square. The final room that is not a gallery of
to hear. desire for reconciliation is built into any kind but a space for discus-
“There is a reluctance on the the center’s mission. Its focus, says sion. Trained facilitators will
part of African Americans and Spencer Crew, its executive director, encourage visitors to examine
whites to deal with slavery,” says “is not about finger pointing.” their feelings and share them.
former Virginia Governor Doug More than that, it also aims to “Productive, positive, uplifting”—
Wilder. He conceived the National be America’s first museum is this any way to tell a story so full
Slavery Museum, scheduled to open intended not just to arouse feel- of suffering? Well, maybe it is. For
in 2007. “People don’t want to ings but also to resolve them safely. one thing, the Freedom Center is in
discuss it. ‘Let’s get past it,’ they say. Concerned that people might exit many respects still the thing it
Well, I say that attitude is insulting the exhibition galleries with claims not to be: a museum of
to our history. We need to develop a
conscious awareness of how far CONNECTING Examining shackles
we’ve come and who we are.” in the Ohio museum

The museum envisioned by


Wilder, a descendant of enslaved
persons, will unabashedly be a
museum about the brutal merchan-
dising of human beings. The
Freedom Center in Cincinnati,
which cost $110 million to build
and hopes to attract 250,000 visi-
tors each year, is more cautious
about its approach to a difficult sub-
ject. Even the center’s name side-
steps the loaded word slavery. By
taking the Underground Railroad as
its focus, the center gets to empha-
size biracial resistance, not racial
victimization. The Underground
Railroad was a rare triumph of
African American and white coop-
eration in those days, not the far
more usual story of white oppres-
sion. “The story of the Underground
Railroad allows you to talk about
slavery in a way that’s productive,
positive, and uplifting,” says Ed
Rigaud, the center’s president.

Using the Past to Heal the


Present
The project was first conceived
11 years ago by Robert C. Harrod.
He is the executive director of the
regional chapter of what was then
called the National Conference of
Christians and Jews, now the
National Conference of Community
and Justice. His hope was that it
could help improve race relations in

SLAVERY UNDER GLASS 351


Andy Snow
Informational Text

A STARRY OPENING GALA


Joining in the center’s festivities were
Courtney Vance (left), Angela Bassett, and
Oprah Winfrey, who said the Freedom Center
honors those who “paid the price for me to be
who I am.”

slavery. Its largest feature is a two-


story, rough-hewn log cabin rescued
from a Kentucky farm. Built by slave
trader Captain John W. Anderson,
the structure held dozens of men
and women waiting to be sold,
shackled in pairs to a central chain
and confined to sitting or lying. It
lets visitors imagine themselves in
the cramped space where enslaved
persons were crammed. Carl
Westmoreland, a historian and
preservationist, was responsible for
rescuing the cabin. The great-
grandson of an enslaved blacksmith,
Westmoreland says, “It’s a place
that’s ugly and dark. But you’ve got
to look at the ugly side of the journey
to see the glory of our emergence.”

Eyes Still on the Prize


AS IT STOOD It took six years to dismantle and reassemble the pen.
The longest of the center’s display
areas is a series of galleries devoted
to the history of slave labor, the
miseries of the Middle Passage across
the Atlantic from Africa, and the
resistance struggles that eventually
led to emancipation. Visitors can
see an image of the scarred back of
a whipped enslaved person and hear
These captions from People Magazine, Let Freedom Ring, September 6, 2004

actors reading the testimonies of


enslaved people who described the
suffering they endured.
By placing so much stress on the
system of escape routes for runaways,
the center takes the risk of inflating
the real importance of the
Underground Railroad. By some
estimates, of the 4 million
enslaved persons in the United
States when the Civil War began,
no more than 100,000 benefited
from the system. But that emphasis
RELOCATED A curator calls the structure “a place of pain and awe.”
is essential for the center to sustain

352 UNIT 3 THE CIVIL WAR ERA


(tl)Taro Yamasaki, (tc)Taro Yamasaki, (c)Courtesy National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, (b)Taro Yamasaki
Informational Text
Andy Snow

CINCINNATI A gallery at
the Underground Railroad
Freedom Center

its uplifting message. Its next “The Struggle Continues.” Here both themes. “We will prove
significant section of exhibits is the interactive computer displays allow ourselves to be the museum of the
“Hall of Everyday Freedom Heroes.” you to learn about ongoing efforts future,” promises Naomi Nelson,
It offers portraits and touch-screen against oppression, hunger, illiteracy, the center’s director of education.
information about a whole spectrum bigotry, and modern-day slavery. She may be right about that. If it
of figures from throughout the world So you may well leave the last also always manages to do justice to
who fought for the rights of religious galleries with your mind far from the past, the future looks O.K.
and racial minorities, women, and the horrors of the slave experience — UPDATED 2006, from TIME,
just about anyone who ever stood up or even the struggles against it. But August 30, 2004, and People,
against an oppressive system. That the center will also have temporary September 6, 2004
leads in turn to a final area, called exhibitions that will expand on

R ES P O N D I N G AN D TH I N K I N G C R ITI CALLY

Respond Analyze and Evaluate


1. What was your initial reaction to the idea of 5. (a)According to the article, why is it difficult to
creating museums dedicated to the experience of create a successful museum dedicated to the
slavery? How did your reaction change after subject of slavery? (b)What evidence does the
reading the article? author present to support this claim?
6. (a)How do you think the author feels that the
Recall and Interpret goals of the Freedom Center compare with those
2. Return to the list of questions you created on of other slavery museums? (b)What evidence
page 350. What do you think are the most from the text supports your answer?
important ideas of the article?
3. (a)What is the emphasis of the Freedom Center? Connect
(b)Why do you think that this approach is favored 7. How do you think Frederick Douglass, Sojourner
in the center? Truth, and other abolitionists would want the
subject of slavery to be taught? How do you think
4. (a)What role did Cincinnati play in the antislavery
it should be taught?
movement? (b)Explain how the struggle for
freedom is a contemporary issue, as well as a
historical one.

SLAVERY UNDER GLASS 353


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

And Ain’t I a Woman?


M E E T SOJ O U RN E R T RU T H

A
rmed with common sense and sharp wit,
Sojourner Truth spent her long life bat-
tling slavery and demanding voting rights
“There is no use in one man, or one
for women. Nearly six feet tall, Truth had a deep, nation, to try to do or be everything. It
smooth voice that quieted rowdy crowds and won is a good thing to be dependent on each
devoted supporters. Resisting injustice, Truth
believed, was her divinely ordained duty. other for something, it makes us civil
Sojourner Truth, whose given name was Isabella, and peaceable.”
was born into slavery in Ulster County, New York, —Sojourner Truth
a Dutch-speaking region. She endured cruel slave
owners, backbreaking work, and harsh beatings
until, at age twenty-nine, she escaped. Given ref- Isabella had believed she saw visions and heard
uge by Isaac and Maria Van Wagener, she took the messages sent from God. In about 1843, she
name Isabella Van Wagener. Since childhood, changed her name to Sojourner Truth—meaning
that she would become a sojourner, or visiting
traveler, spreading the truth of God—and started
to preach throughout the northeastern United
States. Before long, she began to weave antislavery
messages into her preaching.
Truth also became an ardent champion of women’s
rights, especially the right to vote. In 1850 she
began traveling the Midwest, attracting large crowds
wherever she spoke. On this tour, in Akron, Ohio,
she delivered what would become her most famous
address, “And Ain’t I a Woman?” Truth then moved
to Battle Creek, Michigan, where she continued to
agitate for women’s rights and abolition. After the
start of the Civil War in 1861, Truth worked to
gather supplies and funds for black volunteer regi-
ments. Toward the end of the war, Truth moved to
Washington, D.C. where she accepted a job with the
National Freedmen’s Relief Association, counseling
former slaves. At the age of seventy-eight, Truth
returned to Battle Creek, where she remained until
her death. A monument in downtown Battle Creek
commemorates this remarkable woman.
Sojourner Truth was born in 1797 and died in 1883.

Author Search For more about


Sojourner Truth, go to www.glencoe.com.

354 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
Bettmann/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Speech Reading Strategy Evaluating Argument


Think of a time in your life when you felt you were To evaluate is to make a judgment or form an opinion
treated unfairly. What was the situation, and how did about something you read. In a persuasive speech
you handle it? As you read, compare your experience such as “And Ain’t I a Woman?,” we must evaluate the
with Truth’s. argument to determine whether Truth has persuaded
us. Think about how effective Truth is in convincing
you to adopt her positions.
Building Background
On the second day of the 1851 Women’s Rights Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart to record
Convention where Truth gave her speech, a number of Sojourner Truth’s major assertions, her reasons for
male ministers spoke, insisting that women were too those assertions, and whether you think her
weak and intellectually inferior to vote. One man gave arguments are effective.
religious reasons against women’s suffrage, or right to
vote. Truth’s speech is her answer to these critics.
Assertion Reason Effective?
Her speech was not written or rehearsed, so many
versions have survived—some in what might be inter- I have ploughed To prove that
preted as the dialect of an enslaved person from the and planted, and she is as
South. In reality, Truth spoke Standard English and was gathered into physically strong
originally from New York. So whose exact words are barns, and no man as a man
these? We may never know, but the spirit is certainly could head me.
that of Sojourner Truth.

Setting Purposes for Reading


Vocabulary
Big Idea Resistance to Slavery
Read Sojourner Truth’s speech to find out how one
racket (rak it) n. loud noise; clamor; din; p. 356
former enslaved woman spoke out against injustice
The twins made such a racket that we couldn’t hear
ten years before the start of the Civil War and many
the speaker.
years before women could vote. borne (born) v. past participle of bear; given
birth to; produced; p. 356 The peach trees have
Literary Element Oratory not borne any fruit yet.
Oratory is the art of effective public speaking, or the oblige (ə bl¯j ) v. to make grateful or indebted;
use of persuasive skills when speaking. Oratory is com- to do a favor or service for; p. 356 I would be
mon in politics, law, and religion. As you read the obliged if you would remove your hat.
speech, notice how Truth uses persuasive devices,
such as providing evidence from her personal experi- Vocabulary Tip: Context Clues Context clues are
ence, to achieve her purpose. the words and sentences around an unfamiliar
word that help you figure out the word’s meaning.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R12. For example, when reading the phrase “I have
borne thirteen children,” you might guess that
borne means “given birth to” or “produced”
Interactive Literary Elements
because of the word children.
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • understanding oratory
• connecting literature to historical context • evaluating an argument

SOJOURNER TRUTH 355


ell, children, where there is so much
racket there must be something out of
kilter.1 I think that ’twixt2 the Negroes
of the South and the women at the North, all
talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix
pretty soon. But what’s all this here talking about?
That man over there says that women need to be
helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and
to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever
helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or
gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman?
Look at me! Look at my arm. I have ploughed and
planted, and gathered into barns, and no man
could head3 me! And ain’t I a woman? I could
work as much and eat as much as a man—when I
could get it—and bear the lash as well! And ain’t
I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and
seen them most all sold off to slavery, and when I
cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus
Anna Washington Derry, 1927. Laura Wheeler Waring heard me! And ain’t I a woman?
(1887–1948). Oil on canvas, 20 x 16 in. Gift of the Then they talk about this thing in the head;
Harmon Foundation. Smithsonian American Art Museum,
Washington, DC.
what’s this they call it? [Intellect, someone whis-
pers.] That’s it, honey. What’s that got to do with
women’s rights or Negroes rights? If my cup
won’t hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart,
wouldn’t you be mean not to let me have my lit-
tle half-measure full?
Then that little man in black there, he says
women can’t have as much rights as men, ’cause
Christ wasn’t a woman! Where did your Christ
come from? Where did your Christ come from?
From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do
with Him.
If the first woman God ever made was strong
enough to turn the world upside down all alone,
these women together ought to be able to turn it
back, and get it right side up again! And now
they is asking to do it, the men better let them.
Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old
Sojourner ain’t got nothing more to say. 
Sojourner Truth

Big Idea Resistance to Slavery How does Truth connect


slavery and women’s rights? 1. The phrase out of kilter means “out of order” or “mixed up.”
2. ’Twixt is the shortened form of betwixt, an Old English word
Vocabulary meaning “between.”
3. Here, Truth uses head to mean “to do better than” or “to get
racket (rak it) n. loud noise; clamor; din ahead of.”
borne (born) v. past participle of bear; given birth to;
produced Reading Strategy Evaluating Argument Who is the
oblige (ə bl̄j) v. to make grateful or indebted; to do a “little man in black”? Why is it appropriate that she
favor or service for addresses him during her speech?

356 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C./ Art Resource, NY
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Imagine you are attending the Women’s Rights 5. An allusion is a reference to a well-known charac-
Convention in 1851. How might you respond to ter, place, or situation from history or from music,
Sojourner Truth’s speech? art, or another work of literature. (a)What allusion
to the Bible does Truth make in the paragraph just
before her closing statement? (b)Evaluate the
Recall and Interpret impact of that allusion on her message.
2. (a)How does Truth refute the first three reasons
given against women’s suffrage? (b)What does
Connect
Truth’s response tell you about her character?
6. Big Idea Resistance to Slavery (a)How does
3. (a)What repetition does Truth use in the first
Truth introduce the antislavery message into her
part of her argument? (b)What is the effect of this
speech? (b)How appropriate is this message, given
repetition?
the purpose of the convention?
4. (a)How does Truth answer the religious argument
against letting women vote? (b)What does her
argument tell you about her religious beliefs?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO CA B U L A RY

Literary Element Oratory Reading Strategy Evaluating Argument


Oratory is the art of effective public speaking, or the Evaluate one of Truth’s arguments by analyzing her
use of persuasive skills when speaking. reasoning. Do you agree with her reasoning? Why or
why not?
1. What is the purpose of Truth’s speech?
2. Identify the qualities that you think make this
speech effective and help Truth achieve her pur- Vocabulary Practice
pose. In your opinion, would these qualities appeal Practice with Context Clues Read the paragraph
to contemporary audiences? Use details from the below. Use context clues to recall the meaning of
speech to support your answer.
each boldfaced vocabulary word.

Writing About Literature My mother says that being a parent is a difficult


job, and I agree with her. She insists that preg-
Evaluate Rhetorical Devices Write a brief essay
nancy, while strenuous, is not the hardest part of
identifying and analyzing the rhetorical strategy that
motherhood: it is after a mother has borne her
Truth employs in her argument. Explain how successful
children that the real work starts. Instead of enter-
you think this strategy is.
ing a tranquil and noiseless home after work, she
is usually greeted by the racket of my younger
brothers’ playing basketball. However, despite the
trials of being a parent, my mother also insists that
it is the best job that she could ever have. For that
Web Activities For eFlashcards, sentiment and all of her hard work, I am obliged.
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

SOJOUR NER TRUTH 357


Vocabulary Workshop
Denotation and Connotation

º Vocabulary Terms Using Semantic Charts


The denotation of a word
Connecting to Literature During the famous speech “And Ain’t I a Woman,”
is its literal meaning; the
Sojourner Truth recounts the experience of watching helplessly as her children
connotation of a word is
are sold into slavery. She says, “And when I cried out with my mother’s grief,
its implied meaning.
none but Jesus heard me!” Truth could have used words other than grief. For
º Test-Taking Tip instance, she could have spoken of sorrow or regret—after all, those words have a
If, during a test, you are similar meaning to grief. But they also have subtle differences. Words can have
asked what the denotation similar denotations (dictionary definitions) but different connotations (ideas,
of a word is, think about images, or feelings suggested by the word). The power of a word to suggest an
how you would define the array of connotations enables precision in speaking and in writing.
word for someone else. To
describe the word’s con- A chart like the one below can help you look more closely at the words grief,
notations, think about the sorrow, and regret—at their similarities, their differences, and their shades of
images and ideas the meaning. Follow these instructions to create the chart:
word brings to mind.
• Place the words to be analyzed in the left-hand column of the chart.
º Reading Handbook • Check a dictionary to gather different definitions for each word. These
For more about denotation definitions are the words’ denotations.
and connotation, see • In the second column of the chart, enter the definition for each term.
Reading Handbook, R20. • In the third column of the chart, record ideas, images, or feelings that you
associate with each word. For example, you may associate grief with disasters
or funerals. Such associations are a word’s connotations.

A semantic features chart has been started below.

Denotation Connotation

eFlashcards For eFlashcards Grief


and other vocabulary activities, go
to www.glencoe.com. Sorrow
Regret

Exercise
1. Complete the chart. With your classmates, discuss the denotations and
connotations of the three words. Why do you think Truth chose to
describe her feeling as grief and not as sorrow or regret? Explain.
OB J EC TIVES 2. Find three or four words that have denotations that are similar to each
• Analyze denotation and other in other selections in Unit 3, Part 1. Create and fill in the mean-
connotation. ings for a semantic features chart with these words. Explain what partic-
• Create graphic organizers ular shades of meaning the connotations of the words help the authors
to understand text.
to suggest.
358 UNIT 3 TH E CIVI L WAR E RA
PART 2
The Civil War:
A NationDivided

The Old Flag Never Touched The Ground. Rick Reeves.

“Many are the hearts that are weary tonight,


Wishing for the war to cease . . . ”
— Walter C. Kittredge, “Tenting on the Old Campground”

359
Rick Reeves/National Guard
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Private Collection / Art Resource, NY


from Mary Chesnut’s
Civil War
M E E T M A RY C H ESN U T

M
ary Boykin Chesnut’s life was one of
opposites. Before the Civil War, she was
the privileged daughter of Stephen
Miller, a wealthy plantation owner in South
Carolina. When the war ended, however, she and
her husband were financially ruined. Although she
abhorred slavery, her family owned hundreds of
slaves, and her father was a pro-slavery congress-
man, senator, and governor. Chesnut’s observant
nature, education, and social position made her
an excellent chronicler of the South during the
Civil War.

Education Unlike many women of her era,


Chesnut received a formal education. She attended
Madame Talvande’s French School for Young Ladies
in Charleston, South Carolina, where she was an
excellent student. During her time at Madame
Talvande’s, she met James Chesnut Jr., a lawyer
Publication After the war ended, Chesnut and
from a neighboring plantation. The couple mar-
her family came upon difficult times. They lost
ried just after Chesnut turned seventeen years old.
their plantation due to debt, and James died in
When James was elected to the Senate in 1858,
1884. After his death, Chesnut was left alone to
the Chesnuts moved to Washington, D.C., where
oversee their struggling dairy farm. Despite these
they entertained politicians who would become
hardships, she still worked to publish her memoirs.
the leading figures of the Confederacy, such as
Similar to many other works of the Civil War era,
Jefferson Davis, the future president of the
Chesnut’s “diary” is actually a compilation of jour-
Confederacy. When she was not charming her
nal entries recorded during the war and recollec-
friends with her sharp wit, Chesnut immersed
tions written after it ended. Chesnut wrote her
herself in reading history books and English and
memoirs between 1881 and 1884. Unfortunately,
French novels.
she died of a heart attack before it could reach
When the war broke out, Chesnut remained loyal publication. The first public version of her jour-
to the South despite her opposition to slavery. nals, A Diary from Dixie, was published almost
Her husband had relinquished his seat in the U.S. twenty years later. Today it is lauded for its
Senate in 1860 after the ideological differences vivid descriptions and details of a life in the
between the North and South became too extreme. Confederacy.
Afterward, he was a prominent figure in the
Confederacy, and as a result the Chesnuts traveled Mary Chesnut was born in 1823 and died in 1886.
throughout the South. Throughout the Civil War,
Chesnut lamented the cruelties and evils of war in
detailed journals that reflected what people of the Author Search For more about
time believed, thought, and said. Mary Chesnut, go to www.glencoe.com.

360 UNIT 3 TH E C I V I L WA R E RA
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Journal Reading Strategy Distinguishing Fact and


Have you ever kept a journal or a diary? If so, what Opinion
kinds of events and opinions did you document? A fact is a statement that can be validated with proof,
If not, what might you choose to write about? As while an opinion offers a personal point of view or
you read the journal entries, ask yourself the follow- feeling. As you read Chesnut’s journal, note where she
ing questions: offers an opinion rather than presenting the facts.
• Why might someone choose to write a journal?
• What might you choose to write about in a journal? Reading Tip: Identifying Opinion Statements
Adverbs and adjectives, such as delightfully, silly, and
Building Background horrible, are often indicators of opinion statements.
The passage you are about to read from Chesnut’s
journal describes the outbreak of the Civil War. By early Vocabulary
1861, South Carolina had seceded from the Union
and claimed ownership of all federal property within allusion (ə l¯¯¯
oo zhən) n. an indirect or casual
the state. Only Fort Sumter, located in Charleston reference; an incidental mention; p. 363 To
Harbor, remained under federal control. Confederate avoid trouble, he only made a brief allusion to his
authorities demanded the removal of U.S. troops from overdue assignment.
the fort. President Lincoln refused their request, and audaciously (o dā shəs lē) adv. boldly; arro-
on April 12, 1861, Confederate cannons opened fire gantly; p. 363 The bold woman stepped auda-
on the fort. The Civil War had begun. ciously to the front of the line.
Setting Purposes for Reading prostrate (pros trāt) adj. stretched out with
face to the ground in humility, adoration, or
Big Idea A Nation Divided submission; p. 363 The priest was prostrate before
As you read Chesnut’s journal entries, think about the the altar.
conflicting feelings she and other Southerners may
have had about supporting the rebellion. delusion (di l¯¯¯oo zhen) n. a false impression or
belief; p. 364 Behind in the polls, the candidate
still had the delusion that he could win.
Literary Element Journal
pervade (pər vād ) v. to spread through every
A journal is a daily record of events by a participant in
part; p. 364 After a week of rain, dampness per-
those events or a witness to them. Journals are subjec-
vaded the house.
tive, which means that they reflect the writer’s personal
perspective. As you read these entries, think about Vocabulary Tip: Context Clues You can often
what Chesnut’s journal reveals about her personality determine the meaning of an unfamiliar word by
and character. examining the sentence in which the word appears.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R10. Often, the tone of the sentence and the words pre-
ceding or following the unfamiliar word—called con-
text clues—will help you define that word. For
example, in the passage “Sound and fury, signifying
nothing. A delusion and a snare . . . ,” the phrase
“signifying nothing” and the word snare can help
Interactive Literary Elements you define delusion as “a false impression or belief.”
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • responding to journal entries
• analyzing historical context • distinguishing fact and opinion

MARY CHESNUT 361


Bettmann/Corbis
Mary Chesnut

A pril 7, 1861. . . . Today things seem to


have settled down a little. One can but hope
Now he tells me the attack upon Fort Sumter
may begin tonight. Depends upon Anderson and
still. Lincoln or Seward1 have made such silly the fleet outside. The Herald says that this show
advances and then far sillier drawings back. of war outside of the bar4 is intended for Texas.5
There may be a chance for peace, after all. John Manning came in with his sword and red
Things are happening so fast. sash. Pleased as a boy to be on Beauregard’s staff
My husband has been made an aide-de-camp2 while the row goes on. He has gone with Wigfall
of General Beauregard.3 Three hours ago we to Captain Hartstene with instructions.
were quietly packing to go home. The conven- Mr. Chesnut6 is finishing a report he had to
tion has adjourned. make to the convention.
Mrs. Hayne called. She had, she said, “but one
feeling, pity for those who are not here.”
1. William Henry Seward was U.S. Secretary of State from 1861
Jack Preston, Willie Alston—“the take-life-
to 1869.
2. An officer who serves as an assistant to a superior officer is
easys,” as they are called—with John Green, “the
an aide-de-camp.
3. General Beauregard commanded the Confederate forces
4. Bar refers to a sand bar.
surrounding Fort Sumter.
5. Texas, a pro-slavery state, had recently voted to secede from
Big Idea the Union.
A Nation Divided How does this statement
6. Mr. Chesnut (also called Colonel Chesnut) refers to Mary’s
show the conflicting feelings of Southerners during the
husband James, who served as the liaison between
Civil War?
Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Colonel Anderson.

362 UNIT 3 TH E C I V I L WA R E RA
big brave,” have gone down to the island—vol- “The news, I come for the latest news—all of the
unteered as privates. men of the King family are on the island”—of
Seven hundred men were sent over. which fact she seemed proud.
Ammunition wagons rumbling along the streets While she was here, our peace negotiator—
all night. Anderson burning blue lights—signs or envoy—came in. That is, Mr. Chesnut
and signals for the fleet outside, I suppose. returned—his interview with Colonel Anderson
Today at dinner there was no allusion to had been deeply interesting—but was not
things as they stand in Charleston Harbor. There inclined to be communicative, wanted his din-
was an undercurrent of intense excitement. ner. Felt for Anderson. Had telegraphed to
There could not have been a more brilliant cir- President Davis for instructions.
cle. In addition to our usual quartet (Judge What answer to give Anderson, &c&c.7 He
Withers, Langdon Cheves, and Trescot) our two has gone back to Fort Sumter, with additional
governors dined with us, Means and Manning. instructions.
These men all talked so delightfully. For once When they were about to leave the wharf, A.
in my life I listened. H. Boykin sprang into the boat, in great excite-
That over, business began. In earnest, Governor ment; thought himself ill-used. A likelihood of
Means rummaged a sword and red sash from some- fighting—and he to be left behind!
where and brought it for Colonel Chesnut, who
has gone to demand the surrender of Fort Sumter. —S—

—S— I do not pretend to go to sleep. How can I? If


Anderson does not accept terms—at four—the
And now, patience—we must wait. orders are—he shall be fired upon.
I count four—St. Michael chimes. I begin to
—S— hope. At half-past four, the heavy booming of a
cannon.
Why did that green goose Anderson go into Fort I sprang out of bed. And on my knees—
Sumter? Then everything began to go wrong. prostrate—I prayed as I never prayed before.
Now they have intercepted a letter from him, There was a sound of stir all over the
urging them to let him surrender. He paints the house—pattering of feet in the corridor—all
horrors likely to ensue if they will not. seemed hurrying one way. I put on my double
He ought to have thought of all that before he gown and a shawl and went, too. It was to the
put his head in the hole. housetop.
The shells were bursting. In the dark I heard a
April 12, 1861 . . . Anderson will not capitulate. man say “waste of ammunition.”
I knew my husband was rowing about in a
—S— boat somewhere in that dark bay. And that the
shells were roofing it over—bursting toward the
Yesterday was the merriest, maddest dinner we fort. If Anderson was obstinate—he was to order
have had yet. Men were more audaciously wise the forts on our side to open fire. Certainly fire
and witty. We had an unspoken foreboding it had begun. The regular roar of the cannon—
was to be our last pleasant meeting. Mr. Miles there it was. And who could tell what each vol-
dined with us today. Mrs. Henry King rushed in: ley accomplished of death and destruction.
Reading Strategy Distinguishing Fact and Opinion 7. &c&c means “et cetera” or “and others.”
Is Chesnut presenting here a fact or an opinion?
Literary Element Journal How might a soldier describe
this situation differently?
Vocabulary

allusion (ə l¯¯¯
oozhən) n. an indirect or casual refer- Vocabulary
ence; an incidental mention prostrate (prostrāt) adj. stretched out with face to the
audaciously (o dāshəs lē) adv. boldly; arrogantly ground in humility, adoration, or submission

MARY C HESNUT 363


The women were wild, there on the housetop. —S—

Bettmann/Corbis
Prayers from the women and imprecations8 from
the men, and then a shell Somebody came in just now and reported Colonel
would light up the scene. Chesnut asleep on the sofa in General Beauregard’s
Tonight, they say, the forces room. After two such nights he must be so tired
are to attempt to land. as to be able to sleep anywhere. . . .
The Harriet Lane9 had her APRIL 13, 1861. . . . Nobody hurt, after all. How
wheelhouse smashed and put gay we were last night.
back to sea. Reaction after the dread of all the slaughter
we thought those dreadful cannons were making
Visual Vocabulary —S—
such a noise in doing.
The wheelhouse is
the enclosed area We watched up there— Not even a battery11 the worse for wear.
on the deck of a everybody wondered. Fort Fort Sumter has been on fire. He has not yet
ship that shelters Sumter did not fire a shot. silenced any of our guns. So the aides—still
the steering equip- with swords and red sashes by way of uniform—
ment and the pilot.
—S— tell us.
But the sound of those guns makes regular
Today Miles and Manning, colonels now—aides meals impossible. None of us go to table. But tea
to Beauregard—dined with us. The latter hoped trays pervade the corridors, going everywhere.
I would keep the peace. I give him only good Some of the anxious hearts lie on their beds
words, for he was to be under fire all day and and moan in solitary misery. Mrs. Wigfall and I
night, in the bay carrying orders, &c. solace ourselves with tea in my room.
These women have all a satisfying faith. . . .
—S—

Last night—or this morning truly—up on the APRIL 15, 1861. . . . I did not know that one
housetop I was so weak and weary I sat down on could live such days of excitement.
something that looked like a black stool. They called, “Come out—there is a crowd
“Get up, you foolish woman—your dress is on coming.”
fire,” cried a man. And he put me out. It was a A mob indeed, but it was headed by Colonels
chimney, and the sparks caught my clothes. Chesnut and Manning.
Susan Preston and Mr. Venable then came up. The crowd was shouting and showing these
But my fire had been extinguished before it two as messengers of good news. They were
broke out into a regular blaze. escorted to Beauregard’s headquarters. Fort
Sumter had surrendered.
—S—
Those up on the housetop shouted to us, “The
fort is on fire.” That had been the story once or
Do you know, after all that noise and our tears and
twice before.
prayers, nobody has been hurt. Sound and fury, sig-
nifying nothing.10 A delusion and a snare.... —S—

When we had calmed down, Colonel Chesnut,


8. Imprecations are curses.
9. The Harriet Lane was a federal ship that brought provisions
who had taken it all quietly enough—if any-
to the troops at Fort Sumter. thing, more unruffled than usual in his
10. “Sound and fury, signifying nothing” is taken from Macbeth serenity—told us how the surrender came about.
(act 5, scene 5, lines 27–28), a play by Shakespeare. Wigfall was with them on Morris Island when
Reading Strategy Distinguishing Fact and Opinion
he saw the fire in the fort, jumped in a little boat
Do you think that this statement is based on factual informa-
tion, or is it Chesnut’s opinion?
11. A battery is an artillery unit.

Vocabulary Vocabulary

delusion (di l¯oo


¯¯¯zhen) n. a false impression or belief pervade (pər vād) v. to spread through every part

364 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
Bettmann/CORBIS

Sunset at Fort Sumter, 1863. Conrad Wise Chapman.


Viewing the Art: What do the details of this painting reveal
about the situation at Fort Sumter at this time?

and, with his handkerchief as a white flag, rowed But it is all confusion. Our flag is flying there.
over to Fort Sumter. Wigfall went in through a Fire engines have been sent to put out the fire.
porthole. Everybody tells you half of something and
When Colonel Chesnut arrived shortly after then rushes off to tell something else or to hear
and was received by the regular entrance, the last news. . . . 
Colonel Anderson told him he had need to pick
his way warily, for it was all mined.
Literary Element Journal Would a member of the
As far as I can make out, the fort surrendered Confederate army or a Confederate official agree that “it is
to Wigfall. all confusion” ?

MARY C HESNUT 365


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond 6. Many of Chesnut’s entries document meals and
the people who were present at them. (a)Why
1. What insights about the Civil War did these journal
might she have documented these meals? (b)In
entries give you?
what ways do they contribute to the impact of her
Recall and Interpret journal?
2. (a)What activities in Chesnut’s entry for April 7 sug- 7. (a)How would you describe Chesnut’s state of
gest that war is about to begin? (b)What attitude mind at the end of this excerpt? (b)Given what
does Chesnut express toward these activities? you know about the Civil War, in what ways do her
feelings foreshadow the events to come?
3. (a)What major event takes place on April 12?
(b)What hopes and fears does Chesnut convey in Connect
the entry for that day?
8. Although Chesnut did not approve of slavery, she
4. (a)What bit of good news does Chesnut report in believed in the Confederate cause. What factors
her entry for April 13? (b)What does this entry might have motivated her to support the
reveal about her attitude toward the war? Confederacy?

Analyze and Evaluate 9. Big Idea A Nation Divided Chesnut writes,


5. (a)Describe the tone, the writer’s feelings about “There may be a chance for peace, after all.” From
the topic and characters, in the first journal entry. your reading here, do you think the events that
(b)Is this what you might expect under the circum- took place at Fort Sumter could have been
stances? Explain your response. avoided? Explain your response.

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Journal Reading Strategy Distinguishing Fact and


Along with recording daily events, a journal writer Opinion
includes thoughts, observations, and personal feelings. A personal diary account of a historic event, such as
Chesnut captures the impact of the war on the every- this one by Mary Chesnut, is likely to contain both fact
day lives of Southerners and shares her reflections on and opinion. Review the excerpt and identify at least
what is happening around her. three statements of fact and three opinions.
1. How is Chesnut’s journal different from a history or
memoir that a politician or military officer of the
time might have written?
Vocabulary Practice
Practice with Context Clues You can often deter-
2. How would you describe Chesnut’s writing style?
mine the meaning of an unfamiliar word by examin-
ing the sentence in which the word appears. Often,
Literature Groups the tone of the sentence and the words preceding or
Understanding the Past What can Chesnut’s journal following the unfamiliar word—called context clues—
entries teach you about this time period? What are the will help you to define that word. Locate the context
strengths and limitations of these entries? Discuss clues for the italicized words in these sentences.
these questions in your group, using details from the 1. “And on my knees—prostrate—I prayed as I had
selection to support your opinions. never prayed before.”
2. “But tea trays pervade the corridors, going
Web Activities For eFlashcards, everywhere.”
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

366 UNIT 3 TH E C I V I L WA R E RA
Grammar Workshop
Sentence Coherence

Using Transitional Expressions º Test-Taking Tip


To identify transitions in a
“My husband has been made an aide-de-camp of General Beauregard. Three
test-taking situation, skim
hours ago we were quietly packing to go home. The convention has adjourned.
the text for key terms
“Now he tells me the attack upon Fort Sumter may begin tonight.”
shown in the chart.
—Mary Chesnut, from “Mary Chesnut’s Civil War”
º Language Handbook
For more about transitions,
Connecting to Literature In the quotation above there are transitions—
see Writing Handbook,
words and phrases that help show the relationships between ideas—to show time
p. R34.
relationships. The transitional phrase three hours ago tells when Mrs. Chesnut
and her husband were packing. The transitional word now tells when she hears
that the attack may begin soon.

Transitional words and phrases can clarify not only time order but other relation-
ships as well. Each of those relationships uses particular transitions.

Relationship Transitional Words and Phrases

Time first, next, now, today, yesterday, meanwhile

Importance especially, above all, in fact, primarily, more importantly

Cause and Effect because, as a result, consequently

Contrast but, yet, now, on the other hand, however, nevertheless

Example namely, for instance, that is, for example

Examples
• Because Anderson refused to surrender Fort Sumter, the battle began.
[Because shows a cause/effect relationship.] eWorkbooks To link to
the Grammar and Language
• The cannon fire was intense; however, no one was hurt. eWorkbook, go to
[However shows a contrast relationship.] www.glencoe.com.

Exercise
Revise for Clarity Add a transitional word or phrase to show a relationship
between each pair of sentences. Underline the transition and tell what rela-
tionship it shows.
1. Many Charleston men were exhausted during the battle. Colonel
Chesnut fell asleep on a sofa in the commanding general’s quarters.
OB J ECT IV ES
2. Mrs. Auld began to teach Frederick Douglass to read. She became angry • Analyze and evaluate
when she saw him reading. transitions.

3. “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” was sung in worship. It carried a coded meaning. • Use transitions to clarify
text.

G RA MM A R WO RKS HOP 367


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Letter to His Son


M E E T RO BE R T E . LE E

A
dored by his troops and respected by his Within three weeks of taking command, Lee had
enemies, Robert E. Lee remains a symbol of organized his troops, improved discipline and
Southern and American dignity. He was morale, and convinced his soldiers of his authority.
born into the famous Lee family of Virginia, who, Nevertheless, he knew that the powerful Union
according to President John Adams, had “more men forces far outnumbered his own and had no
of merit in it than any other family.” His father was doubt that his regiment would be crushed in the
a cavalry commander during the Revolutionary open battlefield.
War, a governor of Virginia, and a friend to George
Washington. As a student at West Point, Lee
earned many honors, including a commission to the
elite Army Corps of Engineers. During the Mexican “There was not a man in the
War (1846–1848), he rose to the rank of captain. Confederacy whose influence with the
General Winfield Scott said that Lee was “the very
best soldier I ever saw in the field.” whole people was as great as his.”
—Ulysses S. Grant
A Difficult Decision In 1861 Lee faced an ago-
nizing decision. President Lincoln asked him to
command the Union forces in the Civil War. Victory and Defeat Lee achieved brilliant
Unwilling to fight against his state, Lee declined and victories at the battles of Second Manassas,
resigned his position in the United States Army. He Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. Then, in order
had been in the army for thirty-six years. Lee then to keep fighting off of Virginia soil, Lee pushed north
joined the Confederate forces and took command of into Maryland and Pennsylvania, engaging the U.S.
the Army of Northern Virginia in 1862. Army at Antietam and Gettysburg in June and July
of 1863. However, after Gettysburg, the Union forces
began to prevail. Lee’s forces were malnourished and
undersupplied, while those of Union General Grant
had a fresh batch of recruits, superior armaments, and
an impressive cavalry. Grant’s troops progressed far-
ther and farther into Virginia. On April 9, 1865, see-
ing that the end had come, Lee surrendered to
General Grant at Appomattox. After the war Lee
urged his fellow Southerners to put their bitterness
behind them. An enduring U.S. hero, Lee was a bril-
liant soldier with a noble spirit and a chivalric manner.
Robert E. Lee was born in 1807 and died
in 1870.

Author Search For more about


Robert E. Lee, go to www.glencoe.com.

368 UNIT 3 TH E C I V I L WA R E RA
Corbis
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Letter Reading Strategy Determining Main Idea


What do you do when you are caught in a dilemma and Supporting Details
and are forced to make a painful choice? In this letter, The main idea in a paragraph is the guiding thought
Robert E. Lee tells his son of the inner conflict that that all of the sentences in the paragraph support. As
arises when his dedication to the United States is pitted you read, identify Lee’s main ideas and the details
against his loyalty to and love for his home state of that support them.
Virginia. As you read the letter, think about the following
questions: Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart to record
• Whom would you contact if you needed to talk Lee’s main ideas and the details that support them.
about two conflicting loyalties or a tough decision?
How would you expect this person to respond?
Main Idea Supporting Details
• Imagine that you are Robert E. Lee’s son or daughter.
How would you respond to this letter?

Building Background
In the days before telephones and e-mail, letters were
the most common way to communicate at a distance.
Robert E. Lee’s letters are of interest because they
throw light on historic events and reveal the mind and
heart of a great leader. Lee wrote this letter on January
23, 1861. South Carolina had seceded from the Union Vocabulary
in December 1860, followed quickly by Mississippi, perusal (pə rōō zəl) n. the process of examining
Florida, and Alabama. Lee’s home state of Virginia carefully; p. 371 Her perusal of the latest Harry
would secede approximately three months later, on Potter book totally engrossed her.
April 17, 1861.
anarchy (an ər kē) n. the absence of govern-
Setting Purposes for Reading ment; p. 371 Lawmen were few in the frontier com-
munities, and anarchy was frequently the rule.
Big Idea A Nation Divided
As you read, consider how Lee’s personal conflict array (ə rā ) v. to place in proper or methodical
reflects the sharp divide between the North and South. order; p. 371 The chess pieces were arrayed against
each other.
Literary Element Diction redress (rē dress´) n. compensation, as for
wrong done; p. 371 Our neighbor demanded
Diction is a writer’s choice of words, an important ele-
redress for the damage to his house caused by a bro-
ment in the writer’s “voice” or style. As you read, con-
ken water main.
sider how Lee’s choice of words expresses his concerns
shortly before the outbreak of the Civil War. contend (kən tend ) v. to argue; dispute; p.
371 I contend that every citizen should be informed
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R5. about current issues.

Vocabulary Tip: Antonyms Antonyms are words


that have opposite or nearly opposite meanings.
Interactive Literary Elements Antonyms are always the same part of speech.
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • understanding diction

relating literature to historical period • determining the main idea

ROBERT E . LEE 36 9
SEF/Art Resource, NY

Robert E. Lee

370 UNIT 3 TH E C I V I L WA R E RA
I received Everett’s1 Life of Washington which
you sent me, and enjoyed its perusal. How his
individual or private benefit. As an American
citizen, I take great pride in my country, her
spirit would be grieved could he see the wreck of prosperity and institutions, and would defend
his mighty labors! I will not, however, permit any state if her rights were invaded. But I can
myself to believe, until all ground of hope is gone, anticipate no greater calamity for the country
that the fruit of his noble deeds will be destroyed, than a dissolution of the Union. It would be an
and that his precious advice and virtuous example accumulation of all the evils we complain of,
will so soon be forgotten by his countrymen. As far and I am willing to sacrifice everything but
as I can judge by the papers, we are between a state honor for its preservation. I hope, therefore,
of anarchy and civil war. May God avert2 both of that all constitutional means will be exhausted
these evils from us! I fear that mankind will not before there is a resort to force. Secession is
for years be sufficiently Christianized to bear the nothing but revolution. The framers of our
absence of restraint and force. I see that four states3 Constitution never exhausted so much labor,
have declared themselves out of the Union; four wisdom, and forbearance in its formation, and
more will apparently follow their example. surrounded it with so many guards and securi-
Then, if the border states are brought into the ties, if it was intended to be broken by every
gulf of revolution, one half of the country will be member of the Confederacy at will. It was
arrayed against the other. I must try and be intended for “perpetual union,” so expressed in
patient and await the end, for I can do nothing the preamble, and for the establishment of a
to hasten or retard it. government, not a compact, which can only be
The South, in my opinion, has been aggrieved dissolved by revolution or the consent of all the
by the acts of the North, as you say. I feel the people in convention assembled. It is idle to
aggression and am willing to take every proper step talk of secession. Anarchy would have been
for redress. It is the principle I contend for, not established, and not a government, by
Washington, Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, and
the other patriots of the Revolution. . . . Still, a
Union that can only be maintained by swords
1. Edward Everett was a noted American politician and orator.
and bayonets,4 and in which strife and civil war
2. Here, avert means “to ward off.”
3. The first four states to secede from the Union were South are to take the place of brotherly love and
Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, and Alabama. With Georgia, kindness, has no charm for me. I shall mourn
Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North for my country and for the welfare and progress
Carolina, these states would make up the Confederate States
of mankind. If the Union is dissolved, and the
of America.
government disrupted, I shall return to my
Literary Element Diction What does Lee’s choice of native state and share the miseries of my
adjectives indicate about his feelings toward George Washington? people; and, save in defense, will draw my
sword on none. 
Vocabulary
perusal (pə r¯¯¯
oo zəl) n. the process of examining carefully
anarchy (an ər kē) n. the absence of government 4. A bayonet is a large knife or dagger that can be attached to
the muzzle of a rifle.
array (ə rā) v. to place in proper or methodical order
redress (rē dress´) n. compensation, as for wrong done Big Idea A Nation Divided What does this statement
contend (kən tend) v. to argue; dispute reveal about Lee’s personal response to the imminent war?

R OBERT E. LEE 371


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. What questions would you like to ask Robert E. Lee 5. (a)How does Lee support his opinions about
after reading his letter? secession? (b)What can you infer from this about
Lee’s attitude toward his country?
Recall and Interpret
6. (a)Why does Lee say that he will mourn for his
2. (a)How does Lee describe George Washington?
country and “for the welfare and progress of
(b)What do you learn about Lee’s character from
mankind”? (b)How do you think Lee might react to
his description of Washington?
events taking place today? Explain.
3. (a)What two evils does Lee say the country is
between? (b)What do you think Lee means when Connect
he says, “I fear that mankind will not for years be 7. Big Idea A Nation Divided Mary Custis Lee
sufficiently Christianized to bear the absence of wrote to a friend, “My husband has wept tears of
restraint and force”? blood over this terrible war, but as a man of honor
4. (a)What decision does Lee announce at the end of and a Virginian, he must follow the destiny of his
the letter? (b)What kind of person does this state.” How was Lee’s dilemma comparable to the
letter reveal Lee to be? one facing the country as a whole?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Diction Reading Strategy Determining Main Idea


Diction is a writer’s choice of words, one of the tools and Supporting Details
used to convey the desired tone and meaning. Lee’s Determining the main idea helps you discover an
diction, which reflects the language that was used in author’s purpose for writing. Sometimes, the main
the nineteenth-century, may seem formal and stilted idea is stated in a topic sentence; often, it is implied,
to us. For example, Lee wrote, “But I can anticipate no rather than stated. To find the main idea, look for the
greater calamity for the country than a dissolution of one idea that the sentences in the paragraph or para-
the Union.” graphs in the selection seem to support.
1. Restate the above sentence using contemporary, 1. What is Lee’s main idea in the passage beginning
informal diction. “But I can anticipate. . . “ and concluding “. . . and
2. What does Lee’s diction contribute to the impact of the other patriots of the Revolution”?
his letter? 2. What details support the main idea?

Writing About Literature Vocabulary Practice


Respond to Theme Write a letter to Robert E. Lee in Practice with Antonyms Antonyms are words
which you agree or disagree with his opinions about that are opposite in meaning. For example, the
secession. Give reasons to support your position. If you words virtue and vice are antonyms. For each of
wish, you may write as if you were his son or another the following words, choose the vocabulary word
member of his family. that is an antonym.

Practice and Apply


1. agree 3. scatter
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to 2. order 4. skimming
www.glencoe.com.

372 UNIT 3 TH E C I V I L WA R E RA
B EF O R E YO U R E A D
Bettmann/Corbis

An Occurrence at Owl
Creek Bridge
M E E T A M BROSE BI E RC E

A
mbrose Bierce did not trust people. Nor
did he trust governments, businesses, or
churches. Most of all, “Bitter Bierce,” as
he was known, did not trust easy answers or senti-
mentality. As his biographer Carey McWilliams
wrote, Bierce was “idealistic, cynical, morose . . .
a realist who wrote romances, a fine satirist and Commercial Advertiser, a financial weekly. He was
something of a charlatan.” put in charge of the paper’s humor section, “The
Town Crier.” Bierce’s columns often consisted of
satirical attacks against politicians and business
“Nothing is so improbable as what is leaders, attracting great notoriety for himself and
the News Letter.
true. It is the unexpected that occurs;
but that is not saying enough; it is also Nuggets and Dust In 1872 Bierce and his wife
Mary Ellen traveled to England. While overseas, he
the unlikely—one might almost say the published three books of fiction, The Fiend’s Delight,
impossible.” Nuggets and Dust Panned Out in California, and
Cobwebs from an Empty Skull. In 1875 Bierce
—Ambrose Bierce, “The Short Story” returned to San Francisco, but his life continued to
be marked by a pattern of restlessness and dissatisfac-
tion. He quit his job as an editor for the Argonaut
and traveled to the Dakota Territory, hoping to leave
Soldier and Civilian Ambrose Bierce was born journalism behind. There Bierce worked as a man-
into an impoverished Ohio farm family. He was ager for a mining firm that was losing money. The
the tenth of thirteen children. After one year of firm collapsed and he returned to San Francisco.
high school at the Kentucky Military Institute, From 1881 to 1886, Bierce wrote for Wasp, a humor
Bierce became a printer’s apprentice for a news- magazine. From 1887 to 1908, Bierce worked as a
paper in Indiana. columnist for the San Francisco Examiner.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Bierce In 1914 Bierce disappeared in Mexico, which was
enlisted in the Ninth Indiana Volunteers. He then in the midst of a revolution. In a letter to a
fought in several important battles, including friend, he wrote, “Goodbye, if you hear of my
Shiloh and Chickamauga. At the battle of being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and
Kennesaw Mountain in 1864, Bierce suffered a shot to rags please know that I think it a pretty
severe head wound. He would later say that the good way to depart this life. It beats old age, dis-
bullet “crushed my skull like a broken walnut.” ease, or falling down the cellar stairs.” His disap-
Bierce recovered and continued to serve in the pearance and death remain a mystery.
army, eventually being promoted to major.
Ambrose Bierce was born in 1842 and disappeared
After the war, Bierce settled in San Francisco, in 1914.
California. For the next two years, he worked as a
guard at the mint and studied for long periods of
time at the public library. In 1868 Bierce landed a Author Search For more about
position at the San Francisco News Letter and Ambrose Bierce, go to www.glencoe.com.

AMBR OSE BIERCE 373


L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W READI NG PREVI EW

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Making and Verifying


How much of reality is constructed by our own minds? Predictions
As you read Bierce’s short story, think about the follow- To predict means to make an educated guess about
ing questions: what will happen based on the clues that a writer pro-
• Have you ever used your imagination to protect vides. As you read, verify, adjust, or change your pre-
dictions as you get new information.
yourself in an unpleasant situation?
• What thoughts flash through your mind during peri- Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart to record
ods of heightened awareness, such as a crisis or an
intense emotional experience? your predictions and the evidence on which you base
those predictions.
Building Background
“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” set during the Prediction Evidence
Civil War in rural Alabama, was inspired by events that
Things are not “great golden stars
Bierce witnessed at the Battle of Shiloh in 1862.
what they seem. looking unfamiliar
Union troops, encamped at Pittsburg Landing in south-
western Tennessee, were planning a southward offen-
Something is wrong and grouped in strange
sive, when Confederate troops unexpectedly attacked. with the character’s constellations”
In two days, 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers perceptions.
were killed. This battle shocked both sides and was an
indication of the enormous loss of life that was still to
come. Bierce’s grim depiction of war in his fiction was
a direct result of the bloodshed he witnessed. Vocabulary

protrude (prō tr¯¯¯


ood ) v. to stick out; to project;
Setting Purposes for Reading p. 376 After the accident, the victim had a large
Big Idea A Nation Divided bump protruding from his forehead.
As you read, notice how Bierce’s attitudes toward the adorn (ə dorn ) v. to make beautiful; to
Civil War are reflected in this story. decorate; p. 376 The vain man adorned himself
with jewelry and expensive clothes.
Literary Element Point of View ardently (ard ent lē) adv. passionately;
Point of view is the relationship of the narrator, or story- enthusiastically; p. 377 The man ardently pursued
teller, to the story. In a story with a first-person point of the woman he loved.
view, the story is told by one of the characters in the story. assent (ə sent ) v. to express agreement; p. 378
In a story with third-person limited point of view, the After meeting for three hours, the committee finally
narrator is outside the story and reveals the thoughts, feel- assented to the chairman’s proposal.
ings, and observations of only one character in the story.
In a story with an omniscient, or all-knowing, point of poignant (poin yənt) adj. sharp; severe;
view, the narrator is outside the story and knows every- causing emotional or physical anguish; p. 378
thing about all of the characters and events in the story. As Dan experienced a poignant loss when his grand-
you read the story, examine Bierce’s use of point of view. mother died.

• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R14.


O B J EC T IV ES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following:
• making and verifying predictions
• analyzing point of view
Interactive Literary Elements • evaluating an author’s technique
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements, • analyzing an author’s use of language
go to www.glencoe.com. • practicing literary criticism

374 UNIT 3 THE CIVIL WA R ERA


Ambrose Bierce

I tain. A sentinel1 at each end of the bridge stood


A man stood upon a railroad bridge in northern with his rifle in the position known as “support,”
Alabama, looking down into the swift water that is to say, vertical in front of the left shoul-
twenty feet below. The man’s hands were behind der, the hammer2 resting on the forearm thrown
his back, the wrists bound with a cord. A rope straight across the chest—a formal and unnatural
closely encircled his neck. It was attached to a position, enforcing an erect carriage of the body.
stout cross-timber above his head and the slack It did not appear to be the duty of these two men
fell to the level of his knees. Some loose boards to know what was occurring at the center of the
laid upon the sleepers supporting the metals of
the railway supplied a footing for him and his
1. A sentinel is a soldier who guards a point of passage.
executioners—two private soldiers of the Federal 2. A hammer is the part of a gun that helps to ignite the
army, directed by a sergeant who in civil life may cartridge.
have been a deputy sheriff. At a short remove
Literary Element Point of View What does this detail
upon the same temporary platform was an officer
tell the reader about the narrative point of view at this point
in the uniform of his rank, armed. He was a cap- in the story?

AMBR OSE BIERCE 375


Lindy Powers/IndexStock Imagery
bridge; they merely blockaded the two ends of back, falling behind his ears to

Bettmann/Corbis
the foot planking that traversed it. the collar of his well-fitting
Beyond one of the sentinels nobody was in frock-coat. He wore a mustache
sight; the railroad ran straight away into a forest and pointed beard, but no whis-
for a hundred yards, then, curving, was lost to kers; his eyes were large and
view. Doubtless there was an outpost farther dark gray, and had a kindly
along. The other bank of the stream was open expression which one would
ground—a gentle acclivity3 topped with a stock- hardly have expected in one
ade of vertical tree trunks, loop-holed for rifles, whose neck was in the hemp.
with a single embrasure through which Evidently this was no vulgar Visual Vocabulary
protruded the muzzle of a brass cannon com- assassin. The liberal military A frock-coat is a
manding the bridge. Midway of the slope code makes provision for man’s coat that
reaches to the
between bridge and fort were the spectators—a hanging many kinds of per- knees. Popular in
single company of infantry in line, at “parade sons, and gentlemen are not the nineteenth
rest,” the butts of the rifles on the ground, the excluded. century, it is
barrels inclining slightly backward against the The preparations being usually double-
breasted and fitted
right shoulder, the hands crossed upon the stock. complete, the two private sol-
at the waist.
A lieutenant stood at the right of the line, the diers stepped aside and each
point of his sword upon the ground, his left hand drew away the plank upon
resting upon his right. Excepting the group of which he had been standing. The sergeant
four at the center of the bridge, not a man turned to the captain, saluted and placed himself
moved. The company faced the bridge, staring immediately behind that officer, who in turn
stonily, motionless. The sentinels, facing the moved apart one pace. These movements left the
banks of the stream, might have been statues to condemned man and the sergeant standing on
adorn the bridge. The captain stood with folded the two ends of the same plank, which spanned
arms, silent, observing the work of his subordi- three of the cross-ties6 of the bridge. The end
nates, but making no sign. Death is a dignitary upon which the civilian stood almost, but not
who when he comes announced is to be received quite, reached a fourth. This plank had been
with formal manifestations of respect, even by held in place by the weight of the captain; it was
those most familiar with him. In the code of mil- now held by that of the sergeant. At a signal
itary etiquette silence and fixity4 are forms of from the former the latter would step aside, the
deference. plank would tilt and the condemned man go
The man who was engaged in being hanged was down between two ties. The arrangement com-
apparently about thirty-five years of age. He was a mended itself to his judgment as simple and
civilian, if one might judge from his habit,5 which effective. His face had not been covered nor his
was that of a planter. His features were good—a eyes bandaged. He looked a moment at his
straight nose, firm mouth, broad forehead, from “unsteadfast footing,” then let his gaze wander to
which his long, dark hair was combed straight the swirling water of the stream racing madly
beneath his feet. A piece of dancing driftwood
caught his attention and his eyes followed it
3. An acclivity is an upward slope. down the current. How slowly it appeared to
4. Fixity refers to a steady and unmoving stance. move! What a sluggish stream!
5. Habit refers to a distinctive manner of dress or type of He closed his eyes in order to fix his last
clothing.
thoughts upon his wife and children. The water,
Big Idea A Nation Divided What does the condemned touched to gold by the early sun, the brooding
man’s position in life suggest about the possible causes for mists under the banks at some distance down
his execution? the stream, the fort, the soldiers, the piece of
drift—all had distracted him. And now he
Vocabulary
protrude (prō tr¯¯¯
ood) v. to stick out; to project
6. Cross-ties are the wooden pieces to which railroad rails are
adorn (ə dorn) v. to make beautiful; to decorate
secured.

376 UNIT 3 TH E C I V I L WA R E RA
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John A. Rutherford

The Red Bridge, 1896. Julian Alden Weir. Oil on canvas, 24¼ x 33¾ in.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

became conscious of a new disturbance. Striking thank God, is as yet outside their lines; my wife
through the thought of his dear ones was a sound and little ones are still beyond the invader’s far-
which he could neither ignore nor understand, a thest advance.”
sharp, distinct, metallic percussion like the As these thoughts, which have here to be set
stroke of a blacksmith’s hammer upon the anvil; down in words, were flashed into the doomed
it had the same ringing quality. He wondered man’s brain rather than evolved from it the cap-
what it was, and whether immeasurably distant tain nodded to the sergeant. The sergeant
or near by—it seemed both. Its recurrence was stepped aside.
regular, but as slow as the tolling of a death
knell.7 He awaited each stroke with impatience II
and—he knew not why—apprehension. The Peyton Farquhar was a well-to-do planter, of an
intervals of silence grew progressively longer; the old and highly respected Alabama family. Being
delays became maddening. With their greater a slave owner and like other slave owners a poli-
infrequency the sounds increased in strength and tician he was naturally an original secessionist8
sharpness. They hurt his ear like the thrust of a and ardently devoted to the Southern cause.
knife; he feared he would shriek. What he heard
was the ticking of his watch.
He unclosed his eyes and saw again the water 8. A secessionist was one in favor of breaking away from the
Union.
below him. “If I could free my hands,” he
thought, “I might throw off the noose and spring Reading Strategy Making and Verifying Predictions
into the stream. By diving I could evade the bul- What can the reader predict about the condemned man from
lets and, swimming vigorously, reach the bank, this statement?

take to the woods and get away home. My home,


Vocabulary
ardently (a rdent lē) adv. passionately; enthusiastically
7. A knell is the solemn sound of a bell ringing.

AMBR OSE BIERCE 377


Circumstances of an imperious nature, which it the north bank. The commandant has issued an
is unnecessary to relate here, had prevented him order, which is posted everywhere, declaring that
from taking service with the gallant army that any civilian caught interfering with the railroad,
had fought the disastrous campaigns ending with its bridges, tunnels or trains will be summarily14
the fall of Corinth, and he chafed9 under the hanged. I saw the order.”
inglorious restraint, longing for the release of his “How far is it to the Owl Creek bridge?”
energies, the larger life of the soldier, the oppor- Farquhar asked.
tunity for distinction. That opportunity, he felt, “About thirty miles.”
would come, as it comes to all in war time. “Is there no force on this side the creek?”
Meanwhile he did what he could. No service was “Only a picket post15 half a mile out, on the
too humble for him to perform in aid of the railroad, and a single sentinel at this end of the
South, no adventure too perilous for him to bridge.”
undertake if consistent with the character of a “Suppose a man—a civilian and student of
civilian who was at heart a soldier, and who in hanging—should elude the picket post and per-
good faith and without too haps get the better of the sen-
much qualification assented to tinel,” said Farquhar, smiling,
at least a part of the frankly “what could he accomplish?”
villainous dictum10 that all is
fair in love and war.
As Peyton Farquhar The soldier reflected. “I was
there a month ago,” he replied.
One evening while Farquhar
and his wife were sitting on a
fell straight “I observed that the flood of
last winter had lodged a great
rustic bench near the entrance downward through quantity of driftwood against
to his grounds, a gray-clad11 the wooden pier at this end of
soldier rode up to the gate and the bridge he lost the bridge. It is now dry and
asked for a drink of water. Mrs. would burn like tow.”16
Farquhar was only too happy consciousness . . . The lady had now brought
to serve him with her own the water, which the soldier
white hands.12 While she was drank. He thanked her cere-
fetching the water her hus- moniously, bowed to her hus-
band approached the dusty horseman and band and rode away. An hour later, after
inquired eagerly for news from the front. nightfall, he repassed the plantation, going
“The Yanks are repairing the railroads,” said northward in the direction from which he had
the man, “and are getting ready for another come. He was a Federal scout.17
advance. They have reached the Owl Creek
bridge, put it in order and built a stockade13 on III
As Peyton Farquhar fell straight downward
through the bridge he lost consciousness and
9. Chafe means “to fret; to feel irritation.” was as one already dead. From this state he was
10. A dictum is a formal, authoritative pronouncement.
awakened—ages later, it seemed to him—by the
11. Confederate soldiers wore gray uniforms.
12. [Mrs. Farquhar . . . hands] Ordinarily, a servant or slave pain of a sharp pressure upon his throat, fol-
would have served the guest. In this case, Mrs. Farquhar lowed by a sense of suffocation. Keen, poignant
brought the soldier a drink of water.
13. A stockade is an enclosure made of posts in which
prisoners may be kept. 14. Summarily means “without delay; arbitrarily.”
15. A picket post is a group of soldiers sent ahead to watch for
Big Idea A Nation Divided What does this statement and to warn of a surprise attack.
imply about civilians during the Civil War? 16. Tow (tō) is the coarse fibers of flax or hemp used to make
yarn and twine.
Vocabulary 17. Here, a Federal scout is a Union spy.

assent (ə sent) v. to express agreement Reading Strategy Making and Verifying Predictions
poignant (poin yənt) adj. sharp; severe; causing emo- What does this sentence enable the reader to predict about
tional or physical anguish the outcome of Farquhar’s mission to burn the bridge?

378 UNIT 3 TH E C I V I L WA R E RA
agonies seemed to shoot from his neck down- superhuman strength! Ah, that was a fine
ward through every fiber of his body and limbs. endeavor! Bravo! The cord fell away; his arms
These pains appeared to flash along well- parted and floated upward, the hands dimly seen
defined lines of ramification18 and to beat with on each side in the growing light. He watched
an inconceivably rapid periodicity.19 They them with a new interest as first one and then
seemed like streams of pulsating fire heating the other pounced upon the noose at his neck.
him to an intolerable temperature. As to his They tore it away and thrust it fiercely aside,
head, he was conscious of nothing but a feeling its undulations23 resembling those of a water-
of fullness—of congestion. These sensations snake. “Put it back, put it back!” He thought
were unaccompanied by thought. The intellec- he shouted these words to his hands, for the
tual part of his nature was already effaced; he undoing of the noose had been succeeded by
had power only to feel, and feeling was tor- the direst pang that he had yet experienced.
ment. He was conscious of motion. Encompassed His neck ached horribly; his brain was on fire;
in a luminous cloud, of which he was now his heart, which had been fluttering faintly,
merely the fiery heart, without material sub- gave a great leap, trying to force itself out at
stance, he swung through unthinkable arcs of his mouth. His whole body was racked and
oscillation,20 like a vast pendulum. Then all at wrenched with an insupportable anguish! But
once, with terrible suddenness, the light about his disobedient hands gave no heed to the
him shot upward with the noise of a loud plash;21 command. They beat the water vigorously with
a frightful roaring was in his ears, and all was quick, downward strokes, forcing him to the
cold and dark. The power of thought was surface. He felt his head emerge; his eyes were
restored; he knew that the rope had broken and blinded by the sunlight; his chest expanded
he had fallen into the stream. There was no convulsively, and with a supreme and crown-
additional strangulation; the noose about his ing agony his lungs engulfed a great draft of
neck was already suffocating him and kept the air, which instantly he expelled in a shriek!
water from his lungs. To die of hanging at the He was now in full possession of his physical
bottom of a river!—the idea seemed to him ludi- senses. They were, indeed, preternaturally24 keen
crous. He opened his eyes in the darkness and and alert. Something in the awful disturbance of
saw above him a gleam of light, but how distant, his organic system had so exalted and refined
how inaccessible! He was still sinking, for the them that they made record of things never
light became fainter and fainter until it was a before perceived. He felt the ripples upon his
mere glimmer. Then it began to grow and brighten, face and heard their separate sounds as they struck.
and he knew that he was rising toward the sur- He looked at the forest on the bank of the
face—knew it with reluctance, for he was now stream, saw the individual trees, the leaves and
very comfortable. “To be hanged and drowned,” the veining of each leaf—saw the very insects
he thought, “that is not so bad; but I do not wish upon them: the locusts, the brilliant-bodied flies,
to be shot. No; I will not be shot; that is not fair.” the gray spiders stretching their webs from twig
He was not conscious of an effort, but a sharp to twig. He noted the prismatic colors in all the
pain in his wrist apprised him that he was trying dewdrops upon a million blades of grass. The
to free his hands. He gave the struggle his atten- humming of the gnats that danced above the
tion, as an idler22 might observe the feat of a jug- eddies25 of the stream, the beating of the dragon-
gler, without interest in the outcome. What flies’ wings, the strokes of the water-spiders’ legs,
splendid effort!—what magnificent, what
23. Undulations are regular movements that come in waves.
18. Here, ramification means “the act of branching out.” 24. Preternaturally (prē´ tər nach ər əl ē) means “going
19. Periodicity means “recurrence at regular intervals.” beyond what is normal” or “extraordinarily.”
20. Oscillation is swinging back and forth with regular rhythm. 25. Eddies are currents that move contrary to the main current
21. Plash is a splash or the sound of a splash. in a river or stream, usually in a circular motion.
22. An idler is a person who is lazy or not employed.
Reading Strategy Making and Verifying Predictions
Literary Element Point of View What does this state- What does this statement suggest about Farquhar’s attempt
ment tell the reader about the narrator’s point of view? to escape?

AMBR OSE BIERCE 379


courtesy Rodrigue Studios
Sugar Bridge Over Coulee, 1973. George Rodrigue. Oil on canvas, 48 x 75 in.
Private collection.
Viewing the Art: Does this painting look as if it could depict a scene from
“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”? Explain.

like oars which had lifted their boat—all these bridge gazing into his own through the sights of
made audible music. A fish slid along beneath the rifle. He observed that it was a gray eye and
his eyes and he heard the rush of its body parting remembered having read that gray eyes were
the water. keenest, and that all famous marksmen had
He had come to the surface facing down the them. Nevertheless, this one had missed.
stream; in a moment the visible world seemed to A counter-swirl had caught Farquhar and
wheel slowly round, himself the pivotal point, turned him half round; he was again looking into
and he saw the bridge, the fort, the soldiers upon the forest on the bank opposite the fort. The
the bridge, the captain, the sergeant, the two pri- sound of a clear, high voice in a monotonous
vates, his executioners. They were in silhouette singsong now rang out behind him and came
against the blue sky. They shouted and gesticu- across the water with a distinctness that pierced
lated, pointing at him. The captain had drawn and subdued all other sounds, even the beating
his pistol, but did not fire; the others were of the ripples in his ears. Although no soldier, he
unarmed. Their movements were grotesque and had frequented camps enough to know the dread
horrible, their forms gigantic. significance of that deliberate, drawling, aspi-
Suddenly he heard a sharp report26 and some- rated27 chant; the lieutenant on shore was taking
thing struck the water smartly within a few a part in the morning’s work. How coldly and
inches of his head, spattering his face with spray. pitilessly—with what an even, calm intonation,
He heard a second report, and saw one of the presaging,28 and enforcing tranquillity in the
sentinels with his rifle at his shoulder, a light men—with what accurately measured intervals
cloud of blue smoke rising from the muzzle. The fell those cruel words:
man in the water saw the eye of the man on the

26. Here, a report is an explosive sound or noise, especially 27. Here, aspirated refers to a breathy sort of speech.
from a rifle or a pistol when fired. 28. Presaging means “acting as a sign or a warning of.”

380 UNIT 3 TH E C I V I L WA R E RA
“Attention, company! . . . Shoulder arms! . . . the smitten33 water he heard the deflected shot
Ready! . . . Aim! . . . Fire!” humming through the air ahead, and in an
Farquhar dived—dived as deeply as he could. instant it was cracking and smashing the
The water roared in his ears like the voice of branches in the forest beyond.
Niagara, yet he heard the dulled thunder of the “They will not do that again,” he thought;
volley29 and, rising again toward the surface, met “the next time they will use a charge of grape.34
shining bits of metal, singularly flattened, oscil- I must keep my eye upon the gun; the smoke will
lating slowly downward. Some of them touched apprise me—the report arrives too late; it lags
him on the face and hands, then fell away, con- behind the missile. That is a good gun.”
tinuing their descent. One lodged between his Suddenly he felt himself whirled round and
collar and neck; it was uncomfortably warm and round—spinning like a top. The water, the banks,
he snatched it out. the forests, the now distant bridge, fort and men—
As he rose to the surface, gasping for breath, all were commingled and blurred. Objects were
he saw that he had been a long time under represented by their colors only; circular horizon-
water; he was perceptibly farther down stream— tal streaks of color—that was all he saw. He had
nearer to safety. The soldiers had almost finished been caught in a vortex35 and was being whirled
reloading; the metal ramrods30 flashed all at once on with a velocity of advance and gyration that
in the sunshine as they were drawn from the bar- made him giddy and sick. In a few moments he
rels, turned in the air, and thrust into their sock- was flung upon the gravel at the foot of the left
ets. The two sentinels fired again, independently bank of the stream—the southern bank—and
and ineffectually. behind a projecting point which concealed him
The hunted man saw all this over his shoul- from his enemies. The sudden arrest of his motion,
der; he was now swimming vigorously with the abrasion of one of his hands on the gravel,
the current. His brain was as energetic as his restored him, and he wept with delight. He dug
arms and legs; he thought with the rapidity of his fingers into the sand, threw it over himself in
lightning. handfuls and audibly blessed it. It looked like dia-
“The officer,” he reasoned, “will not make that monds, rubies, emeralds; he could think of noth-
martinet’s31 error a second time. It is as easy to ing beautiful which it did not resemble. The trees
dodge a volley as a single shot. He has probably upon the bank were giant garden plants; he noted
already given the command to fire at will. God a definite order in their arrangement, inhaled the
help me, I cannot dodge them all!” fragrance of their blooms. A strange, roseate36
An appalling plash within two yards of him light shone through the spaces among their
was followed by a loud, rushing sound trunks and the wind made in their branches the
diminuendo,32 which seemed to travel back music of æolian harps.37 He had no wish to per-
through the air to the fort and died in an fect his escape—was content to remain in that
explosion which stirred the very river to its enchanting spot until retaken.
deeps! A rising sheet of water curved over him, A whiz and rattle of grapeshot among the
fell down upon him, blinded him, strangled him! branches high above his head roused him from
The cannon had taken a hand in the game. As his dream. The baffled cannoneer had fired him
he shook his head free from the commotion of a random farewell. He sprang to his feet, rushed
up the sloping bank, and plunged into the forest.
All that day he traveled, laying his course by
29. Here, a volley is a discharge of bullets in rapid succession.
30. Ramrods are rods used for stuffing the charge down the
barrel of a rifle that is loaded from the muzzle. 33. Here, smitten means that the water has been bombarded
31. A martinet is one who stresses strict attention to forms and with ammunition from the cannon.
rules. 34. Grape refers to grapeshot, a cluster of small iron balls that
32. Diminuendo (di min´ ū en dō) is a musical term that disperse when shot from a cannon.
describes a gradual decrease in volume. 35. Here, a vortex is a whirling mass of water that pulls
Big Idea everything to its center.
A Nation Divided How do you think Bierce’s
36. Roseate means “rose-colored.”
actual experiences in the war affected his descriptions of
37. Æolian harps produce musical sounds when air passes
combat?
through the strings.

AMBR OSE BIERCE 381


the rounding sun. The forest seemed intermible; close them. His tongue was swollen with thirst;

G.E. Kidder Smith/CORBIS


nowhere did he discover a break in it, not even a he relieved its fever by thrusting it forward from
woodman’s road. He had not known that he between his teeth into the cold air. How softly
lived in so wild a region. There was something the turf had carpeted the untraveled avenue—
uncanny38 in the revelation. he could no longer feel the roadway beneath
By nightfall he was fatigued, footsore, famish- his feet!
ing. The thought of his wife and children urged Doubtless, despite his suffering, he had fallen
him on. At last he found a road which led him asleep while walking, for now he sees another
in what he knew to be the right direction. It was scene—perhaps he has merely recovered from a
as wide and straight as a city street, yet it seemed delirium. He stands at the gate of his own home.
untraveled. No fields bordered it, no dwelling All is as he left it, and all bright and beautiful in
anywhere. Not so much as the barking of a dog the morning sunshine. He must have traveled
suggested the entire
human habita- night. As he
tion. The black pushes open
bodies of the the gate and
trees formed a passes up the
straight wall on wide white
both sides, ter- walk, he sees a
minating on flutter of
the horizon in female gar-
a point, like a ments; his
diagram in a wife, looking
lesson in per- fresh and cool
spective. and sweet,
Overhead, as steps down
he looked up from the
through this veranda to
rift in the Somerset Place at Creswell, North Carolina. meet him. At
wood, shone the bottom of
great golden the steps she
stars looking unfamiliar and grouped in strange stands waiting, with a smile of ineffable40 joy, an
constellations. He was sure they were arranged in attitude of matchless grace and dignity. Ah, how
some order which had a secret and malign39 sig- beautiful she is! He springs forward with
nificance. The wood on either side was full of extended arms. As he is about to clasp her he
singular noises, among which—once, twice, and feels a stunning blow upon the back of the neck;
again—he distinctly heard whispers in an a blinding white light blazes all about him with a
unknown tongue. sound like the shock of a cannon—then all is
His neck was in pain and lifting his hand to it darkness and silence!
he found it horribly swollen. He knew that it Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a
had a circle of black where the rope had bruised broken neck, swung gently from side to side
it. His eyes felt congested; he could no longer beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek bridge. 

40. Ineffable means “indescribable” or “unspeakable.”


38. Uncanny means “eerie” or “weird.”
Literary Element Point of View What does this
39. Malign (mə l̄n) means “evil or harmful in nature or effect.”
statement suggest to the reader about the reliability of the
Reading Strategy Making and Verifying Predictions narrator in Part III of the story?
What do the uncanny quality of the woods and Peyton
Farquhar’s confusion suggest about the nature of his Reading Strategy Making and Verifying Predictions
perceptions? Does this statement verify your predictions? Explain.

382 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. What was your reaction to the end of the story? 5. (a)What literary device does Bierce use in section II
of the story? (b)Did you find this literary device to
Recall and Interpret be effective? Explain.
2. (a)Summarize the scene in the story’s first two
6. Do you think that the description of Farquhar’s final
paragraphs. Who is involved? What reactions does
thoughts is realistic? Explain.
the narrator describe? (b)Why do the observers of
the event respond to it in the way they do? Connect
3. (a)In sections I and II, what do you learn about 7. Big Idea A Nation Divided How do you think
Farquhar’s appearance, personality, and background? Bierce’s war experiences affected his attitude
(b)What can you infer about the narrator’s attitude toward the events in this story? What view of peo-
toward Farquhar from these descriptions? ple’s desire to fight wars do you think Bierce
4. (a)Describe the specific physical sensations that expresses in this selection?
Farquhar experiences in section III. (b)How do his
sensations change during the course of this
section? (c)What do these changes suggest?

YO U ’ R E T H E C R I T I C : Point/Counterpoint

BI E RC E ’S O BSESSIO N W I T H DE AT H
Read the following two excerpts of literary criticism.
“One might quibble with the charge that Bierce’s
The first is by Edmund Wilson, an American literary stories lack sympathy; they are, in their way
critic of the mid-twentieth century. The second is by enormously sympathetic, but it is the understated
Bierce’s biographer and Civil War historian Roy Mor- and unspoken sympathy of the modern stylist, not
ris Jr. As you read, consider how these critics share the breathy sentimentality of the Victorian. Besides,
similar assumptions but differ in their conclusions. Bierce might have answered, such sentimental bosh
is what got the soldiers in his stories into their
deadly predicaments in the first place. It is not
sympathy that Bierce is after, but clarity.”
“But eventually, in his horror stories, the obsession —Roy Morris Jr.
with death becomes tiresome. If we try to read these
stories in bulk, they get to seem not merely
disgusting but dull . . . the trick repeated again and Group Activity
again. The executioner Death comes to us from Discuss the following questions. Refer to the excerpts
outside our human world and, capriciously, above and cite evidence from “An Occurrence at
gratuitously, cruelly, slices away our lives. It is an Owl Creek Bridge” to support your opinions.
unpleasant limitation of Bierce’s treatment of
violent death that it should seem to him never a 1. (a)How do these two critics differ in their conclu-
tragedy, but merely a bitter jest.” sions about Bierce? What assumptions do they
—Edmund Wilson share? (b)Which critic do you think comes closer
to accurately assessing Bierce’s attitude? Explain.
2. How does the “clarity” that Morris sees in Bierce’s
writings differ from the Transcendentalist clarity as
described by Emerson in essays such as “Nature”?

AMBR OSE BIERCE 383


L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Point of View Reading Strategy Making and Verifying


Authors will sometimes shift the narrative point of Predictions
view during a story. The shift might be dramatic, such Predictions can be made about various aspects of a
as a change from the first- to the third-person point of text. For example, as you read you might make predic-
view, or it might be a subtle shift from the third-person tions about a character’s motives, the theme of the
omniscient to the third-person limited point of view. story, or the outcome of a specific conflict. Inevitably,
1. How does Bierce shift the point of view in this the predictions you make will sometimes be wrong. In
story? Explain. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” Bierce intention-
ally misleads the reader to make the ending a surprise.
2. What does Bierce achieve by using the third- However, Bierce does provide clues to help the reader
person limited point of view for most of the story? predict the plot’s outcome.
3. How do you think the effect on the reader would 1. What images, details, or descriptions do you notice
have been different had Bierce decided to use the that foreshadow the story’s conclusion?
omniscient narrator throughout the story?
2. List any clues that you did not notice initially that
now can be seen to foreshadow the conclusion.
Review: Description
As you learned in Unit One, description is the use of
Vocabulary Practice
details to give the reader a vivid picture of a person,
place, thing, or event. Practice with Synonyms Find the synonym for
each vocabulary word from “An Occurrence at Owl
Partner Activity Meet with a classmate and discuss
Creek Bridge” listed in the first column.
the descriptions used in section III of the story. Pay
attention to the author’s use of precise and vivid adjec- 1. protrude a. jut b. impede
tives, nouns, and verbs and sensory details, such as 2. adorn a. ornament b. cover
color, texture, or smell. Working with your partner, create
a list of those descriptions that you found most compel- 3. ardently a. greedily b. fervently
ling. Be sure to take note of what the author is describ- 4. assent a. consent b. believe
ing and what kind of details he uses to describe it. Use
a simple table, such as the one shown below. 5. poignant a. silly b. emotional

What Is Described Details Academic Vocabulary


the lieutenant’s vivid adjectives:
order to fire “deliberate” Here are two words from the vocabulary list on
“drawling” page R86. These words will help you think,
“aspirated” write, and talk about the selection.

physical (fiz i kəl) adj. having material


existence
sequence (sē kwəns) n. a continuous or
connected series

Practice and Apply


1. Describe some of Farquhar’s physical
characteristics.
2. What was the sequence of events that led
Farquhar to his fate?

384 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
W R I T I N G A N D E X TE N D I N G G R A M M A R A N D ST Y L E

Writing About Literature Bierce’s Language and Style


Analyze Flashback A flashback is a scene that Using Participial Phrases A participle is a verb
interrupts the chronological flow of narrative to form that can function as an adjective. For example:
describe events that occurred earlier. What is the func-
The married couple loved to travel.
tion of the flashback in section II? Write a short expos-
itory analysis that explains Bierce’s use of this Here, the verb married acts as an adjective that modi-
flashback. Use evidence from the story and examples fies the noun couple.
from your own experience to support your main A participial phrase contains a participle plus any
points. complements or modifiers. These phrases can be used
Before you begin your draft, create a brief outline sim- in various positions in a sentence and always function
ilar to the one shown below. Include all of the main as adjectives. For example, in “An Occurrence at Owl
points you plan to cover and the evidence you plan to Creek Bridge,” Bierce writes, “The sentinels, facing the
use to support your main points. banks of the stream, might have been statues to
adorn the bridge.” Here, facing the banks of the
stream is a participial phrase that modifies sentinels.
I. Introductory A. Context of Question Participial phrases are useful for combining separate

Paragraph B. Thesis Statement but related sentences, varying sentence type, and
increasing general readability. It is important to keep in

mind, however, that participial phrases must be closely


A. Supporting Evidence attached to the nouns that they modify to avoid con-
II. Body
B. Supporting Evidence fusion. Consider the following examples.

Paragraph
C. Supporting Evidence
1. Badly needing sleep, Tim’s bed looked very inviting.

2. Badly needing sleep, Tim thought his bed looked


A. Summary of Key Points very inviting.
III. Concluding

Paragraph B. Restatement of Thesis In the first sentence, the participial phrase badly
needing sleep modifies bed, which confuses the writ-
er’s intended meaning. In the second sentence, badly
After completing your draft, exchange essays with a needing sleep modifies Tim, which eliminates the
peer reviewer to evaluate each other’s work and to confusion.
suggest revisions. Then proofread and edit your draft
Activity Scan “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”
for errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
for other examples of participial phrases. Write down
three sentences from the story that include participial
Literary Criticism phrases and underline the phrases. Then write three
sentences imitating Bierce’s style that use participial
Group Discussion Critic Cathy N. Davidson identifies
phrases.
three main types of language that Bierce uses to nar-
rate “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” In section I, Revising Check
according to Davidson, the narrator speaks in “military
Participial Phrases Work with a partner to review
terminology, objective and distant.” In section II, the
and revise your use of participial phrases in the essay
narrator uses “jingoistic cant, deceiving and self-deceiv-
you wrote for the Writing About Literature feature on
ing.” In section III, Davidson describes the narrator’s
this page.
language as “lush and sensuous.” Do you agree with
Davidson’s opinion? Meet with a group of classmates
and discuss Bierce’s use of language in the story.
Present your conclusions to the class.
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

AMBR OSE BIERCE 385


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

SuperStock, Inc./ SuperStock


The Gettysburg Address
M E E T A BR A H A M LI NCO LN

A
braham Lincoln’s impact on the history
and culture of the United States has been
immeasurable. He is a familiar figure to all
Americans—even small children recognize his
trademark hat. One of the United States’ greatest
presidents, Lincoln led the country through the
Civil War, helping to preserve the Union and to
end slavery. Lincoln and the United States showed
the world that democracy can be a durable form of
government.

“A new nation, conceived in liberty, Southern states to secede from the Union. As a
and dedicated to the proposition that result the nation plunged into the Civil War. A
man who had once described military glory as “that
all men are created equal.” attractive rainbow that rises in showers of blood—
—Abraham Lincoln that serpent’s eye that charms to destroy” became a
The Gettysburg Address great war leader only because it was necessary to
preserve the Union. Lincoln believed quite strongly
that a Confederate victory would most likely have
Politician Born in Hardin County, Kentucky, resulted in at least two separate nations. That, he
Lincoln grew up mainly on frontier farms in felt, would have marked the failure of our nation’s
Indiana, where he worked as a rail-splitter, flatboat- democracy. His policies as president proved shrewd,
man, storekeeper, surveyor, and postmaster. and the war ended on April 9, 1865, with victory
Lincoln’s parents were nearly illiterate and Lincoln for the North.
received no formal education. Nevertheless, he
Public Speaker Lincoln’s tragic and dramatic
developed a hunger for learning and read every
assassination cemented his place as a U.S. legend.
book he could find. Following a move to New
His fame stems largely from the enduring power of
Salem, Illinois, Lincoln began to study law. At
his words, and the Gettysburg Address and his
twenty-five, he was elected to the Illinois state leg-
Second Inaugural Address are perhaps the most
islature, marking the beginning of an astounding
notable examples of Lincoln’s mastery of public
political career. In 1836, the self-taught Lincoln
speaking. These speeches forcefully convey
passed the bar examination and began to practice
Lincoln’s deepest convictions in spare, highly
law. Twenty-four years later, after gaining national
evocative language. Both speeches have had a vast
political prominence, he was nominated as the
influence on the language of U.S. politics.
Republican presidential candidate. Lincoln won
the election on November 6, 1860.
Abraham Lincoln was born in 1809 and died in 1865.
President and Commander in Chief Because
Lincoln believed that Congress should prevent the Author Search For more about
spread of slavery, his victory prompted seven Abraham Lincoln, go to www.glencoe.com.

386 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Speech Reading Strategy Analyzing Style


In the Gettysburg Address, President Lincoln honors Style is a term that denotes the expressive qualities that
the Union soldiers killed in battle. Imagine yourself in distinguish an author’s work. As you analyze Lincoln’s
the position of someone who has just lost a loved one style in this speech, note his word choice, the structure
in a war and is attending a memorial service for that and length of his sentences, and his figurative language.
person. Ask yourself the following questions:
Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart to record
• What words of comfort would you expect to hear? examples of Lincoln’s style.
• What rhetorical skills would you find appropriate for
the speaker to use on such an occasion?
Style Element Example
Building Background
Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on word choice dedicate
November 19, 1863, at the dedication of a military
repetition consecrate
cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. A solemn group
of people gathered on the battlefield to honor the
Union soldiers killed there in early July. The main
speaker at the ceremony was Edward Everett, one of
the most famous orators of the time. The president
was scheduled to deliver “remarks” following Everett’s
speech. Everett spoke first—for two hours. Lincoln
spoke for approximately two minutes. Everett wrote to
Lincoln afterward, “I should be glad if I could flatter Vocabulary
myself that I came as near to the central idea of the score (skor) n. a group of twenty items; p. 388
occasion in two hours as you did in two minutes.” Ben ordered ten tablecloths and six score of
napkins.
Setting Purposes for Reading
consecrate (kon sə krāt´) v. to set apart as
Big Idea A Nation Divided sacred; to make or declare holy; p. 388 A cere-
As you read, notice how Lincoln stresses that the Civil mony was held to consecrate the young couple’s
War is a test of the United States’ democracy. marriage.
hallow (hal ō) v. to make or select as holy; to
Literary Element Parallelism regard or honor as sacred; p. 388 The church
Parallelism is the use of a series of words, phrases, or stands on hallowed ground.
sentences that have similar grammatical form. As you perish (per ish) v. to pass from existence; to
read the Gettysburg Address, notice how Lincoln uses disappear; p. 388 Thousands of animals perish in
this device as a rhetorical technique. forest fires.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R13. Vocabulary Tip: Analogies Analogies are compari-
sons based on relationships between words and
ideas. For example, the relationship between scis-
Interactive Literary Elements
sors and cloth is the same as the relationship
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements, between saw and wood.
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • analyzing style
• relating literature to its historical period • writing an evaluative essay
• analyzing parallelism

ABRAHAM LINCOLN 387


Abraham Lincoln

F OUR SCORE AND SEVEN YEARS AGO OUR FATHERS


brought forth on this continent, a new nation,
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we
can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this
conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the propo- ground. The brave men, living and dead, who
sition that all men are created equal. struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, test- poor power to add or detract. The world will lit-
ing whether that nation or any nation so con- tle note, nor long remember what we say here,
ceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We but it can never forget what they did here. It is
are met on a great battle-field of that war. We for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to
have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as the unfinished work which they who fought here
a final resting place for those who here gave have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for
their lives that that nation might live. It is alto- us to be here dedicated to the great task remain-
gether fitting and proper that we should do this. ing before us—that from these honored dead we
take increased devotion to that cause for which
Big Idea A Nation Divided How do you think someone
they gave the last full measure of devotion—that
living in a Confederate state might have perceived this we here highly resolve that these dead shall not
statement? Explain. have died in vain—that this nation, under God,
shall have a new birth of freedom—and that
Vocabulary government of the people, by the people, for the
score (skor) n. a group of twenty items people, shall not perish from the earth.
consecrate (kon sə krāt´) v. to set apart as sacred; to
make or declare holy
hallow (hal ō) v. to make or select as holy; to regard
or honor as sacred Literary Element Parallelism How is this sentence an
perish (perish) v. to pass from existence; to disappear example of parallelism?

388 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
Reza Estakhrian/Stone/Getty Images
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Which part of this speech made the greatest 5. (a)How does Lincoln’s speech affect your impres-
impression on you? Why? sions of Lincoln? (b)What can you infer from this
speech about Lincoln’s character?
Recall and Interpret
6. This speech is often quoted. What, in your opinion,
2. (a)In the opening sentence, what words does
makes it so memorable and inspiring?
Lincoln use to describe the United States? (b)What
does this sentence tell you about Lincoln’s concept 7. What is unintentionally ironic about Lincoln’s state-
of government? ment that “The world will little note, nor long
remember what we say here, but it can never for-
3. (a)According to Lincoln, why are he and those in
get what they did here”?
the audience gathered together? (b)In what way
does Lincoln believe that the battlefield has already Connect
been consecrated?
8. Big Idea A Nation Divided Why did Lincoln
4. (a)To what does Lincoln say “the living” should consider the Civil War a test of U.S. democracy?
dedicate themselves? (b)What does Lincoln mean
by the “unfinished work” and the “great task
remaining before us”?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO CA B U L A RY

Literary Element Parallelism Reading Strategy Analyzing Style


The Gettysburg Address contains one of the most The style of the Gettysburg Address has been praised,
famous examples of parallelism in American history: “of particularly its word choice and sentence structure.
the people, by the people, for the people.” The gram-
1. Some critics have pointed out that Lincoln’s speeches
matical structure that is repeated here is the preposi-
possess a poetic quality. What elements of poetry
tional phrase.
can you detect in Lincoln’s word choice? Explain.
1. Find another example of parallelism in this speech.
2. Look at the final sentence of Lincoln’s speech.
Identify the grammatical structure that is repeated.
(a)How does its structure differ from the sentence
2. Explain how parallelism ties ideas together in this structure employed earlier? (b)Do you think this final
speech. sentence is an effective conclusion to the speech?

Writing About Literature Vocabulary Practice


Evaluate Author’s Craft Writers sometimes position Practice with Analogies Choose the words that
opposite ideas next to each other to emphasize a best complete each analogy.
point. This technique is called antithesis. Identify at
least two uses of antithesis in Lincoln’s speech and 1. twenty : score ::
describe their roles in conveying Lincoln’s message. a. four : quarter d. thrice : three
b. twelve : dozen e. ten : twenty
c. hundred : millennium
2. consecrate : church ::
a. sterilize : hospital d. work : office
Web Activities For eFlashcards, b. sport : stadium e. audience : theater
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.
c. learn : school

ABRAHAM LINCOLN 389


POLITI C AL P E R SP ECTIV E on The Gettysburg Address Informational Text

Garry Wills
Pulitzer Prize Winner

Building Background
In the following passage, historian Garry Wills closely
examines the continuing significance of Lincoln’s
Gettysburg Address, which is considered one of
the greatest speeches ever given by an American
president. In Wills’s Pulitzer Prize–winning book, he
W hen Lincoln rose, it was with a sheet
or two, from which he read—as had
the minister who offered the invoca-
tion. Lincoln’s three minutes would, ever after,
be obsessively contrasted with Everett’s1 two
hours in accounts of this day. It is even claimed
discusses the meaning of Lincoln’s words, their long- that Lincoln disconcerted the crowd with his
term effect, and the historical environment in which abrupt performance, so that people did not know
Lincoln delivered the address. Wills maintains that how to respond (“Was that all?”). Myth tells of a
the importance of Lincoln’s brief 272-word speech poor photographer making leisurely arrange-
is nearly unparalleled. ments to take Lincoln’s picture, expecting him to
be there for some time. But it is useful to look at
the relevant part of the program as Wills’s2 com-
Set a Purpose for Reading
mittee printed it:
Read to discover the significance of the Gettysburg
Address and why it remains important today. Music, by BIRGFIELD’S Band.
Prayer, by REV. T. H. STOCKTON, D.D.
Reading Strategy Music, by the Marine Band.
Connecting to Political Context Oration, by Hon. EDWARD EVERETT.
Connecting to political context involves an examination
of the political assumptions that influenced the writing 1. Edward Everett, who delivered the previous oration, had
of a literary work. As you read this selection, look for been president of Harvard University, a member of Congress,
and the governor of Massachusetts. He was one of the most
the answer to this question: What is the basic political
well-known speakers of his day.
assumption that Wills attributes to Lincoln in the 2. David Wills was a prominent citizen of Gettysburg,
Gettysburg Address? Cite evidence from the text to Pennsylvania, and responsible for organizing the interstate
support your answer. commission that created the Gettysburg National Cemetery.

39 0 U N IT 3 THE CIVIL WAR ERA


Archival Research International/National Archives
Informational Text
Music, Hymn composed by B. B. FRENCH, raises a false issue. Lincoln’s text is startlingly
Esq. brief for what it accomplished, but that would be
Dedicatory Remarks, by the PRESIDENT equally true if Everett had spoken for a shorter
OF THE UNITED STATES. time or had not spoken at all.
Dirge, sung by Choir selected for the The contrast in other ways was strong.
occasion. Everett’s voice was sweet and expertly modu-
Benediction, by REV. H. L. BAUGHER, D.D. lated; Lincoln’s was high to the point of shrill-
ness, and his Kentucky accent offended some
There was only one “oration” announced or Eastern sensibilities. But Lincoln derived an
desired here. Though we call Lincoln’s text the advantage from his high tenor voice—carrying
Gettysburg Address, that title clearly belongs power. If there is agreement on any one aspect of
to Everett. Lincoln’s contribution, labeled Lincoln’s delivery, at Gettysburg and elsewhere,
“remarks,” was intended to make the dedication it is his audibility. Modern impersonators of
formal (somewhat like ribbon-cutting at modern Lincoln, like Walter Huston, Raymond Massey,
“openings”). Lincoln was not expected to speak Henry Fonda, and the various actors who give
at length, any more than Reverend Stockton was voice to Disneyland animations of the President,
(though Stockton’s prayer is four times the bring him before us as a baritone, which is con-
length of the President’s remarks). In fact, sidered a more manly or heroic voice—though
Lincoln’s contribution was as ancillary to both the Roosevelt presidents of our century
Everett’s as were those of Reverend Baugher and were tenors. What should not be forgotten is
B. B. French (Lamon’s friend, who rushed in that Lincoln was himself an actor, an expert
where Longfellow, Bryant, and Whittier feared to raconteur5 and mimic, and one who spent hours
tread3). Lincoln’s text had about the same num- reading speeches out of Shakespeare to any will-
ber of words as French’s, and twice the number ing (and some unwilling) audiences. He knew a
of Dr. Baugher’s. It is instructive to look at The good deal about rhythmic delivery and meaning-
New York Times’ coverage of the events in ful inflections. John Hay,6 who had submitted to
Gettysburg. It ranked Lincoln’s talk, about which many of those Shakespeare readings, gave high
it had good things to say, with two given the marks to his boss’s performance at Gettysburg.
night before in response to roving serenaders,4 He put in his diary at the time that “the
rather than with Everett’s, which was kept in a President, in a fine, free way, with more grace
category of its own. The headline reads: than is his wont, said his half dozen words of
consecration.” Lincoln’s text was polished, his
IMMENSE NUMBERS OF VISITORS delivery emphatic, he was interrupted by
ORATION BY HON. EDWARD EVERETT—SPEECHES OF applause five times. Read in a slow, clear way to
PRESIDENT LINCOLN, MR. SEWARD AND the farthest listeners, the speech would take
GOVERNOR SEYMOUR about three minutes. It is quite true that the
audience did not take in all that happened in
Lincoln was briefer, even, than New York’s that short time—we are still trying to weigh the
Governor Seymour had been the night before; consequences of that amazing performance. But
but comparison with him was more natural at the myth that Lincoln was disappointed in the
the time than with the designated orator of the result—that he told the unreliable Lamon that
day. A contrast of length with Everett’s talk his speech, like a bad plow, “won’t scour”—has
no basis. He had done what he wanted to do,
and Hay shared the pride his superior took in an
3. Ward Lamon was Lincoln’s friend and bodyguard; Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882), William Cullen Bryant important occasion put to good use.
(1794–1878), and John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892) At the least, Lincoln had far surpassed
were all famous poets (see pages 196–197). David Wills’s hope for words to disinfect the
4. The night before the address, serenaders wandered through
Gettysburg’s crowded town square. The crowds prompted
speeches from Lincoln’s secretary of state, William Seward, 5. A raconteur is a storyteller.
and New York’s governor, Horatio Seymour. 6. John Hay was President Lincoln’s personal secretary.

GAR RY WILLS 391


Informational Text
air of Gettysburg. The tragedy of macerated7 Saunders9 himself, Lincoln has aligned the
bodies, the many bloody and ignoble aspects dead in ranks of an ideal order. The nightmare
of this inconclusive encounter, are transfig- realities have been etherealized10 in the cruci-
ured in Lincoln’s rhetoric, where the physical ble of his language.
residue of battle is volatilized as the product But that was just the beginning of this com-
of an experiment testing whether a govern- plex transformation. Lincoln did for the whole
ment can maintain the proposition of equality. Civil War what he accomplished for the single
The stakes of the three days’ butchery are battlefield. He has prescinded11 from messy
made intellectual, with abstract truths being squabbles over constitutionality, sectionalism,
vindicated. Despite verbal gestures to “that” property, states. Slavery is not mentioned, any
battle and the men who died “here,” there are more than Gettysburg is. The discussion is
no particulars mentioned by Lincoln—no driven back and back, beyond the historical
names of men or sites or units, or even of particulars, to great ideals that are made to
sides (the Southerners are part of the “experi- grapple naked in an airy battle of the mind.
ment,” not foes mentioned in anger or Lincoln derives a new, a transcendental, signifi-
rebuke). Everett succeeded with his audience cance from this bloody episode. Both North and
by being thoroughly immersed in the details South strove to win the battle for interpreting
of the event he was celebrating. Lincoln Gettysburg as soon as the physical battle had
eschews8 all local emphasis. His speech hovers ended. Lincoln is after even larger game—he
far above the carnage. He lifts the battle to a means to “win” the whole Civil War in ideologi-
level of abstraction that purges it of grosser cal terms as well as military ones. And he will
matter—even “earth” is mentioned as the succeed: the Civil War is, to most Americans,
thing from which the tested form of govern- what Lincoln wanted it to mean. Words had to
ment shall not perish. More than William complete the work of the guns.

9. William Saunders designed the Gettysburg National Cemetery.


7. Macerated means “wasted away.” 10. Etherealize means “to eliminate physical properties.”
8. Eschew means “to avoid.” 11. Prescinded means “removed from thought.”

R ES P O N D I N G AN D TH I N K I N G C R ITI CALLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. What did you find most interesting in this essay? 4. (a)To what plane does Wills claim that Lincoln ele-
vated the discussion of the Civil War? (b)What evi-
Recall and Interpret dence does he present to support this contention?
2. (a)Why does Wills say that comparing the lengths (c)What effect do you think the Gettysburg Address
of Lincoln’s address and Everett’s oration “raises a has had on historians’ interpretation of the war?
false issue”? (b)How important to Wills is the 5. (a)Why do you think that Wills mentions several
length of the Gettysburg Address? “myths” related to the address? (b)Do you find his
3. (a)What does Wills tell us about Lincoln’s voice and points about these myths convincing? Explain.
delivery? (b)To what personal fact about Lincoln does
Wills attribute the effectiveness of his performance? Connect
6. Wills says that, because of the Gettysburg Address,
“the Civil War is, to most Americans, what Lincoln
wanted it to mean.” What does the Civil War mean
OB J EC TIVES to you? How has the Gettysburg Address influenced
• Enhance your understanding of U.S. history and culture. your interpretation?
• Analyze political assumptions in a literary work.
• Analyze the features and rhetorical devices of a public
document.

39 2 U N IT 3 THE CIVIL WAR ERA


PART 3
A Poetic Revolution

The Girl I Left Behind Me, 1870–75. Eastman Johnson. Oil on canvas,
42 x 347/8 in. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC.

“A child said What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands;


How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he.”
— Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself”

393
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC / Art Resource, NY
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Whitman’s Poetry
M E E T WA LT W H I TM A N The first edition of Leaves
of Grass contained just

W
twelve poems, but they
hen Walt Whitman first published
were enough to convince
Leaves of Grass in 1855, it marked the
Ralph Waldo Emerson, the
beginning of a revolution in poetry. At
most famous literary figure
the time, however, few people noticed the young
of his day, of the unknown
poet’s radical work—and most of those who did
poet’s genius. Here was the
were either dismayed or offended. Whitman’s
new American voice
poetry was realistic, free flowing, and shockingly
Emerson had been calling
candid. No subject was too commonplace for his
for. In a letter to Whitman,
attention: not the mechanic nor the prisoner nor
Emerson said the collec-
the lowly blade of grass. He was the first poet in
tion was “the most extraor-
English to write extensively in free verse, an open,
dinary piece of wit and
unregulated form that reflected the cadences of
wisdom that America has
everyday speech. Although it took decades for his
yet contributed.” With the
poetry to be broadly accepted, Leaves of Grass
encouragement of a small group of admirers,
eventually became an enduring symbol of the
Whitman pressed on with his life’s work: revising,
democratic spirit it celebrated.
rearranging, and adding to Leaves of Grass, envi-
sioning all of his work as one vast poem.
Witness to War Like all Americans, Whitman
“The United States themselves are was deeply distressed by the Civil War. In 1862,
essentially the greatest poem.” he traveled to the Virginia battlefront to care for
his brother George, who had been wounded in
—Walt Whitman the first battle of Fredericksburg. Deeply moved by
the suffering he encountered and finding his
brother’s condition stable, Whitman went on to
An American Voice As a young man, Whitman Washington, D.C. to work as a volunteer nurse in
loved to wander through the streets of Manhattan, army hospitals. His experiences during the Civil
a section of New York City. As he walked, he jot- War inspired some of his greatest works, including
ted down his impressions of the city’s sights, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d,” his
sounds, and array of characters. A great reader, elegy to President Lincoln.
Whitman was nurtured by the transcendentalists,
yet he was no country dweller delighting in the Even in old age, Whitman kept writing, attempting
quiet joys of nature. Instead, he believed in gath- to put “a Person, a human being (myself, in the
ering a wide range of experiences, so he held latter half of the Nineteenth Century, in America)
numerous jobs: office boy, doctor’s helper, printer’s freely, fully, and truly on record.” The final,
assistant, journalist, typesetter, and printer. He also “deathbed” edition of Leaves of Grass (1891),
traveled down the Mississippi River, listening to which contained 383 titled poems, put on record
the talk of working people, farmers, and soldiers. the man who had become America’s national poet.
Whitman used his experiences to create a new Walt Whitman was born in 1819 and died in 1892.
kind of poetry that celebrated the multifaceted
spirit of his country.
Author Search For more about
this author,
Walt go to
Whitman, go www.literature.glencoe.com.
to www.glencoe.com.

394 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Poems Reading Strategy Paraphrasing


To Whitman, working people were the essence of When you paraphrase, you put something you have
America. As you read, think about the following ques- read into your own words. As you read the poems,
tions: break down long sentences and restate them in your
own words.
• What kinds of jobs do people in your community
have?
Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart to record
• How do these workers seem to feel about their your paraphrases.
jobs?

Building Background Original


For the first edition of Leaves of Grass, Whitman had
to set the type himself and pay for the book’s publica-
“How soon unaccountable I became tired
tion. Throughout his life, he continued to write poetry and sick…”
based on his experiences and to add poems to his Paraphrase
groundbreaking collection. The shorter poems “I Hear
America Singing,” “When I Heard the Learn’d
Astronomer,” “A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Gray
and Dim,” and “Beat! Beat! Drums!” reflect themes he
explored during the Civil War.

Whitman wrote “I Hear America Singing” just before Vocabulary


the war and “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” at
its end. “A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Gray and impromptu (im promp tō¯ō, ¯tū) adv. done on
Dim” captures one of the poet’s experiences in army the spur of the moment; p. 402 The committee
hospitals. “Beat! Beat! Drums!” is Whitman’s response held an impromptu meeting to discuss some last-
to the defeat of the Union army by the Confederate minute changes.
forces in the first battle of Bull Run. incredulity (in´ krə dō¯ō lə tē) n. disbelief;
p. 403 The football fans expressed incredulity
Setting Purposes for Reading when their losing team defeated their greatest rival.
Big Idea A Poetic Revolution subsequently (sub sə kwent´ lē) adv. at a later
As you read, notice how Whitman uses ordinary details time; p. 403 She was given a gift of twenty dollars
and sprawling lines to create a new kind of poetry. and subsequently donated it to a charity.
susceptible (sə sep tə bəl) adj. easily influenced
Literary Element Free Verse or affected; p. 403 Because dogs do not sweat,
Whitman is famous for using free verse—a type of they are more susceptible to overheating.
poetry that does not have a regular pattern of rhythm convalescent (kon´ və le sənt) n. a person who
or rhyme. As you read, consider the effects Whitman is recovering from an illness, an injury, or a sur-
creates by using free verse. gical operation; p. 404 The hospital candy strip-
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R8. ers brought a little cheer to the convalescent.

Interactive Literary Elements


Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • analyzing free verse
• analyzing literary periods • paraphrasing

WALT WHITMAN 39 5
© T.H. Benton and R.P. Benton Testamentary Trusts/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY/The St. Louis Art Museum
Cradling Wheat, 1938. Thomas Hart Benton. tempera and oil on board, 31 x 38 in.
T.H. Benton and R.P. Benton Testamentary Trusts/Licensed by VAGA,
New York, NY/The St. Louis Art Museum.

Walt Whitman
I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe1 and strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,
5 The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat,
the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,
The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his way in the morning,
or at noon intermission or at sundown,
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work,
or of the girl sewing or washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,
10 The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young fellows,
robust, friendly,
Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.

1 Blithe means “lighthearted” or “cheerful.”

Literary Element Free Verse Why is free verse appropriate for the descriptions in this poem?

396 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
Photography Courtesy of Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence/Art Resource, NY

The Life of Harriet Tubman, #31, 1940.


Jacob Lawrence. Casein tempera
on hardboard, 17 7/8 x 12 in.
Hampton University Museum.

Walt Whitman
When I heard the learn’d astronomer,
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,
When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them,
When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause
in the lecture-room,
5 How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,
Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.

Reading Strategy Paraphrasing How would you rephrase these lines in your own words?

WALT WHITMAN 397


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY

Respond 6. (a)What about America does Whitman seem to be


celebrating in this poem? (b)How does he achieve
1. Which of these poems do you prefer, and why?
this focus?

I Hear America Singing


When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer
Recall and Interpret
Recall and Interpret
2. (a)What occupations does the speaker say repre-
7. (a)What techniques does the astronomer use to
sent America? (b)What do these occupations sug-
present information? (b)What does this suggest
gest about Whitman’s view of his country?
about the astronomer’s approach to his subject?
3. (a)According to line 9, what does each laborer sing
8. (a)What does the speaker do in lines 6–8?
about? (b)What do the laborers’ songs suggest
(b)What conclusions can you draw about the
about the work they do?
speaker based on these actions?
4. (a)What happens at night? (b)Why do you think
the poem ends the way it does? Analyze and Evaluate
9. (a)How does the speaker’s method for “studying”
Analyze and Evaluate the stars differ from the astronomer’s method?
5. (a)What catalog, or list of images and details, is (b)What does this difference imply about the
included in this poem? (b)What effect does the speaker’s values?
catalog have on your reading of the poem?
10. (a)Why is the night air “mystical”? (b)What is
implied by this word?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Free Verse Reading Strategy Paraphrasing


Free verse lacks a regular pattern of stressed and Paraphrasing can help you judge whether you under-
unstressed syllables. The lengths of the lines usually stand what you have read. This strategy also helps you
differ, and the lines may not be grouped together in appreciate particular words or phrases in the poem.
stanzas. Instead, the way words and phrases are Reread the following lines:
arranged and repeated creates a natural, conversa-
Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself,
tional rhythm in the poem. Free verse often sounds
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
like spoken language.
Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.
1. With a partner, read one of Whitman’s poems
1. How would you paraphrase these lines?
aloud. Do you find the rhythm of the poem similar
to that of everyday speech? Explain. 2. What is lost in your paraphrase?
2. In what ways might “I Hear America Singing” have
a different effect if it were written in a regular
pattern?

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

398 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
William MacIlvaine the Younger/New York Historical Society/Bridgeman Art Library

Encampment of Duryea’s Zouaves, Virginia. 1862. William Macllvaine


the younger. Watercolor and gouache on paper, 18.1 x 27.3 in.
New York Historical Society, NY.

Walt Whitman
A sight in camp in the daybreak gray and dim,
As from my tent I emerge so early sleepless,
As slow I walk in the cool fresh air the path near by the hospital tent,
Three forms I see on stretchers lying, brought out there untended lying,
5 Over each the blanket spread, ample brownish woolen blanket,
Gray and heavy blanket, folding, covering all.

Curious I halt and silent stand,


Then with light fingers I from the face of the nearest the first just lift the blanket;
Who are you elderly man so gaunt and grim, with well-gray’d hair, and flesh all sunken
about the eyes?
10 Who are you my dear comrade?

Then to the second I step—and who are you my child and darling?
Who are you sweet boy with cheeks yet blooming?

Then to the third—a face nor child nor old, very calm, as of beautiful yellow-white ivory;
Young man I think I know you—I think this face is the face of the Christ himself,
15 Dead and divine and brother of all, and here again he lies.

Big Idea A Poetic Revolution How is this description different from what you might read in poems from an ear-
lier era?

WALT WHITMAN 39 9
Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York. Dick S. Ramsay Fund 59.9
Walt Whitman The Wounded Drummer Boy, 1871.
Eastman Johnson. Oil on canvas, 40 x 36 in.
The Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York.

Beat! beat! drums!—blow! bugles! blow!


Through the windows—through doors—burst like a ruthless force,
Into the solemn church, and scatter the congregation,
Into the school where the scholar is studying;
5 Leave not the bridegroom quiet—no happiness must he have now with his bride,
Nor the peaceful farmer any peace, ploughing his field or gathering his grain,
So fierce you whirr and pound you drums—so shrill you bugles blow.

Beat! beat! drums!—blow! bugles! blow!


Over the traffic of cities—over the rumble of wheels in the streets;
10 Are beds prepared for sleepers at night in the houses? no sleepers must sleep in those beds,
No bargainers’ bargains by day—no brokers or speculators1—would they continue?
Would the talkers be talking? would the singer attempt to sing?
Would the lawyer rise in the court to state his case before the judge?
Then rattle quicker, heavier drums—you bugles wilder blow.

15 Beat! beat! drums!—blow! bugles! blow!


Make no parley—stop for no expostulation,2
Mind not the timid—mind not the weeper or prayer,
Mind not the old man beseeching the young man,
Let not the child’s voice be heard, nor the mother’s entreaties,
20 Make even the trestles3 to shake the dead where they lie awaiting the hearses,
So strong you thump O terrible drums—so loud you bugles blow.

1. Speculators are people who engage in risky business ventures hoping to make quick or large profits.
2. A parley is a conference between enemies to discuss terms of a truce or an agreement. Expostulation is the act of
reasoning with a person to correct or dissuade him or her.
3. Trestles are structures in which a beam is supported by four diverging legs.

Reading Strategy Paraphrasing Would your paraphrase of this line work with the rest of the poem?

400 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Beat! Beat! Drums!
1. Which image or idea from these two poems stands Recall and Interpret
out in your mind? Why? 6. (a)What instruments are mentioned in this poem?
(b)What might they represent?
A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Gray and Dim 7. (a)What kinds of activities do the instruments
Recall and Interpret interrupt? (b)What does the variety of activities
2. (a)What item does the speaker describe in lines suggest to you about the speaker’s message?
5–6? (b)Why might the speaker have focused on
this item?
Analyze and Evaluate
8. (a)Why might the people in stanza 3 be praying,
3. (a)Describe the first two soldiers. (b)What do the beseeching, and so on? (b)What message does
speaker’s questions imply about his feelings toward this stanza convey? Explain your answer.
the soldiers?
9. (a)What attitude toward war does this poem
Analyze and Evaluate express? (b)How well does it express that attitude?
4. Why do you think Whitman presents the three sol- Support your answer.
diers in this order?
5. (a)What comparison does Whitman make in the
last stanza? (b)What is the effect of comparing the
third soldier to Christ?

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Free Verse Reading Strategy Paraphrasing


Whitman’s poetry is an example of free verse at its In “Beat! Beat! Drums!” the sound effects reinforce
most impressive. Free verse is poetry that has an the meaning of the poem. One way to appreciate
irregular rhythm and line length and attempts to avoid these effects is to paraphrase selected lines and
any predetermined verse structure. Despite this lack of then compare your paraphrases with Whitman’s
regularity, free verse does have a structure, which original lines.
seems to “grow” organically to fit its subject matter.
1. How would you paraphrase the last line of the first
Whitman pioneered this form and made it important
stanza?
in American poetry.
2. How do the verbs and adjectives that describe the
1. Find examples of rhythm and repetition in “Beat!
drums and bugles suggest that their sound is a
Beat! Drums!” In particular, consider the effect of
“ruthless force”?
lines 1, 8, and 15.
2. How do these examples reinforce the meaning of
the poem?

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

WALT WHITMAN 401


Walt Whitman

B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Building Background Literary Element Historical Narrative


While serving as a volunteer nurse during the Civil War, A historical narrative is a nonfiction work that tells the
Whitman recorded his experiences in the form of story of important historical events or developments.
journal entries. He comforted and cared for both Union Often told from an individual’s point of view, historical
and Confederate soldiers, dressing their wounds, writing narratives provide a “you-are-there” perspective,
letters for them, and bringing them items they needed, allowing readers to experience history deeply and
such as apples, oranges, and books. Writing about this personally. As you read these excerpts from Specimen
experience, Whitman noted, “I supply often to some of Days, consider how Whitman brings the Civil War
these dear suffering boys . . . that which doctors nor home to his readers.
medicines nor skill nor any routine assistance can
give. . . . There is something in . . . the magnetic flood
Interactive Literary Elements
of sympathy that does, in its way, more good than all Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
the medicine in the world.” go to www.glencoe.com.

Opening of the Secession War an extra and cross’d to the Metropolitan hotel
News of the attack on fort Sumter and the flag (Niblo’s) where the great lamps were still
at Charleston harbor, S. C., was receiv’d in New brightly blazing, and, with a crowd of others,
York city late at night (13th April, 1861,) and was who gather’d impromptu, read the news, which
immediately sent out in extras of the newspapers. was evidently authentic. For the benefit of some
I had been to the opera in Fourteenth street that who had no papers, one of us read the telegram
night, and after the performance was walking aloud, while all listen’d silently and attentively.
down Broadway toward twelve o’clock, on my way No remark was made by any of the crowd, which
to Brooklyn, when I heard in the distance the had increas’d to thirty or forty, but all stood a
loud cries of the newsboys, who came presently minute or two, I remember, before they dispers’d.
tearing and yelling up the street, rushing from side
to side even more furiously than usual. I bought
Vocabulary
Literary Element Historical Narrative How does this impromptu (im promp t¯¯¯
oo, -tū) adv. done on the spur
description set the tone for this entry? of the moment

402 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
Christie’s Images/CORBIS
I can almost see them there now, under the feet, legs, arms, hands, &c., a full load for a one-
lamps at midnight again. horse cart. Several dead bodies lie near, each cover’d
with its brown woolen blanket. In the door-yard,
Contemptuous Feeling towards the river, are fresh graves, mostly of officers,
Even after the bombardment of Sumter, how- their names on pieces of barrel-staves or broken
ever, the gravity of the revolt, and the power boards, stuck in the dirt. (Most of these bodies were
and will of the slave States for a strong and con- subsequently taken up and transported north to
tinued military resistance to national authority, their friends.) The large mansion is quite crowded
were not at all realized at the North, except by upstairs and down, everything impromptu, no sys-
a few. Nine-tenths of the people of the free tem, all bad enough, but I have no doubt the best
States look’d upon the rebellion, as started in that can be done; all the wounds pretty bad, some
South Carolina, from a feeling one-half of con- frightful, the men in their old clothes, unclean and
tempt, and the other half composed of anger bloody. Some of the wounded are rebel soldiers and
and incredulity. It was not thought it would be officers, prisoners. One, a Mississippian, a captain,
join’d in by Virginia, North Carolina, or hit badly in leg, I talk’d with some time; he ask’d me
Georgia. A great and cautious national official for papers, which I gave him. (I saw him three
predicted that it would blow over “in sixty days,” months afterward in Washington, with his leg
and folks generally believ’d the prediction. I amputated, doing well.) I went through the rooms,
remember talking about it on a Fulton ferry-boat downstairs and up. Some of the men were dying. I
with the Brooklyn mayor, who said he only had nothing to give at that visit, but wrote a few
“hoped the Southern fire-eaters would commit letters to folks home, mothers, &c. Also talk’d to
some overt act of resistance, as they would then three or four, who seem’d most susceptible to it, and
be at once so effectually squelch’d, we would needing it.
never hear of secession again—but he was afraid
they never would have the pluck to really do After First Fredericksburg
anything.” I remember, too, that a couple of December 23 to 31.—The results of the late
companies of the Thirteenth Brooklyn, who battle are exhibited everywhere about here in
rendezvou’d at the city armory, and started thousands of cases, (hundreds die every day,) in
thence as thirty days’ men, were all provided with the camp, brigade, and division hospitals. These
pieces of rope, conspicuously tied to their musket- are merely tents, and sometimes very poor ones,
barrels, with which to bring back each man a the wounded lying on the ground, lucky, if their
prisoner from the audacious South, to be led in a blankets are spread on layers of pine or hemlock
noose, on our men’s early and triumphant return! twigs, or small leaves. No cots; seldom even a
mattress. It is pretty cold. The ground is frozen
Down at the Front hard, and there is occasional snow. I go around
from one case to another. I do not see that I do
Falmouth, Va., opposite Fredericksburgh, December
much good to these wounded and dying; but I
21, 1862.—Begin my visits among the camp hospi-
cannot leave them. Once in a while some young-
tals in the army of the Potomac. Spend a good part
ster holds on to me convulsively, and I do what I
of the day in a large brick mansion on the banks of
can for him; at any rate, stop with him and sit
the Rappahannock, used as a hospital since the bat-
near him for hours, if he wishes it.
tle—seems to have receiv’d only the worst cases.
Out doors, at the foot of a tree, within ten yards of
the front of the house, I notice a heap of amputated Literary Element Historical Narrative What two differ-
ent effects might this passage have had on readers during
the Civil War?
Literary Element Historical Narrative How would this
information be presented in a textbook?
Vocabulary

Vocabulary
subsequently (sub sə kwent lē) adv. at a later time
susceptible (sə sep tə bəl) adj. easily influenced or
incredulity (in´ krə d¯¯¯
oo lə tē, -dū-) n. disbelief
affected

WALT WHITMAN 403


Chicago Historical Society/The Bridgeman Art Library
Howard’s Grove Hospital Near Richmond, Virginia, artist unknown, c. 19th century.
Oil on canvas. The Chicago Historical Society.

Besides the hospitals, I also go occasionally on The current portraits are all failures—most of
long tours through the camps, talking with the them caricatures.
men, &c. Sometimes at night among the groups
around the fires, in their shebang enclosures of A Soldier on Lincoln
bushes. These are curious shows, full of charac- May 28.—As I sat by the bedside of a sick
ters and groups. I soon get acquainted anywhere Michigan soldier in hospital to-day, a convalescent
in camp, with officers or men, and am always from the adjoining bed rose and came to me,
well used. Sometimes I go down on picket with and presently we began talking. He was a mid-
the regiment I know best. As to rations, the dle-aged man, belonged to the 2d Virginia regi-
army here at present seems to be tolerably well ment, but lived in Racine, Ohio, and had a
supplied, and the men have enough, such as it is, family there. He spoke of President Lincoln, and
mainly salt pork and hard tack. Most of the regi- said: “The war is over, and many are lost. And
ments lodge in the flimsy little shelter-tents. A now we have lost the best, the fairest, the truest
few have built themselves huts of logs and mud, man in America. Take him altogether, he was
with fire-places. the best man this country ever produced. It was
quite a while I thought very different; but some
No Good Portrait of Lincoln time before the murder, that’s the way I have
Probably the reader has seen physiognomies seen it.” There was deep earnestness in the sol-
(often old farmers, sea-captains, and such) that, dier. (I found upon further talk he had known
behind their homeliness, or even ugliness, held Mr. Lincoln personally, and quite closely, years
superior points so subtle, yet so palpable, making before.) He was a veteran; was now in the fifth
the real life of their faces almost as impossible to year of his service; was a cavalry man, and had
depict as a wild perfume or fruit-taste, or a pas- been in a good deal of hard fighting.
sionate tone of the living voice—and such was
Lincoln’s face, the peculiar color, the lines of it, Vocabulary
the eyes, mouth, expression. Of technical beauty convalescent (kon və le sənt) n. a person who is
it had nothing—but to the eye of a great artist it recovering from an illness, an injury, or a surgical
furnished a rare study, a feast and fascination. operation

404 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
A F TE R YO U R E A D

RESP ON DI NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond 4. (a)In “After First Fredericksburg,” where does
Whitman find the wounded soldiers lying?
1. What is your impression of the Civil War after
(b)Why do you think he includes this detail?
reading these excerpts?

Recall and Interpret


Analyze and Evaluate
2. (a)How has the soldier from the Virginia regiment
5. (a)In “Down at the Front,” what is Whitman’s main
changed his mind about Lincoln? (b)Why is
theme? (b)How does he convey this theme?
Whitman fascinated by this soldier’s story?
6. (a)How would you describe the tone of “After First
3. (a)Describe the attitude of many people in the
Fredericksburg”? (b)Do you think the tone is appro-
North toward the South at the start of the war.
priate to the subject matter?
(b)How would you account for this attitude?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R EAD I N G AN D VO CAB U L ARY

Literary Element Historical Narrative


Vocabulary Practice
Historical narratives can provide compelling and
intense portrayals of historical developments. One rea- Practice with Context Clues Choose the
son why these accounts can be so compelling is that best meaning for each vocabulary word.
they show large events from a human perspective. 1. Walking slowly and in noticeable pain, the
Seeing events through one person’s eyes helps the convalescent returned to his hospital room.
reader experience what happened at a particular (a) surgeon (b) nurse (c) patient (d) technician
moment in history. 2. The exaggerated and bizarre account filled me
1. Why do you think Whitman chose to publish his with incredulity.
journal notes? (a) belief (b) doubt (c) amazement (d) joy
3. The years subsequent to her recovery were
2. How does reading Whitman’s historical narrative filled with purpose and energy.
compare with reading an account of the Civil War (a) later (b) earlier (c) disastrous (d) unpleasant
in a history book?

Academic Vocabulary
Writing About Literature
Here are two words from the vocabulary list on
Apply Form: Historical Narrative In Specimen
page R86. These words will help you think, write,
Days, Whitman describes his experiences during and
and talk about the selection.
personal feelings about an important historic event,
the Civil War. Think about an influential or historic
attitude (a tə t¯ō¯ōd´, -tūd´) n. an opinion or
event that has happened in your lifetime. What was
general feeling about something
your experience during that occurrence, and how did it
affect you emotionally? Write a few paragraphs describ- individual (in´ də vi j¯ō¯ō əl) adj. existing as a
ing your experience of that event and your reactions to distinct entity; separate
it. If you wish, you might try writing your account in
journal form, as Whitman did. Practice and Apply
1. How would you describe Whitman’s attitude toward
the Civil War?
Web Activities For eFlashcards, 2. According to Whitman on page 404, what individual
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to elements of Lincoln’s face made it impossible to depict?
www.glencoe.com.

WALT WHITMAN 405


B EF O R E YO U R EA D from Song of Myself
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W READI NG PREVI EW

Connecting to the Poem Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions


One of the poems that most fully captures the Drawing conclusions about a text involves using
essence of Whitman is Song of Myself. In it he cele- pieces of given information to make a general state-
brates his individuality and his oneness with the world. ment about the meaning of a line, passage, or section.
Consider these questions: Many elements in a literary work—including word
choice, voice, imagery, and figurative language—con-
• What might it mean to feel “connected” to nature tribute to the meaning. In a long poem such as Song
and to all of humankind?
of Myself, it is important to identify these elements
• If you were to write a poem that celebrates life from time to time and to use them to draw conclu-
itself, what images would you choose?
sions about the poet’s meaning.
Building Background
Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart to record the
When Whitman was young, he read Homer’s classic
conclusions you draw as you read the poem.
epic poem the Iliad while “in a shelter’d hollow of
rocks and sand, with the sea on each side.” He felt
that only the “presence of Nature” prevented him from Lines Conclusions
being completely overwhelmed by the experience. “And what I assume The speaker wants to
Several years later Whitman would create his own epic
you shall assume,/For make a connection to
poem—Song of Myself. Like the Iliad, this poem describes every atom belonging the reader as an equal.
the journey of a hero. The hero in this poem, however, is to me as good belongs
the poet himself, and his journey is in part a spiritual one. to you.” (lines 2–3)
As the poem progresses, the poet attempts to connect
with the spirit of the reader, of the American landscape, of
the American people, and, finally, of the universe itself.
Song of Myself encourages each reader to share the poet’s
journey and to celebrate his or her own heroic spirit.

Setting Purposes for Reading


Big Idea A Poetic Revolution
As you read, notice how Whitman uses sprawling lines
and irregular rhythms to give form to his poem.

Literary Element Voice


Voice is the distinctive use of language that conveys
the author’s or speaker’s personality to the reader.
Voice is determined by several elements, including
word choice and tone. In Song of Myself, Whitman set
out to create a unique poetic voice—one that would
reflect the nation as a whole and the language of the
common people in particular. As you read this poem,
think about how you would describe Whitman’s voice. Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R19. go to www.glencoe.com.

OB J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • analyzing voice
• relating literature to historical periods • drawing conclusions

406 UNIT 3 THE CIVIL WAR ERA


Tony Craddock/Stone
Walt Whitman

1
I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

I loafe and invite my soul,


5 I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.

My tongue, every atom of my blood, form’d from this soil, this air,
Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same,
I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin,
Hoping to cease not till death.

10 Creeds and schools in abeyance,1


Retiring back a while sufficed at what they are, but never forgotten,
I harbor for good or bad, I permit to speak at every hazard,
Nature without check with original energy.

6
A child said What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands;
15 How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he.

I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven.

Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord,


A scented gift and remembrancer2 designedly dropt,
Bearing the owner’s name someway in the corners, that we may see and remark,
and say Whose?

1. In abeyance means “suspended” or “in a state of being undetermined.”


2. A remembrancer is a reminder.

Big Idea A Poetic Revolution In line 14 the rhythmic pattern creates a rising and falling effect, end-
ing in a stop. What pattern does Whitman use in line 15?

WALT WHITMAN 407


The Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH. Museum Purchase, Howald Fund.
Haymaking, Winslow Homer, 1864. Oil on canvas. The Columbus Museum
of Art, Columbus, OH.
Viewing the Art: In what ways does this painting capture the mood of the
poem? Explain, using details from both the painting and the poem.

20 What do you think has become of the young and old men?
And what do you think has become of the women and children?

They are alive and well somewhere,


The smallest sprout shows there is really no death,
And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait at the end to arrest it,
25 And ceas’d the moment life appear’d.

All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses,


And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier.

Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions Why is the speaker convinced that death does not exist?

408 UNIT 3 TH E C I V I L WA R E RA
16
I am of old and young, of the foolish as much as the wise,
Regardless of others, ever regardful of others,
30 Maternal as well as paternal, a child as well as a man,
Stuff’d with the stuff that is coarse and stuff’d with the stuff that is fine,
One of the Nation of many nations, the smallest the same and the largest the same,
A Southerner soon as a Northerner, a planter nonchalant3 and hospitable down by the
Oconee4 I live,
A Yankee bound my own way ready for trade, my joints the limberest joints on earth and
the sternest joints on earth,
35 A Kentuckian walking the vale of the Elkhorn in my deer-skin leggings, a Louisianian
or Georgian,
A boatman over lakes or bays or along coasts, a Hoosier,5 Badger,5 Buckeye;5
At home on Kanadian snow-shoes or up in the bush, or with fishermen off Newfoundland,
At home in the fleet of ice-boats, sailing with the rest and tacking,
At home on the hills of Vermont or in the woods of Maine, or the Texan ranch,
40 Comrade of Californians, comrade of free North-Westerners, (loving their big proportions,)
Comrade of raftsmen and coalmen, comrade of all who shake hands and welcome
to drink and meat,
A learner with the simplest, a teacher of the thoughtfullest,
A novice beginning yet experient of myriads of seasons,
Of every hue and caste am I, of every rank and religion,
45 A farmer, mechanic, artist, gentleman, sailor, quaker,
Prisoner, fancy-man, rowdy,6 lawyer, physician, priest.

I resist any thing better than my own diversity,


Breathe the air but leave plenty after me,
And am not stuck up, and am in my place.

50 (The moth and the fish-eggs are in their place,


The bright suns I see and the dark suns I cannot see are in their place,

The palpable7 is in its place and the impalpable is in its place.)

17
These are really the thoughts of all men in all ages and lands, they
are not original with me,
If they are not yours as much as mine they are nothing, or next to nothing,

3. Nonchalant means “showing a lack of interest or enthusiasm.”


4. The Oconee is a river in Georgia.
5. Hoosier, Badger, and Buckeye are nicknames for natives or residents of Indiana, Wisconsin, and Ohio,
respectively.
6. A rowdy is a rough, disorderly person.
7. Palpable means “able to be touched or felt.”

Literary Element Voice What do these lines convey about the speaker’s personality?

WALT WHITMAN 409


55 If they are not the riddle and the untying of the riddle they are nothing,
If they are not just as close as they are distant they are nothing.

This is the grass that grows wherever the land is and the water is,
This is the common air that bathes the globe.

46
I know I have the best of time and space, and was never measured and
never will be measured.

60 I tramp a perpetual journey, (come listen all!)


My signs are a rain-proof coat, good shoes, and a staff cut from the woods,
No friend of mine takes his ease in my chair,
I have no chair, no church, no philosophy,
I lead no man to a dinner-table, library, exchange,
65 But each man and each woman of you I lead upon a knoll,8
My left hand hooking you round the waist,
My right hand pointing to landscapes of continents and the public road.

Not I, not any one else can travel that road for you,
You must travel it for yourself.

70 It is not far, it is within reach,


Perhaps you have been on it since you were born and did not know,
Perhaps it is everywhere on water and on land.

Shoulder your duds9 dear son, and I will mine, and let us hasten forth,
Wonderful cities and free nations we shall fetch as we go.

75 If you tire, give me both burdens, and rest the chuff of your hand10 on my hip,

And in due time you shall repay the same service to me,
For after we start we never lie by again.

This day before dawn I ascended a hill and look’d at the crowded heaven,
And I said to my spirit When we become the enfolders of those orbs, and the pleasure and
knowledge of every thing in them, shall we be fill’d and satisfied then?
80 And my spirit said No, we but level that lift to pass and continue beyond.
You are also asking me questions and I hear you,
I answer that I cannot answer, you must find out for yourself.

8. A knoll is a small, rounded hill.


9. Duds are personal belongings.
10. Chuff of your hand refers to the fat part of the palm.

Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions What message does the speaker convey about the reader’s path
in life?

410 UNIT 3 TH E C I V I L WA R E RA
Sit a while dear son,
Here are biscuits to eat and here is milk to drink,
85 But as soon as you sleep and renew yourself in sweet clothes, I kiss you with a good-by kiss
and open the gate for your egress hence.11

Long enough have you dream’d contemptible dreams,


Now I wash the gum from your eyes,
You must habit yourself to the dazzle of the light and of every moment of your life.

Long have you timidly waded holding a plank by the shore,


90 Now I will you to be a bold swimmer,
To jump off in the midst of the sea, rise again, nod to me, shout, and laughingly dash with
your hair.

51
The past and present wilt—I have fill’d them, emptied them,
And proceed to fill my next fold of the future.

Listener up there! what have you to confide to me?


95 Look in my face while I snuff the sidle of evening,12
(Talk honestly, no one else hears you, and I stay only a minute longer.)

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

100 I concentrate toward them that are nigh,13 I wait on the door-slab.

Who has done his day’s work? who will soonest be through with his supper?
Who wishes to walk with me?

Will you speak before I am gone? will you prove already too late?

52
The spotted hawk swoops by and accuses me, he complains of my gab and my loitering.

105 I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable,


I sound my barbaric yawp14 over the roofs of the world.

11. Egress hence means “departure from this place.”


12. Snuff the sidle of evening means “to put out the last light of the day, which is moving sideways across the sky.”
13. Nigh means “near.”
14. A yawp is a loud, sharp cry.

Literary Element Voice How would you describe the intended relationship between the speaker and the
reader of this poem?

WALT WHITMAN 411


Brooklyn Museum, New York/Superstock
The Sand Team, George Bellows, 1917. Oil on canvas. The Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York.
Viewing the Art: In your opinion, what spirit of America does this painting convey? How is it similar to or different
from Whitman’s view of the American spirit?

The last scud15 of day holds back for me,


It flings my likeness after the rest and true as any on the shadow’d wilds,
It coaxes me to the vapor and the dusk.

110 I depart as air, I shake my white locks at the runaway sun,


I effuse16 my flesh in eddies, and drift it in lacy jags.

I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love,


If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.

You will hardly know who I am or what I mean,


115 But I shall be good health to you nevertheless,
And filter and fibre your blood.

Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged,


Missing me one place search another,
I stop somewhere waiting for you.

15. Scud refers to wind-driven clouds or rain.


16. Effuse means “to pour out or forth.”

Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions What stage of his journey has the speaker reached?

Literary Element Voice How would you describe the poet’s voice in the closing lines of the poem?

412 UNIT 3 TH E C I V I L WA R E RA
A F T E R YO U R E A D
AP/Wide World

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. How did you react to the speaker in the poem? 5. (a)How does the speaker seem to view himself in
Explain your answer. relation to nature and to the rest of the world?
(b)In your opinion, is the speaker a hero? Explain.
Recall and Interpret
6. (a)Summarize the speaker’s advice to his “son” in
2. (a)What is the main topic of section 1? (b)What is lines 73–91. (b)In your opinion, why does he give
the speaker saying in lines 10–13 about his past this advice? Support your answer with details from
learning and his future? the poem.
3. (a)What does the speaker say about death in lines 7. (a)Consider the image of the grass in sections 6
20–27? (b)What do these lines suggest about the and 52. What does the grass have to do with life
speaker’s view of life and death? and death? (b)Why might Whitman have called his
4. (a)A paradox is a statement that seems to contra- volume of poetry Leaves of Grass?
dict itself but may actually be true. What paradoxes
does Whitman list in section 16? (b)What do these
Connect
lines suggest about Whitman’s attitude toward 8. Big Idea A Poetic Revolution (a)Why is free
himself? verse particularly suited to Whitman’s ideas?
(b)How do you think the use of this form relates to
Whitman’s democratic principles?

YO U ’ R E T H E C R I T I C : Point/Counterpoint

R ESP ONSES TO W H I TM A N
It took several years for the American public to
“We can trace an order in [Whitman’s] ideas.
embrace Whitman’s poetry. At first, most readers— First comes religion or the concept of the
and there were few of them—were shocked by the universe; then personality, or the sense of self
unconventional subject matter, the unusual forms, and . . .; then love . . . and comradely emotions;
the break with standard rhyme and meter. A famous then democracy, or the theory of human
poet of that time, John Greenleaf Whittier, threw his equality and brotherhood.”
copy of Leaves of Grass into his fireplace in disgust. —John Addington Symonds, 1893

Whitman, however, did have some early supporters


besides Ralph Waldo Emerson. They included 1. Find passages in Song of Myself that support the
Horace Traubel, an American, and John Addington views of these critics.
Symonds, an Englishman. Each expressed a differ- 2. Which of the two views do you think
ent view about what is most important in Whit- is more accurate? Explain.
man’s work. As you read the two excerpts, notice
their different perspectives.

“That’s what Leaves of Grass all comes to.


The declaration that the people are first. Not
a portion of the people. Not the saving
remnant. But the everyday people. The vast
overflowing populations.”
—Horace Traubel, 1912
L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Voice Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions


Voice is the writer’s or speaker’s personality that Skillful readers are always drawing conclusions and,
comes across in a piece of writing. Conveyed through in doing so, understand much more than an author
elements such as sentence structure, word choice, says directly. This process is similar to that used by a
and tone, voice can have a powerful impact on how detective solving a mystery. You examine evidence
readers react to the content of a poem. To detect that the author provides—for example, word choice or
voice, you must read actively and imaginatively. In imagery—and then combine it with your own experi-
your mind’s “ear,” listen to the rise and fall of a human ences to reach a conclusion. Since poets imply more
voice, pausing, emphasizing, shifting tone. For exam- than they state directly, drawing conclusions is an
ple, consider Whitman’s voice in lines 97–99: especially useful tool for interpreting poetry. When you
“Do I contradict myself? come upon difficult lines or passages in a poem,
examine the surrounding lines to see if they provide
Very well then I contradict myself,
any clues to help you figure out the meaning.
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)”
You might describe this voice as rough, bold, and asser- 1. How does line 26 of Song of Myself help you inter-
pret line 27?
tive. It is impatient of criticism and utterly self-confident.
2. How do the previous lines in Section 16 help you
1. How would you describe Whitman’s voice in the
draw conclusions about the meaning of lines
opening lines of the poem? Support your answer
with examples from the text. 47–49?

2. How does Whitman’s voice affect the impact of his


message? Academic Vocabulary

Here are two words from the vocabulary list on


Review: Author’s Purpose page R86. These words will help you think,
As you learned in Unit One, author’s purpose refers talk, and write about the selection.
to an author’s intent in writing a piece of literature.
Once you understand the author’s purpose, you can transform (trans fôrm) n. to change in form,
better evaluate what you are reading and respond appearance, or structure
appropriately. guideline (̄d l̄n) n. any guide or indication
Partner Activity With another classmate, identify and of a future course of action
discuss the different themes, or messages, in Song of
Practice and Apply
Myself. With your partner, create a web diagram. In the
1. How does the speaker transform traditional
outer boxes, list the themes you discussed. Then, in
ways of thinking about death in section 6 of
the center, write down an overarching theme, or
Song of Myself?
Whitman’s main message in the poem.
2. How might the end of section 46 of Song of
Myself serve as a guideline for living one’s life?
Theme Theme

Author’s Purpose

Theme Theme

414 UNIT 3 TH E C I V I L WA R E RA
W R I T I N G A N D E X TE N D I N G G R A M M A R A N D ST Y L E

Writing About Literature Whitman’s Language and Style


Evaluate Author’s Craft In Song of Myself and Using Specific Action Verbs Specific action verbs give
other poems, Whitman uses specific details to enrich the reader a clear sense of what the writer is describing.
his poetry. Choose one of Whitman’s poems and list For example, consider line 73 of Song of Myself:
the details in that poem that you find most power-
“Shoulder your duds dear son, and I will mine, and let
ful. Then write a brief essay explaining the effect
us hasten forth.”
those details have on the poem. For example: Do
they clarify the meaning? Do they make the images In this line, Whitman uses the specific action verb
more memorable? Be specific in supporting your shoulder to create a vivid image. A less specific verb
explanations. such as pick up or lift would not have described the
action as distinctly.
Before you start writing, create a chart like the one
below, listing key details on the left and describing 1. Review the chart you made for your essay on Song
their effect on the right. Use this chart as a source for of Myself. Highlight action verbs in those details.
examples when creating a draft. Write your draft from Then replace some of the specific action verbs with
more general ones. Compare the changes and
Details Effects note how the specific action verbs heighten the
impact of the details.
“observing a spear Brings out the mean-
2. Frequently used verbs can often be replaced by
of summer grass” ing more clearly: The
stronger, more specific ones. Write the verbs run,
speaker finds it
fall, and see in one column of a chart. In the other
worthwhile to exam- column, list two or more specific action verbs that
ine the most ordinary could be used instead.
things.

General Verbs Specific Action Verbs


run sprint
start to finish.
fall tumble
After you complete your draft, meet with a peer
reviewer to evaluate each other’s work and to suggest see notice
revisions. Then proofread and edit your draft for errors
in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Performing Activity Briefly explain how the verbs below help


make the action clear and vivid.
Group Activity With a group of classmates, prepare
a reading of a section of Song of Myself. First decide “The spotted hawk swoops by…” (line 104)
on a portion of the poem to read. Then decide who “It flings my likeness after the rest…” (line 108)
will read each line or stanza: an individual, a pair of “It coaxes me to the vapor…” (line 109)
students, or the entire group. Also decide when a line
should be read loudly or softly, quickly or slowly.
Practice your lines on your own and rehearse as a Revising Check
group until your reading sounds fluid and natural. Specific Action Verbs Work with a partner to review
Perform the reading for your classmates or at a school and revise the verbs in your essay on Song of Myself.
assembly.

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

WALT WHITMAN 415


LITER ARY P ER SP ECTIVE on Walt Whitman
Informational Text

Justin Kaplan
National Book Award Winner

Building Background “The beginning of a great career”


Today Walt Whitman is celebrated as one of the most
original poets of the nineteenth century. When Leaves I
of Grass was first published in 1855, however, it Do you take it I would astonish?
received mixed reviews and little fanfare. Undaunted, Does the daylight astonish? or the early red-
Whitman set out to convince the public that his work start twittering through the woods?
was a literary sensation. In the following selection, his- Do I astonish more than they?
torian and biographer Justin Kaplan describes how
Whitman promoted his work and launched his career.
Reading these lines at his desk in Concord, in a
Set a Purpose for Reading complimentary copy sent him by an anonymous
author, Emerson almost believed he had seen sal-
Read to learn about the early reviews of Leaves of
vation and could depart in peace. “In raptures,”
Grass and Whitman’s efforts to publicize his book.
as a visitor noted, Emerson pointed to a certain
Reading Strategy Synthesizing Information “oriental largeness of generalization” as evidence
that an American Buddha, the long-awaited
Synthesizing is combining ideas to create something
national poet, had spoken at last. “So extraordi-
new. To synthesize information from varied sources,
nary,” he told a Boston friend, Samuel Gray
follow these steps:
Ward, “I must send it to you, & pray you to look
• interpret the information
it over.” He wondered whether the author had
• identify similarities and differences between ideas
not been “hurt by hard life & too animal experi-
• combine ideas to create new knowledge
ence,” but still praised Leaves of Grass as “won-
As you read this selection, take notes about Walt derful,” “the American poem,” “a nondescript
Whitman. Then generate new ideas about this poet by monster,” as he wrote to Carlyle,1 “which yet had
relating your notes to the information you derived from
other sources in this unit.
1. Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) was a British historian and
essayist.

416 U N IT 3 THE CIVIL WAR ERA


Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago / Art Resource, NY
Informational Text
terrible eyes and buffalo strength.” After some This five-page salute, Whitman later said, was
puzzlement over the identity and whereabouts of the charter of “an emperor”—“I supposed the let-
the new poet, Emerson composed a letter to ter was meant to be blazoned.” In the annals of
Walter Whitman, Esq., in care of Fowler and literary partisanship and the laying-on of hands,
Wells2 in New York. Emerson’s words are unmatched for their gener-
osity and force, their shrewdness and simple jus-
Concord Massachusetts 11 July 1855 tice. Another insurgent scripture, Walden,
published the summer before, had drawn only
DEAR SIR, qualified praise from Emerson.
I am not blind to the worth Now he proclaimed the great-
of the wonderful gift of “Leaves ness of Leaves of Grass to
of Grass.” I find it the most friends, casual visitors, and far-
extraordinary piece of wit & I fi nd it the most flung acquaintances. “Toward
wisdom that America has yet no other American, toward no
contributed. I am very happy in
extraordinary contemporary excepting
reading it, as great power makes piece of wit & Carlyle, had Emerson used
us happy. It meets the demand I such strong expressions,” said
am always making of what wisdom that Moncure Conway, the young
seemed the sterile & stingy Harvard Divinity School grad-
Nature, as if too much handi- America has yet uate who was to be Emerson’s
work or too much lymph in 3
first legate4 to the new poet.
the temperament were making contributed. “Emerson had been for many
our western wits fat & mean. years our literary banker; paper
I give you joy of your free & that he had inspected, coin
brave thought. I have great joy that had been rung on his
in it. I find incomparable things said incompara- counter, would pass safely anywhere.” Stripped of
bly well, as they must be. I find the courage of its marketplace metaphors the same idea was
treatment, which so delights us, & which large echoed on the other side of the Atlantic by
perception only can inspire. William Howitt, reviewer for the London Weekly
I greet you at the beginning of a great career, Dispatch—“What Emerson has pronounced to be
which yet must have had a long foreground good must not be lightly treated.” Even the
somewhere, for such a start. I rubbed my eyes a Criterion, a high-toned New York weekly that
little to see if this sunbeam were no illusion; but dismissed Whitman’s book as “a mass of stupid
the solid sense of the book is a sober certainty. It filth,” had to acknowledge, apologetically, the
has the best merits, namely, of fortifying & quality of its credentials—“an unconsidered let-
encouraging. ter of introduction has oftentimes procured the
I did not know until I, last night, saw the admittance of a scurvy fellow into good society.”
book advertised in a newspaper, that I could trust Emerson’s letter admitted Leaves of Grass to a
the name as real & available for a Post-office. I meeting of Philadelphia abolitionists where
wish to see my benefactor, & have felt much like Lucretia Mott, the Quaker preacher, heard it
striking my tasks, & visiting New York to pay discussed and praised. “R. W. Emerson calls it
you my respects. ‘the book of the age,’” she wrote to her sister.
R. W. EMERSON “It is something Emersonian in style—a kind of
unmeasured poetry in praise of America & tell-
MR. WALTER WHITMAN. ing what true poetry is.” She had no objection
to the purchase of a copy for her seventeen-
year-old granddaughter. The patrician5 critic
and scholar Charles Eliot Norton told his friend
2. Fowler and Wells was the publishing firm that printed the
second edition of Leaves of Grass.
3. Lymph is a clear liquid that travels through the human 4. A legate is an official representative.
lymphatic system, removing fat from the intestines. 5. Here, patrician means “aristocratic.”

J U S TI N K A P L AN 417
Informational Text
James Russell Lowell6 that he had been alerted of the Brook Farm commune8 who had lived on
to the existence of this “literary curiosity” by admiring terms with its founder, George Ripley,
the revered Emerson, who had apparently writ- and with Margaret Fuller and Nathaniel
ten a letter to the author “expressing the warm- Hawthorne, Dana had retrieved some remnants
est admiration and encouragement.” In his of idealism from the ruins of that experiment in
unsigned review in the September Putnam’s plain living and high thinking. In the “nameless
Monthly Norton described Leaves of Grass as bard” of Leaves of Grass he recognized an oafish
“preposterous yet somehow fascinating,” a sur- descendant of Emerson, Bronson Alcott9, and
prisingly harmonious fusion other “prophets of the soul.”
of “Yankee transcendental- He too praised Whitman’s
ism and New York rowdy- “bold, stirring thoughts,”
ism” that at times “genuine intimacy with
exhibited, in the “rough Norton confessed nature,” and “keen apprecia-
and ragged thicket of its
pages,” undeniable boldness
that he had had tion of beauty.” But he
argued that “the essential
and originality. Norton to overcome his spirit of poetry” had found
confessed that he had had “an uncouth and grotesque
to overcome his distaste for distaste for the embodiment.” “His indepen-
the book’s “disgusting” and dence often becomes coarse
“intolerable” coarseness. book’s “disgusting” and defiant. His language is
“One cannot leave it about too frequently reckless and
for chance readers,” he told
and “intolerable” indecent,” Dana said, sound-
Lowell, “and would be sorry coarseness. ing the cry that Whitman
to know that any woman was to hear to the end of his
had looked into it past the days, “and will justly prevent
title-page. I have got a his volume from free circula-
copy for you, for there are tion in scrupulous circles.”
things in it you will admire.” (“No, no,” Lowell Because of such objections William Swayne, the
replied, “the kind of thing you describe won’t Fulton Street bookseller listed in the original
do.”) Another member of Emerson’s circle, the announcements in the Tribune, had withdrawn
clergyman Edward Everett Hale, future author Leaves of Grass from his stock and his name from
of The Man Without a Country, praised Fowler and Wells’s advertisements. Even Life
Whitman (in the January 1856 North American Illustrated, the firm’s own “Family Newspaper,”
Review) for his “remarkable power,” his “fresh- said the book was “perfect nonsense,” “a series of
ness, simplicity, and reality,” and for living up utterances” that the public was advised to take or
to the claims made in the preface. Half a cen- leave, “just as they prefer.” Soon Samuel Wells,
tury later Hale was still congratulating himself more of a businessman and less of a crusader
for having written this review, the first that, in than his partner Orson Fowler, suggested that
Whitman’s recollection, had done his book any- Whitman omit “certain objectionable passages”
thing close to justice. or look for another publisher.
In the summer of 1855, when he returned At Mickle Street10 Whitman made an almost
from his vacation on eastern Long Island, he had casual thing of it when he explained how
been greeted by a review of a different sort, Emerson’s letter, a private and privileged
prominent but grudging and even mischievous,
by Charles A. Dana of the Tribune, Horace 8. The Brook Farm commune was an experimental utopian
Greeley’s7 managing editor. A one-time member community in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, from 1841 to
1847.
9. Bronson Alcott (1799–1888) was a transcendentalist, a
6. James Russell Lowell (1819–1891) was a famed American radical educator, and the father of novelist Louisa May
Fireside poet. Alcott.
7. Horace Greeley (1811–1872) was an abolitionist and the 10. Mickle Street in Camden, New Jersey, was the location of
founder of the New York Tribune. Whitman’s house, which he purchased in 1884.

418 UNIT 3 TH E C I V I L WA R E RA
Informational Text
The New York Public Library / Art Resource, NY
source, views the matter from a more posi-
tive and less critical standpoint.

At first cautious and reluctant, just as his


phrenological chart11 had said, Whitman could
justifiably claim to have been, up to this point,
the unoffending victim of Dana’s good intentions
and unreliable assurances.* But once the letter
was released he fell on it like a hawk—“I too am
not a bit tamed.” The life of his sacred book was
in the balance. He sent the Tribune clipping to
Longfellow and other celebrities, arranged to
have the letter printed in Life Illustrated, and
eventually distributed it to editors and critics in
the form of a small broadside he printed up. It
was headed “Copy for the convenience of private
reading only” and changed Emerson’s formal
“Mr. Walter Whitman” to “Walt Whitman.”
The letter became part of the fabric of his
plans as he prepared the second edition of his
book during 1855 and 1856. “Make no puns /
funny remarks / Double entendres / ‘witty’
remarks / ironies / Sarcasms,” he instructed him-
self in his notebook. “Only that which / is simply
earnest, / meant,—harmless / to any one’s feel-
ings / —unadorned / unvarnished / nothing to /
excite a / laugh / silence / silence / silence /
communication, came to be published in the New
silence / laconic12 / taciturn,”13 He vows to
York Tribune without the writer’s permission or
“Avoid all the ‘intellectual / subtleties,’ and
foreknowledge. He said that when he was walking
‘withering doubts’ and ‘blasted hopes’ and ‘unre-
down the street in New York he happened to run
quited / loves,’ and ‘ennui’14 and ‘wretchedness’
into Dana, who had heard about the letter along
and the whole of the lurid and artistical and
the transcendental grapevine, was eager to print it
melo-dramatic / effects.—Preserve perfect calm-
in his newspaper, and wanted Whitman to release
ness and sanity.” He lists some of his casual
the text to him. Whitman refused, but a week or
acquaintances in New York—
so later changed his mind, with some justification,
as “a friend of Mr. Emerson” and therefore in a
responsible position to decide what was legitimate 11. A phrenological chart describes an individual’s personality
on the basis of the shape of his or her skull. Whitman
and proper for everyone concerned. He printed the
believed in phrenology.
letter in the Tribune on October 10 and prefaced it * The official version of the episode, laid out by Bucke in
with a brief paragraph that suggested a turning- 1883 with Whitman’s approval, even denied there had
point in the public fortunes of Leaves of Grass: been any evidence “that the letter was meant to be
private.” Whitman became more circumspect about such
matters. In 1871, after he received a flattering letter from
We sometime since had occasion to call the Tennyson, he cautioned a newspaper friend, “I rely on your
attention of our readers to this original and promise not to publish the letter, nor any thing equivalent
striking collection of poems, by Mr. to it.” But he had no objection to printing the news that he
Whitman of Brooklyn. In so doing we could had received such a letter. (Richard Maurice Bucke, M.D.,
Walt Whitman [Philadelphia, 1883], p. 139.)
not avoid noticing certain faults which
12. Laconic means “using few words.”
seemed to us to be prominent in the work. 13. Taciturn means “quiet.”
The following opinion, from a distinguished 14. Ennui means “weariness.”

JUST IN K APLAN 419


Informational Text
Further on, along with trial passages for

Hulton Archive/Getty Images


another major new poem of 1856, “Song of the
Broad-Axe,” is an entry of a different sort.
Enclosed within a large bracket, it occupies a
page to itself:

“I greet you at the beginning of a great career”


R. W. EMERSON

Whitman made several layouts of these words on


binder’s paper left over from the first edition
before he had them stamped in gold on the spine
of the second edition around August 1856. Torn
out of context, gaudily displayed, this Ali Baba16
formula appeared to be an endorsement even of
new poems Emerson could not possibly have
seen. And further compounding what a Boston
paper had called “the grossest violation of literary
comity17 and courtesy that ever passed under our
notice,” at the end of the book Whitman once
again printed the entire letter along with a vaunt-
ing18 essay in the form of a public thank-you:
Brooklyn August 1856.
Sam (with black eyes & cap) Here are thirty-two poems, which I send
Nick (black eyes 40th st—small) you, dear Friend and Master, not having
Joe (Canadian-Montreal) found how I could satisfy myself with send-
Bill Young (milkman & driver) ing any usual acknowledgement of your let-
George Applegate (tallest) ter. The first edition, on which you mailed
English Johnny (49th st Jockey cap) me that till now unanswered letter, was
Sam (49th st round shoulders light clothes) twelve poems—I printed a thousand copies,
and they readily sold; these thirty-two Poems
—and also sketches out, in the pride of cre- I stereotype, to print several thousand copies
ation and mastery, his “Sun-Down Poem” of. I much enjoy making poems. Other work
(“Crossing Brooklyn Ferry”) of 1856: I have set for myself to do, to meet people
and The States face to face, to confront
Poem of passage / the scenes on the river / them with an American rude tongue; but
as I cross the / Fulton ferry / Others will see the work of my life is making poems. I keep
the flow / of the river, also, / Others will see on till I make a hundred, and then several
on both / sides the city of / New York and hundred—perhaps a thousand. A few years,
the city / of Brooklyn / a hundred years and the average annual call for my Poems is
hence others / will see them . . . The con- ten or twenty thousand—more, quite likely.
tinual and hurried crowd of / men and Why should I hurry or compromise? . . .
women crossing / The reflection of the sky / Master, I am a man of perfect faith.
in the water—the blinding / dazzle in a
track from / the most declined sun, / The
16. Ali Baba is a woodcutter in The Arabian Nights’
lighters—the sailors / in their picturesque
Entertainments, or The Thousand and One Nights, a
costumes / the nimbus15 of light / around collection of Asian stories. He gains access to the cave of
the shadow of my / head in the sunset the Forty Thieves by saying the magic phrase “open
sesame.”
17. Comity means “courteousness.”
15. A nimbus is a cloud or an atmosphere. 18. Vaunting means “boasting.”

420 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
Even the loyal and resourceful Bucke,19 utterly Museum, General Tom Thumb and the Swedish
flummoxed20 for once, had to admit that Nightingale had not been wasted on him.22
Whitman’s “they readily sold” was “a plain lie.” Whitman supplied friendly journals with the
According to Bucke’s information, the first edi- information that Leaves of Grass created “an
tion had “no sale” and the second “little or no extraordinary sensation in the literary world on
sale.” “If the reader goes to a bookstore,” Hale had both sides of the Atlantic”—“the emphatic com-
pointed out in his review, “he may expect to be mendation of America’s greatest critic has been
told, at first, as we were, that there is no such ratified by the public.” And it was Whitman who
book, and has not been.” Whitman himself said wrote three anonymous reviews of Leaves of
he doubted “if even ten were sold” and that he Grass that appeared around the end of 1855.
ended up giving away almost all of his first edition “An American bard at last!” he announced in
to “friends and relatives”—“Oh, as a money mat- the United States Review. “Politeness this man
ter, the book was a dreadful failure.” It was a “fail- has none, and regulation he has none. A rude
ure” despite the vigorous deployment of his talents child of the people!—No imitation—No for-
as an impresario21 with one lifelong act to man- eigner—but a growth and idiom of America,” he
age. The lessons of P. T. Barnum’s American wrote in the Brooklyn Daily Times, and in sup-

22. P. T. Barnum (1810–1891) was an American showman


who helped popularize the three-ring circus. His American
19. Richard Maurice Bucke was a longtime friend and the first Museum in New York City displayed curiosities. Charles S.
biographer of Whitman. Stratton, named General Tom Thumb by Barnum, was a
20. Flummoxed means “confused.” 25-inch-tall performer. Jenny Lind, a Swedish soprano, was
21. An impresario is a theatrical manager or producer. promoted by Barnum as the Swedish Nightingale.

JUST IN K APLAN 421


CHIP EAST/Reuters/Corbis
Informational Text
port of these and similar claims he subjoined bound in green and gold and the printed text of
Lorenzo Fowler’s23 reading of the bard’s skull a letter in which Ralph Waldo Emerson compli-
and personality. In the American Phrenological mented the author “on the benefaction conferred
Journal, a Fowler and Wells enterprise, he cited on society”:
Tennyson’s poetry with admiring tolerance but
predicted his own, riding the wave of the future, On subsequently comparing the critiques
might yet prove “the most glorious of triumphs, from the United States Review and the
in the known history of literature.” Phrenological Journal with the Preface of
Skillfully managed, Whitman’s homemade Leaves of Grass we discovered unmistakable
appreciations made news in their own right. A evidence that Mr. Walt Whitman, true to
friendly journalist, William Swinton, praised him the character of a Kosmos, was not content
in the New York Times for the “manly vigor” and with writing a book, but was also determined
“brawny health” of Leaves of Grass. “This man to review it, so Mr. Walt Whitman has con-
has brave stuff in him. He is truly astonishing.” cocted both those criticisms of his own work,
In the course of several thousand words of careful treating it we need not say how favorably.
and sensitive discussion, Swinton reported that
“proof slips of certain articles written about
Sensation generated sensation, Whitman had
Leaves of Grass” had been delivered to the Times
learned. So did neglect, if it was conspicuous
office together with a copy of the first edition
enough. Later he tended to favor a history in
which Leaves of Grass, far from “an extraordinary
23. Lorenzo Fowler was a phrenologist and the founder of sensation,” had been greeted in total silence or
Fowler and Wells, a publishing house. with howls of derision.

R ES P O N D I N G AN D TH I N K I N G C R ITI CALLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. How did you react to Kaplan’s perspective on Walt 4. Did Whitman do the right thing in writing his own
Whitman? reviews of Leaves of Grass? Explain.

Recall and Interpret 5. Which of the early comments on Leaves of Grass


do you think sheds the most light on Whitman’s
2. (a)How did Emerson respond to Whitman’s Leaves work?
of Grass? (b)Why do you think Emerson
responded this way? 6. (a)Why does Kaplan compare Whitman to the
showman P. T. Barnum? (b)Is Kaplan’s comparison
3. (a)What did Whitman do with the letter that fair or not? Support your answer.
Emerson had sent him? (b)What do Whitman’s
actions reveal about his motives? Connect
7. How would you compare the speaker in Leaves of
Grass with Whitman himself, as depicted in
Kaplan’s perspective?

OB J EC TIVES
• Read to enhance understanding of history and American • Synthesize information from literary works in order to come
culture. to a conclusion.

422 U N IT 3 THE CIVIL WAR ERA


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Hulton Archive/Getty Images


Dickinson’s Poetry
M E E T E M I LY DIC K I NSON

V
irtually unknown during her lifetime,
Emily Dickinson now stands as a giant of
American literature. Her stark, concise
poems speak in an instantly recognizable voice,
reflecting a sense of style as individual as a finger-
print. In spare, chiseled verses, Dickinson
upended convention, posing the great questions
of life in the form of riddles for the reader.

“I conclude that space and time are


her late twenties or early thirties, Dickinson seems
things of the body and have little or to have experienced a devastating emotional set-
nothing to do with ourselves. My back, related perhaps to a disappointment in love.
She began to spend a great deal of time in solitude
Country is Truth . . . I like Truth—it in her family’s Amherst home. Dickinson seemed
is a free Democracy.” fully absorbed in this solitary existence, remarking
to a friend, “I find ecstasy in living—the mere
—Emily Dickinson sense of living is joy enough.”

Greatness Achieved Dickinson seems to have


Formative Years Dickinson was born into a dreamed of public acclaim, but she gave up these
distinguished and prosperous family in Amherst, dreams when her friend Thomas Wentworth
Massachusetts. Her father was a lawyer who served Higginson, editor of the Atlantic Monthly, urged her
in Congress. Though stern, he was a kind man not to publish. Dickinson, while ceasing attempts to
whose integrity deeply influenced Dickinson. publish, continued to write as she pleased. She pre-
ferred obscurity to the sacrifice of originality.
At Amherst Academy and Mount Holyoke Female
Seminary, Dickinson was a serious student with a After Dickinson’s death from kidney failure, her
mischievous streak. As the daughter of an sister Lavinia published the poems, but in altered
intensely religious family, she was pressured to form. Dashes were eliminated, capitalizations were
become an outspoken Christian. Despite her rever- undone, and some words were completely changed.
ence for the Bible, she refused. She entertained In 1955, scholar Thomas H. Johnson began to
strong religious feelings and equally strong doubts publish the poems as Dickinson had written them.
all her life, sharing her thoughts on the matter Dickinson has come to be recognized for what she
only with a few close friends. was: a great American nonconformist and poet of
rare purity.
In her late teens and twenties, Dickinson read
authors considered by her parents to be shockingly Emily Dickinson was born in 1830 and died in 1886.
secular: William Shakespeare, Ralph Waldo
Emerson, George Eliot, and Charlotte and Emily
Brontë. She also formed friendships with lawyers Author
Author Search
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more about
about
and ministers whose intelligence attracted her. In Emily
AuthorDickinson,
Name, gogoto to www.glencoe.com.
www.literature.glencoe.com.

EMILY D IC KINSON 423


L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W READI NG PREVI EW

Connecting to the Poems Reading Strategy Analyzing Sound Devices


Dickinson’s poetry explores the complexity of the human Sound devices are techniques that appeal to the ear.
soul. As you read, think about the following questions: Poets use sound devices to create a sense of rhythm,
emphasize particular sounds, or add to the musical
• What does it feel like to experience loss and longing? quality of writing. Rhyme is one sound device. Others
• What is success? What is wisdom? include alliteration (repeated consonant sounds at
Building Background the beginnings of words), assonance (repeated vowel
sounds), and consonance (repeated consonant
Much of Dickinson’s poetry features the use of dashes.
sounds in the middle or at the ends of words). As you
They serve as interrupters and signal pauses while also
read, notice the rhythms and changes in emphasis that
calling attention to the words they enclose. Dashes may
sound devices create.
break off a line or thought suddenly; they may call atten-
tion to a shift in meaning or action; they may interrupt the
Reading Tip: Close Reading To analyze sound
rhythm; or they may draw attention to the moment of
devices, first read closely for specific examples.
silence they create in oral readings of the poems.

Dickinson was also innovative in her use of capitaliza-


tion. Throughout her poetry she capitalized many com- Vocabulary
mon nouns, thereby calling attention to them and heave (hēv) n. an upward motion, or an effort
emphasizing their importance. to raise; p. 431 The heave of the waves caused
In a further innovation, Dickinson rejected the then- our boat to tip over.
dominant iambic pentameter, choosing instead to write interpose (in´ tər pōz ) v. to intrude, intervene,
in the meter of Protestant hymns. The alternating six- or to put oneself between; p. 431 My three-year-
and eight-syllable lines in many of her poems echo old brother tries to interpose himself between us
the rhythm found in the songs of the great hymn when we talk.
composer Isaac Watts.
cathedral (ke thē drəl) n. a church that is the
Setting Purposes for Reading official seat of a bishop; p. 436 We viewed photo-
graphs of the lovely cathedral of Notre Dame.
Big Idea A Poetic Revolution
imperial (im pēr ē əl) adj. of or relating to an
As you read, notice the way Dickinson experiments
empire or emperor; p. 436 In A.D. 200, imperial
with rhyme, rhythm, and punctuation to create a new
Rome stretched across several continents.
poetic style.
affliction (ə flik shən) n. great suffering, dis-
Literary Element Rhyme tress, or its cause; p. 436 Reeling from the epi-
demic of tuberculosis, the country took years to
A full rhyme is the repetition of the same stressed recover from the affliction.
vowel sounds and any succeeding sounds in two or
more words. For example, notation rhymes with vaca-
tion. Slant rhyme occurs when the rhyme of two
words depends on sounds that are similar but not
identical. For instance, Dickinson rhymes today with
victory. As you read, notice how the use of slant Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
rhymes helps add tension and interest to the poems.
go to www.glencoe.com.

• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R15.

OB J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • analyzing sound devices
• analyzing literary periods • interpreting rhyme

4 24 UNIT 3 THE CIVIL WA R ERA


Private Collection/Christie’s Images

Emily Dickinson
If you were coming in the Fall, If only Centuries, delayed,
I’d brush the Summer by 10 I’d count them on my Hand,
With half a smile, and half a spurn, Subtracting, till my fingers dropped
As Housewives do, a Fly. Into Van Dieman’s Land.1

5 If I could see you in a year, If certain, when this life was out—
I’d wind the months in balls— That yours and mine, should be
And put them each in separate Drawers, 15 I’d toss it yonder, like a Rind,
For fear the numbers fuse— And take Eternity—

But, now, uncertain of the length


Of this, that is between,
1. Van Dieman’s Land is the former name for Tasmania, an It goads me, like the Goblin Bee—
island that is part of Australia.
20 That will not state—its sting.
Literary Element Rhyme What is the rhyme scheme of
this stanza?

EMILY D IC KINSON 425


Emily Dickinson
My life closed twice before its close—
It yet remains to see
If Immortality unveil
A third event to me

5 So huge, so hopeless to conceive


As these that twice befell.
Parting is all we know of heaven,
And all we need of hell.

Big Idea A Poetic Revolution Why did events not described


in the poem prompt the speaker to express these feelings in lines
7 and 8?

Emily Dickinson
The Soul selects her own Society—
Then—shuts the Door—
To her divine Majority—
Present no more—

5 Unmoved—she notes the Chariots—pausing—


At her low Gate—
Unmoved—an Emperor be kneeling
Upon her Mat—

I’ve known her—from an ample nation—


10 Choose One—
Then—close the Valves of her attention—
Like Stone—

Reading Strategy Analyzing Sound Devices How does the


length of lines 10 and 12 reinforce the meaning of the stanza?

426 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
Clare Marie Leonard/CORBIS
AF
A F TE
T E R YO U R E A
ADD

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Which of these poems most closely reflects your 5. How do the dash and the capitalization of
own experiences or feelings? Explain. “Immortality” affect the meaning of the poem?
Explain.
If you were coming in the Fall
Recall and Interpret The Soul selects her own Society
2. (a)What periods of time does the speaker describe Recall and Interpret
in each of the first four stanzas? (b)Describe the 6. (a)In your own words, explain what the soul
actions the speaker imagines taking in each of selects. (b)From how many does the soul choose
these stanzas. just one? Tell what you think this suggests about
the soul.
Analyze and Evaluate
3. How effective is the simile in the last verse of the Analyze and Evaluate
poem at conveying suspense? Explain. 7. The last verse includes a metaphor describing the
soul closing “the Valves of her attention.” In your
My life closed twice before its close opinion, is this verse a fitting end given the content
of the previous stanzas? Explain why or why not.
Recall and Interpret
4. (a)How does the speaker define parting? (b)How,
in your opinion, do partings affect the speaker?

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Rhyme Reading Strategy Analyzing Sound Devices


Slant rhyme refers to the words at the ends of lines In a poem, sound devices create rhythm, highlight
of poetry that almost—but don’t quite—rhyme. particular words and sounds, and add to the musical
Dickinson makes repeated use of slant rhymes in her quality of writing. The sound of a poem and the
poems. The words rhymed can be connected by as poem’s meaning are closely linked, even inseparable.
little as two letters that sometimes rhyme, as in the A poem’s rhyming quality may help to make it memo-
rhyme of “be” and “fly.” When you come across slant rable, while alliteration (repeated consonant sounds
rhyme, you may notice that it heightens tension or the at the beginnings of words) may heighten the mood,
element of surprise. or feeling, of a poem.
1. Review “The Soul selects her own Society” and 1. Look for and record examples of internal rhyme
identify the example of slant rhyme in the second (rhyme that occurs within a single line of poetry)
stanza. and assonance (repeated vowel sounds) in the
last stanza of “If you were coming in the Fall.” How
2. In the last stanza, notice the contrast between the
do these techniques contribute to the poem’s
soft o sound of “One” and the longer, heavier o
meaning?
sound of “Stone.” How does this final slant rhyme
help reinforce the meaning of the poem? 2. (a)What words does the use of alliteration draw
attention to in “My life closed twice before its
close”? (b)Why are these words emphasized?

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

EMILY D IC KINSON 427


Emily Dickinson

Much Madness is divinest Sense—


To a discerning Eye—
Much Sense—the starkest Madness—
’Tis the Majority
5 In this, as All, prevail—
Assent—and you are sane—
Demur1—you’re straightway dangerous—
And handled with a Chain—

1. Demur means “to hesitate” or “to protest.”

Reading Strategy Analyzing Sound Devices What is the


effect of the repeated consonant sounds in assent and sane?
In demur and dangerous?

Woman Sitting in Darkness, Kari Van Tine.

4 28 U N IT 3 THE CIVIL WAR ERA


Images.com/CORBIS
Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne’er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar1
Requires sorest need.

5 Not one of all the purple Host2


Who took the Flag today
Can tell the definition
So clear of Victory

As he defeated—dying—
10 On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Burst agonized and clear!

Emily Dickinson
1. Nectar is a sweet liquid secreted by plants and used by bees
in the making of honey. In Greek mythology, nectar is the
drink of the gods that makes all who drink it immortal.
2. Purple Host means “winning army.”

Big Idea A Poetic Revolution Why does the poet


enclose the word dying in dashes in line 9?

Taps, c. 1907–1909. William Gilbert Gaul. Oil on canvas, 323/4 x 43 in.


The Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL.
Viewing the Painting How does this painting enhance your
understanding of Dickinson’s message in this poem?

EMILY D IC KINSON 429


Collection of the Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, Alabama; Gift of John Meyer
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Success is counted sweetest
1. Were you surprised by Dickinson’s ideas about Recall and Interpret
madness and success? Explain why or why not. 5. (a)What example of success is given in the second
stanza? (b)In the third stanza, why do you think
Much Madness is divinest Sense the poem calls the “defeated” one’s perception of
victory “agonized” and “clear”?
Recall and Interpret
2. (a)According to the speaker, in lines 1–3, with what Analyze and Evaluate
is sense often confused? (b)Who does the speaker 6. (a)How is the observation about soldiers and armies
say knows the difference? in stanzas two and three related to lines 1–2?
3. (a)How is a person who disagrees with accepted (b)Why, in your opinion, did Dickinson choose to
ideas regarded? (b)What does the last word of the use war imagery in a poem about success? Explain
poem suggest about what happens to such a person? what this choice might suggest about Dickinson’s
views of the world or of personal fulfillment.
Analyze and Evaluate 7. (a)What paradox lies at the heart of this
4. How would you describe the poet’s attitude toward poem? (b)Do you agree with the observation
the popular concept of sanity? about success and human nature in the poem?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Rhyme Reading Strategy Analyzing Sound Devices


Dickinson tended to write in axioms, or sayings Meter is the pattern of stressed ( ) and unstressed
meant to express a truth. Her use of rhythm and ( ˘ ) syllables that gives a line of poetry a more or less
rhyme makes these axioms easy to remember. predictable rhythm. The basic unit of meter is a group
of syllables known as the foot. In most of Dickinson’s
(a)In your opinion, which lines or verses in these
poems, every line is iambic (beginning with an
poems are made especially memorable by
unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one) and
rhyme? (b)Explain the importance of these lines and
contains either three or four feet. Lines of four feet
verses for the poem in which they are included.
generally alternate with lines of three feet, as in the
example below:
Writing About Literature
Evaluate Contemporary Relevance Choose one of ˘  ˘  ˘ ˘ 
the poems and write a brief essay discussing whether
Much Madness is divinest Sense—
the message it expresses is relevant to people today. ˘  ˘  ˘
To 
a discerning Eye—
Begin by putting the theme into your own words and
telling what details in the poem support the theme.
Then explain why the message she expresses had
special relevance for her or people in her time. Finally, Write “Much Madness is divinest Sense” and mark the
evaluate whether you think the message is true for pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables for the
your own day and time. whole poem. Is the pattern that Dickinson follows reg-
ular, that is, always predictable, or does the pattern
occasionally deviate to become irregular? Explain how
you think the rhythm affects the meaning of the
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
poem. Does it lend a musical quality? Does it help to
www.glencoe.com. emphasize certain words or ideas?

430 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
Emily Dickinson
I heard a Fly buzz—when I died—
The Stillness in the Room
Was like the Stillness in the Air—
Between the Heaves of Storm—

5 The Eyes around—had wrung them dry—


And Breaths were gathering firm
For that last Onset—when the King
Be witnessed—in the Room—

I willed my Keepsakes—Signed away


10 What portion of me be
Assignable—and then it was
There interposed a Fly—

With Blue—uncertain stumbling Buzz—


Between the light—and me—
Caroline Auf Der Treppe. Caroline On the Stairs, 1825. 15 And then the Windows failed—and then
Caspar David Friedrich. Oil on canvas, 29 x 20.3 in. I could not see to see—
Private collection.

Literary Element Rhyme How is the rhyme scheme in the


final stanza different from the rhyme scheme of earlier stanzas?

Vocabulary
heave (hēv) n. an upward motion, or an effort to raise
interpose (in´tər pōz) v. to intrude, intervene, or to
put oneself between

EMILY D IC KINSON 431


Caspar David Friedrich/Private Collection/Bridgeman Art Library
Emily Dickinson

The Bustle in a House


The Morning after Death
Is solemnest of industries
Enacted upon Earth—

5 The Sweeping up the Heart


And putting Love away
We shall not want to use again
Until Eternity.
Interior, Morning. Patrick William Adam. Oldham Art Gallery,
Lancashire, UK.
Reading Strategy Analyzing Sound Devices How does
line length function in this poem?

432 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
Patrick William Adam/Oldham Art Gallery, Lancashire, UK/Bridgeman Art Library
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond 6. How does Dickinson’s account of someone dying
compare with other representations of death?
1. Which images in these poems did you find espe-
cially striking? Why?
The Bustle in a House
I heard a Fly buzz when I died Recall and Interpret
Recall and Interpret 7. (a)What words does the speaker use that suggest
everyday household chores? (b)To what type of
2. In the first stanza of “I heard a Fly buzz when I died,”
chores is Dickinson really referring?
to what is the atmosphere in the room compared?
8. (a)According to the second stanza, when will we
3. (a)In lines 5 and 6, what are the “Eyes” and
again “use” the love we put aside on the morning
“Breaths” doing? (b)What do they await? Explain.
after death? (b)What might this suggest about
4. Summarize the last two stanzas. Explain what Dickinson’s religious faith? Explain.
impression of death you received from these lines.
Analyze and Evaluate
Analyze and Evaluate 9. (a)What analogy does the speaker make in this
5. (a)Why do you think the speaker calls his or her poem? (b)What does this analogy suggest about
belongings “Keepsakes”? (b)What other words or human reactions and needs after a death? Explain
phrases in the poem seem to indicate an implied whether you found this analogy effective.
truth about life, death, or the human soul?

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Rhyme Reading Strategy Analyzing Sound Devices


The sounds and images of a poem work together to Assonance is the repetition of similar vowel sounds,
create meaning. The jarring effect of a slant rhyme as in this example:
can underscore a word’s importance.
The Soul selects her own Society—
1. In “The Bustle in a House,” which words does
Consonance is the repetition of similar consonant
Dickinson draw attention to through slant rhyme?
sounds, typically within or at the ends of words.
2. The poem contrasts the mundane with the elevated
Much Madness is divinest Sense—
and abstract. Explain why Dickinson’s use of slant
To a discerning Eye—
rhyme reinforces this dual aspect of the poem.
Find examples of assonance and consonance in “The
Bustle in a House.” To do this, you may wish to copy
Listening and Speaking the poem, using different colored pens to mark exam-
With a partner, take turns reading aloud this pair of ples of the two devices. In your opinion, what does
poems. Vary the rhythm by emphasizing different the poem gain from the use of consonance and asso-
words or pauses. Then discuss how hearing the nance?
poems read in different rhythms might affect your
interpretations of them.

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

EMILY D IC KINSON 433


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Literary Element Personification Reading Strategy Clarifying Meaning


Personification is a figure of speech in which an ani- When you clarify meaning, you reread difficult sec-
mal, an object, a force of nature, or an idea is given tions of a text in order to clear up what is confusing. As
human characteristics. The following poem personifies you read the poem, go back and reread confusing sec-
death to memorable—and creepy—effect. As you read, tions more slowly. This will help you notice ideas you
notice specific ways in which Death resembles a person. may have previously missed.

Because I could not stop for Death—


He kindly stopped for me—
The Carriage held but just Ourselves—
And Immortality.

5 We slowly drove—He knew no haste


And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility1—

We passed the School, where Children strove


10 At Recess—in the Ring—
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain—
We passed the Setting Sun—

Or rather—He passed Us—


Emily Dickinson The Dews drew quivering and chill—
15 For only Gossamer,2 my Gown—
My Tippet3—only Tulle4—

We paused before a House that seemed


A Swelling of the Ground—
The Roof was scarcely visible—
20 The Cornice5—in the Ground—

Since then—’tis Centuries—and yet


Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses’ Heads
Were toward Eternity—
1. An old meaning of civility is “a community of citizens.”
Among the more modern meanings is “courtesy.” Dickinson
could have had either or both meanings in mind.
2. Gossamer is a light gauzelike fabric.
3. A tippet is a scarf for the neck and shoulders with loose
ends that hang down in front.
4. Tulle is fine netting used in making scarves and veils.
5. A cornice is the projecting, decorative molding along the
top of a building.

Literary Element Personification How does the person-


ification of the sun (he) introduce a shift in the poem?

434 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
Alinari/Art Resource, NY
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. What were your first reactions upon reading this 6. Reread lines 9–16. (a)How does the poem shift at
poem? Explain. line 13? (b)What effect is created by this? Explain
your answer.
Recall and Interpret
7. (a)How would you describe the mood, or
2. (a)According to lines 1–2, why does “Death” stop
emotional quality and atmosphere, of this poem?
for the speaker? Explain what these lines suggest
(b)Which images or details help to create this
about human behavior. (b)According to lines 3–4,
mood? Explain.
what does “Death’s” carriage hold?
8. One critic says that in this poem, the question of
3. (a)What places and things does the speaker pass
death is presented “without making any final
in the third stanza? (b)What might these places
statement about it. There is no solution to the
and things represent?
problem . . . the idea of immortality is confronted
4. What is the “House” in the ground described in the with the fact of physical disintegration. We are not
fifth stanza? Explain how you know. told what to think; we are told to look at the
situation.” Do you agree? Explain why or why not.
5. (a)According to the sixth stanza, how much time
has passed since the day of “Death’s” visit? (b)Why 9. This poem is one of Dickinson’s most famous.
did that day seem so long to the speaker? Support Describe the elements of the poem that you think
your answer with details from the poem. contribute the most to its effectiveness. Explain.

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Personification Reading Strategy Clarifying Meaning


Dickinson uses personification when she portrays When you clarify meaning, you take another look at
death as a gentlemanly carriage driver with human difficult sections of a text in order to figure out the
characteristics. meaning of anything you do not understand.
1. (a)What other object or idea is personified? Rereading can help you notice important ideas you
(b)What is the effect of this personification? Explain. may have missed.

2. Why do you think Dickinson chooses to portray 1. What is the relationship between the “Horses” in
death as she does? Use details from the poem to the last stanza and “Death”? To clarify, reread the
support your answer. poem.
2. What other points in the poem were clarified for
you by rereading? Explain.
Literature Groups
Analyze Images Dickinson uses images of everyday
objects and events to evoke the experience of dying.
With your group, evaluate these images. Which images
do you consider especially creative or striking? What is
their overall effect in the poem? Support your opinions.

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

EMILY D IC KINSON 435


Emily Dickinson

There’s a certain Slant of light,


Winter Afternoons—
That oppresses, like the Heft1
Of Cathedral Tunes—

5 Heavenly Hurt, it gives us—


We can find no scar,
But internal difference,
Where the Meanings, are—

None may teach it—Any—


10 ’Tis the Seal2 Despair—
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the Air—

When it comes, the Landscape listens—


Shadows—hold their breath—
15 When it goes, ’tis like the Distance
On the look of Death—

1. Here, heft means “heaviness.”


2. Here, seal means “emblem.”

Literary Element Rhyme Where are the slant rhymes in


the last stanza?

Vocabulary
cathedral (ke thēdrəl) n. a church that is the official
seat of a bishop
imperial (im pēr ē əl) adj. of or relating to an empire
or emperor
affliction (ə flikshən) n. great suffering, distress, or
A Woman Sewing in an Interior, 1901. Vihelm Hammershoi. Oil on canvas, its cause
28 15/16 x 27 15/16 in. Detroit Institute of Arts. Founders Society Purchase,
Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund.

436 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
Vilhelm Hammershoi/ Private Collection, Christie’s Images;/Bridgeman Art Library
Christie’s Images

Emily Dickinson

This is my letter to the World


That never wrote to Me—
At The Window, 1870. Karl Harald Alfred Broge. Oil on
The simple News that Nature told—
canvas, 21 x 171/4 in. Private Collection.
With tender Majesty

5 Her Message is committed1


To Hands I cannot see—
For love of Her—Sweet—countrymen—
Judge tenderly—of Me

1. Committed means “entrusted.”

Big Idea A Poetic Revolution Why does the poet


capitalize majesty in line 4?

EMILY D IC KINSON 437


A F T E R YO U R E A D

RESP ON DI NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond This is my letter to the World
1. What did you most like about these poems? Recall and Interpret
Explain. 6. (a)To whom is the letter addressed? (b)What
might the speaker be referring to with the words
There’s a certain Slant of light “my letter”?
Recall and Interpret 7. (a)What “News” does the letter contain? (b)What
2. (a)What does the slant of light give us, according to is the speaker’s relationship to nature?
the speaker? (b)Describe the mood, or feeling, 8. What plea does the speaker make in the second
that the slant of light brings. stanza?
3. (a)When does the speaker observe the slant of
light? (b)Why is this significant? Explain.
Analyze and Evaluate
9. What does the fact that the world never wrote back
4. What does the light seem to represent to the suggest about the speaker?
speaker? Explain how lines 15–16 reinforce this.
Connect
Analyze and Evaluate
10. Big Idea A Poetic Revolution Dickinson’s
5. (a)What feelings does Dickinson evoke with her
poems transform simple, everyday experiences
descriptions of a “Heavenly Hurt” and “the Seal
into the meaningful and universal. How do the
Despair”? (b)Does Dickinson bring out these
poems you read accomplish this?
feelings effectively?

YO U ’ R E T H E C R I T I C : Point/Counterpoint

W H AT IS DIC K I NSON ’S T RU E WO R T H ?
Along with Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson is
“Emily Dickinson cuts things off very short,
praised for her revolutionary effect on American and that always seems to me rather shocking.
poetry. Using the themes and language closest to She ends poems too soon for me.”
her, she invented a style that reflects both uniquely —Helen Vendler
American attitudes and her own inner nature.

Read the following two excerpts of literary criti-


Group Activity
cism. Poet William Carlos Williams thought of
Dickinson as his “patron saint.” Critic Helen Discuss the following questions
Vendler found both strengths and shortcomings in with your classmates. Refer to
her poetry. As you read the two quotes, notice that the two quotes and cite evidence
they emphasize different qualities of Dickinson’s from Dickinson’s poems for
work. support.

“She was an independent spirit. She did her best to • Which aspects of Dickinson’s
poetry are praised by Williams?
get away from too strict an interpretation. . . . And
Which aspects are criticized by
she followed the American idiom . . . .She speaks
Vendler?
the spoken language, the idiom, which would be
deformed by Oxford English. . . . She was a real • Which of the critical assess-
good guy.” ments do you agree with more?
—William Carlos Williams Explain.

438 U N IT 3 THE CIVIL WAR ERA


L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Rhyme Reading Strategy Analyzing Sound Devices


Through the skillful manipulation of rhyme, poets can Alliteration refers to the repetition of similar consonant
achieve subtle emotional effects. Aware that readers sounds at the beginnings of words. For example, in
have a tendency to expect perfect, or full, rhymes as “There’s a certain Slant of light,” alliteration occurs in
they read, poets may decide to delay the expression the first line with the repetition of the s sound in “cer-
of a full rhyme in order to create tension. When the tain” and “Slant.” Alliteration can heighten the musical-
full rhyme arrives later than expected, the overall ity of a poem. It can also be used to emphasize
effect may be to provide satisfaction and to empha- certain words or ideas.
size a certain meaning.
1. List three other instances of alliteration in “There’s a
1. How is the strategy described above illustrated in certain Slant of light.” What, in your opinion, is the
“This is my letter to the World”? effect of each of these instances on the sound and
meaning of the poem? Explain your answer.
2. What effect does internal rhyme, or rhyme that
occurs within a line of poetry, have on the poem? 2. Notice the repetition of the m sound in “This is my
letter to the World.” List the words that begin with
m. What effect might Dickinson have intended to
Review: Personification create with this repetition? Support your answer.
Personification is a figure of speech in which an ani-
mal, an object, a force of nature, or an idea is given
human characteristics. Vocabulary Practice
Partner Activity With a partner, examine “There’s a Practice with Context Clues Tell what each
certain Slant of light” and “This is my letter to the boldfaced word means based on its context.
World.” Working with your partner, create two web dia- 1. She had never been to a large city church until
grams like the one below, and fill them in with exam- she visited St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York.
ples of personification from each poem. Then discuss 2. Ben always claimed to be suffering from some
which examples you found most memorable or effec- grave affliction or incurable disease.
tive. Also discuss why Dickinson uses personification 3. The officer had an almost imperial authority;
as she does. his orders were obeyed without question.

“There’s a Academic Vocabulary


certain Slant”
Here are two words from the vocabulary list on
page R86. These words will help you think,
write, and talk about the selection.
“the Landscape
listens” stress (stres) v. to accent or emphasize

contrast (kən trast) v. to compare in respect to


differences

Practice and Apply


1. What role does the stress of a syllable play in
creating meter in a stanza of poetry?
2. In her poems, how does Dickinson contrast her
inner world with the world outside?

EMILY D IC KINSON 439


W R I T I N G A N D E X TE N D I N G G R A M M A R A N D ST Y L E

Writing About Literature Dickinson’s Language and Style


Compare and Contrast Theme In her poetry, Examining Pronouns Emily Dickinson uses pronouns
Dickinson presents various ideas about human nature. to achieve a concise style. A pronoun is a word that
Choose two poems that convey a similar theme, or takes the place of a noun, a group of words acting as a
message. Write down details in each poem that give noun, or another pronoun. The word or group of words
you insights into the message about human nature that a pronoun refers to is called its antecedent. Using
that the poem seeks to convey. Then write a brief pronouns in place of nouns allows you to avoid repeti-
essay comparing and contrasting each poem’s theme. tion in your writing.
Answer these questions: What message about human
Personal pronouns are pronouns that refer to a spe-
nature does each poem convey? How are the two
cific person or thing. Personal pronouns have three
messages similar and different? Which details in the
cases: nominative, possessive, and objective. The case
poems help to convey these messages? End with a
depends on the function of the pronoun. See the
general conclusion about Dickinson’s portrayal of
chart below for the case forms of personal pronouns.
human nature. Be specific in supporting your ideas.
Before you start writing, create a chart like the one Singular Plural
Case
below for each poem. List key details on the left. On Pronouns Pronouns

the right, tell what the details help you infer about the Nominative I, you, she, he, it we, you, they
poem’s message. At the bottom of your chart, sum-
marize the poem’s overall message. Use this chart to Objective me, you, her, him, it us, you, them
help you create your first draft.
my, mine, your, his, our, ours, your,
Possessive
yours, her, hers, its yours, their, theirs

Details Poem’s Message


Activity Briefly explain how the use of pronouns in
the examples below helps make the writing concise.
If I could see you in a year,
I’d wind the months in balls—
And put them each in separate Drawers,
For fear the numbers fuse—

The poem’s theme is _______. from “If you were coming in the Fall”

After you complete your draft, meet with a peer


Revising Check
reviewer to evaluate each other’s work and to suggest
revisions. Then proofread and edit your draft for errors Pronouns Pronouns and personal pronouns are
in spelling, grammar, and punctuation. important to consider when revising your own writing.
With a partner, read through your essay or theme and
review the pronouns and personal pronouns to make
Internet Connection sure they correspond with the proper antecedents.
Visit Emily Dickinson Online The life of this very
private poet has become very public on the Internet.
Conduct a search to find Web sites devoted to
Dickinson’s life and poetry. Visit one site and present
a short review of it to your classmates. Include the
address, the options at the site, and aspects of the Web Activities For eFlashcards,
site that make visiting it either a worthwhile or a Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
time-wasting experience. www.glencoe.com.

440 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
LITER ARY P ER SP ECTIVE on Emily Dickinson
Informational Text

Billy Collins

Poet Laureate 2001–2003

T
Building Background oday Emily Dickinson is recognized not
only as a major poet of the American
Known for his witty, accessible poetry, Billy Collins
served as the nation’s poet laureate from 2001 to
nineteenth century but also as one of the
2003. In the following passage from his introduction most intriguing poets of any place or time, in
to The Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson, Collins both her art and her life. The outline of her
discusses the myth that surrounds Emily Dickinson’s biography is well known. She was born in
life, the enduring power of her work, and the tools that Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1830 and, except for
she used in crafting her poems. a few excursions to Philadelphia, Washington,
and Boston, spent her entire life there, increas-
Set a Purpose for Reading ingly limiting her activities to her father’s house.
Read to learn more about Dickinson’s life, her poems, “I do not cross my Father’s ground to any House
and a critic’s interpretation of each. or Town,” she wrote, referring to a personal
reclusiveness that was noticeable even to her
Reading Strategy contemporaries. In the front corner bedroom of
Analyzing Literary Criticism that house on Main Street, Dickinson wrote over
1,700 poems, often on scraps of paper and on the
Analyzing literary criticism involves recognizing the
main ideas and supporting details in a piece of
backs of grocery lists, only a handful of which
criticism in order to compare the critic’s response to a were published in her lifetime and then anony-
piece of literature with your response. As you read, mously. She was known to give poems to friends
take notes on Collins’s literary criticism. Use a two- and neighbors, often as an accompaniment to
column chart like the one below. the cakes and cookies she baked, sometimes low-
ering them from an upstairs window in a basket.
Critic’s Response My Response
Her habit of binding groups of poems together
into little booklets called fascicles might indicate
zigzag logic in she felt her poems were presentable, but most of
poems her poems never went farther than her desk
drawer where they were discovered by her sister
BILLY COLLINS 4 41
Christie’s Images Ltd
Informational Text

after Dickinson’s death in 1886 of kidney failure. were it not for the poems themselves. Her style
In her lifetime, her poetry remained unknown, is so distinctive that anyone even slightly
and although a few small editions of her poems acquainted with her poems would recognize a
were published in the 1890s, it was not until poem on the page as an Emily Dickinson poem,
1955 that a reliable scholarly edition appeared, if only for its shape. Here is a typical example:
transcribing the poems precisely from the origi-
nal manuscripts and preserving all of Dickinson’s ’Tis little I could care for pearls
typographical eccentricities. Convincingly or Who own the ample sea;
not, she called publication “the auction of the Or brooches4 when the Emperor
mind” and compared the public figure to a frog With rubies pelteth me;
croaking to the admiring audience of a bog.
It is fascinating to consider the case of a person Or gold, who am the Prince of Mines;
who led such a private existence and whose poems Or diamonds, when I see
remained unrecognized for so long after her death, A diadem5 to fit a dome
as if she had lain asleep only to be awakened by Continual crowning me.
the kiss of the twentieth century. The quirky cir-
cumstances of her life have received as much if Such a short form leads to concision and
not more commentary than the poems themselves. quick-wittedness, her poems standing as dramatic
Some critics valorize1 her seclusion as a form of examples of poetry’s ability to compress wide
female self-sufficiency; others make her out to be a meaning into small spaces. She was also fond of
victim of her culture. Still others believe that her the riddle. The diadem that crowns her always is
solitariness has been exaggerated. She did attend the sky. With the dome of earth overhead, the lit-
school, after all, and she maintained many inti- tle poem wants to ask, who needs the grosser6
mate relationships by letter. Moreover, it was less riches of pearls, rubies, gold, or diamonds? The
eccentric in her day than in ours for one daugh- modest size of her poems (most are shorter than a
ter—she had a brother who was a lawyer and a sis- sonnet) matches the modest space of house and
ter who married—to remain home to run the garden in which she chose to live. The poems are
household and assist her parents. Further, all writ- also short because she does not waste time intro-
ers need privacy; all must close the door on the ducing the poem. She neither provides the details
world to think and compose. But Dickinson’s sep- of a physical setting, as a conventional nature
arateness—which has caused her to be labeled a poem might do, nor does she explain the poem’s
homebody, a spinster, and a feminist icon among occasion. The poems begin suddenly, often with a
other things—took extreme forms. She was so shy declaration (“Superiority to fate / Is difficult to
that her sister Lavinia would be fitted for her learn”) or a definition (“Hope is a subtle glut-
clothes; she wore only white for many years ton”). Dickinson does not knock before entering,
(“Wear nothing commoner than snow”); and she so the reader may feel swept up into the center of
rarely would address an envelope, afraid that her the poet’s thought process without warning. To
handwriting would be seen by the eyes of strang- open a poem by saying “I felt a cleavage in my
ers. When asked of her companions, she replied in mind / As if my brain had split” is to thrust the
a letter to Thomas Wentworth Higginson2, “Hills, reader into a psychic intimacy with the fractured
sir, and the sundown, and a dog large as myself speaker. Also, her poems tend to end abruptly and
that my father bought me.” decisively, often with epigrammatic7 authority
However tempting it is to search through the (“The only secret people keep / Is Immortality”).
biographical evidence for a solution to the Her tiny, untitled poems may fit her sensibility
enigma3 of Emily Dickinson’s life, we must and provide the verbal equivalent of a home’s
remember that no such curiosity would exist safe enclosure—a room within a room—but the

1. Valorize means to “attach value or worth to something.” 4. A brooch is a piece of jewelry that is fastened by a pin.
2. Thomas Wentworth Higginson was a noted abolitionist, 5. Diadem means “crown.”
ordained minister, and editor for the Atlantic Monthly. 6. Here, grosser mean “less fine.”
3. An enigma is something puzzling or mysterious. 7. Epigrammatic means “in the manner of a pithy, wise saying.”

442 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
Informational Text
James Marshall/CORBIS Or, with Dickinson,

A thought went up my Mind to-day


That I have had before, . . .

Rhythmically, the three-beat line


sounds like an answer to the four-beat
line, and it also provides a one-beat pause
at the end, a space to breathe. Dickinson
used other kinds of cadences, but common
meter is the usual gait8 of her poetry.
Almost every Dickinson poem can be
sung—like it or not—to the tune of “The
Yellow Rose of Texas,” a song in common
meter. But unlike that song, her poems
shortness of her lines is due to something else: also include a counter-rhythm she created by
her preference for common meter, the meter of interrupting the regular beat with dashes—her
ballads and Protestant hymns, and even of nurs- obsessive type of punctuation—and by her sud-
ery rhymes. In common meter, a line of four den jumps of thought. Instead of a steady run of
beats is followed by a line of three beats. meaning, the Dickinson poem hops from one fig-
ure to another in a kind of zigzag logic that
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound requires not just our concentration but our own
That saved a wretch like me. agility in making imaginative and grammatical
leaps. Even her obituary in the Springfield
Or, more speedily, Republican noted that she was “quick as the elec-
tric spark in her intuitions.”
Old King Cole was a merry old soul
And a merry old soul was he.
8. Here, gait means “rhythm.”

R ES P O N D I N G AN D TH I N K I N G C R ITI CALLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. How did you respond to Emily Dickinson’s 4. What does Collins suggest about the “commentary”
seclusion? related to Dickinson’s seclusion?
5. Collins states that in her poetry Dickinson
Recall and Interpret “compress[es] wide meaning into small spaces”
2. (a)To what does Dickinson compare the public and that Dickinson’s poems require an agile reader
figure? (b)How would you explain her disdain for who can make “imaginative and grammatical
public opinion? leaps”? Do you agree with his statement?
3. Collins asserts that the meter of Dickinson’s poems
creates “the verbal equivalent of a home’s safe Connect
enclosure.” Why else do you think Dickinson may 6. Big Idea A Poetic Revolution In what ways do
have used this meter? you think Dickinson’s poetic innovations are related
to her separation from the world?

O B J EC TIVES
• Compare reviews of literature to your own responses.
• Extend ideas presented in secondary sources through analysis.
• Analyze meter.

BILLY COLLINS 443


Writing Workshop
Historical Research Paper

The Writing Process


➥ Investigating the Civil War Era
In this workshop, you will “Prayers from the women and imprecations from the men,
follow the stages of the
writing process. At any stage,
and then a shell would light up the scene. Tonight, they say,
you may think of new ideas the forces are to attempt to land.”
to include and better ways
to express them. Feel free —Mary Chesnut, from “Mary Chesnut’s Civil War”
to return to earlier stages as
you write.
Connecting to Literature Chesnut’s diary is an example of a primary source,
Prewriting or a source that provides a firsthand account of events. A secondary source is a
source created after an event and is often based upon primary sources. In a his-
Drafting
torical research paper, a writer presents facts and ideas gathered from various
Revising primary and secondary sources about a specific topic or issue.

➥ Focus Lesson: Making


Paragraphs Coherent Rubric: Features of Historical Research Papers

Editing & Proofreading Goals Strategies

➥ Focus Lesson: Using


Quotations Correctly
To present a strong, focused thesis ✓ Make an arguable assertion that can be
statement supported with research
Presenting ✓ Revise thesis statement to reflect insights
gained from research and writing

To develop main ideas that support ✓ Gather information from a variety of


the thesis statement primary and secondary sources
Writing Models For models
and other writing activities, go to
✓ Brainstorm for ideas; reorganize notes
www.glencoe.com.
To organize main ideas in an ✓ Use an outline or some other method of
effective, logical order organization to plan a coherent argument
✓ Include a main idea and relevant details
in each paragraph

To support and explain ideas, using ✓ Quote, paraphrase, and summarize


OB J ECTIVES
• Write a research paper to well-documented facts and details relevant information; credit sources
investigate a historical era. ✓ Synthesize, analyze, and evaluate
• Formulate questions to guide
research.
information to draw conclusions
• Draw conclusions based on
analysis of a variety of well-
documented sources.

444 UNIT 3 THE CIVIL WAR ERA


Research

º Assignment Real-World Connection


Write a historical research paper in which you synthesize information from a You do research all the
variety of documented sources, draw conclusions, and discuss related insights. time, often without even
As you write, keep your audience and purpose in mind. realizing it. If you are going
to buy a car, for example,
Audience: classmates and teacher you may test-drive several
cars, find out which
Purpose: to investigate a historical topic and report your conclusions models are the safest or
most fuel-efficient, and
narrow your search to
Prewriting those that fit your budget.
The information gained
from research enables
Investigate and Narrow a Topic Think about a perspective or a controversial you to make informed
event that sheds light on the Civil War era. Then narrow or expand your topic decisions.
as needed. The Right Tone

º Ask Questions Think of a research report as a well-documented response to a Consider the purpose of
significant question. List several research questions. As you learn more, refine your paper and how best
your research questions and focus on a central idea. to address your audience.
Use a formal and objective
º Focus Your Topic Once you have a general topic that interests you, use your tone to show that your
research questions to help determine the scope of your topic. The topic should research is serious and
not be so broad that you will be writing in generalities nor so narrow that you unbiased. Avoid slang and
cannot find adequate sources. contractions. Use the third-
person point of view.
Compare the topics in the chart below to see the differences between topics that
are too broad, too narrow, and appropriately limited.

Narrowing a Topic

Too Broad Appropriately Limited Too Narrow

Civil War photography Civil War photography of Mathew Brady’s photographs


Mathew Brady of the battles of Bull Run

Women during the Civil War Women soldiers during the Women soldiers of the 95th
Civil War Illinois Infantry Regiment

Gather Evidence After you narrow your topic, try to answer your research
questions. Familiarize yourself with your topic’s larger context and background.
Then think about the historical situation or events that influenced your topic.

º Find Reliable Sources Use bibliography cards to keep track of all your
sources. As you research, evaluate the credibility of your sources and make
sure that they are not outdated, biased, or based on faulty data. For example,
personal Web sites may promote personal agendas and not facts. However,
books published by well-known publishers or universities are generally reliable.

º Consider Different Perspectives Keep in mind that people can have dif-
ferent perspectives on historical events. Consider perspectives that are often
overlooked in the study of the Civil War.

WRIT ING WO RKSHOP 445


Take Notes As you read through various sources, note important ideas, facts,
and quotations. Record this information on note cards, in a notebook, or on
separate computer files. Make sure to keep your information organized. For each
source, record full publishing information (see the guidelines on pages R39–R41)
and assign it a number or the author’s last name. Then use this number or name
Warning: Plagiarism as you label any notes taken from the source. This will save time and help you
compile your Works Cited page(s) later. As you find information you want to
Plagiarism is using
include, decide how to best incorporate it into your paper.
another writer’s words
or ideas without giving
º Quote Record direct quotations exactly as they appear, including punctua-
proper credit. Be care-
tion. Use quotations sparingly.
ful not to plagiarize
unintentionally. For º Paraphrase Restate someone else’s original idea in your own words, giving
example, paraphrasing credit to the author whose idea it is.
another writer’s words
too closely is plagia- º Summarize Condense information to its key points and details.
rism—even if you cite
the source. Avoid this BIBLIOGRAPHY NOTE CARD
by fully rewriting infor- Burgess, Lauren Cook 2
mation in your own An Uncommon Soldier
Pasadena, MD: The Minerva Center, 1994.
words as well as citing Wilmet te Public Library
the source. 973.7 WA

Give Due Credit


Cite sources within your PARAPHRASE NOTE DIRECT QUOTATION SUMMARY NOTE CARD
paper as close to the CARD NOTE CARD Women Disguised as Soldiers 2
end of the borrowed Women Disguised as Soldiers 2 Women Disguised as Soldiers 2 Often rural women disguised
Women from poorer and more “Poor immigrant women as men could pass as male
information as possible,
rural backgrounds tended from the cities worked at soldiers.
usually before a period to succeed at disguising hard, physical labor and (summary) page 7
or comma. The first themselves because they possessed none of the refined
citation consists of the had more experience with sensibilities of their ‘bet ters.’
physical labor and thus were Women such as these, who
author’s last name and able to blend in more easily were confident of their
the page number(s) with the men. survival skills, would have few
within parentheses: (paraphrase) page 7 qualms about their ability to
measure up with the men in
(Burgess 7). Give full
the military.”
bibliographic informa- (quotation) page 7
tion on the Works
Cited page at the end
of the paper. Analyze Information Once you have gathered a number of primary and
secondary sources, look for patterns and similarities as well as contradictions.
Organize your information around main ideas. For instance, a student writ-
ing about women soldiers during the Civil War divided her information into
these categories: history of women in combat, Civil War era attitudes toward
women, how the war influenced women, and how women helped the war effort.
Remember that a successful research paper synthesizes ideas and presents new
conclusions rather than simply stringing quotations together.

Make a Plan Once you are familiar with several expert perspectives on your
topic, write a thesis statement. Keep in mind that you will probably revise your
thesis as you gain insight and draw conclusions while writing. Use your notes
to help you make an outline. Include only information that is relevant to your
thesis. Choose an effective way to order the main ideas and keep related ideas
together.

446 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
Research

Drafting

Make Connections Start writing by following your outline and note


cards. If you find it easier, write the body paragraphs before you write the
introduction. Consider how each point in your outline relates to other
points and to your thesis statement. Remember to explain those relation-
ships to your reader.

Analyzing a Workshop Model


Here is a final draft of a historical research paper. Read the research paper and
pay close attention to the comments in the margin. They point out features
that you might want to include in your own paper. Answer the questions in
the margin, and use the answers to guide you as you write your own draft.

On the Front Lines:


Women Soldiers in the Civil War
Often disguised as men, women who fought on the front lines in the
Civil War defied feminine stereotypes and nineteenth-century expecta-
tions. Unfortunately, these stereotypes labeled women who fought or
attempted to fight in the Civil War as scandalous and criminal, yet their
Thesis Statement
reasons for fighting were often not much different from those of male
State your topic and your
soldiers. Despite discrimination, women fought in the Civil War out of perspective on it in the
patriotism, love, and a desire for independence, adventure, and better thesis statement. What
information do you expect
status and pay. to see in this paper?
Women had been fighting in wars and battles long before the Civil
Main Ideas
War. Joan of Arc’s fifteenth-century battles may be the most famous, but
Develop main ideas and
other women warriors fought throughout history. Matilda of Tuscany organize them effectively
fought for Pope Gregory VII in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and to support your thesis
successfully. Why does
Lakshmi Bai led the Bengal army against the British in India just before the writer begin the paper
the American Civil War (Hall xi–xii). American women also took part with this main idea?

in earlier wars. For example, Pennsylvanian Margaret Cochran Corbin


joined the Continental army with her husband in 1776, and Mary Hays
took over her husband’s duties as gunner when he was injured in 1778
Paraphrase
(Leonard 102–104). Therefore, by the opening salvos of the Civil War,
Paraphrase information
women had been fighting in armies for centuries. rather than quote from an
The Civil War, however, was different. Neither the Union army nor the unremarkable passage. Do
not use quotation marks.
Confederate army allowed women to enlist (Blanton, Part 1, 2). Those Why might the writer avoid
women who did enlist—and were later discovered to be female—were a direct quotation here?

WRIT ING WO RKSHOP 447


Bettmann/CORBIS
considered to be “of very bad character, indeed” (Burgess 6). When sisters
Mary and Mollie Bell were discovered in 1864, they were accused of being
Direct Quotations
prostitutes, arrested, and described as “manifestly crazy” (Burgess 6). Despite
Use direct quotations to
retain the author’s exact the restrictions and the threat of personal attacks, many women still enlisted.
wording and to highlight According to Mary Livermore, a women’s rights activist of the time, there
particularly striking or
meaningful phrases.
were about four hundred female soldiers during the Civil War (Hattaway
What effect do these 135). The more modern estimate is that between four hundred and six hun-
direct quotations have?
dred women campaigned during the Civil War (Wagner 445).
Although enlistment was technically forbidden, there were many other
legitimate ways for women to involve themselves in the war and support
the army. Many Union women were considered vivandières or cantinières,
women who assisted the troops by providing water and aid and carry-
Supporting Details
ing messages between commanders and soldiers (Varhola 120). Other
Support your main ideas
women—more than three thousand in the Northern states—served as nurses
with relevant details. How
do these details support and helped ill or injured soldiers. These nurses had to endure low pay and
the main idea of the
abysmal working conditions. Southern women also supported the troops by
paragraph?
working as nurses, although they faced criticism for attending to “ruffians”
(Ward 149). Still, women did not allow their roles as nurses to inhibit their
involvement in combat.
Transitions
However, for some women, working as a nurse or helping as a vivan–
Shift gears by using tran-
sitional phrases or sen- dière did not satisfy their motivations, so they turned toward disguise. In the
tences that explain your Victorian age, gender was closely linked to exterior characteristics, such as
thought process. Is this
transition effective?
clothing and hair. For example, if a person was seen wearing pants, “most
people of the period would naturally have assumed that the person was a
man” (Burgess 3). Such attitudes made it easy for women to disguise them-
selves as men. In addition, women cut their hair, wore fake mustaches, and,
to create the illusion of muscles, padded their uniforms. Those who did not
sport false facial hair found it easy to blend in among the boys and young
men who were also fighting in the war. Women also created male pseud-
onyms—and army officials never asked for official identification (Blanton,
Part 1, 2–3). Women from poorer and more rural backgrounds tended to
succeed at disguise because they had more experience with physical labor
and thus were able to blend in more easily with the men (Burgess 7). Yet
some of the women, despite their best attempts at disguise, were discov-
ered. Most were found out when they visited a hospital after becoming sick
or wounded (Commager 241). For example, one woman was discovered only

448 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
Research

when she fainted after an injury (Hall 158). Many—both successfully


and unsuccessfully—tried to reenlist in different regiments after their
Supporting Facts
discovery.
Include facts to support
There were many reasons for women to get involved in the Civil War, your main ideas. What do
either in legitimate ways or by sneaking their way into battle, and many the facts about failed dis-
guises contribute to the
of these reasons did not differ from the motivations for men. Elizabeth paper?
D. Leonard, a prominent scholar, explains that, as with their male coun-
terparts, “the traditional explanation has centered on pure, unadulterated
patriotism” (227). The Civil War was a philosophical conflict as well as
a military one. Many abolitionists were women. They identified with the
fight for equality. For many women in the North, this was the first time
that they had ever felt such intense loyalty to their country.
In addition, as Frank Moore noted in 1866, some women went to war
because they could not bear separation from loved ones, while others
went out of “a pure love of romance and adventure” (17). For instance,
when her husband became a private, Bridget Divers joined the First
Secondary Sources
Michigan Cavalry as a nurse. Her efforts extended into direct combat.
Use a combination of
She was known for helping move wounded men off the battlefield, ral- primary and secondary
lying soldiers to retreat, and even occasionally fighting with the troops sources. Why might the
writer have chosen to use
(Faust 221). As Leonard explains: a secondary source?
Bridget Divers became widely known for her valiant efforts
on behalf of the wounded, for her courage under fire in battle,
Long Quotations
and . . . for her willingness to position herself in such a way as
For quotations four lines
to generate among the men in the ranks the greatest enthusiasm or longer, start a new
that they could muster for the fight (123). line and indent the entire
quotation ten spaces. Do
Interestingly, in the heat of battle it did not matter to the other combat-
not use quotation marks.
ants that Bridget Divers was a woman. She still had the ability to inspire What is the effect of the
long quotation used here?
and help her fellow Americans.
Patriotism, love, and adventure were not the only reasons women
Coherent Paragraphs
became soldiers, however, and historians have only recently addressed Use transitions and repeat
the more practical reasons women risked their lives and reputations to key words and phrases to
help make your paragraphs
fight. Another major reason that women—and men—joined the army
coherent. How does the
was for the money. As Leonard asserts, a woman’s service in the Civil author connect this para-
graph to the one before it?
War, “however patriotic in its essential motivation, however exciting in
comparison with what most mid-century American women could
expect from their normal daily lives, was compensated by wages” (230).

WRIT ING WO RKSHOP 449


Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, for example, disguised herself and joined the army
to help her family pay off debts. In an 1862 letter home, she wrote:
I enlisted for 3 years or soon [as] discharged. All the money I send
Primary Sources
you i want you should spend it for the family in clothing or some-
Use a primary source to
show an original, first- thing to eat. Don’t save it for me for i can get all the money i want.
hand view of a historical If i ever return i shall have money enough for my self and to divide
event or situation. What
does this primary source with you (Burgess 18).
contribute to the paper? A military salary was particularly attractive to women, who typically earned
far less than men. Higher wages offered women independence that would
have been otherwise unheard of in the 1860s. Implicitly, then, women were
Draw Conclusions
fighting to complete the promise of equality put forth during the American
Synthesize the informa-
tion from your sources Revolution.
and draw your own Several women became well known for their roles as soldiers in the war.
conclusions about what
it means. How do the Jennie Hodgers, under the pseudonym “Albert Cashier,” served longer than
sentences after the long any other woman on record. Hodgers completed a three-year enlistment
quotation strengthen
with the Ninety-Fifth Illinois Infantry Regiment (Hall 20). This is the only
the writer’s point?
documented case of a female soldier’s fully completing an enlistment during
the Civil War. After Hodgers enlisted in 1862, her regiment fought in the
Summarize
Vicksburg and Red River campaigns (Faust 119). Nearly fifty years after
Summarize when you
want to condense infor- the war, when she was accidentally struck by a car and broke her hip, doctors
mation to its key points discovered that she was a woman. She convinced the physicians to keep her
and details. What is the
secret, and they allowed her to live in the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home in
benefit of summarizing
here? Quincy, Illinois (Hall 21). After her death in 1915 (four years after she was
discovered to be a woman), she “was buried in uniform with full military
Restate Thesis
honors” (Hattaway 137).
In your conclusion,
restate your thesis and The women who fought in the Civil War, often in disguise, exhibited
summarize your main courage and persistence and had to overcome substantial obstacles as a
points. Why would the
writer want to restate result of their gender. Their reasons for fighting included love and adventure
the thesis at the end of but also more practical reasons. Today, U.S. women soldiers serve bravely
the paper?
alongside men in the armed forces. However, official rules still bar women
Adding Insight from positions that involve direct combat. Although nearly 150 years have
In your conclusion, draw
passed since the Civil War, women still face discrimination; yet female
inferences and add rel-
evant insight. Leave the soldiers of today share many qualities—integrity, bravery, and determina-
reader with something tion—with those who fought in the Civil War. In essence, one of the lessons
to think about. Is adding
insight especially effective we can learn from the Civil War is that there are few differences in motiva-
in a historical paper? tion and abilities between men and women in battle.

450 UNIT 3 THE CIVIL WAR ERA


Research

Works Cited Reliable Sources


Internet sources may be
Blanton, DeAnne. “Women Soldiers of the Civil War.” Prologue less reliable than published
Magazine 25.1 Spring 1993 <http://www.archives.gov/publica- sources. What indicates
that this source should be
tions/prologue/1993/spring/women-in-the-civil-war-1.html>. reliable?
Burgess, Lauren Cook, ed. An Uncommon Soldier: The Civil War
Letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Private Lyons Wakeman,
153rd Regiment, New York State Volunteers. Pasadena, MD: The
Primary Sources
Minerva Center, 1994.
Use primary sources to
Commager, Henry Steele, ed. The Civil War Archive: The History of give original accounts of
the Civil War in Documents. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal events, but check that they
are reliable. How can you
Publishers, 2000. tell whether a primary
Faust, Patricia L., ed. “Divers, Bridget.” Historical Times Illustrated source is reliable?

Encyclopedia of the Civil War. New York: Harper & Row Encyclopedia Sources
Publishers, 1986. Use encyclopedias and
Hall, Richard. Patriots in Disguise: Women Warriors of the Civil War. similar reference materials
for general background
New York: Paragon House, 1993. and research. When would
Hattaway, Herman. Shades of Blue and Gray: An Introductory Military you use an encyclopedia
as a source? When would
History of the Civil War. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri you not?
Press, 1997.
Leonard, Elizabeth D. All the Daring of the Soldier: Women of the Civil
Variety of Sources
War Armies. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1999.
Use a variety of sources
Moore, Frank. Women of the War: Their Heroism and Self-Sacrifice. from all perspectives in
1866. Reprint. Alexander, NC: Blue/Gray Books, 1997. your research. How might
an outdated source con-
Varhola, Michael J. Everyday Life During the Civil War. Cincinnati:
tribute to your paper if
Writer’s Digest Books, 1999. used correctly?
Wagner, Margaret E., Gary W. Gallagher, and Paul Finkelman, eds. Civil
War Desk Reference. New York: Grand Central Press, 2002.
Ward, Geoffrey C. The Civil War: An Illustrated History. New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, 1990.

WRIT ING WO RKSHOP 451


Courtesy of Vicksburg National Archive
Revising

Peer Review After drafting, exchange papers with a partner. Note passages that
seem unclear, irrelevant, incomplete, or out of place.
Traits of Strong Writing
Follow these traits of
Use the rubric below to evaluate your writing.
strong writing to express
your ideas effectively. Rubric: Writing an Effective Historical Research Paper

Ideas message or
✓ Do you begin with a strong, clear thesis statement that guides your paper?
theme and the details ✓ Do you include a main idea in each paragraph?
that develop it
✓ Do you support your main ideas with information from a variety of sources?
Organization arrange-
✓ Do you organize your paragraphs coherently?
ment of main ideas and
supporting details ✓ Do you quote, paraphrase, summarize information, and cite sources correctly?
Voice writer’s unique ✓ Do you synthesize information and draw your own conclusions?
way of using tone and
style
º Focus Lesson
Word Choice vocabu-
lary a writer uses to Making Paragraphs Coherent
convey meaning
To make your writing coherent, choose an organizational scheme, eliminate
Sentence Fluency unrelated information, and use transitional words and phrases.
rhythm and flow of
sentences Draft: Incoherent paragraph

Conventions correct
spelling, grammar, Sarah Rosetta Wakeman disguised herself and joined the army to help
usage, and mechanics her family pay off debts (Burgess 18). As a child, Wakeman hunted
squirrels. A military salary was particularly attractive to women, who
Presentation the way typically earned far less than men.
words and design ele-
ments look on a page

For more information Revision: Revise and reorganize the paragraph to make it coherent.
on using the traits of
strong writing, see
pages R33–R34 of the
Another major reason that women—and men—joined the army was for
Writing Handbook. the money.1 Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, for example,2 disguised herself and
joined the army to help her family pay off debts (Burgess 18). As a child,
Wakeman hunted squirrels.3 A military salary was particularly attractive to
women, who typically earned far less than men. Higher wages offered women
independence that would have been otherwise unheard of in the 1860s.4

1: Begin with a topic sentence


2: Give an example
3: Eliminate unrelated information
4: Analyze details

452 UNIT 3 TH E C I V I L WA R E RA
Research

Editing and Proofreading

Get It Right When you have completed the final draft of your research paper,
proofread it for errors in grammar, usage, mechanics, and spelling. Focus spe-
cifically on your citations and your Works Cited page. Refer to the Language
Handbook, pages R46–R60, as a guide.

º Focus Lesson
Quotations Within
Using Quotations Correctly Quotations
As you edit your draft, check to make sure that your quotations are cited Use single quotation
correctly. Integrate quotations into your own writing to keep them from marks for quoted
sounding choppy. In addition, always analyze the quotation in your own material inside a direct
words so that its significance is made clear. quotation. Use double
quotation marks for
the main quotation.
Problem: Too many direct quotations break up the flow of the paper.
Long Quotations
“Although most accounts were neutral or complementary, some
To use a long quota-
newspaper reports about women discovered in the ranks implied that
tion (four or more
they were of very bad character, indeed” (Burgess 6).
lines), start a new line
and indent the quota-
Solution A: Include part of the quotation in a sentence of your own.
tion. Do not use quota-
Those women who did enlist—and were later discovered to be female— tion marks, but be
were considered to be “of very bad character, indeed” (Burgess 6). sure to introduce the
quotation sufficiently
Solution B: Quote a complete sentence but introduce it in your own words. and to analyze it in
your own words.
Historian Lauren Cook Burgess notes, “Although most accounts were
neutral or complementary, some newspaper reports about women
discovered in the ranks implied that they were of very bad character,
indeed” (6).

Solution C: Omit words or sentences from a quotation and use ellipses in


place of the omitted parts. Place brackets around any words you insert in
place of omitted words or sentences. Be careful not to change the meaning of
the quotation.
Writer’s Portfolio
As historian Lauren Cook Burgess notes, “some newspaper reports about
Place a clean copy
[disguised] women . . . implied that they were of very bad character,
of your historical
indeed” (6).
research paper in
your portfolio to
review later.

Presenting
Writing Models For models
Preparing Your Historical Research Paper Before you turn in your final and other writing activities, go to
paper, make sure that it is formatted correctly and that you are handing in a www.glencoe.com.
clean copy, including the Works Cited page. Check the indentation of long
quotations. Ask your teacher about any additional presentation guidelines.

WRIT ING WO RKSHOP 453


Speaking, Listening,
and Viewing Workshop
Oral Report on a
Historical Investigation

Connecting to Literature Daniel Mark Epstein is an award-winning poet and


author of Lincoln and Whitman: Parallel Lives in Civil War Washington. According
to Epstein, “Before the war Whitman believed he was the greatest poet since
Organization
Shakespeare,” but after visiting wounded soldiers in Washington hospitals, “he
Your presentation does not began to gain a certain amount of humility seeing these men struggle and seeing
have to be organized like your so many people give their lives to the ideal of liberty and union.” This is an
research paper. It can be example of the type of interesting and insightful information that can be offered
presented as cause and effect, in an oral report about a historical investigation of the Civil War era. In this
comparison and contrast, workshop, you will learn how to deliver an oral report based on the research you
problem and solution, topic by did for your historical research paper.
topic, or in time order—
chronologically. Choose the
Assignment

organization that works best Plan an oral report of your historical research paper and
for your report. deliver it to an audience.

Plagiarism Planning Your Presentation


To avoid plagiarism when
giving an oral report, provide Your oral report should present the major findings of your research paper in a way
the source of any direct that is interesting and informative to an audience of listeners. Follow these
quotes or statistics. For guidelines when planning your report:
statistics, you may say,
“according to [source],” before • Decide on a logical organization for your report. Your thesis, or central idea,
giving the statistics, or “from should be introduced near the beginning of the report.
[source]” after giving them. • Choose several main ideas from your research paper that clearly support your
thesis. Record them on note cards, which can be used as speaking prompts.
Arrange the main-idea cards to follow your report’s organization.
• Support each main idea with one or two interesting, significant, and relevant
facts or details from your research. Record this support information on note
cards to include with your main-idea cards.
• Frame your report with an engaging introduction and a logical conclusion.
Open with an intriguing fact, quote, or description. Conclude by restating
your thesis, summarizing your main ideas, or posing a new question your report
raises.

454 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
Creating Your Visual Media
As you plan your report, consider how charts, graphs, maps, and diagrams can
clarify statistical or technical information and how photographs, paintings, and
artifacts can allow the audience a glimpse into the time period. Use the chart Use a Mirror
below to brainstorm ideas for visual media with a partner. Practice your gestures in
front of a mirror until your
body language looks natural.
What is the best way to What images can I What artifacts can I
visually present find or create to display to bring the
Sound Check
statistics and technical illustrate the main history in my report
data in my report? ideas of my report? to life? Record your presentation
and play it back to check
on whether your voice
expresses the right mood
and your words are
Rehearsing understandable.

Rehearse your oral report in front of an audience. Practice speaking naturally.


If you use note cards, do not read directly from them. Refer to them only for Videotape
guidance or for specific statistics. Make sure you are able to pronounce difficult Videotape your performance
names clearly and cite sources smoothly without fumbling for your cards. Practice and provide your own
putting each card out of the way after you have used it. Finally, be prepared for critique.
any questions your audience might ask. As you rehearse, have a friend ask
impromptu questions so you can practice answering them.

Use some of the verbal and nonverbal techniques below to ensure that your
audience clearly understands you and is engaged in what you have to say.

Rubric: Techniques for Delivering a Presentation

Verbal Techniques Nonverbal Techniques


✓ Volume Speak loudly enough ✓ Posture Stand up tall with your
so that everyone can hear you. head straight.
✓ Pronunciation Speak clearly, ✓ Eye Contact Make eye contact
pronouncing all the words. with your audience.

✓ Pace Speak at a moderate ✓ Facial Expressions Vary your


O B J ECTIV ES
speed but vary the rate and use facial expressions to reflect what
• Deliver an oral report of a
pauses. you are saying. historical investigation.

✓ Tone Speak in an animated ✓ Gestures Use natural gestures to


• Provide feedback in a variety
of situations, including the
voice. reinforce your ideas. presentation of oral reports.

✓ Emphasis Stress important ✓ Visual Aids Use photographs or


words and ideas. other visual aids to enhance your
presentation.

SPEAKING, LISTENING, AND VIEWING WO RKSHOP 4 55


LITER ATU
AT U R E OF
O F TH
T H E TI
TIME

For Independent Reading


T
HE CIVIL WAR’S BRUTALITY SHOCKED THE NATION. IN ITS WAKE,
writers lost interest in Romantic depictions of exotic or idealized situations. They
turned instead to Realism, a type of writing that portrayed everyday situations and
people, as well as the imperfections of life.
Many of the great Realist novels analyze economic conditions and conflicts between
people from different social classes. Conflicts are presented in an accurate and plausible
way. Realist writers frequently focused on middle- and working-class settings and
characters, often with the intent to spur reform.

Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott (1868–1869)
This tale of four sisters growing up in Concord,
Massachusetts, during the Civil War era has
become one of the best-loved American novels
about the transition from adolescence to
adulthood. Each sister in the March family has
a distinctive personality. Meg, the oldest, is the
most refined. Jo, fiery and independent, wants
to be a writer. Beth is shy
Uncle Tom’s Cabin and musical. Amy,
the youngest and
by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852)
most sensible,
One early example of Realism predates the Civil is the most
War. Authored by an abolitionist, Uncle Tom’s beautiful.
Cabin was the first work of American fiction to Alcott
depict what life was like for slaves in the South. modeled the
When Kentucky farmer Arthur Shelby decides sisters, their
to sell the slaves Uncle Tom and Harry, Harry’s levelheaded
mother, Eliza, runs away with Harry in her arms, mother, and
making her way to the free state of Ohio. Tom their idealistic
is put on a riverboat to be sold farther south. father on her
Stowe’s graphic depiction of slaves’ suffering own family.
made Uncle Tom’s Cabin highly influential in
stirring abolitionist sentiment.

456 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E RA
(l)from the collection of Edith Hariton/Antique Textile Resource, Bethesda, (r)Hulton/Archive
CRITICS’ CORNER

“In the execution of her very difficult task, Mrs. Stowe has displayed rare
descriptive powers, a familiar acquaintance with slavery under its best and
worst phases, uncommon moral and philosophical acumen, great facility of
thought and expression, feelings and emotions of the strongest character.
Intimate as we have been, for a score of years, with the features and
operations of the slave system, and often as we have listened to the recitals
of its horrors from the lips of the poor hunted fugitives, we confess to the
frequent moistening of our eyes, and the making of our heart grow liquid
as water, and the trembling of every nerve within us, in the perusal of the
incidents and scenes so vividly depicted in her pages.”
—Liberator Review, March 26, 1852

From the Glencoe Literature Library

Narrative of the Life


of Frederick Douglass
by Frederick Douglass
The acclaimed autobiography
of Frederick Douglass, a
formerly enslaved man who
escaped to freedom and
became a renowned orator and abolitionist

Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens
The American The orphaned Pip falls in
by Henry James (1877) love with the wealthy
Estella and struggles to
In his novels, Henry James created acute attain status in nineteenth-
portrayals of human psychology and of social and century England.
cultural mores. The American tells the story of
Christopher Newman, a wealthy American
businessman who travels to Europe. He there falls
The Brothers Karamazov
in love with beautiful Claire de Cintre. Though by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Christopher is friendly and intelligent as well as
The tragic and dramatic story of
successful, Claire’s relatives are unimpressed by
the murdered Fyodor Karamazov
him. They consider him to lack cultivation and
and his culpable sons
propriety. James vividly dramatizes the clash of
European and American sensibilities.

LITERATURE OF THE TIME 4 57


(l)Bettmann/CORBIS, (r)Bettmann/Corbis, (c)file photo, (cr)file photo, (br)file photo
Test Preparation and Practice
English Language Arts

Reading: Nonfiction
Carefully read the following passage. Use context clues to help define any words with which you
are unfamiliar. Pay close attention to the author’s main idea and use of literary devices. Then
answer the questions on pages 459–460 on a sheet of paper.

from My Bondage and My Freedom 30 Our house stood within a few rods of the

by Frederick Douglass Chesapeake bay, whose broad bosom was ever


line
white with sails from every quarter of the habitable
If at any one time of my life, more than globe. Those beautiful vessels, robed in purest
another, I was made to drink the bitterest dregs of white, so delightful to the eye of freemen, were to
slavery, that time was during the first six months of 35 me so many shrouded ghosts, to terrify and torment

my stay with Mr. Covey. We were worked all weathers. me with thoughts of my wretched condition. I have
5 It was never too hot or too cold; it could often, in the deep stillness of a summer’s Sabbath,
never rain, blow, snow, or hail too hard for us to stood all alone upon the banks of that noble bay,
work in the field. Work, work, work, was scarcely and traced, with saddened heart and tearful eye, the
more the order of the day than the night. The 40 countless number of sails moving off to the mighty

longest days were too short for him, and the shortest ocean. The sight of these always affected me
10 nights were too long for him. I was somewhat powerfully . . . .
unmanageable when I first went there; but a few I shall never be able to narrate the mental
months of this discipline tamed me. Mr. Covey experience through which it was my lot to pass
succeeded in breaking me. I was broken in body, 45 during my stay at Covey’s. I was completely
soul and spirit. My natural elasticity was crushed; wrecked, changed and bewildered; goaded almost to
15 my intellect languished; the disposition to read madness at one time, and at another reconciling
departed; the cheerful spark that lingered about my myself to my wretched condition. Everything in the
eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon way of kindness, which I had experienced at
me; and behold a man transformed into a brute! 50 Baltimore; all my former hopes and aspirations for

Sunday was my only leisure time. I spent usefulness in the world, and the happy moments
20 this in a sort of beast-like stupor, between sleep and spent in the exercises of religion, contrasted with
wake, under some large tree. At times, I would rise my then present lot, but increased my anguish.
up, a flash of energetic freedom would dart through I suffered bodily as well as mentally. I had
my soul, accompanied with a faint beam of hope, 55 neither sufficient time in which to eat or to sleep,
that flickered for a moment, and then vanished. I sank except on Sundays. The overwork, and the brutal
25 down again, mourning over my wretched condition. chastisements of which I was the victim, combined
I was sometimes prompted to take my life, and that with that ever-gnawing and soul-devouring
of Covey, but was prevented by a combination of thought—“I am a slave—a slave for life—a slave
hope and fear. My sufferings on this plantation 60 with no rational ground to hope for
seem now like a dream rather than a stern reality. freedom”—rendered me a living embodiment of
mental and physical wretchedness.

4 58
458 U N IT 3 T HE CIVIL
THE C IV I L WAR E RA
ERA
1. What does Douglass say the “longest days” were to 6. What literary device is Douglass using when he
Mr. Covey? writes that the Chesapeake Bay has a “broad
A. like Sunday bosom”?
B. like nights A. allusion
C. too long B. personification
D. too short C. simile
D. irony
2. From the context, what can you infer that the
word discipline in line 12 means? 7. What can you infer about the source of Douglass’s
A. specialty feelings concerning the ships in Chesapeake Bay?
B. instruction A. The ships reminded him of the freedom that
C. punishment he did not have.
D. training B. To Douglass, the ships represented Mr.
Covey’s cruelty.
3. According to Douglass, what caused his C. The ships carried enslaved people and so
transformation “into a brute”? reminded Douglass of his own condition.
A. Mr. Covey’s success at breaking him D. Because the ships were ghostlike, they
B. the death of the spark in his eye terrified Douglass.
C. the crushing of his elasticity
D. the departure of his inclination to read 8. From the context, what can you infer that the
word present in line 53 means?
4. How did Douglass spend his Sundays? A. exhibited
A. at work B. previous
B. in a stupor C. granted
C. reading D. current
D. exercising his religious beliefs
9. What effect did Douglass’s memories of
5. What literary device is Douglass using when he Baltimore have on him?
writes that his sufferings were “like a dream”? A. They drove him to the brink of madness.
A. allusion B. They increased his anguish.
B. personification C. They gave him hope.
C. simile D. They made him exercise his religion.
D. irony

TE S T P RE PA RATIO N A N D P RACTICE 4 59
10. From the context, what does the word ground in 13. Which of the following best describes the
line 60 mean? author’s purpose in this passage?
A. land A. to entertain
B. position B. to persuade
C. floor C. to describe
D. reason D. to explain

11. In this passage how does Douglass reveal the 14. From what point of view is this passage written?
personality of Mr. Covey? A. first person
A. through direct characterization B. second person
B. through indirect characterization C. third-person omniscient
C. through metaphor D. third-person limited
D. through symbols
15. According to this passage, which of the
12. What is the overall tone of this passage? following best describes the main idea of My
A. authoritative Bondage and My Freedom?
B. ironic A. Slavery was common in Baltimore.
C. despairing B. Mr. Covey, for a time, broke Frederick
D. sarcastic Douglass.
C. Mr. Covey was an evil man.
D. Slavery is an evil institution that must be
resisted.

460 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E R A
Vocabulary Skills: Sentence Completion
For each question in the Vocabulary Skills section, choose the best word to complete the sentence.

1. Robert E. Lee feared that the secession of the 6. Many soldiers at the Battle of
Southern states would result in lawlessness and Gettysburg, which was one of the war’s
throughout the country. bloodiest.
A. depravity A. hallowed
B. anarchy B. perished
C. perusal C. assented
D. rackets D. censured

2. A series of misjudgments and military failures 7. Robert E. Lee was responsible for some of the
the Confederacy to surrender in 1865. Civil War’s most brilliant and military
A. consecrated maneuvers.
B. arrayed A. audacious
C. induced B. imperial
D. censured C. prostrate
D. poignant
3. Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth both
fought to slavery. 8. A common of slave owners was that they
A. vanquish were “civilizing” the people they held in
B. consecrate bondage.
C. pervade A. cathedral
D. adorn B. perusal
C. allusion
4. Because he had witnessed the horrors of combat, D. delusion
Ambrose Bierce rejected the idea that there
could be a/an war. 9. In the end, the South could not with the
A. imperial North’s overwhelming force.
B. prostrate A. protrude
C. poignant B. assent
D. benevolent C. induce
D. contend
5. In the nineteenth century, many people believed
that Walt Whitman’s poems were filled with 10. There was little actual for those who had
and that his books should be banned. suffered so severely under slavery.
A. scores A. heave
B. redress B. redress
C. depravity C. affliction
D. allusions D. score

TEST PREPARATION AND PRACTICE 461


Grammar and Writing Skills: Paragraph Improvement
Read carefully through the following passage from the first draft of a student’s research essay. Pay close attention
to the writer’s use of subordinate clauses, quotation marks, and commas. Then answer the questions below.

(1) The period of the Civil War and Reconstruction were an important time in American history.
(2) No other event has had so many long-term effects on American politics, the arts in America,
and the development of equipment and techniques of war.

(3) The consequences of the war for American law and politics was profound. (4) The war
directly responsible for the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth constitutional amendments,
which freed enslaved people and guaranteed them citizenship and the right to vote. (5) The
conflict changed how people thought about their culture. (6) Furthermore, the outcome of the
war essentially swept away the old political squabbles that had gripped the nation for so long.
(7) Regionalism would no longer be the central source of national conflict.

(8) The Civil War helped launch photography as a vital tool for relaying newsworthy images, it
established photography as a new form of art. (9) Literature too was changed by the war. (10) The
massive loss of life was partly responsible for romanticism’s end and the rise of both realism and
naturalism. (11) As Walt Whitman said, a great literature will . . . arise out of that era.

(12) Often called the “first modern war” the Civil War was the first to use equipment that
became common during the 1900s. (13) This was the first war in which the telegraph, the
machine, and shell gun, surveillance balloons, the submarine, ironclad ships, and land mines
were extensively used.

1. Which of the following is the best revision of 2. Which of the following is the best revision of
sentence 1? sentence 3?
A. The period of the Civil War and A. The consequences of the war was profound.
Reconstruction were an important times in B. The war’s consequences for American law and
American history. politics was profound.
B. The period of the Civil War and C. The consequences of the war for American law
Reconstruction was important times in and politics were profound.
American history. D. The consequences for American law and
C. The period of the Civil War and politics was profound.
Reconstruction was an important time in
American history.
D. The period of the Civil War and
Reconstruction were important times in
American history.

462 UNIT 3 T H E C I V I L WA R E R A
3. Which of the following errors appears in 7. Which of the following is the best revision of
sentence 4? sentence 12?
A. run-on sentence A. The “first modern war,” the Civil War, used
B. fragment modern equipment.
C. misplaced modifier B. Often called the “first modern war,” the Civil
D. incorrect parallelism War was the first to use equipment that
became common during the 1900s.
4. Which sentence is not related to the main idea C. Often called the “first modern war.” The
of paragraph 2? Civil War was the first to use equipment that
A. 3 became common during the 1900s.
B. 4 D. Often called the first modern war the Civil
C. 5 War was the first to use equipment that
D. 6 became common during the 1900s.

5. Which of the following is the best revision of 8. Which of the following is the best revision of
sentence 8? sentence 13?
A. The Civil War helped launch photography as A. This was the first war in which the telegraph,
a vital tool for relaying newsworthy images, the machine and shell gun, surveillance
and it established photography as a new form balloons, the submarine, ironclad ships, and
of art. land mines were extensively used.
B. The Civil War helped launch photography. B. This was the first war in which the telegraph,
C. The Civil War launched photography as a the machine, and shell gun, surveillance
vital tool for relaying newsworthy images, it balloons, and the submarine, and ironclad
established photography as a new form of art. ships, and land mines were extensively used.
D. The Civil War helped launch photography as C. This was the first war in which the telegraph
a new form of art. and the machine were extensively used.
D. This was the first war in which the telegraph
6. Which of the following is the best revision of was extensively used.
sentence 11?
A. As Walt Whitman said, a great literature will 9. What is most notably missing from this essay?
arise out of that era. A. a concluding paragraph
B. A great literature will . . . arise out of that B. an opening paragraph
era. C. evidence
C. “As Walt Whitman said, a great literature D. a visual aid
will . . . arise out of that era.”
D. As Walt Whitman said, “A great literature 10. Which of the following titles would best suit this
will . . . arise out of that era.” essay?
A. “America at War”
B. “Nineteenth-Century Combat”
C. “American Innovation”
D. “The Effects of the Civil War”

Essay
By the time students enter high school, they have learned how many events in history have
influenced our world today. Think about the issue of slavery in the United States. Write an
essay in which you consider how the issue of slavery divided the United States and how it
eventually changed our country.

Unit Assessment To prepare for the


unit test, go to www.glencoe.com.

TE S T P RE PA RATIO N A N D P RACTICE 463


Breezing Up (A Fair Wind), 1873–1876. Winslow Homer. Oil on canvas, 241/8 x 381/8 in. National Gallery
of Art, Washington, DC. Gift of the W. L. and May T. Mellon Foundation.

464
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Gift of the W.L. and May T. Mellon Foundation.
U N IT FOU R

Regionalism and
Realism
1880–1910
Looking Ahead
The United States changed rapidly after the Civil War. American writers
reacted to these changes by turning away from Romanticism toward
Realism, a literary movement whose writers depicted life as they saw it,
not as they imagined it to be. A literary movement that was akin to
Realism was Regionalism, sometimes known as the local color
movement, whose writers portrayed the distinctive traits of particular
areas of the United States. A later, more extreme movement was
Naturalism, whose writers sought to describe with scientific objectivity
the effects of environment and heredity on character.

Keep the following questions in mind as you read:


⇒ How was the United States changing between 1880 and 1910?
⇒ What are the basic characteristics of Realism, Regionalism,
and Naturalism?

⇒ How do you think the historical and cultural trends of this period
continue to affect the United States today?

O B J EC TI V ES
In learning about Regionalism and Realism, and Naturalism, you will focus on the following:

• analyzing the characteristics of a literary period and how the issues of this period influenced its writers
• clarifying and understanding informational texts
• evaluating the influences of the historical period that shaped literary characters, plots, settings, and themes
• connecting literature to historical contexts, current events, and your own experiences

465
Timeline 1880–1910

AM E R I C AN L I T E R AT U R E

1880 1890
1880 1884 1896 1899
Joel Chandler Harris’s Uncle Mark Twain’s The Adventures Paul Laurence Dunbar’s Lyrics Charles Waddell Chesnutt’s
Remus, His Songs and His of Huckleberry Finn is published of a Lowly Life is published The Conjure Woman is
Sayings is published published
1885 1898
1881 W. D. Howells’s The Rise of Stephen Crane’s “The Open
Henry James’s The Portrait Silas Lapham is published Boat” is published
of a Lady is published
1886 1899
1884 Sarah Orne Jewett’s “A White Kate Chopin’s The Awakening
Helen Hunt Jackson’s Heron” is published is published
Ramona is published

U N I T E D STAT E S E V E N TS

1880 1890
1881 1884 1890
Queen Liliuokalani
Clara Barton founds George Eastman designs Wounded Knee Massacre
American Association roll film for cameras takes place 1893
of the Red Cross Americans overthrow Queen
1885 1891
1881 William Le Baron Jenney James A. Naismith invents Liliuokalani of Hawaii
Booker T. Washington builds the first skyscraper basketball 1896
founds Tuskegee Institute in Chicago Plessy v. Ferguson case is tried
1892
1882 1886 Immigration center opens on 1896
Renegade Jesse James is President Grover Cleveland Ellis Island Klondike gold rush begins
killed by one of his own gang dedicates the Statue of
Liberty in New York 1898
Spanish-American War
WO R L D E VE N TS is fought

1880 1890
1883 1889 1890 1895
Krakatoa volcano erupts; Eiffel Tower is completed German chancellor Otto Lumière Brothers introduce
ensuing tsunami kills over in Paris von Bismarck resigns, due motion pictures
36,000 people to conflicts with Kaiser
1889 1896
Wilhelm II
1883 Brazil becomes a republic First modern Olympic
Standard time divides Earth 1892 Games are held in Athens
into 24 time zones Gerhart Hauptmann’s
1896
The Weavers is published
1885 Famine that will kill millions
Indian National Congress 1894 of people begins in India
is founded War begins between China
1898
and Japan
Marie and Pierre Curie
discover radium
1896 Olympics

466 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


(t)Bettmann/CORBIS, (b)Imageworks
1900
1900 1901 1901 1906 ▲
L. Frank Baum’s The Frank Norris’s The Octopus Booker T. Washington’s Up Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle
Wonderful Wizard of Oz is published from Slavery is published is published
is published
1903 1907
1900 W. E. B. Du Bois’s The Souls Henry Adams’s The Education
Theodore Dreiser’s Sister of Black Folk is published of Henry Adams is completed
Carrie is published
1903 1908
1900 Jack London’s The Call of the Israel Zangwill’s play
Zitkala-Sa’s (Gertrude Wild is published The Melting Pot opens
Bonnin) Impressions of an
1904 1909
Indian Childhood is published
Henry James’s The Golden Gertrude Stein’s Three Lives
Bowl is published is published

1900
1900 1903 1904 1908
Hawaii becomes a territory The Great Train Robbery, first The United States begins Electric washing machine
of the United States narrative film, is shown construction of the is invented
Panama Canal
1901 1909
President McKinley is 1906 National Association for the
assassinated; Theodore San Francisco earthquake Advancement of Colored
Roosevelt becomes president takes place People (NAACP) is founded
1903 1908 1910
Wright Brothers make first Ford Motor Company Angel Island facility for
airplane flight produces the Model T Ford Asian immigrants is opened

1900
1900 1905 1908
Boxer Rebellion against Strikes and mass protests Oil is discovered in the
European influence begins begin reform in Russia Middle East
in China
1906 1910
1904 Finland is first European Mexican Revolution begins
Russo-Japanese War begins country to grant woman
suffrage

Pierre and Marie Curie

Reading Check
Analyzing Graphic Information Which events on the
Timeline Visit www.glencoe.com for timeline continue to shape the daily life of people in
an interactive timeline. the United States today?

INT ROD UCTION 467


(t)Library of Congress, (tc)Smithsonian Images, (bc)Hulton Archive/Getty Images, (b)Bettmann/CORBIS
By the Numbers
IMMIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATES, 1861–1920
600
500
Thousands of Immigrants

400
300
200
100
80
60
40
20
0

1861 1865 1870 1875 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 1910 1915 1920

northern and western Europe Asia


(chiefly England, Ireland, Germany, and Scandinavia) Latin America and the West Indies
central and eastern Europe (includes Russia, Poland, Austria- (no record of Mexican immigration, 1886-93)
Hungry and its successor states, and Romania) Canada
southern Europe (chiefly Italy but also Greece, Spain, and Portugal)

Source: Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970 (1975).

LIFE AND DEATH INEQUALITY OF WAGES


• In 1900 the average life In the late 1890s, women were
Railroad Time expectancy for an American paid much less than men for the
Before the 1880s, each commu- was 47.3 years. Today it is same type of work and the same
nity set its clocks by the sun’s more than 77 years. hours. In the woolen industry, for
position at high noon. At noon in example, male spinners made
Chicago, for example, it was STEEL PRODUCTION, $7.50 per week in 1890; by 1900
12:50 P.M. in Washington, D.C., 1865–1900 this wage had risen to $9.50. By
12:09 P.M. in Louisville, Kentucky, 12 contrast, female spinners made
and 11:41 A.M. in St. Paul, 10 only $5.50 a week in 1890; by
Millions of Tons

Minnesota. Local time interfered


8
1900 this wage had only risen
s 6
with train scheduling and at time 4
to $6.00.
even threatened pass eng er safe ty:
2
when two trains traveled on the 0 MILES OF TRACK,
lt
same track, collisions could resu 1870 1880 1890 1900
1870–1900
by Source: Historical Statistics of the
from scheduling erro rs caus ed
United States: Colonial Times to 1970.
regional variations in time. In 175
1883, to make rail service safer EDUCATION
Operating (in thousands)

150
and more reliable, the American
Total Miles of Railroad

The number of public schools 125


Railway Association divided the multiplied after the Civil War. 100
country into four time zones, each
with its own standard time. The • In 1870 around 6,500,000 75
children attended school.
federal government ratified the 50
change in 1918. • By 1900 the number of chil-
1880

1885

1890
1870

1875

25
dren attending school had 0
Source: Historical Statistics of the
risen to over 17,300,000.
United States: Colonial Times to 1970.

468 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
Being There
Between the Civil War and World War I, the growth of
mining, ranching, and farming brought settlement to the
West. At the same time, populations of cities in the East
swelled as immigrants poured into the United States and
job seekers from rural areas sought employment in industry.

A Immigrants in line
leaving Ellis Island,
waiting for ferry to
New York. ca. 1900.
Undated photograph.

C Ranch located in Nebraska, 1887.


Photograph. Library of Congress,
B A group of cowboys sit on the grass
Washington, DC.
beside their horses and a chuck
wagon to eat. Western United States.

WA ME

MT ND VT NH
MN
OR MA
NY
WI
ID SD MI RI
A CT
WY PA
IA NJ
NE C OH
NV IL IN
DE
UT WV
CO VA MD
CA B KS MO KY
NC
OK TN
TERR. SC
ARIZONA NEW MEXICO IND. AR
TERRITORY TERRITORY TERR.
MS GA
AL

LA
TX
FL

Maps in Motion Visit UNITED STATES, 1900


www.glencoe.com for an interactive map.

Reading Check 2. In 1900, roughly how many times greater was


school attendance than it had been in 1870?
Analyzing Graphic Information
1. Between what years did immigration from central 3. What change did the western and eastern parts of
and eastern Europe reach its peak? the U.S. have in common during this time?

INTRODUCTION 469
(l)Bettmann/CORBIS, (c)CORBIS, (r)Snark/Art Resource, NY
Regionalism and
Realism 1880–1910
Historical, Social, and Cultural Forces
Westward Expansion Westward expansion was a disaster for the Native
Americans of the region. Each new group of settlers
For a time during the early nineteenth century,
further encroached on Native Americans’ traditional
American settlement paused at the edge of the Great
ways of life. The Native Americans of the Great
Plains. Settlers felt challenged by these vast, treeless
Plains had long depended on the herds of buffalo for
grasslands, which had little rainfall, a fierce climate,
food, clothing, and shelter. By the 1880s, the destruc-
and soil that was very fertile but difficult to plow. But
tion of these herds by white hunters had doomed this
beginning in the 1860s, improvements in farming
way of life. After the Civil War, the policy of the
equipment, the expansion of the railroads, and the
U.S. government was to move Native Americans
Homestead Act, which enabled settlers to claim pub-
onto reservations, which were large tracts of land set
lic land, made more Americans willing to move to
aside for them. Resistance by some Native Americans
the Great Plains. However, these prairie farmers—
led to armed clashes with U.S. troops.
or “sodbusters”—still faced constant toil, drought,
extreme temperatures, blizzards, tornadoes, grass fires,
locusts, and a social and cultural isolation that broke The Gilded Age
many homesteaders’ spirits. As the Great Plains and the West were being settled,
cities in the East and Midwest were also growing.
New inventions, such as the electric light and the
telephone, improved economic efficiency and created
new jobs. Thousands of Americans moved to cities in
search of work, and millions of immigrants arrived,
many of them from southern and eastern Europe.
By the early 1900s, Americans had transformed the
United States into the world’s leading industrial
nation. However, this rapid growth had a social cost.
Beneath the glittering surface of prosperity, corrup-
tion in business and politics became so widespread
that historians often refer to this period as the Gilded
Age, a reference to Mark Twain’s scathing social sat-
ire of the same name, which described the greed and
Across the Continent, Westward the Course of corruption of the time. The gap between rich and
Empire Takes Its Way. Color lithograph. Museum
poor Americans widened greatly, and a few so-called
of the City of New York.
robber barons became enormously wealthy as a result
The West’s rich deposits of gold, silver, and copper of the labors of their employees. Cities were overpop-
served the needs of growing industries in the East. ulated, and the poor were forced to live in tenement
The lure of these precious metals brought the first houses that were crowded, dirty, and unsafe.
wave of settlers that populated what would become
the mountain states of the West.

470 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


Currier & Ives/Art Resource, NY
Reformers and writers tried to improve working and equal rights for women and, with Elizabeth Cady
housing conditions. Jane Addams founded Hull Stanton, formed the National Woman Suffrage
House, a settlement house to serve immigrants and Association in 1869. Although the federal govern-
poor working people in Chicago. Hull House offered ment balked at giving women the right to vote and
hot lunches for factory workers and classes in English own property, individual states in the West were more
for foreign-language speakers. Some journalists—later progressive. When Wyoming joined the union in
called muckrakers—exposed the social problems 1890, it became the first state to give women the
brought on by industrialization and urbanization. Ida right to vote. By 1914, women had voting rights in
Tarbell analyzed the way in which the Standard Oil fifteen states. It was not until 1920 that the
Company had come to control 95 percent of the Nineteenth Amendment guaranteed voting rights for
country’s oil-refining capacity. In his novel The all American women.
Jungle, Upton Sinclair shocked and sickened readers
with a graphic account of the filthy and unsafe condi-
tions in Chicago’s stockyards and meatpacking plants.
Regionalism, Realism,
and Naturalism
Some American writers, known as Regionalists or
“I aimed at the public’s heart, and by local color writers, created vivid portrayals of their
own regions and satisfied a curiosity many Americans
accident I hit it in the stomach.” of the time felt about the distinctive landscapes,
—Upton Sinclair speech, and customs of other parts of the country. In
the mid-1800s, some artists and writers began to turn
away from Romanticism. Realism, a new direction in
art and literature, consisted of writers who attempted
Women’s Rights to portray people as they actually were, rather than
The fight to achieve women’s right to vote began idealizing them as Romanticists had often done. As
before the Civil War but slowed while many women the American novelist and critic William Dean
focused on ending slavery. After the Civil War, Howells observed, “Realism is nothing more and
reformers such as Susan B. Anthony realized that nothing less than the truthful treatment of material.”
women would remain powerless until they could own Other writers, known as Naturalists, were influenced
property and vote. Anthony was devoted to securing by the theories of scientists such as Charles Darwin.

PREVIEW Big Ideas Regionalism, Realism, and Naturalism

1 Regionalism 2 Realism 3 Naturalism

Following the Civil War, some Writers of this period turned Naturalism, a more extreme
American writers concen- away from Romanticism and movement, grew out of
trated on the unique charac- attempted to create the Realism. Naturalist writers,
teristics, or local color, of a appearance of ordinary life. influenced by scientists such
particular region of the coun- Known as Realists, these as Charles Darwin, believed
try. They attempted to portray writers aimed not to tran- that human beings are
the landscape, speech, cus- scend reality but to render shaped by heredity and
toms, and other cultural the truth of everyday experi- environment and dominated
details of their chosen region. ence as they saw, heard, and by economic, social, or
See pages 472–473 felt it. natural forces.
See pages 474–475 See pages 476–477

INT ROD UCTION 471


Big Idea 1
Regionalism

I
nfluenced by such factors as public education more than a humorist or local colorist. In The
and mass media, culture in the United States Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain had trans-
today is probably more uniform than at any formed our literature by writing a true American
other time in our history. In the past, cultural novel, in which the setting, subject matter, charac-
differences among people from various parts of ters, and style were unmistakably American. Howells
the United States were more marked. After the Civil claimed Twain to be an American genius, hailing him
War, a new group of American writers, known as as “incomparable, the Lincoln of our literature.”
Regionalists or local colorists, emphasized local cul-
tures. Not all of these Regionalist writers were born
and educated in the East, as most previous American
Bret Harte’s Far West
writers had been. Many came from the South, Bret Harte told stories of the rude, lawless life of the
Midwest, or West. Under the influence of the new California gold-mining country while describing
emphasis on Realism in art and literature, they did places few people had ever seen. One of his earliest
not present the unusual characters and exotic set- stories, “The Luck of Roaring Camp,” made Harte
tings familiar in Romanticist writing. Instead, local famous. Readers in both the United States and
colorists depicted the ordinary people and everyday Britain enthusiastically read about the gamblers,
places around them. thieves, and social misfits that populate his work.
Harte distinguished himself from other writers of the
In their writing, the local colorists emphasized set- West by his ironic tone. His unsavory characters fre-
ting, and their characters tended to be typical of a quently undergo an unexpected reformation, which
particular region, which was clear from their speech provides the narrator with an opportunity to make
and beliefs. Often the narrator was an outsider who wry comments on their sudden changes of heart.
observed a world filled with unfamiliar or outdated
characteristics and customs. This outsider frequently
revealed the tension between the new and old, the
modern and the old-fashioned. The mood of local “Consciously, I was always, as I still
color writing was sometimes nostalgic, serving as a
am, trying to fashion a piece of
reminder of a time before mass production and noisy
urban life. At other times, the mood was more som- literature out of the life next at hand.”
ber, presenting a criticism of habits and ideas consid-
—William Dean Howells
ered long outmoded.

Mark Twain’s Mississippi River


Born in a small Missouri town on the Mississippi Willa Cather’s Great Plains
River, Mark Twain vividly evoked the world of that When she was nine years old, Willa Cather’s family
river in a series of works, including his masterpiece left Virginia and moved to the open prairie of
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In this novel, an Nebraska—a move that would change her life dra-
orphaned boy and a runaway slave flee down the matically. Cather’s writing reflects her memories of
Mississippi in a raft. Through their innocent eyes, prairie life, and many of her early works focus on the
Twain presented a piercing view of American society harshness and isolation of pioneers’ lives. In her
in the pre-Civil War era and revealed the injustices novel O Pioneers! she depicted immigrant farmers in
of slavery and the culture that enforced it. He also Nebraska, whose tough yet sensitive natures and
employed a lively sense of humor and a fine ear for determination made their survival possible. In other
American dialect. His editor and friend William works, such as My Ántonia, she celebrated the pio-
Dean Howells was the first to realize that Twain was neer lifestyle for its freedom and simplicity.

472 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


Old Kentucky Home Life in the South, 1859. J. Eastman Johnson. Oil on canvas. Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York.

from O Pioneers! by Willa Cather


For the first three years after John Bergson’s death, the in; the thing to do was to get back to Iowa, to Illinois, to
affairs of his family prospered. Then came the hard times any place that had been proved habitable. The Bergson
that brought every one on the Divide to the brink of boys, certainly, would have been happier with their uncle
despair; three years of drought and failure, the last strug- Otto, in the bakery shop in Chicago. Like most of their
gle of a wild soil against the encroaching plowshare. The neighbors, they were meant to follow in paths already
first of these fruitless summers the Bergson boys bore marked out for them, not to break trails in a new country.
courageously. The failure of the corn crop made labor A steady job, a few holidays, nothing to think about, and
cheap. Lou and Oscar hired two men and put in bigger they would have been very happy. It was no fault of
crops than ever before. They lost everything they spent. theirs that they had been dragged into the wilderness
The whole country was discouraged. Farmers who were when they were little boys. A pioneer should have imagi-
already in debt had to give up their land. A few foreclo- nation, should be able to enjoy the idea of things more
sures demoralized the county. The settlers sat about on than the things themselves.
the wooden sidewalks in the little town and told each
other that the country was never meant for men to live
Reading Check
Generalizing How would you describe the overall
goals of the local color movement?

INT ROD UCTION 473


J. Eastman Johnson/New York Historical Society/Bridgeman Art Library
Big Idea 2
Realism

T
he emergence of American Realism in the upon seeing an exhibit of Brady’s photographs,
second half of the 1800s was in part a reac- “If he has not brought bodies and laid them in our
tion to the Romanticism of the previous era. dooryards and along [our] streets, he has done some-
Romanticism’s glorification of the imagina- thing very like it.” Many Realist writers aspired to
tion became unappealing to Realists, who adapt this kind of photographic realism to their
wanted to explore the motivations, behaviors, and literary works.
actions of real people. Some of the most important
writers of the time were considered Realists, including
fiction writers Henry James, O. Henry, and William
Kate Chopin and Women
Dean Howells. During her lifetime, Kate Chopin was widely criti-
cized for her realistic portrayal of women. She was the
first American woman to write frankly about the sup-
The Birth of Realism pressed passion and discontentment of women who
Before Realism appeared in America, it was already were confined to the traditional roles of wives and
flourishing in Europe. French novelist Honoré de mothers. She believed that the role of an artist was to
Balzac is commonly considered the father of Realism. rebel. As a character in her novel The Awakening
His masterpiece The Human Comedy is a massive col- observes, an artist must have “a soul that dares and
lection of ninety novels and novellas that detail the defies.” Chopin wrote of women “awakening” to their
panorama of French society. Balzac did not limit the confined state and challenging the social values and
scope of his masterpiece to an examination of one patriarchal rules that defined and limited them.
class of people or cultural environment. Instead he Chopin is sometimes considered to be a Regionalist
invented a complex and textured fictional world writer, because in some of her stories she depicted the
based on all levels of society. customs of Creoles and Cajuns in Louisiana, using
their language and describing their lifestyles. She
Advanced by such authors as Gustave Flaubert, Leo
made their world real and confirmed their humanity
Tolstoy, George Eliot, and Charles Dickens, Realism
by refusing to judge their lives or their struggles.
soon became the most prominent literary movement
in Europe. These novelists examined the psychology
of human behavior and created characters who strug- Paul Laurence Dunbar and
gle with problems that nineteenth-century readers
would have recognized in their own lives or in the
African Americans
lives of their contemporaries. Paul Laurence Dunbar was one of the earliest African
American poets to gain widespread recognition.
The rise of Realism in the United States can be William Dean Howells’s favorable review of Dunbar’s
traced to disillusionment following the Civil War. book Majors and Minors in Harper’s Weekly helped to
For many, the war had destroyed the Romantic view establish Dunbar as an international literary figure.
of humanity. Like Mathew Brady in his famous photo- While Dunbar wrote the bulk of his verse in the lofty
graphs of the Civil War dead or Jacob Riis in his por- poetic diction of his day, he is best known for his use
traits of New York slum children, the Realists wanted of rural African American dialect. Dunbar’s dialect
to present life as it actually was—often cruel and poems depict the post-war lives of African Americans
never embellished. In fact, the rise of photography in and reflect their frustrated aspirations in an era of
general, and Brady’s images in particular, fundamen- white dominance. Throughout his life, Dunbar tried
tally altered the ways in which Americans perceived to strike a balance between the conventions of the
reality. Photography enabled artists to capture and European literary tradition and those of African
convey, with stark objectivity, the world as it appeared American folk culture.
through the camera’s lens. As a reporter observed

474 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


from The Awakening by Kate Chopin

It was then past midnight. The cottages were all


dark. A single faint light gleamed out from the hall-
way of the house. There was no sound abroad
except the hooting of an old owl in the top of a
water-oak, and the everlasting voice of the sea, that
was not uplifted at that soft hour. It broke like a
mournful lullaby upon the night.
The tears came so fast to Mrs. Pontellier’s eyes
that the damp sleeve of her peignoir no longer
served to dry them. She was holding the back of her
chair with one hand; her loose sleeve had slipped
almost to the shoulder of her uplifted arm. Turning,
she thrust her face, steaming and wet, into the bend
of her arm, and she went on crying there, not caring
any longer to dry her face, her eyes, her arms. She
could not have told why she was crying. Such experi-
ences as the foregoing were not uncommon in her
married life. They seemed never before to have
weighed much against the abundance of her hus-
band’s kindness and a uniform devotion which had
come to be tacit and self-understood.
The City of Ambition, 1910. Alfred Stieglitz. Photogravure,
13 3/8 x 101/4 in. Reunion des Musées Nationaux, France. An indescribable oppression, which seemed to
generate in some unfamiliar part of her conscious-
ness, filled her whole being with a vague anguish.
Edith Wharton and the It was like a shadow, like a mist passing across her
Upper Classes soul’s summer day. It was strange and unfamiliar; it
The characters in Edith Wharton’s fiction, like was a mood. She did not sit there inwardly upbraid-
Wharton herself, inhabited the upper crust of New ing her husband, lamenting at Fate, which had
York society. Crafted with penetrating psychological directed her footsteps to the path which they had
insight, her stories and novels depict the desires, taken. She was just having a good cry all to herself.
prejudices, and foibles of her privileged and affluent The mosquitoes made merry over her, biting her
characters. In two of her most famous novels, The firm, round arms and nipping at her bare insteps.
Age of Innocence and The House of Mirth, Wharton
presents a culture that devalues the individual in
favor of class divisions, social status, and the pursuit
and enjoyment of wealth. Her best fiction satirizes
the hypocrisy of the American aristocracy of which
she was a member. Reading Check
Analyzing Cause and Effect What cultural shifts
and historical events contributed to the rise of
American Realism?

INT ROD UCTION 475


Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, NY
Big Idea 3
Naturalism

W
hat do you think contributes most to shap- to human behavior. These ideas are important in
ing a person’s life? Is it the biological factor several of London’s works, including his most
of heredity? Is it the social and economic popular novels, The Call of the Wild and The Sea-
factor of environment? Or is it the result Wolf. London spent time in the Alaskan wilderness
of other factors, such as an individual’s and the South Seas, and many of his stories demon-
own will? Realistic writers, for the most part, did not strate the power of nature over civilization: “Nature
concern themselves with these philosophical ques- has many tricks wherewith she convinces man of his
tions. Toward the end of the 1800s, however, a group finity—the ceaseless flow of the tides, the fury of
of writers known as Naturalists, who were strongly the storm, the shock of the earthquake, the long
influenced by Charles Darwin’s scientific theory of roll of heaven’s artillery.”
evolution by natural selection, adopted the view that
people had little control over their own lives. They
believed that human destiny was shaped by powerful
forces, including heredity, social and economic pres- A man said to the universe:
sures, and the natural environment. Like the Realist “Sir, I exist!”
writers, Naturalists wrote about ordinary people, but
they often focused on the working class and the poor,
“However,” replied the universe,
presenting the futile battles of individuals against a “The fact has not created in me
brutal society or an indifferent universe.
A sense of obligation.”
— Stephen Crane
Edwin Arlington Robinson and Fate
Edwin Arlington Robinson said he felt “doomed, or
elected, or sentenced for life, to the writing of poetry.”
His most famous poems are set in fictional Tilbury Stephen Crane and War
Town, which was modeled on his childhood home-
In his writing, Stephen Crane was attracted to war
town of Gardiner, Maine. The characters in his
and other forms of violent struggle. Though the Civil
poems, like Robinson himself, are often loners or
War had ended six years before Crane was born, he
misfits. They live in communities where people feel
used it as the subject of his best-known book, The Red
pressure to conform and where creativity is misunder-
Badge of Courage. Later short stories express Crane’s
stood or simply ignored. Robinson’s poems focus
belief in the necessity of courage, honesty, and poise
almost exclusively on an individual or on individual
in the face of an indifferent universe. In “The Blue
relationships. His tone is a blend of irony and compas-
Hotel,” Crane described humans as so many lice
sion toward his characters, many of whose lives end
clinging “to a whirling, fire-smote, ice-locked,
in personal failure and despair.
disease-stricken, space-lost bulb.” The pathos of
human helplessness in the face of brute fact closes the
Jack London and Nature story “An Episode of War” as a young officer reacts to
From the age of nine, Jack London was helping to sup- the loss of his arm: “‘Oh, well,’ he said, standing
port his family through hard physical labor. His early shamefaced amid these tears. ‘I don’t suppose it
experiences made him sympathetic toward the work- matters so much as all that.’” In The Red Badge of
ing class and convinced him that capitalist society was Courage, Crane presents his hero, a young recruit
brutal and repressive. London was also drawn to Social named Henry Fleming, who responds to his first
Darwinism, a movement that—unlike Darwin him- experience of a new, violent environment—battle.
self—attempted to apply Darwin’s biological theories

476 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


Newspaper boys, one missing a leg, stand on the steps of a bank near a busy trolley junction in Jersey City, New Jersey.
1912. Lewis Wickes Hine.

from The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane


He was at a task. He was like a carpenter who has made He wished to rush forward and strangle with his fingers.
many boxes, making still another box, only there was furi- He craved a power that would enable him to make a
ous haste in his movements. He, in his thoughts, was world-sweeping gesture and brush all back. His impo-
careering off in other places, even as the carpenter who tency appeared to him, and made his rage into that of
as he works whistles and thinks of his friend or his a driven beast.
enemy, his home or a saloon. And these jolted dreams Buried in the smoke of many rifles his anger was
were never perfect to him afterward, but remained a directed not so much against the men whom he knew
mass of blurred shapes. were rushing toward him as against the swirling battle
Presently he began to feel the effects of the war phantoms which were choking him, stuffing their smoke
atmosphere—a blistering sweat, a sensation that his eye- robes down his parched throat. He fought frantically for
balls were about to crack like hot stones. A burning roar respite for his senses, for air, as a babe being smothered
filled his ears. attacks the deadly blankets.
Following this came a red rage. He developed the
acute exasperation of a pestered animal, a well-meaning
cow worried by dogs. He had a mad feeling against his Reading Check
rifle, which could only be used against one life at a time. Comparing and Contrasting How did the attitude of
the Naturalists toward the place of humanity in the
universe differ from that of the Transcendentalists?

INT ROD UCTION 477


CORBIS
Wrap-Up
Why It Matters Cultural Links
Between 1880 and 1910, a new type of writer ⇒ The influence of the American Regionalist
appeared in the United States. New England writers writers on subsequent American literature has
no longer dominated American literature. Writers been enormous. Ernest Hemingway once said,
from the Midwest, the Great Plains, and the West “All modern American literature comes from one
expanded our country’s literary frontiers, presenting book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn.”
exciting, unfamiliar worlds to readers at home and
abroad. Known as Regionalists or local colorists, these
⇒ Combining vivid, realistic descriptions of
California frontier life with sentimental plots, Bret
writers enriched our literature with new kinds of
Harte largely invented the genre of the Western.
American landscapes, characters, and styles of speech.
The effects of Realism are widespread and can be
⇒ Kate Chopin’s work is valued for its portrayals of
attitudes toward race, class, ethnicity, and gender
seen in journalism, film, the novel, and painting. By
relations.
challenging the conventions of Romanticism, writers
like Wharton, Chopin, and Dunbar redefined the Stephen Crane was neglected for a time after his
boundaries of acceptable content in literature and ⇒ death in 1900 until writers began to recognize his
paved the way for future workers. experiments with subject, theme, and form.
Beginning in the 1890s, literary Naturalism shone a Try using this organizer to explore your
bright but harsh light on the human condition. personal responses to the poetry, Nonfictio
n

short stories, and nonfiction in this unit. Drama


Naturalist writers presented life as a brutal, losing bat- Poem
s
tle between individuals and the forces of their envi-
ronments, which could be as diverse as an Alaskan BOUND BOOK Rea
d
wilderness or a Chicago factory. Res er-
pon
Jou se
rna
l
Big Ideas Link to Web resources to
further explore the Big Ideas at www.glencoe.com.

Connect to Today ⇒ Use what you have learned about the


period to do one of these activities.

1. Speaking/Listening Work with other students to research art and music from the late 1800s to the early
1900s. Choose a piece of art or a song and find a connection to the social and economic situation of the
United States during this time. Present your findings to the class.

2. Visual Literacy Create a map showing the regions of the country that were represented by Mark Twain,
Willa Cather, Kate Chopin, and Bret Harte. For each area, create an icon to represent the author and the region.

3. Writing How would the muckraking social reformers of this period—such as Jane Addams and Upton
Sinclair—view city life in the United States today? Write a brief essay that explores this question.

OB J EC TIVES
• Use appropriate appeals to support claims and arguments. Study Central Visit
• Interpret the influences of historical context on a literary work. www.glencoe.com and click on Study Central to
• Organize and convert information into charts, graphs, or maps. review Regionalism and Realism.
• Analyze and synthesize ideas in writing.

478 U N IT 4 REGIONALISM AND REALISM


P
PART 1

Regionalism
and Local Color

Red Pepper Time, c. 1930. Oscar Edmund Berninghaus. Oil on canvas, 25 x 301/16 in. Gift of Arvin Gottlieb.
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC.

“Elsewhere the sky is the roof of the world;


but here the earth is the floor of the sky.”
— Willa Cather, Death Comes for the Archbishop

479
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC/Art Resource, NY
LITER ARY H I STORY

The Rise of Local Color Fiction

I
N 1871, BRET HARTE SIGNED A $10,000 The Importance of Setting
contract with The Atlantic Monthly magazine, Setting was the most distinct feature of local color
the highest sum ever paid to an author at the stories, which most often took place in rural towns.
time. The impressive sale of Harte’s stories marked Authors depicted in meticulous detail the time,
the beginning of the local color fiction boom. Still place, and historical background in which events
recovering from the devastation of the Civil War, in their fiction occurred. The setting of local color
readers welcomed the relief that Harte’s light- fiction spanned the continent, from Harte’s tales
hearted tales of the California Gold Rush provided. of California miners to Sarah Orne Jewett’s stories
of country dwellers in New England. Jewett, a
prominent local colorist, wrote about common
people living in coastal towns: doctors, sailors,
Writers culturally reunited the mothers, and wives. Her most famous book, The
country by crafting stories about real Country of the Pointed Firs, was well received all
over the nation. Local color writing appealed to
people, small towns, and regional a wide audience, regardless of its setting.
lifestyles.
The Role of Character
While Harte and Jewett may have been among
After the political reunification of the North and the first local colorists, the best known is Mark
South, the focus on national issues gave way to Twain. Twain’s “The Celebrated Jumping Frog
smaller, regional concerns. Writers culturally of Calaveras County” (page 484) continues to
reunited the country by crafting stories about real be one of the most popular works of local color
people, small towns, and regional lifestyles. In many fiction. Smiley, the story’s protagonist, is typical
cases, local color fiction reflected old-fashioned of characters portrayed in local color writing.
values, as if authors were writing to remember the Characters are usually small-town residents, shown
country before it had been ravaged by war. in their everyday lives performing everyday tasks.

The Landing, Bailey Island, Maine, c. 1907. Alfred Thompson Bricher. Oil on canvas, 38 x 81 in.
Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH.

480 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


Alfred Thompson Bricher/Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH, USA/Bridgeman Art Library
Smiley speaks with a regional dialect,
another important trait of local
color fiction. Twain, like many local
colorists, peppered Smiley’s dialogue
with words and abbreviations unique
to the area where the story takes
place. For example, near the end
of the story, Smiley exclaims, “Why,
blame my cats, if he don’t weigh five
pound!” The realistic dialogue helps
shape the reader’s impression of both
the character and what the town
might be like.

The Lives of Women


Women writers had a strong presence
in the local color movement.
Willa Cather’s “A Wagner Matinée”
(page 520) relates the experience
of a woman who gives up her passion
for music in order to raise a family.
Much local color fiction, especially
from women authors, deals with the Sod house and well in Custer County, Nebraska, c. 1890. Photograph.
contrast between traditional values
and changing perspectives. One of
Cather’s contemporaries, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, fiction was also influenced by the woman suffrage
wrote about women’s social roles in her short story movement, which had become active again after
“A Church Mouse.” Freeman’s characters struggle being halted by the Civil War.
with the desire for independence as opposed to the
safety of marriage. Her work was widely published
in women’s magazines, which flourished in the late Literary History For more about
1800s. The emergence of women’s local color local color fiction, go to www.glencoe.com.

R ES P O N D I N G AN D TH I N K I N G C R ITI CALLY
1. Explain why you think local color fiction became so 3. How would you compare and contrast local color
popular in the United States in the late nineteenth fiction with its predecessor, Romantic literature?
century.
4. What are some examples of local color fiction that
2. Why did women writers have a strong presence in you know from books, movies, or television?
the local color movement?

O B J EC TIVES
• Interpret the influence of historical context on a literary • Recognize how writers represent their cultures and traditions
work. in a text.
• Analyze the relevance of setting to a text’s meaning.

LITERARY HISTO RY 4 81
Bettmann/CORBIS
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

The Celebrated Jumping


Frog of Calaveras County
M E E T M A R K T WA I N

“W
hen I was born I was a member of a taste of fame: “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of
firm of twins,” Twain told an audience Calaveras County.” In 1867, as a traveling corre-
in 1901. “And one of them disap- spondent for the Alta California, Twain set out
peared.” Although he was not actually a twin, Twain for Europe and the Middle East. This journey pro-
did have two sides to his personality. Born Samuel vided the material for The Innocents Abroad; or,
Langhorne Clemens, he took as his pen name a term The New Pilgrim’s Progress (1869), which poked
used by riverboat pilots in navigation: Mark Twain. fun at inexperienced American travelers and
quickly became a best seller.

Missouri Boyhood Samuel Clemens spent his


early life in Missouri, chiefly in Hannibal, a city Literary Success In 1870 Twain married Olivia
on the west bank of the Mississippi River. Life in Langdon, a wealthy easterner. They settled in
this river town was full of adventure, but the death Hartford, Connecticut, where Twain met William
of Clemens’s father when the boy was just eleven Dean Howells, the most influential literary critic
forced him to curtail his childhood escapades and of the day. In Howells’s Atlantic Monthly, Twain
his schooling in order to work as a printer’s recounted his experiences as a riverboat pilot in a
apprentice. At twenty-one, Clemens fulfilled his series called “Old Times on the Mississippi,” which
lifelong dream of becoming a riverboat pilot on he embellished and published eight years later
the Mississippi River. He loved this profession bet- as Life on the Mississippi (1883). The Adventures
ter than any other because, as he declared, “a pilot of Tom Sawyer (1876) established Twain as a mas-
was the only unfettered and entirely independent ter of fiction, and its sequel, The Adventures of
being that lived on the earth.” Huckleberry Finn (1884), cemented Twain’s place
as one of the greatest novelists the United States
has ever produced. His use of realism and detail
influenced many later writers of American fiction,
“My books are water; those of the including Ernest Hemingway, who stated that “all
great geniuses are wine. Everybody modern American literature comes from one book
by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn.”
drinks water.”
Plagued by financial misfortunes and the deaths
—Mark Twain of loved ones, Twain’s later years found him fre-
quently embittered. In some of his later works,
such as “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg,”
Twain brooded over the dark side of human
Travels When the Civil War closed the
nature. He is chiefly remembered today, however,
Mississippi River to commercial traffic, Samuel
for capturing the brash, optimistic spirit and
Clemens headed for Nevada in hopes of striking it
youthful vitality of his fellow Americans.
rich. He prospected unsuccessfully there and in
California, and eventually settled in San Mark Twain was born in 1835 and died in 1910.
Francisco, where he met author Bret Harte. There
he lectured and worked as a journalist, specializing
in humorous feature stories. During this time, Author Search For more about
Twain wrote the story that brought him his first Mark Twain, go to www.glencoe.com.

482 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


Bettmann/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Analyzing Comic Devices


Mark Twain did not write a story; he told it. His mas- In addition to dialect, Twain uses several other devices
tery of American speech—the native vernacular—and to create humor, including absurd situations, comic
his ability to “spin a yarn” are unrivaled. As you read, characters, and exaggerations.
think about the following questions:
Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a web diagram to
• Why do people love to spin yarns or tell tall tales— help you record details about each comic device listed.
and to listen to them?
• What is the best way to tell a tall tale?
Wheeler’s manner absurd
Building Background of speaking situations

This story takes place in the early 1860s in a small min-


ing town called Angel’s Camp, which still exists today in Humor
California. In 1848 James W. Marshall discovered rich
deposits of gold at Sutter’s Mill, near the Calaveras comic
exaggerations
County town of Coloma. This discovery led to the characters

California Gold Rush, during which many adventurous


people thronged to California to prospect for gold, hop-
ing to “strike it rich.” In the remote mining camps and Vocabulary
frontier towns, life was hard and entertainment was
scarce. To create some fun, people invented tall tales— garrulous ( ar ə ləs) adj. talkative; p. 484
stories filled with humorous exaggerations. At Angel’s Our garrulous neighbor went on with his story,
Camp, Twain first heard someone tell the story that he never pausing for breath.
later developed into “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of conjecture (kən jek chər) v. to form an opin-
Calaveras County,” his most famous western tale. ion without definite evidence; to guess; p. 484
Not really sure, I conjectured that she meant more
Setting Purposes for Reading than she said.
Big Idea Regionalism dilapidated (di lap ə dā´tid) adj. fallen into
As you read, notice the techniques Twain uses to give ruin or decay; shabby; p. 484 Pigeons flew
you the flavor of the Old West during the Gold Rush. through the holes in the dilapidated roof.
interminable (in tur mi nə bəl) adj. seemingly
Literary Element Dialect endless; p. 485 Though the dull speech lasted only
Dialect is a variation of a language spoken by a partic- fifteen minutes, it seemed interminable.
ular group, often within a specific region and time. enterprising (en tər pr¯ ´zin ) adj. showing
Dialects may differ from the standard form of a lan- energy and initiative, especially in beginning new
guage in vocabulary, pronunciation, or grammatical projects; p. 488 The enterprising class planned to
form. As you read, look for examples of dialect in this raise money in a new way—by having a silent auction.
story.

• See Literary Terms Handbook, pp. R4–R5. Vocabulary Tip: Word Roots When you are trying
to figure out the meaning of an unfamiliar word,
think of words that share a root with it. The words
interminable and terminal share a root: the Latin
Interactive Literary Elements word terminus, meaning “end” or “boundary.”
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • understanding dialect
• analyzing literary periods • analyzing comic devices

MARK TWAIN 483


Mark Twain

I n compliance with the request of a friend of


mine, who wrote me from the East, I called on
me nearly to death with some infernal2 reminis-
cence of him as long and tedious as it should be
good-natured, garrulous old Simon Wheeler, useless to me. If that was the design, it certainly
and inquired after my friend’s friend, Leonidas succeeded.
W. Smiley, as requested to do, and I hereunto I found Simon Wheeler dozing comfortably by
append1 the result. I have a lurking suspicion the bar-room stove of the old dilapidated tavern
that Leonidas W. Smiley is a myth; that my in the ancient mining camp of Angel’s,3 and I
friend never knew such a personage; and that noticed that he was fat and bald-headed, and
he only conjectured that, if I asked old Wheeler
about him, it would remind him of his infamous
Jim Smiley, and he would go to work and bore 2. Infernal means “awful” or “thoroughly unpleasant.”
3. Angel’s refers to Angel’s Camp.

Big Idea Regionalism What sort of atmosphere would


1. Append means “to add as a supplement” or “to attach.”
you expect to find in a mining camp?
Vocabulary
garrulous (arə ləs) adj. talkative Vocabulary
conjecture (kən jek chər) v. to form an opinion without dilapidated (di lapə dā´tid) adj. fallen into ruin or
definite evidence; to guess decay; shabby

484 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1966
had an expression of winning gentleness and sim- way, he was the curiosest man about always bet-
plicity upon his tranquil countenance.4 He roused ting on any thing that turned up you ever see, if
up and gave me good-day. I told him a friend of he could get any body to bet on the other side;
mine had commissioned me to make some inqui- and if he couldn’t he’d change sides. Any way
ries about a cherished companion of his boyhood that suited the other man would suit him—any
named Leonidas W. Smiley—Rev. Leonidas W. way just so’s he got a bet, he was satisfied. But
Smiley—a young minister of the Gospel, who he still he was lucky, uncommon lucky; he most
had heard was at one time a resident of Angel’s always come out winner. He was always ready
Camp. I added that, if Mr. Wheeler could tell me and laying for a chance; there couldn’t be no
any thing about this Rev. Leonidas W. Smiley, I solitry thing mentioned but that feller’d offer to
would feel under many obligations to him. bet on it, and take any side you please, as I was
Simon Wheeler backed me into a corner and just telling you. If there was a horse race, you’d
blockaded me there with his chair, and then sat find him flush,7 or you’d find him busted at the
me down and reeled off the monotonous narra- end of it; if there was a dog-fight, he’d bet on it;
tive which follows this paragraph. He never if there was a cat-fight, he’d bet on it; if there
smiled, he never frowned, he never changed his was a chicken-fight, he’d bet on it; why, if there
voice from the gentle-flowing key to which he was two birds setting on a fence, he would bet
tuned the initial sentence, he never betrayed the you which one would fly first; or if there was a
slightest suspicion of enthusiasm; but all through camp-meeting,8 he would be there reg’lar, to bet
the interminable narrative there ran a vein of on Parson Walker, which he judged to be the
impressive earnestness and sincerity, which best exhorter9 about here, and so he was, too,
showed me plainly that, so far from his imagin- and a good man. If he even seen a straddle-bug10
ing that there was any thing ridiculous or funny start to go anywheres, he would bet you how
about his story, he regarded it as a really impor- long it would take him to get wherever he was
tant matter, and admired its two heroes as men going to, and if you took him up, he would foller
of transcendent5 genius in finesse.6 that straddle-bug to Mexico but what he would
To me, the spectacle of a man drifting serenely find out where he was bound for and how long
along through such a queer yarn without ever he was on the road. Lots of the boys here has
smiling, was exquisitely absurd. As I said before, seen that Smiley, and can tell you about him.
I asked him to tell me what he knew of Rev. Why, it never made no difference to him—he
Leonidas W. Smiley, and he would bet on any thing—the dangdest feller.
replied as follows. I let him go Parson Walker’s wife laid very sick once, for a
on in his own way, and never good while, and it seemed as if they warn’t going
interrupted him once: to save her; but one morning he come in, and
Smiley asked how she was, and he said she was
There was a feller here considerable better—thank the Lord for his
Visual
Vocabulary once by the name of Jim inf’nit mercy—and coming on so smart that,
A flume is a Smiley, in the winter of ’49— with the blessing of Prov’dence,11 she’d get well
trough or chute, or may be it was the spring of
often inclined,
’50—I don’t recollect exactly,
that carries
water.
somehow, though what makes 7. Here, flush means “having a large amount of money” or “rich.”
me think it was one or the 8. A camp-meeting is an outdoor religious gathering,
sometimes held in a tent.
other is because I remember the big flume wasn’t 9. An exhorter is someone who urges by giving strong advice
finished when he first came to the camp; but any or warnings; here, a preacher.
10. A straddle-bug is a long-legged beetle.
11. Prov’dence (Providence) is God.
4. A tranquil countenance is a calm face.
5. Transcendent means “surpassing others” or “superior.” Literary Element Dialect How would you characterize
6. Finesse is the smooth or artful handling of a situation. Wheeler’s use of language?

Vocabulary
Big Idea Regionalism How does Twain evoke the region
interminable (in turmi nə bəl) adj. seemingly endless in this passage?

MAR K TWAIN 485


Library of Congress
yet; and Smiley, before he thought, says, “Well, j’int of his hind leg and freeze to it—not chaw,
I’ll risk two-and-a-half12 that she don’t, any way.” you understand, but only jest grip and hang on
Thish-yer13 Smiley had a mare—the boys till they throwed up the sponge,20 if it was a
called her the fifteen-minute nag, but that was year. Smiley always come out winner on that
only in fun, you know, because, of course, she pup, till he harnessed21 a dog once that didn’t
was faster than that—and he used to win money have no hind legs, because they’d been sawed off
on that horse, for all she was so slow and always by a circular saw, and when the thing had gone
had the asthma, or the distemper, or the con- along far enough, and the money was all up, and
sumption,14 or something of that kind. They used he come to make a snatch for his pet holt,22 he
to give her two or three hundred yards start, and saw in a minute how he’d been imposed on, and
then pass her under way; but always at the fag- how the other dog had him in the door,23 so to
end15 of the race she’d get excited and desperate- speak, and he ’peared surprised, and then he
like, and come cavorting16 and straddling up, and looked sorter discouraged-like, and didn’t try no
scattering her legs around limber, sometimes in more to win the fight, and so he got shucked
the air, and sometimes out to one side amongst out24 bad. He give Smiley a look, as much as to
the fences, and kicking up m-o-r-e dust, and rais- say his heart was broke, and it was his fault, for
ing m-o-r-e racket with her coughing and sneez- putting up a dog that hadn’t no hind legs for
ing and blowing her nose—and always fetch up him to take holt of, which was his main depen-
at the stand17 just about a neck ahead, as near as dence in a fight, and then he limped off a piece
you could cipher it down.18 and laid down and died. It was a good pup, was
And he had a little small bull pup, that to that Andrew Jackson, and would have made a
look at him you’d think he wan’t worth a cent, name for hisself if he’d lived, for the stuff was in
but to set around and look him, and he had genius—I know it, because he
ornery, and lay for a chance hadn’t had no opportunities to speak of, and it
to steal something. But as don’t stand to reason that a dog could make
soon as money was up on such a fight as he could under them circum-
him, he was a different dog; stances, if he hadn’t no talent. It always makes
Visual Vocabulary his under-jaw’d begin to me feel sorry when I think of that last fight of
The fo’castle, or stick out like the fo’castle his’n, and the way it turned out.
forecastle (fōk səl), of a steamboat, and his Well, thish-yer Smiley had rat-tarriers,25 and
of a steamboat is a
raised deck at the
teeth would uncover, and chicken cocks,26 and tom-cats, and all them
front of the boat. shine savage like the fur- kind of things, till you couldn’t rest, and you
naces. And a dog might couldn’t fetch nothing for him to bet on but
tackle him, and bully-rag19 him, and bite him, he’d match you. He ketched a frog one day, and
and throw him over his shoulder two or three took him home, and said he cal’klated27 to
times, and Andrew Jackson—which was the edercate him; and so he never done nothing for
name of the pup—Andrew Jackson would never three months but set in his back yard and
let on but what he was satisfied, and hadn’t learn28 that frog to jump. And you bet you he
expected nothing else—and the bets being dou-
bled and doubled on the other side all the time, 20. Throwed up the sponge means “gave up the contest.”
till the money was all up; and then all of a sud- 21. Here, harnessed means “set up a fight with.”
den he would grab that other dog jest by the 22. A pet holt is a favorite hold.
23. Had him in the door means “had him at a disadvantage or
in a tight place.”
12. Risk two-and-a-half means “risk, or bet, $2.50.” 24. Shucked out means “beaten” or “defeated.”
13. Thish-yer is dialect for “this here.” 25. Rat-tarriers are dogs (terriers) once used for catching rats.
14. Consumption is another name for tuberculosis. 26. Chicken cocks are adult male chickens (roosters) that are
15. The fag-end is the last part. trained to fight.
16. Cavorting means “running and jumping around playfully.” 27. Cal‘klated is dialect for calculated, meaning “planned.”
17. Fetch up at the stand means “arrive at the grandstand,” 28. Here, learn means “teach.”
which was placed at the finish line. Reading Strategy Analyzing Comic Devices What
18. Cipher it down means “calculate it.”
makes this situation humorous?
19. Bully-rag means “to intimidate” or “to abuse.”

486 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


CORBIS
Viewing the Photograph: What aspects of life in a mining camp are
captured in the photograph?

did learn him, too. He’d give him a little punch on a dead level, he could get over more ground
behind, and the next minute you’d see that frog at one straddle30 than any animal of his breed
whirling in the air like a doughnut—see him you ever see. Jumping on a dead level was his
turn one summerset, or may be a couple, if he strong suit, you understand; and when it come
got a good start, and come down flat-footed and to that, Smiley would ante up31 money on him
all right, like a cat. He got him up so in the as long as he had a red.32 Smiley was monstrous
matter of catching flies, and kept him in prac- proud of his frog, and well he might be, for fell-
tice so constant, that he’d nail a fly every time ers that had traveled and been everywheres, all
as far as he could see him. Smiley said all a frog said he laid over any frog that ever they see.
wanted was education, and he could do most Well, Smiley kept the beast in a little lattice
any thing—and I believe him. Why, I’ve seen box, and he used to fetch him down town some-
him set Dan’l Webster29 down here on this times and lay for a bet. One day a feller—a
floor—Dan’l Webster was the name of the stranger in the camp, he was—come across him
frog—and sing out, “Flies, Dan’l, flies!” and with his box, and says:
quicker’n you could wink, he’d spring straight “What might it be that you’ve got in the box?”
up, and snake a fly off’n the counter there, and And Smiley says, sorter indifferent like, “It
flop down on the floor again as solid as a gob of might be a parrot, or it might be a canary, may
mud, and fall to scratching the side of his head be, but it an’t—it’s only just a frog.”
with his hind foot as indifferent as if he hadn’t And the feller took it, and looked at it careful,
no idea he’d been doin’ any more’n any frog and turned it round this way and that, and says,
might do. You never see a frog so modest and “H’m—so ’tis. Well, what’s he good for?”
straightfor’ard as he was, for all he was so gifted. “Well,” Smiley says, easy and careless, “He’s
And when it come to fair and square jumping good enough for one thing, I should judge—he
can outjump any frog in Calaveras county.”
The feller took the box again, and took
29. Dan’l Webster refers to Daniel Webster (1782–1852),
a famous orator who served as a U.S. senator and a U.S.
another long, particular look, and give it back to
secretary of state.
30. Here, straddle means “to jump.”
Reading Strategy Analyzing Comic Devices How does
31. Ante up means “to put into the pool” or “to bet.”
Twain create humor in this passage?
32. A red refers to a red cent, meaning “any money at all.”

MAR K TWAIN 487


Bettmann/CORBIS
Smiley, and says, very deliberate, “Well, I don’t jerked his thumb over his shoulders—this way—
see no p’ints33 about that frog that’s any better’n at Dan’l, and says again, very deliberate, “Well,
any other frog.” I don’t see no p’ints about that frog that’s any
“May be you don’t,” Smiley says, “May be you better’n any other frog.”
understand frogs, and may be you don’t under- Smiley he stood scratching his head and
stand ’em; may be you’ve had experience, and looking down at Dan’l a long time, and at last
may be you an’t only a amature, as it were. he says, “I do wonder what in the nation that
Anyways, I’ve got my opinion, and I’ll risk forty frog throw’d off for—I wonder if there an’t
dollars that he can outjump any frog in something the matter with him—he ’pears to
Calaveras county.” look mighty baggy, somehow.” And he ketched
And the feller studied a minute, and then says, Dan’l by the nap of the neck, and lifted him
kinder sad like, “Well, I’m only a stranger here, and up and says, “Why, blame my cats, if he don’t
I an’t got no frog; but if I had a frog, I’d bet you.” weigh five pound!” and turned him upside
And then Smiley says, “That’s all right—that’s down, and he belched out a double handful of
all right—if you’ll hold my box a minute, I’ll go shot. And then he see how it was, and he was
and get you a frog.” And so the feller took the the maddest man—he set the frog down and
box, and put up his forty dollars along with took out after that feller, but he never ketched
Smiley’s, and set down to wait. him. And—
So he set there a good while thinking and [Here Simon Wheeler heard his name called
thinking to hisself, and then he got the frog out from the front yard, and got up to see what was
and prized his mouth open and took a teaspoon wanted.] And turning to me as he moved away,
and filled him full of quail shot34—filled him he said: “Just set where you are, stranger, and rest
pretty near up to his chin—and set him on the easy—I an’t going to be gone a second.”
floor. Smiley he went to the swamp and slopped But, by your leave, I did not think that a con-
around in the mud for a long time, and finally he tinuation of the history of the enterprising vaga-
ketched a frog, and fetched him in, and give him bond Jim Smiley would be likely to afford35 me
to this feller, and says: much information concerning the Rev. Leonidas
“Now, if you’re ready, set him alongside of Dan’l, W. Smiley, and so I started away.
with his fore-paws just even with Dan’l, and I’ll At the door I met the sociable Wheeler
give the word.” Then he says, “One—two— returning, and he buttonholed36 me and
three—jump!” and him and the feller touched up recommenced:
the frogs from behind, and the new frog hopped off, “Well, thish-yer Smiley had a yaller one-eyed
but Dan’l give a heave, and hysted up his shoul- cow that didn’t have no tail, only jest a short
ders—so—like a Frenchman, but it wan’t no use— stump like a bannanner, and——”
he couldn’t budge; he was planted as solid as an “Oh! hang Smiley and his afflicted cow!” I
anvil, and he couldn’t no more stir than if he was muttered, good-naturedly, and bidding the old
anchored out. Smiley was a good deal surprised, gentleman good-day, I departed. 
and he was disgusted too, but he didn’t have no
idea what the matter was, of course.
The feller took the money and started away; 35. Afford means “to give” or “to provide.”
and when he was going out at the door, he sorter 36. Buttonholed means “detained in conversation.”

Literary Element Dialect How would you express


33. P‘ints is dialect for points, meaning “qualities” or Wheeler’s statement in Standard English?
“characteristics.”
34. Quail shot is ammunition made up of small lead pellets. Vocabulary
Reading Strategy Analyzing Comic Devices How might enterprising (entər pr̄´zin) adj. showing energy and
the stranger’s action bring about an absurd situation? initiative, especially in beginning new projects

488 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. What questions would you like to ask Simon 5. Why do you think Wheeler tells his listener about
Wheeler? the mare and bull pup first, before focusing on
the frog?
Recall and Interpret 6. Who is the main character in this story? Explain.
2. (a)How does the narrator come to meet Simon 7. (a)In this selection, one story serves as a frame
Wheeler and to hear his story? (b)What can you for another story. Which story is the frame?
infer about the narrator’s attitude toward (b)Why might Twain have chosen this structure?
Wheeler?
3. (a)Why does Wheeler call Smiley “the curiosest Connect
man”? (b)What conclusions can you draw about
Smiley’s character, based on the tale Wheeler tells? 8. Big Idea Regionalism How does Twain capture
the flavor of the Old West in this story?
4. (a)What does Smiley entice the stranger to
do? (b)What event or events determine the out-
come of the encounter with the stranger? Explain
your answer.

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Dialect Reading Strategy Analyzing Comic Devices


Twain uses dialect to evoke the region and the peo- Mark Twain first achieved fame as a western humorist,
ple he is writing about, as in this example: “He and his humor is irresistible. He once wrote, “The
ketched a frog one day, and took him home, and said humorous story may be spun out to great length and
he cal’klated to edercate him. . . .” may wander around as much as it pleases, and arrive
nowhere in particular.”
1. What words in the example above does Wheeler
pronounce differently from Standard English? 1. Does this story fit Twain’s description of a comic story?
2. What is the difference between Wheeler’s language 2. What elements of humor in this story do you find
and the narrator’s? What does this difference sug- most effective?
gest about them?
Vocabulary Practice
Writing About Literature Practice with Word Roots Match each of the
root words listed below to a vocabulary word from
Analyze Setting Write a brief essay to analyze the
the selection. Use a dictionary if you need help.
setting of this story. In your essay, explore the follow-
ing questions: 1. dilapidare, meaning “to pelt with stones” in Latin
2. garrire, meaning “to chatter” in Latin
• Why might Twain have selected this setting? 3. conjectura, meaning “guess” in Latin

• How would the story have been different if the nar- a. garrulous b. conjecture c. dilapidated
rator had met Wheeler in a city?

Support your position with details from the story.


Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

MAR K TWAIN 489


Mark Twain

B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Literary Element Analogy Reading Strategy Comparing and


An analogy is a comparison made between two things Contrasting Language
to show the similarities between them. Writers use Twain’s first two sentences in this part of Life on the
analogies in order to make experiences more vivid for Mississippi suggest a contrast: “. . . I had made a
the reader or to explain unfamiliar things by comparing valuable acquisition. But I had lost something, too.”
them to familiar things. As you read, notice the analogy Twain develops this contrast by describing two different
Twain uses in this memoir about his experiences as a perspectives of the river. As you read, consider how
riverboat pilot. the diction, or choice of words, reflects this contrast.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R1. Use a chart to record your notes and observations.

Interactive Literary Elements


Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

Now when I had mastered the language of this water steamboating was new to me. A broad expanse of
and had come to know every trifling feature that the river was turned to blood; in the middle distance
bordered the great river as familiarly as I knew the the red hue brightened into gold, through which a
letters of the alphabet, I had made a valuable acqui- solitary log came floating, black and conspicuous; in
sition. But I had lost something, too. I had lost some- one place a long, slanting mark lay sparkling upon
thing which could never be restored to me while I the water; in another the surface was broken by boil-
lived. All the grace, the beauty, the poetry had gone ing, tumbling rings, that were as many-tinted as an
out of the majestic river! I still keep in mind a cer- opal; where the ruddy flush was faintest, was a
tain wonderful sunset which I witnessed when smooth spot that was covered with graceful circles

490 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


Historical Picture Archive/CORBIS
and radiating lines, ever so delicately traced; the
shore on our left was densely wooded, and the som-
ber shadow that fell from this forest was broken in
one place by a long, ruffled trail that shone like sil-
ver; and high above the forest wall a clean-stemmed
dead tree waved a single leafy bough that glowed like
a flame in the unobstructed splendor that was flow-
ing from the sun. There were graceful curves,
reflected images, woody heights, soft distances; and
over the whole scene, far and near, the dissolving
lights drifted steadily, enriching it, every passing
moment, with new marvels of coloring.
I stood like one bewitched.1 I drank it in, in a
speechless rapture. The world was new to me, and I
had never seen anything like this at home. But as I
have said, a day came when I began to cease from
noting the glories and the charms which the moon
and the sun and the twilight wrought2 upon the
river’s face; another day came when I ceased alto-
gether to note them. Then, if that sunset scene had
been repeated, I should have looked upon it with-
out rapture, and should have commented upon it,
inwardly, after this fashion: This sun means that we
are going to have wind tomorrow; that floating log
means that the river is rising, small thanks to it;
that slanting mark on the water refers to a bluff reef
which is going to kill somebody’s steamboat one of
these nights, if it keeps on stretching out like that;
those tumbling “boils” show a dissolving bar and a
changing channel there; the lines and circles in the
slick water over yonder are a warning that that Mark Twain on Ship Deck, March 15, 1901.
troublesome place is shoaling up3 dangerously; that Viewing the Photograph: How do you think Twain might have
silver streak in the shadow of the forest is the been feeling at the moment this photo was taken?
“break” from a new snag, and he has located him-
self in the very best place he could have found to
fish for steamboats; that tall dead tree, with a single steamboat. Since those days, I have pitied doc-
living branch, is not going to last long, and then tors from my heart. What does the lovely flush
how is a body ever going to get through this blind in a beauty’s cheek mean to a doctor but a
place at night without the friendly old landmark? “break” that ripples above some deadly disease?
No, the romance and the beauty were all gone Are not all her visible charms sown thick with
from the river. All the value any feature of it had what are to him the signs and symbols of hidden
for me now was the amount of usefulness it could decay? Does he ever see her beauty at all, or
furnish toward compassing the safe piloting of a doesn’t he simply view her professionally, and
comment upon her unwholesome condition all
1. Bewitched means “captivated” or “entranced.” to himself? And doesn’t he sometimes wonder
2. Wrought means “created.” whether he has gained most or lost most by
3. A shoal is a shallow place in the water. To shoal up means learning his trade? 
“to become shallow.”

Reading StrategyComparing and Contrasting


Language How has Twain’s perspective of the tree Literary Element Analogy What do doctors and riverboat
changed? pilots have in common?

MAR K TWAIN 491


Bettmann/CORBIS
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. What are your impressions of Mark Twain’s 5. Do you think that Twain gained more or lost more
personality? by learning the trade of a riverboat pilot?
6. What do you think was Twain’s main purpose for
Recall and Interpret writing this memoir?

2. (a)What is “the language of this water” that Twain 7. Does Twain make the job of riverboat pilot sound
masters? (b)Why does he suggest that learning appealing?
how to navigate the river is like mastering a foreign
language?
Connect
3. (a)What does Twain mean by “the romance and
the beauty” of the river? (b)Why does he lose the 8. Big Idea Regionalism Regionalist writers por-

ability to see these special qualities forever? trayed the distinctive traits of particular areas of the
United States. From reading Twain’s memoir, what
4. (a)What terms does Twain use that would be famil- did you learn about the challenges of life on the
iar mainly to riverboat pilots or people living along Mississippi River?
the river? (b)Why does Twain include these terms
in this memoir?

LI T E R A RY A N A LYS I S

Literary Element Analogy Review: Tone


In this memoir, Twain draws an analogy between a As you learned in Unit One, tone is the attitude that a
riverboat pilot and a medical doctor. Twain’s audience writer expresses toward his or her subject matter.
knew much about doctors but knew little about river- Tone is conveyed through elements such as word
boat pilots. choice, punctuation, sentence structure, and figures of
speech. A writer’s tone may convey a variety of atti-
1. What does Twain achieve by concluding this section
tudes, such as sympathy, objectivity, or humor.
with an analogy?
Partner Activity Meet with a classmate and discuss
2. Which of the following trades or professions might
the tone of Twain’s memoir. Fill in a chart like the one
have been the best substitute for the profession of
below with elements from the story that convey tone.
doctor in Twain’s analogy?
Based on these elements, list the tone of the memoir
• stagecoach driver at the top.

• train engineer
Tone:
• factory worker
word sentence figures of
• musician choice structure speech
• farmer
3. Rewrite the end of the selection using the new
analogy you chose.

492 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


R E AD I N G A N D VO CA B U L A RY WRITI NG AN D EXTEN DI NG

Reading Strategy Comparing and Writing About Literature


Contrasting Language Evaluate Contemporary Relevance Mark Twain
In this section of Life on the Mississippi, Twain expresses two views of the Mississippi River—one
describes how his perspective of the river shifted from poetic and one technical. Write an essay in which you
the poetic to the practical as he learned the trade of a use the same technique. Start by choosing an aspect
riverboat pilot. of nature, such as a storm, as a writing topic. You
might begin with your admiration for the storm, fol-
1. What words in the first paragraph capture “the lowed by the technical details about the storm’s effects
romance and the beauty” of the river? that influence your perspective. Follow the steps
2. What words in the second paragraph convey a shown below.
practical view of the river?
Paragraph one Introduce your topic.

Vocabulary Practice Paragraph two Tell what you admired or


enjoyed about this topic.
The word conjecture is made up of the Latin prefix Paragraph three Describe some technical
con-, meaning “together,” and the root -ject, mean- aspects of this topic.
ing “to throw.” When you conjecture, you do not
Paragraph four Tell what caused the difference
have enough evidence to draw a logical conclu- between your two views.
sion, so you throw thoughts together; you guess.
Paragraph five Draw conclusions about the
tendency of people to be
Practice Use your knowledge of the root -ject and fooled by nature.
familiar prefixes to answer the following questions.
1. Does a person with dejected spirits feel After you complete your draft, meet with a peer
hopeful, sad, or outraged? reviewer to evaluate each other’s work and to suggest
2. What might a person giving a speech do to revisions. Then proofread and edit your draft for errors.
inject some humor?
3. Which of the following is used as a projectile—
a cannonball, a life raft, or a rocking chair? Interdisciplinary Activity: Science
Investigating a Local River With a group of class-
mates, create a report on an important river or other
body of water in the region in which you live. Use a
double entry journal to record your data.
Academic Vocabulary
Here are two words from the vocabulary list on Questions Answers
page R86. These words will help you think,
1. What is the name
write, and talk about the selection.
of the river, and
region (rē jən) a broad geographic area distin- what is the origin
guished by similar features of that name?
impact (im pakt) a significant or major effect 2.
3.
Practice and Apply
1. Which regions of the United States do Twain’s
writings depict?
2. What impact did Twain’s training as a riverboat
pilot have on his descriptions of the Mississippi Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

MAR K TWAIN 493


I n f o r m a t i o n a l Te x t

M e d i a L i n k t o 19 t h –
C e n t u r y Re g i o n a l i s m
and Local Color
Preview the Article
Life Along the

Mississippi
“Life Along the Mississippi” documents
the Mississippi River region’s current
struggle to prosper in a changing
economy.
1. What have you already learned about
life on the Mississippi from reading
Twain’s work? What else would you
like to know?
2. Read the section headings throughout
the article. What clues do these
provide about the article’s content?

Set a Purpose for Reading


Read to learn about the communities
along the Mississippi, depicted in

U
By NANCY GIBBS
literature by Mark Twain, and how this
region has changed over time. NLESS YOU ARE DRIVING ACROSS IT OR FLYING OVER
it or floating down it, it is hard to see the actual
Reading Strategy Mississippi. Anyone who had anything to do with
Clarifying Meaning the river discovered long ago that this huge
When you clarify the meaning of a text, you continental drainpipe was too powerful to leave
work to unlock the meaning of each section alone. So the great engineers designed the levees and locks and
or paragraph. Create a chart similar to the dams that reduced the number of ships that sank and towns that
one below and answer the questions to vanished. But their work also hid the river behind its walls and
help you clarify meaning as you read.
left the rest to the imagination.
Questions Answers Aside from Mark Twain’s same—Where’s Taco Bell? Where’s
What does this Huckleberry Finn, the imagination Home Depot?—it’s easy to assume
section mean? may be the best guide for exploring that no region is really distinct
the Mississippi River. Otherwise anymore. We’re all online now, and
How does this you need both a boat and a car, even in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a
relate to the maybe a canoe and a bicycle too, local observes, the kids don’t say
main idea? for the skinny inlets and alleys “y’all” anymore. They say, “you
along the way, and a lot of time guys,” just like on TV.
and patience. We could at best
splash in it a little, to see what it felt Heading South
like and what we might learn—and So we were surprised, everywhere
unlearn—by stopping along the we went. The more you explore the
way. It was worth remembering communities along the river, and
OB J EC TIVES the farther south you travel down
Huck Finn’s lesson: The river is the
• Clarify understanding of informational
sanctuary; the shore is where you into the Mississippi Delta, more
texts by creating graphic organizers.
• Explore life experiences related to get into trouble. than one thing becomes clear: This
subject area content. In a country where travelers is still a land unto itself, defined by
• Use background knowledge and experi-
lament that every town looks the its colorful, bloody past. It is a land
ence to connect to text.

494 UNIT 4
Informational Text

Let us take you on a trip down


America’s great river, where we
explore the troubles and triumphs
of people trying to catch up
with the new economy.

Diana Walker
apart from the region that cradles War and, a century later, the battle personal, but slow by the standards
the early stretches of the river itself, for civil rights. “Of course the war of a country that hurries into the
the Midwestern states of Minnesota, is not over,” says our 87-year-old future.
Wisconsin, and Iowa. While these guide in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Even progress on race comes in
states have reinvented themselves Now there is a quieter conflict the most intimate gestures: Last
three times in a half century, moving raging, not on the broad political December, as Elnora Littleton in
from agriculture to industry to high stage but in the particulars of Rosedale, Mississippi, tells it, she
technology, many communities in individual lives. Along the river, became the first African American
the Mississippi Delta have wrestled people hear about the new woman in those parts ever to
with the explosion of progress and economy, but they don’t have a preach at a white man’s funeral. In
prosperity. ticket to get there. Information this part of the country, she says, it
The South is where the country’s superhighway? Progress here is a is a milestone worth noting. “I
two wars were fought: the Civil back road, winding, scenic, and made history,” she says.
Diana Walker (4)

LIFE ALONG T HE MISSISSIPPI 495


Informational Text

A Terrible Beauty
In the South, the river is the color
of café au lait (coffee with milk).
Down toward the mouth of the
Mississippi, the land was formed of
sedimentary deposits from farther
upriver, including the rich topsoil
blown from the hills of Wyoming
into the Missouri and acres of
Kansas prairie swallowed by flooding
and swept downstream. Mark
Twain’s characters claimed that a
man who drank the water could
grow corn in his stomach. You know
all this, and yet you are unprepared
for the Delta, otherworldly and flat,
the best place to grow cotton on
this earth. It was once a hellish
jungle, cleared by the backbreaking
labor of enslaved persons and
sharecroppers. It’s like a wet western
Kansas—beautiful, flat, and fertile.
The difference, of course, is that
when faced with the shrinking
labor needs of modern farming, the
good people of western Kansas
simply moved away in search of
better lives elsewhere. While this
happened in the Delta as well, a
large number of people chose to
stay in one of the poorest regions in
the U.S. The average family of four
here has an income of $16,538,
slightly more than half the national
average. In Mississippi County,
Arkansas, 35% of kids live in
poverty, and 40% of adults don’t
have a high school diploma. Riverfront architecture in the Mississippi River town
If the new economy has not yet of Alton, Illinois, reflects the river’s colorful past.
flowed downstream, there are lots of
people who will tell you no one is
even looking for it here. Whether or Town and Out? The idea of luring a nice little
not a town stays afloat has a lot to do We were left asking the same software company is years away.
with whether the local factory is still question all these towns face as the Suppose you have lost your
open—the fate of the town rests in ground shifts beneath their feet: brickyard, and the tugs no longer
the hands of Continental Concrete, What’s it going to be? Change? Or stop at your town, and the
Sparta Printing, the Mississippi Lime die? Is there maybe another choice? interstate has drawn the
Co., Tower Rock Quarry, Ralston The towns individually try to megastores, and even the schools
Purina, and Pillsbury. When one of reinvent themselves, and the region and churches move away, and the
these leaves, and the farms start to as a whole tries to reinvent itself. young people leave, and Main
fail, an entire town can shrivel and As you move farther south, many Street is on life support. The
die. Laid-off workers lose their towns don’t have the roads or Chamber of Commerce gets
livelihood. Retired workers lose their infrastructure to recruit some big together and daydreams: What
health insurance. new car plant or distribution center. would it take to bring life back to

496 UNIT 4 REGIONALISM AND REALISM


Informational Text

lemon drops. Kimmswick, quaint is what sells now. Create a


Missouri, was almost dead after time that feels sweet and simple,
the lumberyard and the brickyard and you don’t have to smell the
closed—until 7-Up heiress Luci horses or die of cholera.
Anna Ross began buying up
collapsing buildings and renting Cairo’s “Main” Dilemma
them out as gift shops and bed- If you want to visit the most unusual
and-breakfasts. Now there is the theme park in America, try the Main
Kimmswick Korner gift shop and Street in Cairo, Illinois. It is a water
lots of places to buy apple butter slide of desolation, one abandoned
or have your horse reshod. The building after another, with 90%
annual Apple Butter Festival gets of the storefronts dark and boarded
40,000 people. More than 100,000 over.
come to Hannibal, Missouri, for If Cairo is a ghost town, it was the
Tom Sawyer Days on the Fourth fight for justice that killed it. “It used
of July weekend. Disney even sent to be called Little Chicago,” says
a representative to Hannibal to Deputy Mayor Judson Childs, walking
learn how to re-create Tom Sawyer a couple of visitors to the town center,
for its theme parks. Having where civil rights battles flared in the
developed everyplace else, 1960s. African Americans boycotted
Americans are homesteading the stores that discriminated; whites
past. retaliated with violence; federal
authorities intervened. But most
Inventing History/Prettifying whites chose to shut down their stores
the Past and leave Cairo rather than integrate.
But because this re-creation of the Over time the streets of Cairo became
past is for tourists, it’s an airbrushed empty. Now if you want gas, you have
souvenir postcard. You see only the to get it before 8 at night. To shop or
good side of a town’s history—or a go to a movie means driving 30 or 40
distorted version of that history. In miles into Kentucky or Missouri. A
Nauvoo, Illinois, the Mormons woman in her late 20s sadly remarks,
celebrate their 19th–century village “This town is trapped in the past.”
life as they rebuild the town and its Maybe it’s natural to try to market
temple as a pilgrimage spot. Glossed Cairo. Just turn the 1872 customhouse
over are the bloody religious battles into a museum, get a big grant to
that led to their being pillaged and repave the center of town with
expelled in the first place. The cobblestones and fake streetcar lines,
hotel owner in Kimmswick says peddle the old glory days of the big
the town’s latest scheme is river town, and hope no one asks
Diana Walker reenactments of the Civil War how it died. There is lots of history
battle there. Was there ever really here, all fascinating but not pretty.
this town? Or do we just roll up a Battle of Kimmswick? He So some residents aren’t sure that the
the streets and move on? concedes that it was, in his words, buses will ever come rolling in or the
For many towns, the answer is “just a skirmish that involved three hotels ever reopen. “You ask the
to attract tourists. They say, if we Confederate soldiers hiding in a average person on the street what
can’t find some big new employer cave.” Whatever. Cairo needs,” says Mayor James
to bring the new economy to This sort of thing is what social Wilson, “and they’ll say a McDonald’s
town, how about reverting to the critics denounce as the strip-mining and a Wal-Mart.”
old economy—the very old one? of history to market a version of
In this polished and pasteurized the past that has a special appeal. Home of the Blues
vision, Main Street becomes a This is not re-creating the past, The future of Clarksdale, Mississippi,
theme park of 19th–century life, they say, so much as distorting it. is also tied to its past. This Delta
with women wearing petticoats Back when life in these towns was town is trying to find its way by
and shops selling candlesticks and real, it wasn’t always quaint—yet reengineering its cash crop, the blues.

LIFE ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI 497


Informational Text

America created its richest cultural


legacy, and that, of course, yields all
kinds of lessons for anyone willing to
listen closely.
“Are you going to find anything
good to write about?” people ask again
and again. They are aware of how
things must look to a bunch of
outsiders. The natives know that
much of what is great and sweet and
honorable in these places never makes
headlines. The Cairo deputy fire chief
will tell you how many people appear
in an instant when a windstorm
sweeps through town and smashes a
block of homes. Anyplace you have
good friends is a place worth staying.
Steve Liss

IN FORT MADISON, IOWA, a town that has found a way to revive downtown, Here and elsewhere, there are big
residents gather for a band concert. groups of people—ministers and
teachers and store owners and
There is the newly reopened Delta sharecroppers to pick the cotton, there bureaucrats—who are prepared to
Blues Museum, which honors such would have been no plantation give all their time and muscle to
hometown heroes as Charley Patton, economy; without African Americans putting things right, making a place
Son House, Robert Johnson, Muddy to sing the work songs and field chants better. To the outsider, it would seem
Waters, and John Lee Hooker. The and play diddley bows and mail-order so much easier just to pick up and
history of the music is the story of the guitars, there would be no Delta blues. move on. Trying to stay, and to change,
people who invented it and the Without the blues, there would be no is an act of faith.
suffering that created it. Without rock ’n’ roll to conquer the world and –Updated 2005,
African American workers to clear help sell all those burgers and jeans. from TIME, July 10, 2000
the thickly wooded Delta plain and The poorest, most oppressed people in

R ES P O N D I N G AN D TH I N K I N G C R ITI CALLY

Respond Analyze and Evaluate


1. How did this article make you feel about the 4. (a)Return to the graphic organizer you created
situation that many of the small towns along the to clarify meaning. What ideas does the author
Mississippi face? express in the subsection “Home of the Blues”?
(b)Why does the author claim that the past is
Recall and Interpret connected to the future of the Mississippi Delta?
2. (a)What is the “new economy” the author refers 5. (a)How would you describe Gibbs’s tone, or
to? (b)Why are the communities along the attitude toward her subject, in this article? Support
Mississippi not yet a part of this? your response with details from the text. (b)How
3. (a)What kinds of businesses have found success might this tone contribute to an overall bias, or
in many of the small towns along the Mississippi inclination toward a certain opinion?
River? (b)Why might the towns want to “prettify”
their past? Connect
6. Compare and contrast Mark Twain’s and Nancy
Gibbs’s portrayals of the Mississippi Delta region.
What are their similarities and differences?

498 UNIT 4 REGIONALISM AND REALISM


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Lucinda Matlock and


Fiddler Jones
M E E T E DG A R LE E M A ST E R S

E
dgar Lee Masters’s Spoon River Anthology
took early twentieth-century readers by sur-
prise. Published in 1915, the anthology is a
collection of free-verse first-person monologues
spoken by the people of a small Midwestern town,
who are now “sleeping on the hill.” Masters called
the poems epitaphs.
The realism and irony expressed in Spoon River
Anthology were at odds with the romantic and in law. Masters eventually took up both pursuits
sentimental poetry popular at the time. Though and established his first law office in Chicago in
some critics questioned this new type of poetry, 1893. He married Helen M. Jenkins, the daughter
the book sold thousands of copies, is still in of another Chicago lawyer, in 1898, and they had
print, and has even been adapted for the stage. three children. Masters was a successful attorney
After the anthology’s publication, Ezra Pound and argued some cases before the U.S. Supreme
wrote of Masters, “At last! America has discov- Court.
ered a poet.”
Literary Success Masters’s first book, A Book of
Verses, was published in 1898, and he published a
number of other poetry books, a collection of
“It is all very well, but for essays, and several plays over the next sixteen
myself I know years. Through his writing, he became friends with
Carl Sandburg and Harriet Monroe, the editor of
I stirred certain vibrations in Poetry magazine. Despite Masters’s ties to the
Spoon River Chicago community, he later separated from his
family and moved to New York City. He married
Which are my true epitaph, Elaine Coyne, a teacher, in 1926.
more lasting than stone.” Spoon River Anthology was well received both
—Edgar Lee Masters critically and commercially. Masters was later
“Percival Sharp” awarded the Poetry Society of America Award,
the Mark Twain silver medal, and the Shelley
Memorial Award. By the end of his life, Masters
had published more than fifty volumes, includ-
From Small Town to Supreme Court Born in ing poetry collections, plays, novels and biogra-
Kansas, Masters grew up in the small Illinois towns phies. Spoon River, however, remained his only
of Petersburg and Lewistown. As a boy, he spent literary success.
long periods of time at his grandfather’s farm, where
he fished, rode horses, and read Charles Dickens Edgar Lee Masters was born in 1868 and died
and Ralph Waldo Emerson. After graduating high in 1950.
school, he worked as an apprentice for a local
printer and attended Knox College for one year.
Although Masters wanted to study literature and Author Search For more about
be a writer, his father pushed him toward a career this author,
Edgar go to www.literature.glencoe.com.
Lee Masters, go to www.glencoe.com.

EDGAR LEE MASTERS 499


Bettmann/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W READI NG PREVI EW

Connecting to the Poems Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions


As you read “Lucinda Matlock” and “Fiddler Jones,” About Characters
note what experiences matter to the speakers of the When you draw a conclusion, you use various
poems. Think about these questions: pieces of information to make a general statement
• If you were to sum up your life so far, what experi- about people, places, events, and ideas. As you
read the poems, look for specific details about each
ences would you focus on?
• What meaning would you find in those experiences? speaker. These details can be the basis for a gen-
eral statement about each speaker. You can use a
chart like the one below to keep track of these
Building Background details.
When Edgar Lee Masters read the epigrams from the
Greek Anthology—an ancient collection of about 3,700 Liked
short poems—he was struck by their brevity, wit, and to dance
irony. He decided to write a similar collection compris-
ing free-verse epitaphs in the form of monologues. Lucinda
Matlock
The result was Spoon River Anthology. Masters’s char-
acters were inspired by people he knew; Lucinda
Matlock, for example, is based on his grandmother,
Lucinda Masters. Many of the monologues in Spoon
River Anthology are related, so a complex history of
numerous families unfolds.
Vocabulary

repose (ri pōz ) n. relaxation; tranquility; eter-


Setting Purposes for Reading nal rest; p. 501 The elderly woman was not afraid
Big Idea Regionalism of death; instead, she welcomed the idea of her
repose.
As you read these two poems, consider what they
reveal about the customs and lifestyle of the people of degenerate (di jen ər it) adj. having declined in
Masters’s fictional Midwestern town. condition or character; deteriorated; p. 501
Despite spending time in jail, the thief continued to
Literary Element Dramatic Monologue live a degenerate lifestyle.

Each of these poems is a dramatic monologue, ruinous (r¯¯¯


oo i nəs) adj. causing ruin; destruc-
a form of dramatic poetry in which the speaker tive; p. 502 The extreme weather in Alaska can
addresses a silent listener. The speaker in these have a ruinous effect on highways there.
poems is not Masters but a character he created.
Vocabulary Tip: Antonyms Words that have
As you read the poems, think about the philosophy
opposite or nearly opposite meanings are called
of life each character expresses.
antonyms. For instance, ruinous and beneficial
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R5. are antonyms. Note that antonyms are always
the same part of speech.

Interactive Literary Elements


Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

OB J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • drawing conclusions about characters
• analyzing characteristics of regionalism • analyzing a dramatic monologue

50 0 U N IT 4 REGIONALISM AND REALISM


Comtemplating Life, 1903. Richard Pfeiffer.

Edgar Lee Masters

I went to the dances at Chandlerville, And by Spoon River gathering many a shell,
And played snap-out1 at Winchester. And many a flower and medicinal weed—
One time we changed partners, 15 Shouting to the wooded hills, singing to the
Driving home in the moonlight of middle June, green valleys.
5 And then I found Davis. At ninety-six I had lived enough, that is all,
We were married and lived together for And passed to a sweet repose.
seventy years, What is this I hear of sorrow and weariness,
Enjoying, working, raising the twelve Anger, discontent and drooping hopes?
children, 20 Degenerate sons and daughters,
Eight of whom we lost Life is too strong for you—
Ere I had reached the age of sixty. It takes life to love Life.
10 I spun, I wove, I kept the house, I nursed
the sick, Literary Element Dramatic Monologue What does this
I made the garden, and for holiday line tell you about the speaker’s philosophy of life?
Rambled over the fields where sang the larks,
Vocabulary
repose (ri pōz ) n. relaxation; tranquility; eternal rest
1. Snap-out (also known as crack-the-whip) is a game in which
degenerate (di jen ər it) adj. having declined in
players link hands in a line and then run or skate so as to
condition or character; deteriorated
shake off those at the end of the line.

EDGAR LEE MASTERS 501


Mary Evans Picture Library
Edgar Lee Masters

The earth keeps some vibration going


There in your heart, and that is you.
And if the people find you can fiddle,
Why, fiddle you must, for all your life.
5 What do you see, a harvest of clover?
Or a meadow to walk through to the river?
The wind’s in the corn; you rub your hands
For beeves1 hereafter ready for market;
Or else you hear the rustle of skirts
10 Like the girls when dancing at Little Grove.
To Cooney Potter a pillar of dust
Or whirling leaves meant ruinous drouth;2
They looked to me like Red-Head Sammy
Stepping it off, to “Toor-a-Loor.”3
15 How could I till my forty acres
Not to speak of getting more,
With a medley of horns, bassoons and piccolos
Stirred in my brain by crows and robins
And the creak of a wind-mill—only these?
20 And I never started to plow in my life
That some one did not stop in the road
And take me away to a dance or picnic.
I ended up with forty acres;
I ended up with a broken fiddle—
25 And a broken laugh, and a thousand memories,
And not a single regret.

1. Beeves is the plural form of beef; here, it refers to beef cattle.


2. A drouth (also drought) is a long period of dry weather.
Pop and the Boys, 1963. Thomas Hart Benton. Oil on canvas,
3. Toor-a-Loor refers to a phrase in an Irish folk song.
67.7 x 47.7 cm. Fundación Colección Thyssen-Bornemisza,
Madrid, Spain. Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About
Characters What do these details suggest about the speaker’s
character?

Vocabulary
ruinous (r¯¯¯
oo i nəs) adj. causing ruin; destructive

502 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


Art Resource, NY
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond 5. (a)What reasons does Fiddler give for having
neglected his farm? (b)How does he seem to feel
1. Have you ever known anyone whose outlook on
about his work habits?
life resembles that of Lucinda Matlock or Fiddler
Jones? Explain.
Analyze and Evaluate
Recall and Interpret 6. (a)If you were to interview Lucinda Matlock, what
questions might you ask her about facing life’s ups
2. (a)Describe how Lucinda Matlock spent her life.
and downs? (b)From your reading of the poem,
(b)What were her joys and her sorrows?
what do you think her answers would be?
3. (a)Describe Lucinda’s tone, or attitude toward her
7. (a)What is Fiddler’s philosophy of life? (b)What do
subject and audience, in lines 1–17. (b)How does
you think of Fiddler’s philosophy? Explain.
her tone change in lines 18–22? What might you
infer about her character from this change?
Connect
4. In lines 5–14 of “Fiddler Jones,” Fiddler describes
8. Big Idea Regionalism Both Lucinda Matlock
different ways of perceiving the same things.
and Fiddler Jones are from the same small
(a)Summarize these descriptions. (b)What point
Midwestern farming community. In your opinion,
do you think he is trying to make?
how might their philosophies be different if they
had spent their lives in a busy city instead?

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Dramatic Monologue Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions


“Lucinda Matlock” and “Fiddler Jones” appear among About Characters
a group of related dramatic monologues in Spoon As you answer the following questions, review the
River Anthology. The speakers all have something to details about the speakers in “Lucinda Matlock” and
say about their lives, and they want their audience— “Fiddler Jones” that you noted in your charts.
the living—to heed the lessons they have learned.
1. Why does Lucinda Matlock disapprove of the
1. What general statement sums up the philosophy of younger generation?
life these two monologues share?
2. What do you think was Fiddler Jones’s greatest joy?
2. Paraphrase one of the dramatic monologues you have
just read. Do you think this work would be as effective
in prose as it is in poetry? Explain your response. Vocabulary Practice
Practice with Antonyms Find the antonym for
Writing About Literature each vocabulary word listed in the first column.

Compare and Contrast Characters Write a brief 1. repose a. shift b. agitation


essay in which you compare and contrast Lucinda 2. degenerate a. improved b. fabricated
Matlock and Fiddler Jones. How did they spend their 3. ruinous a. redeeming b. advantage
lives, and what was important to them? Do you think
they would agree about what constitutes a good life?
Use evidence from the poems to support your points.
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

EDGAR LEE MASTERS 503


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

The Outcasts of Poker Flat


M E E T BR E T H A R T E

I
f U.S. newspapers of the early 1870s had fea-
tured bestseller lists, one name would have
appeared regularly at the top: Bret Harte. Not
only was he one of the most widely read writers in
the United States at the time, but he was also the
best paid. The $10,000 the Atlantic Monthly
awarded him in 1871 for 12 stories per year was
the highest figure ever paid to an American writer
at that time. Harte wrote colorful, romantic stories
about the American West. In many of his stories, the stories they wanted. However, when the presti-
he conjured the flavor and characters of the gious Boston literary magazine the Atlantic Monthly
California Gold Rush long after it had ended. offered Harte a contract, the writer accepted the
offer and left California for the East. He never
Born in Albany, New York, Harte ventured west returned west.
when he was eighteen years old. He worked as a
Personal and family problems prevented Harte
drugstore clerk and a Wells Fargo guard, and,
from maintaining his early literary success. He
according to some accounts, he may have also
served as a diplomat in Prussia and Scotland before
tried teaching school and prospecting before he
returning to writing as his sole profession. In
found lasting work in journalism. However, when
England, Harte found an enthusiastic audience for
he wrote an editorial condemning the massacre of
his work long after readers in the United States
sixty Native Americans by local white men, he so
had grown tired of his literary formula. However,
outraged readers that he had to quit his job as edi-
his health failed rapidly, and he died in 1902 of
tor of the Northern Californian and leave town.
throat cancer.

Harte and the Wild West Harte was one of the


“The secret of the American short principal shapers of the fictional Wild West that
has had a wide influence in U.S. popular culture.
story was the treatment of In the 20th century, the makers of film and televi-
characteristic American life, with sion “Westerns” found in Harte’s stories the proto-
types for many of their familiar stock characters.
absolute knowledge of its peculiarities.” Such stereotypes as the grizzled prospector, the
—Bret Harte dance-hall girl with a heart of gold, and the smooth
“The Rise of the Short Story” gambler all originated in Harte’s fiction. Because
these characters have become a fundamental part
of U.S. popular culture, Harte’s portrait of the
Literary Success While serving as editor of the West has endured.
Overland Monthly, a literary magazine, Harte wrote Bret Harte was born in 1836 and died in 1902.
the story that made him famous, “The Luck of
Roaring Camp.” He followed that success with “The
Outcasts of Poker Flat.” Readers in the United
States and England were eager for descriptions of Author
Author Search For more
Search For more about
about
California and the Wild West, and Harte gave them Bret Harte, go to www.glencoe.com.
this author, go to www.literature.glencoe.com.

504 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Making Generalizations


To be outcast is to be driven out or rejected. In this A generalization is a broad statement based on a few
story, the outcast characters are forced out of town facts, descriptions, or examples. Readers can use the
with the threat of death should they return. As you details in a literary work to make generalizations about
read, think about the following questions: story elements such as plot, character, setting, or theme.

• Why might a person be outcast from society? Reading Tip: Taking Notes As you read, use a chart
• Can a person be an outcast without physically going like the one below to record details that you might use
somewhere else? Explain.
to make generalizations about the characters and setting.
Building Background
Bret Harte’s “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” is set in fron- Details of Setting or
tier California during the Gold Rush. The transformation Generalization
Character
of the West during the Gold Rush was rapid and spec-
tacular. By the end of 1849, over 80,000 gold-seekers Uncle Billy: sluice-
had come to California. Mining towns sprang up robber, confirmed
almost overnight. Drawn from all walks of life, the drunkard
“Forty-Niners” created a rough, lawless, and sometimes
violent world. Justice was spotty at best in these com-
munities; the inhabitants themselves might take on the
Vocabulary
roles of judge, jury, and occasionally, executioner. Harte
saw for himself the many types of people who were impropriety (im´ prə pr¯ ə tē) n. the quality of
drawn to these communities. In his writing, he tried to being improper; inappropriate behavior; p. 507
look at these people with unblinking realism and to Newspapers accused the mayor of impropriety
capture their peculiarities of speech and behavior. when he hired his relatives for city jobs.
Setting Purposes for Reading malevolence (mə lev ə ləns) n. a disposition to
wish harm to others; ill will; p. 508 The bully’s
Big Idea Regionalism malevolence caused the other children to fear him.
As you read “The Outcasts of Poker Flat,” notice how
equanimity (ēk´ wə nim ə te, ek´¯) n. evenness
Harte introduces regional details into the setting.
of temper; calmness; p. 508 The teacher became
known for her equanimity during disruptions.
Literary Element Characterization
hypothesis (h¯ poth ə sis) n. an unproved
The methods a writer uses to reveal the personality of a
explanation or assumption; p. 511 Sharon’s
character are called characterization. The writer may
hypothesis was that a tree branch was causing the
describe a character directly, or reveal a character’s per-
strange tapping sounds.
sonality through his or her words, thoughts, and actions,
and through the actions and reactions of other charac- seclusion (si kloo zhən) n. separation from
ters. As you read, look for direct statements about each others; isolation; p. 511 Seeking seclusion, the
character as well as action and dialogue that broaden famous movie star shunned fans and reporters.
your understanding of the characters’ personalities.
Vocabulary Tip: Denotation and Connotation
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R3. A word’s denotation is its literal, or dictionary,
meaning. A word’s connotation, however, is the
Interactive Literary Elements
feeling or association the word suggests.
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • making generalizations about story elements
• analyzing literary periods • analyzing methods of characterization

BRET HARTE 50 5
Bret Harte

SuperStock, Inc./SuperStock
As Mr. John Oakhurst, gambler, stepped into agin2 justice,” said Jim Wheeler, “to let this yer
the main street of Poker Flat on the morning young man from Roaring Camp—an entire
of the 23d of November, 1850, he was con- stranger—carry away our money.” But a crude sen-
scious of a change in its moral atmosphere timent of equity residing in the breasts of those
since the preceding night. Two or three men, who had been fortunate enough to win from Mr.
conversing earnestly together, ceased as he Oakhurst overruled this narrower local prejudice.
approached, and exchanged significant Mr. Oakhurst received his sentence with philo-
glances. There was a Sabbath lull in the air, sophic calmness, none the less coolly that he was
which, in a settlement unused to Sabbath aware of the hesitation of his judges. He was too
influences, looked ominous. much of a gambler not to accept fate. With him
Mr. Oakhurst’s calm, handsome face betrayed life was at best an uncertain game, and he recog-
small concern in these indications. Whether he nized the usual percentage in favor of the dealer.
was conscious of any predisposing cause was A body of armed men accompanied the
another question. “I reckon they’re after some- deported wickedness of Poker Flat to the outskirts
body,” he reflected; “likely it’s me.” He returned of the settlement. Besides Mr. Oakhurst, who was
to his pocket the handkerchief with which he known to be a coolly desperate man, and for
had been whipping away the red dust of Poker whose intimidation the armed escort was
Flat from his neat boots, and quietly discharged intended, the expatriated3 party consisted of a
his mind of any further conjecture. young woman familiarly known as “The Duchess;”
In point of fact, Poker Flat was “after some- another who had won the title of “Mother
body.” It had lately suffered the loss of several Shipton;”4 and “Uncle Billy,” a suspected sluice-
thousand dollars, two valuable horses, and a robber5 and confirmed drunkard. The cavalcade6
prominent citizen. It was experiencing a spasm provoked no comments from the spectators, nor
of virtuous reaction, quite as lawless and ungov- was any word uttered by the escort. Only when
ernable as any of the acts that had provoked it. the gulch which marked the uttermost limit of
A secret committee had determined to rid the Poker Flat was reached, the leader spoke briefly
town of all improper persons. This was done and to the point. The exiles were forbidden to
permanently in regard of two men who were return at the peril of their lives.
then hanging from the boughs of a sycamore in As the escort disappeared, their pent-up feel-
the gulch,1 and temporarily in the banishment ings found vent in a few hysterical tears from
of certain other objectionable characters. I the Duchess, some bad language from Mother
regret to say that some of these were ladies. It is Shipton, and a Parthian7 volley of expletives
but due to the sex, however, to state that their from Uncle Billy. The philosophic Oakhurst
impropriety was professional, and it was only in alone remained silent. He listened calmly to
such easily established standards of evil that Mother Shipton’s desire to cut somebody’s
Poker Flat ventured to sit in judgment. heart out, to the repeated statements of the
Mr. Oakhurst was right in supposing that he was
included in this category. A few of the committee
2. Agin is dialect for against.
had urged hanging him as a possible example and
3. Expatriated means “banished” or “exiled.”
a sure method of reimbursing themselves from his 4. The original Mother Shipton (1488–1560) was an English
pockets of the sums he had won from them. “It’s woman accused of witchcraft.
5. A sluice-robber is someone who steals gold from sluices,
long water troughs used by miners to separate gold ore
1. A gulch is a small, narrow valley, especially one eroded by from other materials.
running water. 6. A cavalcade (kav´ əl kād) is a procession, especially of
people on horseback.
Reading Strategy Making Generalizations Is Poker Flat 7. Here, Parthian means “delivered when parting or retreating.”
ordinarily a very religious town? How can you tell? The cavalry of the ancient country of Parthia (now part of
Iran) was known for shooting arrows while retreating or
Vocabulary pretending to retreat.

impropriety (im´ prə pr̄ə tē) n. the quality of being Literary Element Characterization Based on this
improper; inappropriate behavior description, how would you describe Oakhurst’s view of life?

BR ET HARTE 507
Duchess that she would die in the road, and to undoubtedly, the most suitable spot for a camp,
the alarming oaths that seemed to be bumped had camping been advisable. But Mr. Oakhurst
out of Uncle Billy as he rode forward. With the knew that scarcely half the journey to Sandy Bar
easy good humor characteristic of his class, he was accomplished, and the party were not
insisted upon exchanging his own riding-horse, equipped or provisioned for delay. This fact he
“Five-Spot,” for the sorry mule which the pointed out to his companions curtly, with a
Duchess rode. But even this act did not draw philosophic commentary on the folly of “throw-
the party into any closer sympathy. The young ing up their hand before the game was played
woman readjusted her somewhat draggled out.” But they were furnished with liquor, which
plumes with a feeble, faded coquetry;8 Mother in this emergency stood them in place of food,
Shipton eyed the possessor of “Five-Spot” with fuel, rest, and prescience.10 In spite of his remon-
malevolence, and Uncle Billy included the strances, it was not long before they were more
whole party in one sweeping anathema.9 or less under its influence. Uncle Billy passed
The road to Sandy Bar—a camp that, not rapidly from a bellicose11 state into one of stupor,
having as yet experienced the regenerating the Duchess became maudlin,12 and Mother
influences of Poker Flat, consequently seemed Shipton snored. Mr. Oakhurst alone remained
to offer some invitation to erect, leaning against a rock, calmly surveying
the emigrants—lay over a them.
steep mountain range. It Mr. Oakhurst did not drink. It interfered with
was distant a day’s severe a profession which required coolness, impassive-
travel. In that advanced ness, and presence of mind, and, in his own lan-
season the party soon guage, he “couldn’t afford it.” As he gazed at his
Visual passed out of the moist, recumbent13 fellow exiles, the loneliness begot-
Vocabulary temperate regions of the ten of his pariah trade,14 his habits of life, his
Sierras refers to the
foothills into the dry, cold very vices, for the first time seriously oppressed
Sierra Nevada, a
mountain range in bracing air of the Sierras. him. He bestirred himself in dusting his black
Eastern California. The trail was narrow and clothes, washing his hands and face, and other
difficult. At noon the acts characteristic of his studiously neat habits,
Duchess, rolling out of her saddle upon the and for a moment forgot his annoyance. The
ground, declared her intention of going no far- thought of deserting his weaker and more pitiable
ther, and the party halted. companions never perhaps occurred to him. Yet
The spot was singularly wild and impressive. he could not help feeling the want of that excite-
A wooded amphitheatre, surrounded on three ment which, singularly enough, was most condu-
sides by precipitous cliffs of naked granite, cive to that calm equanimity for which he was
sloped gently toward the crest of another preci- notorious. He looked at the gloomy walls that
pice that overlooked the valley. It was, rose a thousand feet sheer above the circling pines
around him, at the sky ominously clouded, at the
valley below, already deepening into shadow; and,
8. Coquetry (kō kə trē) means “flirtation.”
9. An anathema (a nath ə mə) is a strong denunciation or a
doing so, suddenly he heard his own name called.
curse.

Literary Element Characterization Note the different 10. Prescience (prē shē əns) is foresight.
reactions of the four travelers. What do you learn about 11. Bellicose (bel ə kōs) means “showing an eagerness to
each character from his or her behavior? fight” or “quarrelsome.”
12. Maudlin (mod lin) means “excessively sentimental.”
Big Idea Regionalism How do the descriptions of the 13. Recumbent (ri kum bənt) means “lying down” or “resting.”
“wild and impressive” scenery contribute to your under- 14. A pariah (pə r̄ ə) is an outcast, someone who is despised
standing of the region and its influence upon the people? by others. A pariah trade is an occupation that is socially
unacceptable.

Vocabulary Vocabulary
malevolence (mə levə ləns) n. a disposition to wish equanimity (ek´ wə nim ə tē) n. evenness of temper;
harm to others; ill will calmness

508 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


Roy Bishop/Stock Boston
A horseman slowly ascended the
trail. In the fresh, open face of the
newcomer Mr. Oakhurst recognized
Tom Simson, otherwise known as
“The Innocent,” of Sandy Bar. He had
met him some months before over a
“little game,” and had, with perfect
equanimity, won the entire fortune—
amounting to some forty dollars—of
that guileless youth. After the game
was finished, Mr. Oakhurst drew the
youthful speculator behind the door
and thus addressed him: “Tommy,
you’re a good little man, but you can’t
gamble worth a cent. Don’t try it over
again.” He then handed him his money
back, pushed him gently from the
room, and so made a devoted slave of
Tom Simson.
There was a remembrance of this
in his boyish and enthusiastic greet-
ing of Mr. Oakhurst. He had started,
he said, to go to Poker Flat to seek
his fortune. “Alone?” No, not exactly
alone; in fact (a giggle), he had run
away with Piney Woods. Didn’t Mr.
Oakhurst remember Piney? She that
used to wait on the table at the
Temperance House? They had been Study of a Head (Portrait of Algernon Graves), c. 1881–1885. James A. McNeill
engaged a long time, but old Jake Whistler. Oil on canvas, 22⁵⁄₈ x 14¹⁄₂ in. The Columbus Museum of Art, OH.
Bequest of Frederick W. Schumacher. Viewing the Art: What characteristics
Woods had objected, and so they had does this man appear to have that Mr. Oakhurst might also have?
run away, and were going to Poker
Flat to be married, and here they
were. And they were tired out, and sober enough to recognize in Mr. Oakhurst’s
how lucky it was they had found a place to kick a superior power that would not bear tri-
camp, and company. All this the Innocent fling.15 He then endeavored to dissuade Tom
delivered rapidly, while Piney, a stout, comely Simson from delaying further, but in vain. He
damsel of fifteen, emerged from behind the even pointed out the fact that there was no
pine-tree, where she had been blushing provision, nor means of making a camp. But,
unseen, and rode to the side of her lover. unluckily, the Innocent met this objection by
Mr. Oakhurst seldom troubled himself with assuring the party that he was provided with
sentiment, still less with propriety; but he had an extra mule loaded with provisions, and by
a vague idea that the situation was not fortu- the discovery of a rude attempt at a log house
nate. He retained, however, his presence of near the trail. “Piney can stay with Mrs.
mind sufficiently to kick Uncle Billy, who was Oakhurst,” said the Innocent, pointing to the
about to say something, and Uncle Billy was Duchess, “and I can shift for myself.”
Nothing but Mr. Oakhurst’s admonishing
foot saved Uncle Billy from bursting into a
Literary Element Characterization What does this roar of laughter. As it was, he felt compelled
sentence reveal about Oakhurst’s character? What does
it reveal about Tom’s character?
15. Here, trifling means “joking” or “mocking.”

BR ET HARTE 509
The Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio. Bequest of Frederick W. Schumacher
to retire up the cañon16 until he could recover stirred the dying fire, the wind, which was now
his gravity. There he confided the joke to the blowing strongly, brought to his cheek that
tall pine-trees, with many slaps of his leg, which caused the blood to leave it,—snow!
contortions of his face, and the usual profan- He started to his feet with the intention of
ity. But when he returned to the party, he awakening the sleepers, for there was no time to
found them seated by a fire—for the air had lose. But turning to where Uncle Billy had been
grown strangely chill and the sky overcast—in lying, he found him gone. A suspicion leaped to
apparently amicable conversation. Piney was his brain, and a curse to his lips. He ran to the
actually talking in an impulsive girlish fashion spot where the mules had been tethered—they
to the Duchess, who was listening with an were no longer there. The tracks were already
interest and animation she had not shown for rapidly disappearing in the snow.
many days. The Innocent was holding forth, The momentary excitement brought Mr.
apparently with equal effect, to Mr. Oakhurst Oakhurst back to the fire with his usual calm.
and Mother Shipton, who He did not waken the
was actually relaxing into sleepers. The Innocent
amiability. “Is this yer a slumbered peacefully, with
d—d picnic?” said Uncle a smile on his good-
Billy, with inward scorn, as “He looked over humored, freckled face; the
he surveyed the sylvan 17
virgin Piney slept beside
group, the glancing fire- the valley, and her frailer sisters as sweetly
light, and the tethered ani- as though attended by
mals in the foreground.
summed up the celestial guardians; and Mr.
Suddenly an idea mingled present and Oakhurst, drawing his blan-
with the alcoholic fumes ket over his shoulders,
that disturbed his brain. It future in two words, stroked his mustaches and
was apparently of a jocu- waited for the dawn. It
lar nature, for he felt
18 ‘Snowed in!’” came slowly in a whirling
impelled to slap his leg mist of snowflakes that daz-
again and cram his fist into zled and confused the eye.
his mouth. What could be seen of the
As the shadows crept slowly up the moun- landscape appeared magically changed. He
tain, a slight breeze rocked the tops of the looked over the valley, and summed up the
pine-trees and moaned through their long and present and future in two words, “Snowed in!”
gloomy aisles. The ruined cabin, patched and A careful inventory of the provisions,
covered with pine boughs, was set apart for which, fortunately for the party, had been
the ladies. As the lovers parted, they unaffect- stored within the hut, and so escaped the
edly exchanged a kiss, so honest and sincere felonious19 fingers of Uncle Billy, disclosed
that it might have been heard above the sway- the fact that with care and prudence they
ing pines. The frail Duchess and the malevo- might last ten days longer. “That is,” said Mr.
lent Mother Shipton were probably too Oakhurst sotto voce20 to the Innocent, “if
stunned to remark upon this last evidence of you’re willing to board us. If you ain’t—and
simplicity, and so turned without a word to perhaps you’d better not—you can wait till
the hut. The fire was replenished, the men lay Uncle Billy gets back with provisions.”
down before the door, and in a few minutes
were asleep.
Mr. Oakhurst was a light sleeper. Toward 19. Felonious means “evil” or “villainous.”
morning he awoke benumbed and cold. As he 20. Sotto voce (sot ō vō chē) means “in a low tone of voice.”
The Italian words literally mean “under the voice.”

Big Idea Regionalism In Uncle Billy’s behavior, what


16. Cañon (ka nyōn) is Spanish for canyon.
might Harte be suggesting about the regional characteris-
17. Sylvan means “situated in the woods.”
tics of the West?
18. Jocular means “humorous.”

510 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


Three Giants, Davos, 1879. Harry Goodwin. Oil on canvas. Private collection.

For some occult21 reason, Mr. Oakhurst could the snow’ll melt, and we’ll all go back together.”
not bring himself to disclose Uncle Billy’s ras- The cheerful gayety of the young man and Mr.
cality, and so offered the hypothesis that he Oakhurst’s calm infected the others. The Innocent,
had wandered from the camp and had acci- with the aid of pine boughs, extemporized22 a
dentally stampeded the animals. He dropped a thatch for the roofless cabin, and the Duchess
warning to the Duchess and Mother Shipton, directed Piney in the rearrangement of the interior
who of course knew the facts of their associ- with a taste and tact that opened the blue eyes of
ate’s defection. “They’ll find out the truth that provincial maiden to their fullest extent. “I
about us all when they find out anything,” he reckon now you’re used to fine things at Poker
added significantly, “and there’s no good Flat,” said Piney. The Duchess turned away
frightening them now.” sharply to conceal something that reddened her
Tom Simson not only put all his worldly store cheeks through their professional tint, and
at the disposal of Mr. Oakhurst, but seemed to Mother Shipton requested Piney not to “chat-
enjoy the prospect of their enforced seclusion. ter.” But when Mr. Oakhurst returned from a
“We’ll have a good camp for a week, and then weary search for the trail, he heard the sound
of happy laughter echoed from the rocks. He

21. Occult means “mysterious.”

Vocabulary 22. Extemporized means “made without preparation” or


“improvised.”
hypothesis (h̄ pothə sis) n. an unproved explanation
or assumption Literary Element Characterization On what evidence
seclusion (si kloozhən
¯¯ ) n. separation from others; does Piney likely base this statement? What does it reveal
isolation about her character?

BR ET HARTE 511
Fine Art Photographic Library/CORBIS
stopped in some alarm, and his thoughts first At midnight the storm abated, the rolling
naturally reverted to the whiskey, which he had clouds parted, and the stars glittered keenly
prudently cachéd.23 “And yet it don’t somehow above the sleeping camp. Mr. Oakhurst, whose
sound like whiskey,” said the gambler. It was not professional habits had enabled him to live on
until he caught sight of the blazing fire through the smallest possible amount of sleep, in dividing
the still blinding storm, and the group around it, the watch with Tom Simson somehow managed
that he settled to the conviction that it was to take upon himself the greater part of that duty.
“square fun.” He excused himself to the Innocent by saying
Whether Mr. Oakhurst had cachéd his cards that he had “often been a week without sleep.”
with the whiskey as something debarred the free “Doing what?” asked Tom. “Poker!” replied
access of the community, I cannot say. It was Oakhurst sententiously.27 “When a man gets a
certain that, in Mother Shipton’s words, he streak of luck, he don’t get tired. The luck gives
“didn’t say ‘cards’ once” during that evening. in first. Luck,” continued the gambler reflec-
Haply the time was beguiled by an accordion, pro- tively, “is a mighty queer thing. All you know
duced somewhat ostenta- about it for certain is that it’s bound to change.
tiously by Tom Simson And it’s finding out when it’s going to change
from his pack. Notwith- that makes you. We’ve had a streak of bad luck
standing some difficulties since we left Poker Flat,—you came along, and
attending the manipula- slap you get into it, too. If you can hold your
tion of this instrument, cards right along you’re all right. For,” added the
Visual Vocabulary Piney Woods managed to gambler, with cheerful irrelevance—
Castanets are pairs of pluck several reluctant
concave shells, often melodies from its keys, to “ ‘I’m proud to live in the service of the Lord,
made of ivory or
an accompaniment by the And I’m bound to die in His army.’ ”
wood. The shells are
held in the hand and Innocent on a pair of
played by clicking bone castanets. But the The third day came, and the sun, looking
them together. crowning festivity of the through the white-curtained valley, saw the out-
evening was reached in a casts divide their slowly decreasing store of provi-
rude24 camp-meeting25 hymn, which the lovers, sions for the morning meal. It was one of the
joining hands, sang with great earnestness and peculiarities of that mountain climate that its rays
vociferation. I fear that a certain defiant tone and diffused a kindly warmth over the wintry land-
Covenanter’s swing26 to its chorus, rather than scape, as if in regretful commiseration of the past.
any devotional quality, caused it speedily to infect But it revealed drift on drift of snow piled high
the others, who at last joined in the refrain:— around the hut,—a hopeless, uncharted, trackless
sea of white lying below the rocky shores to which
“I’m proud to live in the service of the Lord, the castaways still clung. Through the marvelously
And I’m bound to die in His army.” clear air the smoke of the pastoral28 village of
Poker Flat rose miles away. Mother Shipton saw
The pines rocked, the storm eddied and whirled it, and from a remote pinnacle of her rocky fast-
above the miserable group, and the flames of their ness hurled in that direction a final malediction.29
altar leaped heavenward, as if in token of the vow. It was her last vituperative30 attempt, and perhaps
for that reason was invested with a certain degree
23. Cachéd (kasht) means “hidden.”
24. Here, rude means “vigorous” or “robust.” 27. Sententiously (sen ten shəs lē) means “in a concise,
25. A camp-meeting is an outdoor religious gathering. energetic manner.”
26. Covenanter’s swing implies a lively rhythm. The Covenanters 28. Pastoral means “of, or relating to, rural life.”
were Scottish Presbyterians who made covenants, or 29. A malediction (mal´ ə dik shən) is a curse.
agreements, to resist rule by the Church of England. 30. Vituperative (vi too
¯¯ pə rā´ tiv) means “characterized by
abusive language and harsh criticism.”
Reading Strategy Making Generalizations What gener-
alization can you make about all of the characters based on Big Idea Regionalism Does this paragraph describe a
this passage? region that is truly “kindly” toward the outcasts? Explain.

512 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


file photo
of sublimity. It did her good, she privately even from the fallen trees beside them, now
informed the Duchess. “Just you go out there and half hidden in the drifts. And yet no one
cuss, and see.” She then set herself to the task of complained. The lovers turned from the
amusing “the child,” as she and the Duchess were dreary prospect and looked into each other’s
pleased to call Piney. Piney was no chicken, but it eyes, and were happy. Mr. Oakhurst settled
was a soothing and original theory of the pair thus himself coolly to the losing game before him.
to account for the fact that she didn’t swear and The Duchess, more cheerful than she had
wasn’t improper. been, assumed the care of Piney. Only Mother
When night crept up again through the Shipton—once the strongest of the party—
gorges, the reedy notes of the accordion rose seemed to sicken and fade. At midnight on
and fell in fitful spasms and long-drawn gasps the tenth day she called Oakhurst to her side.
by the flickering campfire. But music failed to “I’m going,” she said, in a voice of querulous34
fill entirely the aching void left by insufficient weakness, “but don’t say anything about it.
food, and a new diversion was proposed by Don’t waken the kids. Take the bundle from
Piney,—story-telling. Neither Mr. Oakhurst under my head, and open it.” Mr. Oakhurst
nor his female companions caring to relate did so. It contained Mother Shipton’s rations
their personal experiences, this plan would for the last week, untouched. “Give ’em to the
have failed too, but for the Innocent. Some child,” she said, pointing to the sleeping
months before he had chanced upon a stray Piney. “You’ve starved yourself,” said the gambler.
copy of Mr. Pope’s31 ingenious translation of “That’s what they call it,” said the woman queru-
the Iliad.32 He now proposed to narrate the lously, as she lay down again, and turning her face
principal incidents of that poem—having to the wall, passed quietly away.
thoroughly mastered the argument and fairly The accordion and the bones were put aside
forgotten the words—in the current vernacu- that day, and Homer was forgotten. When the
lar of Sandy Bar. And so for the rest of that body of Mother Shipton had been committed
night the Homeric demi-gods again walked to the snow, Mr. Oakhurst took the Innocent
the earth. Trojan bully and wily Greek wres- aside, and showed him a pair of snowshoes,
tled in the winds, and the great pines in the which he had fashioned from the old pack-
cañon seemed to bow to the wrath of the son saddle. “There’s one chance in a hundred to
of Peleus.33 Mr. Oakhurst listened with quiet save her yet,” he said, pointing to Piney; “but
satisfaction. Most especially was he interested it’s there,” he added, pointing toward Poker
in the fate of “Ashheels,” as the Innocent per- Flat. “If you can reach there in two days she’s
sisted in denominating the “swift-footed safe.” “And you?” asked Tom Simson. “I’ll stay
Achilles.” here,” was the curt reply.
So, with small food and much of Homer The lovers parted with a long embrace. “You
and the accordion, a week passed over the are not going, too?” said the Duchess, as she
heads of the outcasts. The sun again forsook saw Mr. Oakhurst apparently waiting to
them, and again from leaden skies the snow- accompany him. “As far as the cañon,” he
flakes were sifted over the land. Day by day replied. He turned suddenly and kissed the
closer around them drew the snowy circle, Duchess, leaving her pallid35 face aflame, and
until at last they looked from their prison over her trembling limbs rigid with amazement.
drifted walls of dazzling white, that towered Night came, but not Mr. Oakhurst. It
twenty feet above their heads. It became more brought the storm again and the whirling
and more difficult to replenish their fires, snow. Then the Duchess, feeding the fire,

31. Mr. Pope’s refers to the English poet Alexander Pope


34. Querulous means “whining” or “complaining.”
(1688–1744).
35. Pallid means “pale.”
32. Homer’s Greek epic poem the Iliad (i lē əd) describes the
war between the Trojans, natives of ancient Troy, and the Reading Strategy Making Generalizations Earlier in the
Greeks.
story, several characters made complaints. Why do you think
33. The son of Peleus (pēl yus´) is Achilles, Greek warrior and
none of the characters complain at this point in the story?
a hero in the Iliad.

BR ET HARTE 513
found that some one had wan faces, you could
quietly piled beside the hut scarcely have told from the
enough fuel to last a few Toward morning equal peace that dwelt
days longer. The tears rose upon them which was she
to her eyes, but she hid
they found that had sinned. Even the
them from Piney. themselves unable law of Poker Flat recog-
The women slept but lit- nized this, and turned away,
tle. In the morning, look- to feed the fire, leaving them still locked in
ing into each other’s faces, each other’s arms.
they read their fate. which gradually But at the head of the
Neither spoke, but Piney, gulch, on one of the largest
accepting the position of
died away. pine-trees, they found the
the stronger, drew near and deuce of clubs36 pinned to
placed her arm around the the bark with a bowie-knife.
Duchess’s waist. They kept this attitude for the It bore the following, written in pencil in a
rest of the day. That night the storm reached firm hand:
its greatest fury, and, rendering asunder the
protecting vines, invaded the very hut. ✝
Toward morning they found themselves BENEATH THIS TREE
unable to feed the fire, which gradually died LIES THE BODY
away. As the embers slowly blackened, the OF
Duchess crept closer to Piney, and broke the JOHN OAKHURST,
silence of many hours: “Piney, can you pray?” WHO STRUCK A STREAK OF BAD LUCK
“No, dear,” said Piney simply. The Duchess, ON THE 23RD OF NOVEMBER 1850,
without knowing exactly why, felt relieved,
AND
and, putting her head upon Piney’s shoulder,
HANDED IN HIS CHECKS
spoke no more. And so reclining, the younger
ON THE 7TH DECEMBER, 1850.
and purer pillowing the head of her soiled sis-

ter upon her virgin breast, they fell asleep.
The wind lulled as if it feared to waken
them. Feathery drifts of snow, shaken from And pulseless and cold, with a derringer by
the long pine boughs, flew like white winged his side and a bullet in his heart, though still
birds, and settled about them as they slept. calm as in life, beneath the snow lay he who
The moon through the rifted clouds looked was at once the strongest and yet the weakest
down upon what had been the camp. But all of the outcasts of Poker Flat. 
human stain, all trace of earthly travail, was
hidden beneath the spotless mantle mercifully
36. The deuce of clubs is the two of clubs. In a deck of cards,
flung from above.
it has the lowest value.
They slept all that day and the next, nor
did they waken when voices and footsteps Literary Element Characterization Why does the

broke the silence of the camp. And when narrator describe Oakhurst as “at once the strongest
and yet the weakest of the outcasts of Poker Flat”?
pitying fingers brushed the snow from their

514 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. (a)Did the ending of the story surprise you? Why or 5. (a)What is the narrator’s tone, or attitude, toward
why not? (b)Did the ending seem appropriate? the outcasts? (b)What words or phrases convey
Support your answer. this tone?

Recall and Interpret 6. (a)Which character from the story do you admire
the most? Support your answer with examples from
2. (a)What has the secret committee of Poker Flat
the text. (b)Which do you admire the least? Why?
decided to do? Why? (b)What can you infer about
the outcasts based on the committee’s decision? 7. (a)In your opinion, what message, or lesson, does
this story convey? (b)How effectively does Harte
3. (a)Summarize what happens during the outcasts’
convey this message?
second day in camp. (b)What do you learn about
each of the characters, based on their behavior? Connect
4. (a)When the searchers from Poker Flat arrive at the 8. Big Idea Regionalism Setting is considered inte-
camp, what do they find? (b)How would you com- gral when a story could not take place in another
pare their treatment of the outcasts at the end of time and place. How does the setting—both time
the story to their treatment at the beginning? and place—influence the actions of the characters
in this story?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S

Literary Element Characterization Review: Motivation


A character’s personality can be revealed in many Motivation is the stated or implied reason or cause
ways. The simplest method is direct characteriza- for a character’s actions.
tion. Using this method, the writer makes explicit
Partner Activity Meet with another classmate and
statements about a character. “Mr. Oakhurst was a
discuss John Oakhurst’s motivations throughout the
coolly desperate man” is an example of direct charac-
story. Working with your partner, create a chart list-
terization. The writer may prefer, however, for the
ing Oakhurst’s most important actions in the left
reader to infer certain aspects of a character’s person-
column. In the right column, fill in what you think
ality. This method is called indirect characterization.
his motivations are for these actions. When you
There are many ways a writer can use indirect charac-
have completed this chart, examine it to see
terization. Physical descriptions, the character’s words
whether you can make a generalization about the
and actions, reactions from other characters, and even
motivations for his actions.
a character’s name can reveal something about his or
her personality.
Action Motivation
1. How would you describe Tom Simson’s charac-
ter? Give two examples from the story of how
his character is revealed.
2. Give an example of Mother Shipton’s character
from the beginning of the story. How does her
final action reveal a change in her character?
Explain.

BR ET HARTE 515
R EAD I N G AN D VO CAB U L ARY W R IT I N G A N D E X T E N D I N G

Reading Strategy Making Generalizations Writing About Literature


Readers make generalizations by looking at details Apply Form In the story, Poker Flat does not have a
and noticing what they have in common. Review the town sheriff. If it did, however, imagine what the sheriff
chart you created on page 505 for details and gener- would have thought when Tom Simson, looking half-fro-
alizations about characters and setting. zen and utterly exhausted, stumbled into town on a
December afternoon in 1850 and asked for help.
1. Based on this story, what overall generalization
can you make about Harte’s characters? Write an incident report based on the information Tom
would have given the sheriff. To get started, remember
2. What overall generalization can you make about that an incident report is a type of summary. When you
Harte’s use of setting? summarize, you state the main ideas or events in your
own words. To summarize an incident, you need to
answer the questions who, what, when, where, why,
Vocabulary Practice
and how. In answering the question why, include what
Practice with Denotation and Connotation is known about the outcasts’ departure from Poker Flat.
Mr. Oakhurst, one of the “outcasts,” is also
Use a chart to jot down your responses:
described as a member of a “pariah trade.” The
words outcast and pariah have similar denota-
tions, or literal meanings. However, pariah has Who was involved?
much stronger negative connotations than out-
What happened?
cast, suggesting a person who is not only rejected
but despised. Each of the following pairs of words When did it happen?
has similar denotations. In each pair, decide which Where did it happen?
word has stronger negative connotations. Why did it happen?
1. a. impropriety b. misstep How did it happen?
2. a. malevolence b. grudge
3. a. equanimity b. callousness
4. a. hypothesis b. guess As you revise your report, make sure it starts with a
5. a. seclusion b. isolation strong introductory sentence that presents the most
important information. Organize the details in decreas-
ing order of importance. And remember to present only
the facts and to avoid expressing personal opinions.
Academic Vocabulary

Here are two words from the vocabulary list on Literary Criticism
page R86. These words will help you think,
Group Discussion Critic Arthur Inkersley noted in his
write, and talk about the selection.
1897 article “Californian Literature” that Bret Harte
aggregate (a rə at) n. a whole composed of “grew too big for his environment, and left California.
individual parts; sum total . . . Though his present address is . . . London, his
inspiration is still drawn from the . . . Pacific Coast.”
external (iks turn əl) adj. related to, of, or situ- With a small group, discuss whether you think that
ated on the outside; superficial an author needs to be in a specific setting in order to
portray it. What benefits are there to writing about the
Practice and Apply place you are physically in? What are some benefits of
1. What circumstance had been experienced by writing about a place in your memory?
each individual in the aggregate of outcasts?
2. What external causes contributed to the out-
casts’ demise? Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

516 U N IT 4 REGIONALISM AND REALISM


Grammar Workshop
Mechanics

Punctuating Appositives º Appositives


“As Mr. John Oakhurst, gambler, stepped into the main street of Poker Flat on An appositive is a single
the morning of the 23d of November, 1850, he was conscious of a change in its noun, pronoun, or phrase
moral atmosphere since the preceding night.” that further identifies
another noun or pronoun.
—Bret Harte, from “The Outcasts of Poker Flat”
Restrictive (essential)
Connecting to Literature In the quotation, gambler is an appositive—a noun appositives are not set off
or a pronoun that further identifies another noun or pronoun. The appositive is with commas. (My brother
set off with commas because it is not essential to the meaning of a sentence. The Alfred is a poet.)
reader knows that Oakhurst is a particular person; the nonessential (or nonre- Nonrestrictive (nonessen-
strictive) appositive tells something more about him. If Harte had begun the sen- tial) appositives are set off
tence “As the gambler John Oakhurst stepped into the main street,” John with commas. (Alfred, our
Oakhurst would be an essential (or restrictive) appositive—it would give neces- family poet, has never
sary information about the noun by telling which gambler. been published.)

Examples º Test-Taking Tip


To determine whether to
• Tom Simson told stories from the Iliad by the poet Homer.
put commas around an
“The poet” could be any writer of verse. The appositive, Homer, tells which appositive, try reading the
poet—it is essential to the meaning of the sentence. sentence without it. If the
appositive is not needed
• Uncle Billy, a suspected thief, was one of the outcasts. to identify a noun, add
The appositive phrase a suspected thief gives extra information about Uncle commas.
Billy, so it is a nonessential appositive. An appositive phrase is an appositive º Language Handbook
and all its modifiers.
For more on Appositives,
• The snow, beautiful and deadly, fell all night. see Language Handbook,
p. R46.
There is no appositive in this sentence. Beautiful and deadly are adjectives that
modify snow. Only a noun or a pronoun can be an appositive.

Exercise
Revise for Clarity Rewrite five of the sentences below, adding commas as eWorkbooks To link to
necessary. One sentence needs no commas. the Grammar and Language
eWorkbook, go to
1. Bret Harte the most famous Western writer in the 1860s wrote about www.glencoe.com.
small mining towns.
2. “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” a well-known story contains a colorful cast
of characters.
3. The town Poker Flat decides to get rid of its undesirables.
4. Oakhurst, the Duchess, Mother Shipton, and Uncle Billy a confirmed OB J ECTIV ES
drunkard are escorted out of town. • Learn about essential and
nonessential appositives.
5. Tom Simson a guileless youth was seen ascending the trail.
6. Oakhurst was found with a pistol a derringer by his side.
• Learn when to use com-
mas with appositives.

517
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

A Wagner Matinée
M E E T W I LL A C AT H E R neighbors. She
learned French,

A
German, Latin,
lthough she spent fewer than thirteen years
and Greek, partici-
living on the Nebraskan prairie, readers
pated in plays, and
best remember Willa Cather for her por-
attended local opera
trayal of the pioneer life and landscape. During the
performances. In high
mid-twentieth century, the connection between
school, Cather gained a repu-
Cather’s writing and the prairie that inspired her
tation as both a remarkable student and a noncon-
began to undermine her literary status. Critics
formist. She enrolled at the University of Nebraska
labeled her a regional writer, criticizing her for
in 1891 and supported herself by writing bold liter-
“escapism” and for romanticizing the American past.
ary reviews that earned her statewide recognition.
Nonetheless, Cather’s books have never gone out of
print, and there has been a renewed interest in her Returning East After graduating in 1895, Cather
work over the past two decades. Cather is now rec- moved to Pittsburgh to begin editing for a woman’s
ognized as a writer who explored the complexities of magazine, Home Monthly. She published her first
American life and showed how the tendency to link poetry collection, April Twilights, in 1903 and a col-
one’s life to the past adds meaning—though not lection of stories, The Troll Garden, which includes
always happiness—to life in the present. “A Wagner Matinée,” in 1905. The head of the pro-
gressive magazine McClure’s was so impressed by The
Troll Garden that he offered Cather a job in New York
“So the country and I had it out City. She became the magazine’s managing editor by
1908 but felt unfulfilled because her position left little
together and by the end of the first time to work on her own writing. In 1911, at the urg-
autumn the shaggy grass country had ing of her friend and mentor Sarah Orne Jewett,
Cather left journalism to write fiction exclusively.
gripped me with a passion that I have
Although she never moved back to the prairie,
never been able to shake. It has been Cather’s memories of that vast landscape and the
the happiness and curse of my life.” endurance of its people inspired several works,
including O Pioneers! (1913), Song of the Lark
—Willa Cather (1915), and My Ántonia (1918). In her earlier sto-
ries, Cather focused on the desolation of pioneer life,
including the lack of access to art and music. In later
works, however, she celebrated the prairie landscape
The Vast Frontier Cather’s family moved from and the powerful dreams and illusions of those who
the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia to rural Red attempted to cultivate it. Cather is recognized for her
Cloud, Nebraska, when she was nine years old. complex treatment of human emotion, her under-
Cather remarked that she felt “a kind of erasure of standing of darker American themes, and her care-
personality” as she first encountered the Nebraskan fully crafted writing style.
prairie, a feeling that would later permeate the
characters in her fiction. In Red Cloud, Cather’s Willa Cather was born in 1873 and died in 1947.
initial homesickness gave way to curiosity about
the ethnically diverse frontier town. She gained
insight into the hardships of pioneer life and the Author Search For more about
intricate histories of her European immigrant Willa Cather,go
this author, gototowww.literature.glencoe.com.
www.glencoe.com.

518 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


Bettmann/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Identifying Sequence


Have you ever moved away from or left a place and To identify sequence means to find the logical order
returned to it much later? How can music affect mem- of ideas or events. Main events are often told in chron-
ory? As you read, think about the following questions: ological order, but authors sometimes reveal important
events and details through flashbacks. Be sure to iden-
• Why might revisiting a place one has chosen to tify the chronological order of events to better under-
leave be painful?
stand the themes, relationships, and events crucial to
• How might hearing music affect memory in unique the story.
ways?

Building Background Reading Tip: Charting Story Sequence Make a dia-


gram like the one shown to organize the events of the
The title “A Wagner Matinée” refers to the German com-
story into chronological order.
poser Wilhelm Richard Wagner (1813–1883). A brilliant
composer, Wagner revolutionized opera by creating
works with uninterrupted musical scores and passionate, Aunt Georgiana
crashing sounds. Willa Cather based “A Wagner Matinée”
on her Aunt Franc’s and Uncle George’s experience of
moving to Nebraska after the passage of the Homestead
teaches music
at Boston
Conservatory ➧ ➧
Act in 1862. The act allowed settlers and immigrants
who were at least twenty-one years old to claim 160
acres of public land. They would fully own the land once Vocabulary
they farmed it and lived there for five years.
legacy (le ə sē) n. an inheritance; p. 520 Paul’s
Setting Purposes for Reading generous grandfather left him a legacy when he
died.
Big Idea Regionalism
As you read “A Wagner Matinée,” note how the story’s reproach (ri prōch ) n. an expression of disap-
conflict centers on where the characters live and the proval; a reprimand; p. 521 Kim missed curfew
opportunities opened or closed to them as a result. and suffered her mother’s reproach.
doggedly (do id lē) adv. in a stubbornly persis-
Literary Element Point of View tent manner; obstinately; p. 521 The salesman
Point of view refers to the relationship of the narrator
doggedly pursued customers, even when they
to the story. In first-person point of view, the story is
rebuffed him.
told by one of the characters, referred to as “I,” and the trepidation (trep´ə dā shən) n. nervous antici-
reader sees everything through that character’s eyes. In pation; anxiety; p. 522 Dana could not shake her
third-person limited point of view, the narrator feeling of trepidation about the next day’s exam.
reveals the thoughts and feelings of only one character,
obliquely (ō blēk lē) adv. in a slanting or slop-
referred to as “he” or “she.” In an omniscient point of
ing direction; p. 523 Her hair hung obliquely
view, the narrator knows everything about the charac-
across her face, hiding her left eye.
ters and events. As you read the story, examine how
point of view influences your understanding.
Vocabulary Tip: Analogies An analogy is a com-
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R14. parison to show similarities between things that
are otherwise dissimilar.
Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • analyzing point of view
• analyzing setting and time frame • identifying sequence

WILLA CATHER 519


Willa Cather

I received one morning a letter, written in pale


ink on glassy, blue-lined note-paper, and bearing
familiar surroundings of my study. I became, in
short, the gangling farmer-boy my aunt had known,
the postmark of a little Nebraska village. This com- scourged2 with chilblains3 and bashfulness, my
munication, worn and rubbed, looking as if it has hands cracked and sore from the corn husking. I sat
been carried for some days in a coat pocket that again before her parlour organ, fumbling the scales
was none too clean, was from my uncle Howard, with my stiff, red fingers, while she, beside me, made
and informed me that his wife had been left a small canvas mittens for the huskers.
legacy by a bachelor relative, and that it would be The next morning, after preparing my landlady
necessary for her to go to Boston to attend to the for a visitor, I set out for the station. When the train
settling of the estate. He requested me to meet her arrived I had some difficulty in finding my aunt. She
at the station and render1 her whatever services was the last of the passengers to alight, and it was
might be necessary. On examining the date indi- not until I got her into the carriage that she seemed
cated as that of her arrival, I found it to be no later really to recognize me. She had come all the way in
than tomorrow. He had characteristically delayed a day coach; her linen duster4 had become black
writing until, had I been away from home for a day, with soot and her black bonnet grey with dust dur-
I must have missed my aunt altogether. ing the journey. When we arrived at my boarding-
The name of my Aunt Georgiana opened before house the landlady put her to bed at once and I did
me a gulf of recollection so wide and deep that, as not see her again until the next morning.
the letter dropped from my hand, I felt suddenly a
stranger to all the present conditions of my exis- 2. Scourged means “afflicted.”
tence, wholly ill at ease and out of place amid the 3. Chilblains are red, swollen sores on the skin caused by
exposure to the cold.
4. A duster is a long, lightweight coat worn to protect one’s
clothing from dust.
1. Render means “to make available” or “to provide.”
Reading Strategy Identifying Sequence How does the
Vocabulary
narration shift after Clark sees Aunt Georgiana’s name in the
legacy (le ə sē ) n. an inheritance letter?

520 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
The Heyden Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Whatever shock Mrs. Springer experienced at my conjugations,10 gently shaking me when my drowsy
aunt’s appearance, she considerately concealed. As head sank down over a page of irregular verbs. It
for myself, I saw my aunt’s battered figure with that was to her, at her ironing or mending, that I read
feeling of awe and respect with which we behold my first Shakspere, and her old text-book on
explorers who have left their ears and fingers north mythology was the first that ever came into my
of Franz-Joseph-Land,5 or their health somewhere empty hands. She taught me my scales and exercises
along the Upper Congo.6 My Aunt Georgiana had on the little parlor organ which her husband had
been a music teacher at the Boston Conservatory, bought her after fifteen years, during which she had
somewhere back in the latter sixties. One summer, not so much as seen a musical instrument. She
while visiting in the little village among the Green would sit beside me by the hour, darning and count-
Mountains7 where her ancestors had dwelt for gen- ing, while I struggled with the “Joyous Farmer.”11
erations, she had kindled the callow8 fancy of my She seldom talked to me about music, and I under-
uncle, Howard Carpenter, then an idle, shiftless boy stood why. Once when I had been doggedly beating
of twenty-one. When she returned to her duties in out some easy passages from an old score of
Boston, Howard followed her, and the upshot of this Euryanthe12 I had found among her music books, she
infatuation was that she eloped with him, eluding came up to me and, putting her hands over my eyes,
the reproaches of her family and the criticism of her gently drew my head back upon her shoulder, saying
friends by going with him to the Nebraska frontier. tremulously,13 “Don’t love it so well, Clark, or it
Carpenter, who, of course, had no money, took up a may be taken from you.”
homestead in Red Willow County, fifty miles from When my aunt appeared on the morning
the railroad. There they had measured off their land after her arrival in Boston, she was still in a
themselves, driving across the prairie in a wagon, to semi-somnambulant14 state. She seemed not to real-
the wheel of which they had tied a red cotton ize that she was in the city where she had spent her
handkerchief, and counting its revolutions. They youth, the place longed for hungrily half a lifetime.
built a dug-out in the red hillside, one of those cave She had been so wretchedly train-sick throughout
dwellings whose inmates so often reverted to primi- the journey that she had no recollection of anything
tive conditions. Their water they got from the but her discomfort, and, to all intents and purposes,
lagoons where the buffalo drank, and their slender there were but a few hours of nightmare between
stock of provisions was always at the mercy of bands the farm in Red Willow County and my study on
of roving Indians. For thirty years my aunt had not Newbury Street. I had planned a little pleasure for
been farther than fifty miles from the homestead. her that afternoon, to repay her for some of the glo-
I owed to this woman most of the good that ever rious moments she had given me when we used to
came my way in my boyhood, and had a reveren- milk together in the straw-thatched cowshed and
tial9 affection for her. During the years when I was she, because I was more than usually tired, or
riding herd for my uncle, my aunt, after cooking
the three meals—the first of which was ready at six
10. Declensions are different forms of nouns, pronouns, and
o’clock in the morning—and putting the six chil- adjectives. Conjugations are different forms of verbs.
dren to bed, would often stand until midnight at Students often memorize these forms when learning a new
her ironing-board, with me at the kitchen table language.
beside her, hearing me recite Latin declensions and 11. Joyous Farmer is one of a series of compositions for
children by Robert Shumann (1810–1856).
12. Euryanthe (ā u
 r i a n tā) is an opera by the German
5. Franz-Joseph-Land is a group of islands in the Arctic Ocean. composer Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826).
6. The Congo River in central Africa is also called the Zaire 13. Tremulously means “in a trembling or shaking manner.”
River. 14. Semi-somnambulant (sem ē som nam byə lənt) means
7. The Green Mountains extend from western Massachusetts “bewildered or dazed, as if sleepwalking.”
through Vermont and into Canada.
Literary Element Point of View How is your understand-
8. Callow means “inexperienced” or “immature.”
ing of this passage affected by the point of view of the story?
9. Reverential means “with a feeling of deep respect and awe.”

Vocabulary Vocabulary
reproach (ri prōch) n. an expression of disapproval; a doggedly (do id lē) adv. in a stubbornly persistent
reprimand manner; obstinately

WILLA C ATHER 521


tive situations, and had once possessed the piano
score of The Flying Dutchman. I began to think it
would be best to get her back to Red Willow
County without waking her, and regretted having
suggested the concert.
From the time we entered the concert hall, how-
ever, she was a trifle less passive and inert, and for
the first time seemed to perceive her surroundings.
I had felt some trepidation lest she might become
aware of her queer, country clothes, or might expe-
rience some painful embarrassment at stepping sud-
denly into the world to which she had been dead
for a quarter of a century. But, again, I found how
superficially I had judged her. She sat looking about
her with eyes as impersonal, almost as stony, as
those with which the granite Rameses17 in a
museum watches the froth and fret that ebbs and
flows18 about his pedestal. I have seen this same
aloofness in old miners who drift into the Brown
Boston Common, 1901. Childe Hassam. Oil on canvas, 16 x 20 in. hotel at Denver, their pockets full of bullion,19 their
David David Gallery, Philadelphia. linen soiled, their haggard faces unshaven; standing
Viewing the Art: Look closely at the painting. Suppose Aunt
Georgiana saw this scene as soon as she arrived in Boston. How
in the thronged corridors as solitary as though they
might she have reacted? Explain. were still in a frozen camp on the Yukon.20
The matinée audience was made up chiefly of
women. One lost the contour of faces and figures,
because her husband had spoken sharply to me, indeed any effect of line whatever, and there was
would tell me of the splendid performance of the only the color of bodices past counting, the shim-
Huguenots15 she had seen in Paris, in her youth. mer of fabrics soft and firm, silky and sheer; red,
At two o’clock the Symphony Orchestra was to mauve, pink, blue, lilac, purple, écru,21 rose, yellow,
give a Wagner program, and I intended to take my cream, and white, all the colors that an impres-
aunt; though, as I conversed with her, I grew doubt- sionist22 finds in a sunlit landscape, with here and
ful about her enjoyment of it. I suggested our visit- there the dead shadow of a frock coat. My Aunt
ing the Conservatory and the Common16 before
lunch, but she seemed altogether too timid to wish
to venture out. She questioned me absently about
various changes in the city, but she was chiefly con-
17. Rameses (ram ə sēz) is the name shared by several kings
cerned that she had forgotten to leave instructions of ancient Egypt.
about feeding half-skimmed milk to a certain weak- 18. [froth and fret . . . flows] This phrase refers to the general
ling calf, “old Maggie’s calf, you know, Clark,” she busy activity that would come and go past a museum statue.
explained, evidently having forgotten how long I 19. Here, bullion (bool yən) is gold.
20. Yukon refers to the Yukon River, a major route to the
had been away. She was further troubled because
Klondike gold fields in Canada.
she had neglected to tell her daughter about the 21. Écru (ā kr¯¯¯
oo) is beige.
freshly-opened kit of mackerel in the cellar, which 22. An impressionist is a member of a movement in French
would spoil if it were not used directly. painting that emphasized the play of light and color.
I asked her whether she had ever heard any of Big Idea Regionalism How does the concert hall draw
the Wagnerian operas, and found that she had not, Georgiana’s attention away from the farm in a way the
though she was perfectly familiar with their respec- city could not?

Vocabulary
15. Huguenots (hū ə nots´) is a French opera by the German trepidation (trep´ ə dā shən) n. nervous anticipation;
composer Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791–1864). anxiety
16. Common refers to Boston Common, a public park.

522 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
David David Gallery/SuperStock
Georgiana regarded them as though they had been and her musical education had been broader than
so many daubs of tube-paint on a palette. that of most music teachers of a quarter of a cen-
When the musicians came out and took their tury ago. She had often told me of Mozart’s operas
places, she gave a little stir of anticipation, and and Meyerbeer’s, and I could remember hearing her
looked with quickening interest down over the rail sing, years ago, certain melodies of Verdi.24 When I
at that invariable grouping, perhaps the first wholly had fallen ill with a fever in her house she used to
familiar thing that had greeted her eye since she sit by my cot in the evening—when the cool, night
had left old Maggie and her weakling calf. I could wind blew in through the faded mosquito netting
feel how all those details sank into her soul, for I tacked over the window and I lay watching a cer-
had not forgotten how they had sunk into mine tain bright star that burned red above the corn-
when I came fresh from ploughing forever and for- field—and sing “Home to our mountains, O, let us
ever between green aisles of corn, where, as in a return!” in a way fit to break the heart of a
treadmill, one might walk from daybreak to dusk Vermont boy near dead of homesickness already.
without perceiving a shadow of change. The clean I watched her closely through the prelude to
profiles of the musicians, the gloss of their linen, Tristan and Isolde, trying vainly to conjecture what
the dull black of their coats, the beloved shapes of that seething turmoil of strings and winds might
the instruments, the patches of yellow light on the mean to her, but she sat mutely staring at the vio-
smooth, varnished bellies of the ’cellos and the bass lin bows that drove obliquely downward, like the
viols in the rear, the restless, wind-tossed forest of pelting streaks of rain in a summer shower. Had
fiddle necks and bows—I recalled how, in the first this music any message for her? Had she enough
orchestra I ever heard, those long bow-strokes left to at all comprehend this power which had
seemed to draw the heart out of me, as a conjurer’s kindled the world since she had left it? I was in a
stick reels out yards of paper ribbon from a hat. fever of curiosity, but Aunt Georgiana sat silent
The first number was the Tannhauser over- upon her peak in Darien.25 She preserved this
ture. When the horns drew out the first strain utter immobility throughout the number from The
of the Pilgrim’s chorus, Aunt Georgiana Flying Dutchman, though her fingers worked
clutched my coat sleeve. Then it was I first real- mechanically upon her black dress, as if, of them-
ized that for her this broke a silence of thirty selves, they were recalling the piano score they
years. I saw again the tall, naked house on the had once played. Poor hands! They had been
prairie, black and grim as a wooden fortress; the stretched and twisted into mere tentacles to hold
black pond where I had learned to swim, its and lift and knead with; on one of them a thin,
margin pitted with sun-dried cattle tracks; the worn band that had once been a wedding ring.
rain gullied clay banks about the naked house,
the four dwarf ash seedlings where the dish-
cloths were always hung to dry before the 24. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (woolf an´ a´ mə dā
kitchen door. The world there was the flat əs mōt sart) (1756–1791) was an Austrian composer.
world of the ancients;23 to the east, a cornfield Giuseppe Verdi (j¯¯¯
oo zep pe ver dē) (1813–1901) was an
Italian composer of opera.
that stretched to daybreak; to the west, a corral
25. The phrase “peak in Darien” (dār´ ē en) alludes to the
that reached to sunset; between, the conquests poem “On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer” by John
of peace, dearer-bought than those of war. Keats. The poem describes Spanish explorers on a
The overture closed, my aunt released my coat mountain in Darien, now Panama, who stand silently and
sleeve, but she said nothing. She sat staring dully at in awe, as the first Europeans to view the Pacific Ocean.

the orchestra. What, I wondered, did she get from Literary Element Point of View What effect does the
it? She had been a good pianist in her day, I knew, first-person point of view have on the depiction of the concert?

Big Idea Regionalism What does the description of


23. The ancients refers to those who lived in classical Greece Georgiana’s hands reveal about the difference between
and Rome. Boston and the Nebraska farm, according to Clark?

Reading Strategy Identifying Sequence How do the


and her musical education had been broader than Vocabulary
flashbacks contribute to the effect of Clark’s realizations
that of most music teachers of a quarter of a cen
about his aunt? obliquely (ō blēklē) adv. in a slanting or sloping direction

WILLA C ATHER 523


As I pressed and gently quieted one of those grop- Her lip quivered and she hastily put her hand-
ing hands, I remembered with quivering eyelids kerchief up to her mouth. From behind it she
their services for me in other days. murmured, “And you have been hearing this ever
Soon after the tenor began the “Prize Song,” I since you left me, Clark?” Her question was the
heard a quick drawn breath and turned to my gentlest and saddest of reproaches.
aunt. Her eyes were closed, but the tears were The second half of the program consisted of
glistening on her cheeks, and I think, in a four numbers from the Ring, and closed with
moment more, they were in my eyes as well. It Siegfried’s funeral march. My aunt wept quietly,
never really died, then—the soul which can suf- but almost continuously, as a shallow vessel over-
fer so excruciatingly and so interminably; it flows in a rain-storm. From time to time her dim
withers to the outward eye only; like that strange eyes looked up at the lights, burning softly under
moss which can lie on a dusty shelf half a cen- their dull glass globes.
tury and yet, if placed in water, grows green The deluge of sound poured on and on; I never
again. She wept so throughout the development knew what she found in the shining current of it;
and elaboration of the melody. I never knew how far it bore her, or past what
During the intermission before the second happy islands. From the trembling of her face I
half, I questioned my aunt and found that the could well believe that before the last number she
“Prize Song” was not new to her. Some years had been carried out where the myriad31 graves
before there had drifted to the farm in Red are, into the grey, nameless burying grounds of
Willow County a young German, a tramp cow- the sea; or into some world of death vaster yet,
puncher,26 who had sung in the chorus at where, from the beginning of the world, hope has
Bayreuth27 when he was a boy, along with the lain down with hope and dream with dream and,
other peasant boys and girls. Of a Sunday renouncing,32 slept.
morning he used to sit on his gingham-sheeted The concert was over; the people filed out
bed in the hands’ bedroom which opened off of the hall chattering and laughing, glad to
the kitchen, cleaning the leather of his boots relax and find the living level again, but my
and saddle, singing the “Prize Song,” while my kinswoman made no effort to rise. The harpist
aunt went about her work in the kitchen. She slipped the green felt cover over his instru-
had hovered over him until she had prevailed ment; the flute-players shook the water from
upon him to join the country church, though their mouthpieces; the men of the orchestra
his sole fitness for this step, in so far as I could went out one by one, leaving the stage to the
gather, lay in his boyish face and his possession chairs and music stands, empty as a winter
of this divine melody. Shortly afterward, he cornfield.
had gone to town on the Fourth of July, been I spoke to my aunt. She burst into tears and
drunk for several days, lost his money at a sobbed pleadingly. “I don’t want to go, Clark, I
faro28 table, ridden a saddled Texas steer on a don’t want to go!”
bet, and disappeared with a fractured collar- I understood. For her, just outside the concert
bone. All this my aunt told me huskily, wan- hall, lay the black pond with the cattle-tracked
deringly, as though she were talking in the bluffs; the tall, unpainted house, with weather-
weak lapses of illness. curled boards, naked as a tower; the crook-backed
“Well, we have come to better things than the ash seedlings where the dish-cloths hung to dry; the
old Trovatore 29 at any rate, Aunt Georgie?” I que- gaunt,33 moulting turkeys picking up refuse about
ried, with a well meant effort at jocularity.30 the kitchen door. 

26. Cowpuncher means “cowboy.”


27. Bayreuth (b̄ roit) is a German city famous for its annual
Wagnerian music festival. 31. Myriad means “countless” or “innumerable.”
28. Faro (fār ō) is a gambling game played with a deck of 32. Renouncing means “giving up.”
cards. 33. Gaunt means “extremely thin.”
29. Trovatore (tro və tōre) refers to Il Trovatore, an opera by
Literary Element Point of View How does Clark know
Giuseppe Verdi.
what his aunt is feeling?
30. Jocularity means “joking” or “humor.”

524 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond performance she saw in Paris? (b)Given Georgiana’s
reaction to the Wagner concert, how do concerts
1. How did the story affect your impressions of
probably affect her in general?
nineteenth-century frontier life?
6. Clark says of scenery on the farm: “one might walk
Recall and Interpret from daybreak to dusk without perceiving a shadow
2. (a)How does Clark react to the letter from his uncle? of change.” To whom might this statement be con-
(b)Why does he react so strongly to the letter? sidered false and why?
3. The narrator says that he owed to his aunt “most of 7. After his experience with Georgiana, how might
the good that ever came my way in my boyhood.” Clark perceive his access to concerts in Boston
How is her influence apparent in his adult life? differently?
4. (a)How does Georgiana behave after the concert Connect
ends? (b)What might the concert hall symbolize
for her? 8. Big Idea Regionalism The story contrasts the
limits of one region with the opportunities of
Analyze and Evaluate another. What might these two “regions” be in
5. (a)Georgiana seldom talks to Clark about music. Georgiana’s view, specifically? Support your claim
Why then does she tell Clark about the Huguenots with evidence from the story.

LI T E R A RY A N A LYS I S

Literary Element Point of View Review: Voice


It is clear that “A Wagner Matinée” is written with a Voice refers to the distinctive language that conveys
first-person point of view because the story is fil- the author or narrator’s personality to the reader. Voice
tered through the sensations, thoughts, and memories is determined by elements of style such as word
of Clark, the narrator. The use of pronouns such as choice, sentence structure, and tone.
I, you, and me also indicates first-person point of view.
Partner Activity Meet with a partner to discuss how
In stories told in first-person point of view, the narrator Clark’s voice is revealed in the following passage. Then
is always a character in the story. As you read stories answer the questions that follow.
told in first person, note that any story told from one
perspective is limited to that character’s knowledge, “Had this music any message for her? Had she
experience, and biases. The narrator may not be reli- enough left to at all comprehend this power
able, so judge whether you can trust that his or her which had kindled the world since she had
interpretation of events is accurate. Pay attention to left it? I was in a fever of curiosity, but Aunt
details in the story to help evaluate narrator reliability
Georgiana sat silent upon her peak in Darien.”
and to figure out parts of the story the narrator may
not know or share.
1. Why might the reader trust Clark’s interpretation of
Georgiana? 1. What does Clark’s use of questions reveal?
2. Although Georgiana rarely speaks directly in the 2. What do words such as power, kindled, and fever
story, what details about her confirm Clark’s and the Darien allusion reveal about Clark?
interpretations?
3. How does Clark’s voice convey his personality?

WILLA C ATHER 525


R E AD I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY WRITI NG AN D EXTEN DI NG

Reading Strategy Identifying Sequence Writing About Literature


A flashback is an interruption in the chronological Evaluate Author’s Craft In fiction, author’s craft
order of a story that depicts an earlier event. Flashback refers to how an author uses various techniques, includ-
can be used to give readers background about the ing word choice, sensory details, figurative language, and
main events of the story. dialogue, to tell a story. In “A Wagner Matinée,” Willa
Cather uses comparisons as a technique to explore the
1. How does the flashback about Clark as a boy
relationship between Clark and Aunt Georgiana and the
playing “Joyous Farmer” help the reader?
effects of the concert on both characters.
2. What provokes most of the flashbacks in the story?
3. Why might Cather have chosen to use flashback “As for myself, I saw my aunt’s battered figure
instead of organizing the events chronologically? with that feeling of awe and respect…”

Vocabulary Practice
Comparison Aunt Georgiana’s aged figure is com-
Practice with Analogies Choose the word that
pared to Clark’s memory of her.
best completes the analogy.
Evaluation Clark’s comment on his aunt’s figure
1. grandparent : legacy :: groom :
allows the reader to see that she has changed much
a. house c. bride
since he last saw her and that she looks different from
b. ring d. husband
the women in Boston. The comparison alludes to the
2. quickly : fast :: doggedly : amount of time they have spent apart and to the
a. stubborn c. obediently differences between frontier and city life.
b. proud d. docile
Write an essay evaluating how the use of comparisons
3. reproach : disapproval :: compliment :
in “A Wagner Matinée” contributes to the meaning of
a. criticism c. affection
the story. As you draft, follow the plan below to help
b. approval d. attention
organize your essay.
4. sweat : trepidation :: wink :
a. anxiety c. mischief
Introduction Present your evaluation.
b. blink d. eye
➧➧➧➧

5. obliquely : direction :: passionately :


a. reason c. spontaneous First Comparison
b. instinct d. feeling
Cite the comparisons and
Second Comparison evaluate how they contribute
to the story.

Third Comparison

Summarize your evaluation


Conclusion and add insight.

When you are done writing, proofread and edit your


draft for errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Then meet with a partner and exchange drafts. Check
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to to make sure your partner’s evaluation is clear and
www.glencoe.com. well supported with examples from the story.

526 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

I Will Fight
No More Forever
M E E T C H I E F J OSE PH

C
hief Joseph—whose given name was
Hinmaton Yalaktit (hin mə tō ya lakh´
tet) or “Thunder Rolling Down the
Mountain”—was born in the Wallowa Valley in
what is now northeastern Oregon. When his
father died in 1871, Joseph was elected to succeed
him as a chief of the Nez Percé (nez purs), the
largest and most powerful of the Sahaptin-speaking
tribes that lived in present-day central Idaho and
contiguous areas in Oregon and Washington.
Other Sahaptin-speaking tribes include the
Cayuse, Tenino, Wallawalla, and Yakima.
The Nez Percé were more warlike than neighbor-
ing tribes, especially after acquiring the horse from their families—on a long, grueling march toward
the Plains Indians in the early eighteenth century. the Canadian border. They trekked through
However, they had maintained peace with the Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana for
whites for decades, ever since the Lewis and Clark nearly three months, covering 1,000 miles as the
expedition in 1805, which was their first signifi- warriors successfully fought off U.S. troops. Within
cant contact with whites. Nevertheless, Joseph forty miles of their destination, in the Bear Paw
inherited a volatile situation. In 1863, following a mountains of Montana, the Nez Percé were sur-
gold rush into Nez Percé territory, the U.S. gov- rounded and forced to surrender. The chase and
ernment had reclaimed three quarters of the land intermittent skirmishes had claimed the lives of 239
it had ceded to the tribe in an 1855 treaty. Chief Nez Percé, many of them women and children, as
Joseph successfully resisted efforts to remove his well as the lives of 266 U.S. Army personnel.
band from the Wallowa Valley until 1877, when
the government threatened removal by force. Lasting Legacy Although Chief Joseph had
thought his people would be able to return home,
they were removed to Indian Territory, or present-
day Oklahoma, where many fell ill and died. In
“Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired; my 1885 some of the survivors were returned to the
heart is sick and sad.” Pacific Northwest, but about half, including Chief
Joseph, were taken to Colville reservation, a non-
—Chief Joseph Nez Percé reservation in Washington State. There
Chief Joseph died, according to his doctor, “of a
broken heart.” At a ceremony honoring him, a
Cooperator and Leader To avoid bloodshed, Nez Percé chief named Yellow Bull said, “Joseph is
Chief Joseph decided to cooperate, but as he led his dead, but his words will live forever.”
band toward a reservation in Idaho, he learned that
Chief Joseph was born around 1840 and died in 1904.
three of his braves, enraged at the government’s
action, had killed a group of white settlers and pros-
pectors. To escape retaliation by the U.S. Army, Chief Author Search For more about
Joseph led his people—some 200 to 300 warriors and Chief Joseph,
this author, gogo
toto www.glencoe.com.
www.literature.glencoe.com.

C HIEF JOSEPH 527


National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution/Art Resource, NY
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W READI NG PREVI EW

Connecting to the Speech Reading Strategy Evaluating Style


What does it mean to lose with dignity? In this Tone is just one element of style, or the way that a
speech, Joseph explains the decision he has made writer or an orator uses language. Some other ele-
to surrender. As you read, think about the following ments are diction, syntax, sentence length, and use
questions: of figurative language. When you evaluate style, you
make a judgment about it based on the application
• What was Joseph’s primary reason for surrendering? of appropriate criteria, or standards. As you read
• Have you ever been in a situation where surrender Chief Joseph’s speech, evaluate how the individual
was the best or most noble option?
elements such as tone contribute to his style.
Building Background
Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart to record
The Nez Percé was the southeasternmost tribe in
examples of different elements of Chief Joseph’s style.
the Plateau culture, which developed on the high
In the right-hand column, explain briefly how the ele-
plateaus between the coastal mountain ranges and
ments work.
the Rocky Mountains. Each Plateau tribe spoke a
language from one of three linguistic groups:
Sahaptin, Salish, or Kutenai. Plateau tribes shared
Element Example Effect
many cultural components. In the winter, they lived
by rivers where fish were abundant. In the summer, “Maybe I shall
they moved to mountain valleys to hunt and gather Tone find [the children]
roots. By the time Chief Joseph came to power, the among the dead.”
Nez Percé had strayed away from the Plateau cul-
ture and adopted many cultural components of the
Plains Indians, including the war bonnet, the horse, Diction
and the teepee.

Setting Purposes for Reading


Big Idea Regionalism Syntax
As you read Chief Joseph’s speech, consider the
tragic consequences for Native Americans brought
about by the westward expansion. Sentence
Length

Literary Element Tone


Figurative
Tone is the writer’s attitude toward the subject of
a work. Writers create the tone of a work primarily Language
through diction, or word choice. As you read, notice
Chief Joseph’s diction and the tone it creates.

• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R19.

Interactive Literary Elements


Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

OB J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • analyzing tone
• relating a literary work to a historical period • evaluating style

528 U N IT 4 REGIONALISM AND REALISM


Chief Joseph Rides to Surrender, 1979. Howard Terpning. Oil on canvas. ©1979 Howard Terpning.
©1979 The Greenwich Workshop® Inc. Courtesy of The Greenwich Workshop Inc., Shelton, CT.

“Tell General Howard1 I know his heart. What he told me


before, I have in my heart. I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are
killed. Looking Glass2 is dead. Too Hul Hul Suit3 is dead. The
old men are all dead. It is the young men who say yes and no. He
who led on the young men is dead.4 It is cold and we have no
blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people,
some of them, have run away to the hills and have no blankets,
no food; no one knows where they are—perhaps freezing to
death. I want to have time to look for my children and see how
many I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear
me, my chiefs. I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where
the sun now stands I will fight no more forever.” 

1. General (Oliver Otis) Howard (1830–1909) had been a Union general in the Civil
Chief Joseph War. He sent troops to fight the Nez Percé in the Battle of White Bird Canyon.
2. Looking Glass was a respected leader of the Nez Percé. He took part in the 1877
S11-100-01C-635423 Mistral Mark U4T6 retreat.
3. Too Hul Hul Suit, or Tu Ku Lxu C’uut (t kl´ hu st), leader of the White Bird
tribe, was a member of the negotiating team that met with General Howard. He
favored fighting for the Nez Percé land rather than moving to a reservation.
4. [He who led . . . dead.] refers to Chief Joseph’s younger brother, Ollikut
(ōl okh ut).

Reading Strategy Evaluating Style What do the form and content of these two
sentences emphasize? How do you think they affect the listener or reader?

C HIEF JOSEPH 529


©1979 Howard Terpning ©The Greenwich Workshop(R) Inc. courtesy of The Greenwich Workshop Inc., Shelton, CT. For information on the limited edition fine art prints by Howard Terpning call 1-800-577-0666
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond 5. (a)What words or phrases does Chief Joseph
repeat? (b)What effect does this repetition create?
1. If you could speak to Chief Joseph, what would
you say? 6. In this short speech, Chief Joseph explains a deci-
sion that will have an enormous impact on the
Recall and Interpret lives of his people. Would a longer, more detailed
2. (a)What has happened to the chiefs and the old men speech have been more effective? Explain.
of the tribe? (b)How might these developments have
affected Chief Joseph’s decision to surrender? Connect
3. (a)What words does Chief Joseph use to describe 7. Big Idea Regionalism According to one critic,
his heart? (b)How do the feelings he describes help “‘I Will Fight No More Forever’ . . . is a classic state-
you better understand the decision he has made? ment of Native American pride and resolve in the
midst of terrible suffering.” (a)How does Chief
Analyze and Evaluate Joseph display pride and resolve in this speech?
4. (a)What does Chief Joseph say about his (b)Which values of the Nez Percé does this speech
children? (b)Why does he want to look for them? reveal?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Tone Reading Strategy Evaluating Style


The tone of a piece of writing conveys the author’s Style refers to a writer’s individual, characteristic way
attitude toward the subject matter. In “I Will Fight No of using language. Elements such as diction, phrasing,
More Forever,” the tone conveys feelings of weariness, sentence length, tone, imagery, and figurative lan-
resignation, sadness, and dignity. Chief Joseph’s use of guage contribute to style. Because writers use these
simple, direct language and brief sentences reinforces elements in personal, distinctive ways, no two styles
this sense of overwhelming loss. are exactly alike. To evaluate Chief Joseph’s style,
answer these questions:
1. What phrases help create a tone that is weary,
resigned, and sad, yet dignified? 1. Is the style appropriate for the message?
2. Find examples of simple, direct language and 2. Does the style reveal the writer’s personality?
brief sentences. How do they affect the tone of
the speech?
Academic Vocabulary
Interdisciplinary Activity Here are two words from the vocabulary list on
American History: Great Speeches Research
page R86.
speeches by other Native American orators such as
principle (prin sə pəl) n. a law or rule, usually
Chief Tecumseh and Chief Red Eagle.
regarding morals
1. How are the other Native American speeches you
impose (im pōz) v. to force upon
found similar to and different from Chief Joseph’s
speech?
Practice and Apply
2. What is the style of each speech? 1. What principles did Chief Joseph value?
2. How did the U.S. Army impose the govern-
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
ment’s policies on Native Americans?
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

530 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
P
PART 2

Realism
and Naturalism

Mrs. Charles Thursby, 1897–1898. John Singer Sargent.


Oil on canvas, 78 x 39 3/4 in. Collection of The Newark Museum.

“There are two ways of spreading light: to be


The candle or the mirror that reflects it.”
—Edith Wharton, “Vesalius in Zante”

531
The Newark Museum/Art Resource, NY
LITER ARY H I STORY

The Two Faces of Urban America

I
N THE LATE NINETEENTH AND EARLY
twentieth centuries, despite the emergence of a
growing middle class, rapid industrialization
created two sharply contrasting urban classes: wealthy
entrepreneurs and poor immigrants from Europe and
Asia who provided them with cheap labor. Although
dependent upon each other, these two groups seldom
met, as they lived in starkly different neighborhoods.
The wealthiest families established fashionable
districts in the hearts of cities, where they built
fabulous mansions.
By contrast, the majority of factory workers squeezed
into dark, overcrowded tenements where crime, violence,
fire, and disease were constant threats. U.S. writers
of the time responded to and reflected these urban
conditions in their novels, stories, essays, and articles.

Picnicking in Central Park, 1885. Robert L. Bracklow. Black and


white photograph.

“The entire metropolitan center


her heroine Lily Bart’s descent from wealth into
possessed a high and mighty air poverty is mirrored by a decline in the houses she is
calculated to overawe and abash the forced to inhabit.
common applicant, and to make the Wharton’s older contemporary and friend Henry James
gulf between poverty and success was born into a distinguished Boston family in 1843.
James became the master chronicler of the inner lives
seem both wide and deep.” of his characters, and his subtle innovations in narrative
—Theodore Dreiser point of view contributed to the literary technique that
Sister Carrie his brother William, the famous psychologist, called
“the stream of consciousness.” James used this technique
to probe the complex relationship between wealth
and culture. One of his favorite themes was the
The Face of the Urban Rich confrontation between naïve, wealthy, uncultured
Two major Realist writers from the upper class who Americans and highly cultivated and sophisticated
reflected and criticized its values, and who formed a Europeans, whose aristocratic civilization was in decline.
famous literary friendship, were Edith Wharton and James’s treatment of this theme reached its zenith in his
Henry James. late novel The Ambassadors (1903), in which the elderly,
Edith Wharton was born in 1862 into one of New respectable American Lambert Strether is charmed by
York’s most prominent families. Her interest in the pleasures of European civilization and learns too late
architecture prompted her to criticize and satirize the that there is more to life than making money.
“conspicuous consumption” (a term coined by social
critic Thorstein Veblen) that led to the fashionable,
The Face of the Urban Poor
cluttered interior decoration favored by the members The plight of the urban poor was a favorite subject
of her social class. Wharton’s early novel The House of the new group of Naturalist writers. Stephen Crane’s
of Mirth (1905) uses architecture metaphorically, as Maggie: A Girl of the Streets is a bleak study of life in

532 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
Photo Collection Alexander Alland, Sr./CORBIS
the slums of New York City. Although Crane later began to critically examine the social, economic,
turned to other subjects, he retained his sympathy and political system that created the huge gulf
for urban characters such as Maggie. between the rich and the poor. In his book How the
Other Half Lives (1890), Jacob Riis attracted the
Some writers focused their attention on the hardships of
attention of President Roosevelt to the squalor of
immigrants and ethnic groups who faced bigotry and
life in New York City slum tenements. The result
discrimination as well as poverty in U.S. cities. Anzia
was an improved water supply, child labor laws, and
Yezierska and Abraham Cahan wrote about the social,
other improvements. The Jungle (1906), Upton
cultural, and political tensions experienced by Eastern
Sinclair’s exposé of the brutal and degrading
European Jews living in New York’s Lower East Side.
working conditions in the meatpacking industry,
Perhaps the most famous writer to address the led to the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food
socioeconomic plight of the urban poor was and Drug Act of 1906.
Theodore Dreiser. Despite a mediocre education, his
writing propelled him to the pinnacle of American
Naturalism. In his first and perhaps greatest novel,
Sister Carrie (1900), Dreiser tells the story of Carrie
Meeber, a naïve country girl who comes to Chicago
looking for work. While there, she endures the
impersonal cruelty and loneliness of life in a large
U.S. city at the turn of the century.

Reformers and Muckrakers


A social reform movement arose in the late nineteenth
century that was dedicated to providing better
conditions for the urban working class. Perhaps the
most prominent of these reformers was Jane Addams.
In Twenty Years at Hull-House (1910), she tells how she
turned an old home in an immigrant neighborhood in
Chicago into a settlement house where neighborhood
residents could learn to speak English, discuss political
events, and hold celebrations.
A group of journalists and novelists known as
Men gather in an alley called “Bandit’s Roost” in Manhattan’s Little
“muckrakers,” a term coined by Theodore Roosevelt,
Italy. Around the turn of the century, this part of Mulberry Bend was
a notoriously dilapidated and dangerous section of New York City.
ca. 1890s. Jacob August Riis.
Literary History For more about Viewing the Photograph: How do the people in this scene
the literature of urban America, go to www.glencoe.com. compare with those of the previous page?

R ES P O N D I N G AN D TH I N K I N G C R ITI CALLY
1. In Dreiser’s Sister Carrie, the protagonist believes that 2. What were Edith Wharton’s and Henry James’s main
the city will provide her with new opportunities and a criticisms of the wealthy upper class in the United States?
new life. Would you have wanted to live in a large city
3. What was the chief aim of the muckrakers? Do you
at the turn of the twentieth century? Why or why not?
think that they were successful? Explain.

O B J EC TIVES
• Analyze literary periods. • Connect to cultural events. • Understand Realism and Naturalism.

LITERARY HISTO RY 533


Bettmann/CORBIS
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

April Showers
M E E T E DI T H W H A R TON years later, The House of Mirth, which was both
popular and praised by critics, appeared.

E
dith Wharton is best known for her novels In 1907, after selling her home and separating from
depicting the intricate codes of conduct that her husband, Wharton permanently settled in Paris,
ruled the lives of New York City’s aristocracy where she felt female artists were more accepted.
at the end of the 1800s. Wharton felt that upper- As World War I raged in Europe, Wharton worked
class society discouraged both art and the artist. in support of the French cause—aiding Belgian refu-
gees and raising money from Americans. For this
she was given the Cross of the Legion of Honor, the
“Mrs. Ballinger is one of the ladies who highest honor awarded to a foreigner in France.

pursue Culture in Bands, as though it This was perhaps the most productive time in
Wharton’s life, during which she published some of
were dangerous to meet it alone.” her greatest novels, including Ethan Frome, The Reef,
—Edith Wharton The Custom of the Country, and Summer. The Age of
Innocence, probably Wharton’s best-known work,
Xingu and Other Stories, 1916
appeared in 1920. For this she became the first
woman to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
A Privileged Youth Edith Newbold Jones was born Edith Wharton’s greatness came from her ability to
into one of New York City’s wealthiest and most dis- depict the interplay between the life of the mind and
tinguished families. Taught by private tutors, she of society. Alternately tragic and satiric, Wharton’s
received an excellent education both in the United incisive fiction helped to establish Realism as the
States and abroad. When she was sixteen, Edith pri- most important movement of her day.
vately published her first book. Her mother may have
Edith Wharton was born in 1862 and died in 1937.
arranged the publication, hoping that Edith would
feel fulfilled, stop writing, and take up interests con-
sidered more suited to her social position.
In 1885 Edith married Edward Wharton, a wealthy
Boston banker. Shortly after, he began to suffer from
both mental and physical illnesses. It was during
this time that Wharton began seriously writing fic-
tion with the intention of publishing. She modeled
her work mostly after novelist Henry James—com-
bining complicated psychological portraits with cri-
tiques of social convention. Throughout the 1890s,
she contributed to various magazines and produced
two collections of short stories.

A Novelist Abroad Wharton’s first novel, The


Valley of Decision, was published in 1902. Three

Author Search For more about


Edith Wharton, go to www.glencoe.com.

534 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
Bettmann/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Making and Verifying


Have you ever neglected your responsibilities in order to Predictions
devote yourself to a project you felt passionately about? To predict means to make an educated guess about
In Wharton’s story, the main character is so preoccupied what will happen in a text, using the clues that a writer
with her novel that she forgets her household responsi- provides. Predicting will help you stay engaged in the
bilities. Think about the following questions: plot of a story as it evolves. While you read “April
• Under what circumstances might it be acceptable to Showers,” verify, adjust, or change your predictions as
new information emerges in the text.
neglect daily chores?
• How important is it to receive widespread recogni- Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart to record
tion for the work that you do?
your predictions and the evidence on which you base
Building Background those predictions.
“April Showers” is set in Massachusetts in the early
1900s. At the time, novels were often printed in maga-
Prediction Evidence
zines in serial form, appearing in weekly or monthly
installments. The proliferation of magazines in the United Theodora’s obsession Theodora is neglecting
States and Britain began in the 1800s, partly in response with her novel will her family obligations.
to the rise of the middle class and to the spread of public come back to haunt
education. Publications aimed at the general public were her.
inexpensive, had little literary content, and included a
great deal of light entertainment. However, the more
expensive magazines, such as Atlantic Monthly or Vocabulary
Harper’s, had more substantive content and a greater
impact on the tastes and ideas of the day. prosperous (pros pər əs) adj. wealthy or successful;
p. 536 The Smith family, who owned the area’s largest
Setting Purposes for Reading factory, was the most prosperous family in town.
Big Idea Realism obscure (əb skyoor ) adj. little known or having
an insignificant reputation; p. 537 The contribu-
As you read, notice how Realism’s focus on psychology
tions of more obscure American painters were over-
and human behavior is displayed in “April Showers.”
looked in the student’s research paper.

Literary Element Flashback stupor (st¯¯¯


oo pər) n. a confused or dazed state of
mind; p. 538 Jack had been in a stupor since his ton-
A flashback is an interruption in the chronological sils were removed the previous day.
order of a narrative to show an event that happened
earlier. A flashback gives readers information that may calamity (kə lam ə tē) n. an unfortunate event or
help explain the main events of a story. As you read disaster; p. 539 The hurricane’s fierceness, combined
“April Showers,” examine how Wharton incorporates a with the lack of warning, resulted in a terrible calamity
brief flashback near the start of the story and also near on the island.
the end to help the reader better understand
Theodora’s character and the story’s events. Vocabulary Tip: Synonyms Words that have the
same or nearly the same meaning are called syn-
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R7. onyms. The words mirth and delight, for example, are
synonyms. Note that synonyms are always the
Interactive Literary Elements same part of speech.
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • making predictions
• analyzing literary periods • analyzing flashbacks

EDITH WHARTON 535


Edith Wharton

“But Guy’s heart slept under the violets on


Muriel’s grave.” been given to literature. Then, with a last look
It was a beautiful ending; Theodora had seen at the precious pages, she sealed and addressed
girls cry over last chapters that weren’t half as the package. She meant to send it off next morn-
pathetic. She laid her pen aside and read the ing to the Home Circle. She knew it would be
words over, letting her voice linger on the fall of hard to obtain access to a paper which numbered
the sentence; then, drawing a deep breath, she so many popular authors among its contributors,
wrote across the foot of the page the name by but she had been encouraged to make the ven-
which she had decided to become known in lit- ture by something her Uncle James had said the
erature—Gladys Glyn. last time he had come down from Boston.
Downstairs the library clock struck two. Its He had been telling his brother, Doctor Dace,
muffled thump sounded like an admonitory about his new house out at Brookline. Uncle
knock against her bedroom floor. Two o’clock! James was prosperous, and was always moving
and she had promised her mother to be up early into new houses with more “modern improve-
enough to see that the buttons were sewn on ments.” Hygiene was his passion, and he
Johnny’s reefer,1 and that Kate had her cod-liver migrated in the wake of sanitary plumbing.
oil2 before starting for school! “The bathrooms alone are worth the money,”
Lingeringly, tenderly she gathered up the he was saying, cheerfully, “although it is a big rent.
pages of her novel—there were five hundred of But then, when a man’s got no children to save
them—and tied them with the blue satin ribbon up for—” he glanced compassionately round
that her Aunt Julia had given her. She had Doctor Dace’s crowded table “—and it is some-
meant to wear the ribbon with her new dotted thing to be in a neighborhood where the drain-
muslin on Sundays, but this was putting it to a age is A-one. That’s what I was telling our
nobler use. She bound it round her manuscript, neighbor. Who do you suppose she is, by the
tying the ends in a pretty bow. Theodora was way?” He smiled at Theodora. “I rather think
clever at making bows, and could have trimmed that young lady knows all about her. Ever hear of
hats beautifully, had not all her spare moments Kathleen Kyd?”

1. A reefer is a short, heavy jacket. Literary Element Flashback What does this sentence
2. Cod-liver oil is an unpleasant-tasting liquid rich in vitamins A
indicate about the paragraphs following it?
and D.

Big Idea Realism What can you infer about Theodora’s Vocabulary
view of herself from this comment? prosperous (pros pər əs) adj. wealthy or successful

536 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
Private Collection, © Connaught Brown, London/Bridgeman Art Library
Kathleen Kyd! The famous “society novelist,” she remembered, with a touch of retrospective
the creator of more “favorite heroines” than all compassion, that George Eliot3 had not become
her predecessors put together had ever turned out, famous till she was nearly forty.
the author of Fashion and Passion, An American No, there was no doubt about the merit of
Duchess, Rhona’s Revolt. Was there any intelligent “April Showers.” But would not an inferior work
girl from Maine to California whose heart would have had a better chance of success? Theodora
not have beat faster at the mention of that name? recalled the early struggles of famous authors, the
“Why, yes,” Uncle James was saying, notorious antagonism4 of publishers and editors
“Kathleen Kyd lives next door. Frances G. to any new writer of exceptional promise. Would
Wollop is her real name, and her husband’s a it not be wiser to write the book down to the
dentist. She’s a very pleasant, sociable kind of average reader’s level, reserving for some later
woman; you’d never think she was a writer. Ever work the great “effects” into which she had
hear how she began to write? She told me the thrown all the fever of her imagination? The
whole story. It seems she was a saleswoman in a thought was sacrilege! Never would she lay
store, working on starvation wages, with a hands on the sacred structure she had reared;
mother and a consumptive sister to support. never would she resort to the inartistic expedient
Well, she wrote a story one day, just for fun, and of modifying her work to suit the popular taste.
sent it to the Home Circle. They’d never heard of Better obscure failure than a vulgar triumph.
her, of course, and she never expected to hear The great authors never stooped to such conces-
from them. She did, though. They took the story sions, and Theodora felt herself included in their
and passed their plate for more. She became a ranks by the firmness with which she rejected all
regular contributor and eventually was known all thought of conciliating5 an unappreciative pub-
over the country. Now she tells me her books lic. The manuscript should be sent as it was.
bring her in about ten thousand a year. Rather She woke with a start and a heavy sense of
more than you and I can boast of, eh, John? apprehension. The Home Circle had refused “April
Well, I hope this household doesn’t contribute to Showers”! No, that couldn’t be it; there lay the pre-
her support.” He glanced sharply at Theodora. “I cious manuscript, waiting to be posted. What was
don’t believe in feeding youngsters on sentimen- it, then? Ah, that ominous thump below stairs—
tal trash; it’s like sewer gas—doesn’t smell bad, nine o’clock striking! It was Johnny’s buttons!
and infects the system without your knowing it.” She sprang out of bed in dismay. She had been
Theodora listened breathlessly. Kathleen Kyd’s so determined not to disappoint her mother
first story had been accepted by the Home Circle, about Johnny’s buttons! Mrs. Dace, helpless from
and they had asked for more! Why should chronic rheumatism,6 had to entrust the care of
Gladys Glyn be less fortunate? Theodora had the household to her eldest daughter; and
done a great deal of novel reading—far more Theodora honestly meant to see that Johnny had
than her parents were aware of—and felt herself his full complement of buttons, and that Kate
competent to pronounce upon the quality of her and Bertha went to school tidy. Unfortunately,
own work. She was almost sure that “April the writing of a great novel leaves little time or
Showers” was a remarkable book. If it lacked memory for the lesser obligations of life, and
Kathleen Kyd’s lightness of touch, it had an Theodora usually found that her good intentions
emotional intensity never achieved by that bril- matured too late for practical results.
liant writer. Theodora did not care to amuse her
readers; she left that to more frivolous talents.
3. George Eliot (1819–1880) was the pen name of famed
Her aim was to stir the depths of human nature, British novelist Mary Ann Cross.
and she felt she had succeeded. It was a great 4. Antagonism means “hostility.”
thing for a girl to be able to feel that about her 5. Conciliating means “appeasing.”
first novel. Theodora was only seventeen; and 6. Rheumatism is an illness that causes discomfort in the joints
or muscles.

Vocabulary
Reading Strategy Making and Verifying Predictions obscure (əb skyoor) adj. little known or having an
What is your prediction of Gladys Glyn’s success? insignificant reputation

ED IT H WHARTON 537
Her contrition7 was softened by the thought that “No matter, dear. I suppose Johnny’s buttons
literary success would enable her to make up for all kept you. I can’t think what that boy does to his
the little negligences of which she was guilty. She clothes!”
meant to spend all her money on her family; and Theodora sat the tray down without speaking.
already she had visions of a wheeled chair for her It was impossible to own to having forgotten
mother, a fresh wallpaper for the doctor’s shabby Johnny’s buttons without revealing the cause of
office, bicycles for the girls, and Johnny’s establish- her forgetfulness. For a few weeks longer she
ment at a boarding school where sewing on his but- must bear to be misunderstood; then—ah, then
tons would be included in the curriculum. If her if her novel were accepted, how gladly would she
parents could have guessed her forget and forgive! But what if
intentions, they would not have it were refused? She turned
found fault with her as they did; aside to hide the dismay that
and Doctor Dace, on this partic- flushed her face. Well, then she
ular morning, would not have would admit the truth—she
looked up to say, with his “I suppose you would ask her parents’ pardon,
fagged,8 ironical air: and settle down without a mur-
“I suppose you didn’t get
didn’t get home mur to an obscure existence of
home from the ball till morn- from the ball till mending and combing.
ing?”
Theodora’s sense of being in
morning?” She had said to herself that
after the manuscript had been
the right enabled her to take sent, she would have time to
the thrust with a dignity that look after the children and
would have awed the unfeeling catch up with the mending;
parent to fiction. but she had reckoned without
“I’m sorry to be late, father,” she said. the postman. He came three times a day; for an
Doctor Dace, who could never be counted on hour before each ring she was too excited to do
to behave like a father in a book, shrugged his anything but wonder if he would bring an
shoulders impatiently. answer this time, and for an hour afterward she
“Your sentiments do you credit, but they moved about in a leaden stupor of disappoint-
haven’t kept your mother’s breakfast warm.” ment. The children had never been so trying.
“Hasn’t mother’s tray gone up yet?” They seemed to be always coming to pieces,
“Who was to take it, I should like to know? like cheap furniture; one would have supposed
The girls came down so late that I had to hustle they had been put together with bad glue. Mrs.
them off before they’d finished breakfast, and Dace worried herself ill over Johnny’s tatters,
Johnny’s hands were so dirty that I sent him back Bertha’s bad marks at school, and Kate’s open
to his room to make himself decent. It’s a pretty abstention9 from cod-liver oil; and Doctor
thing for the doctor’s children to be the dirtiest Dace, coming back late from a long round of
little savages in Norton!” visits to a fireless office with a smoky lamp,
Theodora had hastily prepared her mother’s called out furiously to know if Theodora would
tray, leaving her own breakfast untouched. As kindly come down and remove the “East, West,
she entered the room upstairs, Mrs. Dace’s home’s best” that hung above the empty grate.
patient face turned to her with a smile much In the midst of it all, Miss Sophy Brill called.
harder to bear than her father’s reproaches. It was very kind of her to come, for she was the
“Mother, I’m so sorry—” busiest woman in Norton. She made it her duty
to look after other people’s affairs, and there was
not a house in town but had the benefit of her
7. Contrition means “remorse.”
8. Fagged means “tired” or “weary.”
9. Abstention means “the act of refraining from something.”
Big Idea Realism How might a person’s behavior in real-
Vocabulary
ity differ from his or her behavior in a book? Are the charac-
ters in this story portrayed realistically? stupor (st¯¯¯
oo pər) n. a confused or dazed state of mind

538 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
personal supervision. She generally came when spring—spring! Everything was crowding toward
things were going wrong, and the sight of her the light and in her own heart hundreds of germi-
bonnet on the doorstep was a surer sign of nating hopes had burst into sudden leaf. She won-
calamity than a crepe bow10 on the bell. After dered if the thrust of those little green fingers hurt
she left, Mrs. Dace looked very sad, and the doc- the surface of the earth as her springing raptures
tor punished Johnny for warbling down the hurt—yes, actually hurt!—her hot, constricted
entry: breast! She looked up through interlacing boughs
“Miss Sophy Brill at a tender, opaque blue sky full of the coming of
Is a bitter pill!” a milky moon. She seemed enveloped in an atmo-
while Theodora, locking herself in her room, sphere of loving comprehension. The brown earth
resolved with tears that she would never write throbbed with her joy, the treetops trembled with
another novel. it, and a sudden star broke through the branches
The week was a long nightmare. Theodora could like an audible “I know!”
neither eat nor sleep. She was up early enough, but Theodora, on the whole, behaved very well.
instead of looking after the children and seeing that Her mother cried, her father whistled and said he
breakfast was ready, she wandered down the road to supposed he must put up with grounds in his cof-
meet the postman, and came back wan and empty- fee now, and be thankful if he ever got a hot meal
handed, oblivious of her morning duties. She had again; while the children took the most deafening
no idea how long the suspense would last; but she and harassing advantage of what seemed a sudden
didn’t see how authors could live if they were kept suspension of the laws of nature.
waiting more than a week. Within a week everybody in Norton knew that
Then suddenly, one afternoon—she never Theodora had written a novel, and that it was
quite knew how or when it happened—she coming out in the Home Circle. On Sundays,
found herself with a Home Circle envelope in her when she walked up the aisle, her friends dropped
hands, and her dazzled eyes flashing over a wild their prayer books and the soprano sang false in
dance of words that wouldn’t settle down and her excitement. Girls with more pin money than
make sense. Theodora had ever dreamed of copied her hats
“Dear Madam:” (They called her Madam! And and imitated her way of speaking. The local paper
then; yes, the words were beginning to fall into asked her for a poem; her old school teachers
line now.) “Your novel, ‘April Showers,’ has been stopped to shake hands and grew shy over their
received, and we are glad to accept it on the usual congratulations; and Miss Sophy Brill came to
terms. A serial on which we were counting for call. She had put on her Sunday bonnet and her
immediate publication has been delayed by the manner was almost abject.11 She ventured, very
author’s illness, and the first chapters of ‘April timidly, to ask her young friend how she wrote,
Showers’ will therefore appear in our midsummer whether it “just came to her,” and if she had found
number. Thanking you for favoring us with your that the kind of pen she used made any difference;
manuscript, we remain,” and so forth. and wound up by begging Theodora to write a
Theodora found herself in the wood beyond sentiment in her album.
the schoolhouse. She was kneeling on the ground, Even Uncle James came down from Boston to
brushing aside the dead leaves and pressing her talk the wonder over. He called Theodora a “sly
lips to the little bursting green things that pushed baggage,” and proposed that she should give him
up eager tips through last year’s decay. It was her earnings to invest in a new patent greasetrap
company. From what Kathleen Kyd had told
him, he thought Theodora would probably get a
10. A crepe bow is a piece of black fabric displayed as a sign of
mourning.
thousand dollars for her story. He concluded by

Reading Strategy Making and Verifying Predictions


What news do you think the envelope will contain? 11. Abject means “miserable.”

Big Idea Realism What do these descriptions of people’s


Vocabulary
reactions to Theodora’s success suggest about human
calamity (kə lam ə tē) n. an unfortunate event or disaster behavior?

ED IT H WHARTON 539
Trains at Paddington Station, London. 1910 .

suggesting that she should base her next romance when she reached home; but that didn’t mat-
on the subject of sanitation, making the heroine ter—nothing mattered now. She sank into her
nearly die of sewer gas poisoning because her seat, closing her eyes in the vain attempt to shut
parents won’t listen to the handsome young doc- out the vision of the last few hours; but minute
tor next door, when he warns them that their by minute memory forced her to relive it; she felt
plumbing is out of order. That was a subject that like a rebellious schoolchild dragged forth to
would interest everybody, and do a lot more good repeat the same detested “piece.”
than the sentimental trash most women wrote. Although she did not know Boston well, she
At last the great day came. Theodora had left an had made her way easily enough to the Home
order with the bookseller for the midsummer num- Circle building; at least, she supposed she had,
ber of the Home Circle and before the shop was open since she remembered nothing till she found her-
she was waiting on the sidewalk. She clutched her self ascending the editorial stairs as easily as one
precious paper and ran home without opening it. does incredible things in dreams. She must have
Her excitement was almost more than she could walked very fast, for her heart was beating furi-
bear. Not heeding her father’s call to breakfast, she ously, and she had barely breath to whisper the
rushed upstairs and locked herself in her room. Her editor’s name to a young man who looked out at
hands trembled so that she could hardly turn the her from a glass case, like a zoological specimen.
pages. At last—yes, there it was: “April Showers.” The young man led her past other glass cases
The paper dropped from her hands. What containing similar specimens to an inner enclo-
name had she read beneath the title? Had her sure which seemed filled by an enormous pres-
ence. Theodora felt herself enveloped in the
emotion blinded her?
presence, submerged by it, gasping for air as she
“April Showers, by Kathleen Kyd.”
sank under its rising surges.
Kathleen Kyd! Oh, cruel misprint! Oh, das-
Gradually fragments of speech floated to the
tardly typographer! Through tears of rage and dis-
surface. “‘April Showers?’ Mrs. Kyd’s new serial?
appointment Theodora looked again; yes, there
Your manuscript, you say? You have a letter from
was no mistaking the hateful name. Her glance me? The name, please? Evidently some unfortu-
ran on. She found herself reading a first paragraph nate misunderstanding. One moment.” And then
that she had never seen before. She read farther. a bell ringing, a zoological specimen ordered to
All was strange. The horrible truth burst upon unlock a safe, her name asked for again, the
her: It was not her story! manuscript, her own precious manuscript, tied
She never knew how she got back to the station. with Aunt Julia’s ribbon, laid on the table before
She struggled through the crowd on the plat- her, and her outcries, her protests, her interroga-
form, and a gold-banded arm pushed her into the tions, drowned in a flood of bland apology: “An
train just starting for Norton. It would be dark unfortunate accident—Mrs. Kyd’s manuscript
received the same day—extraordinary coinci-
Reading Strategy Making and Verifying Predictions dence in the choice of a title—duplicate answers
How does this turn of events compare with your predictions sent by mistake—Miss Dace’s novel hardly suited
about Theodora’s success? to their purpose—should of course have been

540 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS
returned—regrettable oversight—accidents They walked on slowly, and presently he
would happen—sure she understood.” added, “You see, you left the Home Circle lying in
The voice went on, like the steady pressure your room.”
of a surgeon’s hand on a shrieking nerve. When How she blessed the darkness and the muffled
it stopped she was in the street. A cab nearly sky! She could not have borne the scrutiny of
ran her down, and a car bell jangled furiously in the tiniest star.
her ears. She clutched her manuscript, carrying “Then mother wasn’t very much frightened?”
it tenderly through the crowd, like a live thing “Why, no, she didn’t appear to be. She’s been
that had been hurt. She could not bear to look busy all day over some toggery12 of Bertha’s.”
at its soiled edges and the ink stain on Aunt Theodora choked. “Father, I’ll—” She groped
Julia’s ribbon. for words, but they eluded her. “I’ll do things—dif-
The train stopped with a jerk and she opened ferently; I haven’t meant—” Suddenly she heard
her eyes. It was dark, and by the windy flare of gas herself bursting out: “It was all a mistake, you
on the platform she saw the Norton passengers know—about my story. They didn’t want it; they
getting out. She stood up stiffly won’t have it!” and she shrank
and followed them. A warm back involuntarily from his
wind blew into her face the fra- impending mirth.
grance of the summer woods, “The voice went She felt the pressure of his
and she remembered how, two arm, but he didn’t speak, and
months earlier, she had knelt on, like the she figured his mute hilarity.
among the dead leaves, pressing steady pressure of They moved on in silence.
her lips to the first shoots of Presently he said:
green. Then for the first time a surgeon’s hand “It hurts a bit just at first,
she thought of home. She had on a shrieking doesn’t it?”
fled away in the morning with- “O Father!”
out a word, and her heart sank nerve.” He stood still, and the gleam
at the thought of her mother’s of his cigar showed a face of
fears. And her father—how unexpected participation.
angry he would be! She bent her head under the “You see I’ve been through it myself.”
coming storm of his derision. “You, Father? You?”
The night was cloudy, and as she stepped into “Why, yes. Didn’t I ever tell you? I wrote a
the darkness beyond the station a hand was novel once. I was just out of college, and didn’t
slipped in hers. She stood still, too weary to feel want to be a doctor. No; I wanted to be a genius,
frightened, and a voice said, quietly: so I wrote a novel.”
“Don’t walk so fast, child. You look tired.” The doctor paused, and Theodora clung to him
“Father!” Her hand dropped from his, but he in a mute passion of commiseration.13 It was as if
recaptured it, and drew it through his arm. a drowning creature caught a live hand through
When she found voice, it was to whisper, “You the murderous fury of the waves.
were at the station?” “Father—O Father!”
“It’s such a good night I thought I’d stroll “It took me a year—a whole year’s hard work;
down and meet you.” and when I’d finished it the public wouldn’t
Her arm trembled against his. She could not see have it, either; not at any price and that’s why I
his face in the dimness, but the light of his cigar came down to meet you, because I remembered
looked down on her like a friendly eye, and she my walk home.” 
took courage to falter out: “Then you knew—”
“That you’d gone to Boston? Well, I rather
12. Toggery means “clothes.”
thought you had.” 13. Commiseration means “sympathy.”

Reading Strategy Making and Verifying Predictions Is


Literary Element Flashback What clues does this give this a comment you would have expected from Doctor Dace?
you about the chronology of the story? Why or why not?

ED IT H WHARTON 541
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. (a)How do you feel about Theodora? (b)Do you 5. (a)What tone does the narrator take toward
think she is a sympathetic character? Explain. Theodora, her novel, and her goals? (b)Do you think
the tone is appropriate? Why or why not?
Recall and Interpret
6. (a)How does Theodora feel about neglecting her
2. (a)At the start of “April Showers,” how does Theodora
responsibilities at home? (b)Is she right to feel this
feel about her novel? (b)How do you think the narra-
way? Explain.
tor feels about it? Explain.
7. (a)Irony occurs when what happens is the opposite of
3. (a)Describe Theodora’s reaction to both the letter
what is expected. What is ironic about the fact that
she receives from Home Circle and to the midsum- Theodora’s father meets her at the train station? (b)How
mer issue of the magazine. (b)In what ways are does your perception of his character change at the
these reactions similar? What does this tell you about end of the story?
Theodora’s character?
4. (a)When Theodora goes to Boston, what explanation Connect
does the editor at Home Circle give her for the con- 8. Would you advise Theodora to continue writing? Why
fusion over the novel? (b)What does this suggest to or why not?
you about the quality of Theodora’s novel?
9. Big Idea Realism In what ways does this story
demonstrate the techniques of Realism?

LI T E R A RY A N A LYS I S

Literary Element Flashback Review: Theme


In narrative writing, the author usually relates events in The theme of a piece of literature is a dominant idea,
chronological order, or the order in which they occur. often a universal message about life, that the writer
Sometimes, however, a writer disrupts a story’s time communicates to the reader. Most short stories have
sequence with a flashback to a scene that occurred one main, or central, theme. They may also have
before the narrative’s plot began. The writer may pre- secondary themes.
pare you for the flashback with a phrase such as ear-
Partner Activity Meet with a classmate to identify
lier that day or the previous week, but many writers
the central theme of “April Showers.” Working with
prefer to let readers figure it out themselves.
your partner, create a web diagram like the one below.
1. What clues in “April Showers” signal the two First, write the theme in the center oval. Then fill in the
flashbacks? outer ovals with evidence that supports the theme.
2. What purpose do these flashbacks serve in the
story?
Evidence Evidence
3. Is Wharton’s use of flashback effective in the story?
Why or why not?
Theme

Evidence Evidence

542 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


R E AD I N G A N D VO CA B U L A RY WRITI NG AN D EXTEN DI NG

Reading Strategy Making and Verifying Writing About Literature


Predictions Respond to Theme Theodora says that it is better to
Predictions About Plot Predictions can be made be an “obscure failure than a vulgar triumph” (page
about various aspects of a text. For example, as you read, 537). Write a brief response explaining why you agree
you might make predictions about a character’s motives, or disagree with this statement. Use evidence from the
the theme, or the outcome of a specific conflict. story and examples from your own experience to
Inevitably, the predictions you make will sometimes be defend your position.
wrong. In “April Showers,” Wharton intentionally withholds As you draft your essay, remember that in most para-
information in order to increase the dramatic tension.
graphs, the main idea is stated in a topic sentence,
However, Wharton does provide clues throughout the
and all the details in the paragraph develop that idea.
text that make it possible to predict the plot’s outcome.
The topic sentence is often at the beginning of each
1. What images, details, or descriptions did you notice
paragraph, but it can also be at the end or in the mid-
that seemed to hint at the story’s conclusion?
dle. Regardless of its location, the topic sentence
2. List any details you did not notice while reading should convey two things: what your topic is and what
that may seem relevant now. your paragraph will say about it. As you write your
essay, check to make sure that each paragraph
includes a topic sentence and adequate support.
Vocabulary Practice
After completing your draft, meet with a peer reviewer
Practice with Synonyms Find the synonym for
to evaluate each other’s work and to suggest revisions.
each vocabulary word listed in the first column.
Then proofread and edit your draft for errors in spell-
Use a dictionary or a thesaurus if you need help.
ing, grammar, and punctuation.
1. prosperous a. affluent b. wild
2. obscure a. unknown b. furious Literary Criticism
3. stupor a. muddle b. noise Group Activity In her discussion of Edith Wharton,
4. calamity a. hero b. catastrophe Claire Preston states that her “novels remain a rich
source of period understanding of manners, dress, cul-
tural and social mores, architecture and interiors.” As a
group, discuss what you learned about these aspects
Academic Vocabulary of Wharton’s era from reading “April Showers.”

Here are two words from the vocabulary list on


page R86. These words will help you think,
write, and talk about the selection.

notion (nōshən) n. a person’s ideas or impres-


sion about something
controversy (kontrə ver´sē) n. a disagreement
or dispute

Practice and Apply


1. How does Theodora’s notion of her father
change at the end of “April Showers”?
Time of Roses, ca. 1900. George Dunlop Leslie. Oil on canvas,
2. Why does Theodora’s writing cause controversy
24 x 181/4 in. Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany.
within her family?

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

ED IT H WHARTON 543
Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, NY
Vocabulary Workshop
Language Resources

º Technology Tip Using a Thesaurus


Many Internet and CD-
Connecting to Literature In “April Showers,” one character describes the
ROM thesauruses have
author Kathleen Kyd as a “pleasant, sociable kind of woman.” Pleasant and socia-
extra features such as
ble are synonyms, or words with similar meanings. Although some synonyms are
audio pronunication and
practically interchangeable, many have subtle differences in meaning or conno-
the ability to define a
tation. For example, pleasant is a general word that means agreeable or enjoyable,
word within an entry.
whereas sociable suggests agreeable or pleasing as a social companion. Recognizing
º Test-Taking Tip such differences in synonyms can improve your abilities in reading, writing, lis-
To decide whether two tening, and speaking.
words are synonyms, first
Most dictionaries list and explain the differences between synonyms, but for
determine what part of
many words you will need to search in a thesaurus. A thesaurus is a specialized
speech each word is.
dictionary of synonyms and antonyms, words with opposite meanings. There
Synonyms must always be
are a variety of formats for a thesaurus: CD-ROMs, word-processing software,
the same part of speech.
the Internet, and print. Thesauruses (or thesauri) are organized in two different
º Reading Handbook ways—the traditional-style thesaurus and the dictionary-style thesaurus.
For more about using a
thesaurus, see Reading Traditional Style Probably the best-known thesaurus is the traditional Roget’s
Handbook, p. R20. Thesaurus, which organizes large categories of words related to a basic concept.
To find a synonym for the verb taste, for example, browse through the index of
categories until you find the category senses, which includes the subentry taste.
The index will refer you to the page for the subentry, where you will find a list
of synonyms for taste.

Dictionary Style This type of thesaurus presents words in alphabetical order,


exactly as a dictionary does. Each word is followed by several synonyms, which
are grouped by part of speech. The entry also directs the reader to cross-referenced
entries. In this type of thesaurus, you must look up a specific word, such as taste or
eFlashcards For eFlashcards
and other vocabulary activities, go
sweet, to find its synonyms. When you find a synonym, look for it in the alphabetical
to www.glencoe.com. listing to find additional synonyms. J. I. Rodale’s The Synonym Finder is an example
of a dictionary-style thesaurus.

Exercise
OB J EC TIVES 1. Using a thesaurus, find two synonyms for each word below. Then look
• Use research tools such as
up the definitions of those synonyms in a dictionary to identify the pre-
a thesaurus.
• Analyze why an author cise meaning for each one.
uses particular language. a. pathetic c. muffled e. prosperous
b. linger d. precious
2. Using the above list of words and the synonyms you have found, use
each word in a sentence. Be sure that your sentences reflect the slight
differences in meaning between each group of synonyms.

54 4 U N IT 4
Comparing Literature Across Time and Place

Connecting to the Reading Selections


Have you ever had a relationship too complex to describe? Perhaps you have had a friendship
that ended in a way you did not expect. The three works compared here—by Kate Chopin,
Anton Chekhov, and Gabriela Mistral—attempt to re-create the eccentric behaviors and passion-
ate reactions of people in pivotal moments of a relationship. The fictional worlds in these selec-
tions analyze how human interactions continue to surprise us.

Kate Chopin
The Story of an Hour ............................................ short story .................. 548
One hour brings drastic changes
United States, 1894

Anton Chekhov
The Darling ................................................................. short story .................. 552
The engulfing power of love
Russia, 1899

Gabriela Mistral
Richness .................................................................................. poem .................. 560
Finding value in loss
Chile, 1922

COM PAR I NG TH E Big Idea Realism


The writers associated with Realism chose to depict life as they saw it rather than in a romanti-
cized or idealized way. The characters in Realistic literature are often ordinary people who
encounter struggles that are familiar to many people. Kate Chopin, Anton Chekhov, and Gabriela
Mistral portray characters in ways that reveal insights into them that often contrast with their
outward appearances.

COM PAR I NG Narratives About Relationships


Relationships are complex; two people can view the same relationship in vastly different ways.
These selections explore the interactions between people and the way these interactions con-
nect to larger themes about individuality and society.

COM PAR I NG Social Context


In these selections, the social context—the common values, habits, and beliefs of a certain soci-
ety—provides a way of understanding characters’ actions. In some cases, society creates roles
that limit the potential of the individual. At other times, social interaction is the saving grace in a
character’s existence.

COMPAR ING LIT ER ATURE 545


(t)Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY, (c b)Scala/Art Resource, NY
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

The Story of an Hour


M E E T K AT E C H O PI N Daring Pieces
During the next ten

K
years, Chopin published
ate Chopin (shō pan) was the first female
more than 100 short sto-
writer in the United States to portray
ries, two story collections,
frankly the passions and discontents of
and two novels. She earned
women confined to traditional roles as wives and
praise for early stories that captured
mothers. For this she was roundly condemned in
the local color of Louisiana. In later stories, Chopin
her time. Critics focused their wrath on the publi-
explored women’s issues considered controversial in
cation of her novel The Awakening, the story of a
her time. She modeled these stories on the work of
woman who abandons her husband and children to
Guy de Maupassant, the French master of the Realist
search for her true identity. Reviewers characterized
short story. Not surprisingly, she had difficulty finding
the novel as shocking, morbid, coarse, and vulgar.
magazines willing to publish her most daring pieces,
including “The Story of an Hour.”
Strong, Independent Women Chopin was born
Katherine O’Flaherty in St. Louis, Missouri. She grew Though acutely aware of the criticisms many of
up in the late Victorian period, a time when the ideal her stories received, Chopin was not prepared for
woman gave up her independence and devoted her- the reaction to The Awakening in 1899. The deluge
self to the will of her husband and to the welfare of of negative reviews destroyed her spirit. Chopin
her children. When Chopin was five, her father died continued to write, but by 1903 her health was
in a railroad accident—an event that is echoed in failing. After spending an entire day at the 1904
“The Story of an Hour.” She left school, and for the St. Louis World’s Fair, Chopin came home com-
next two years she studied at home with her mother, plaining of a severe pain in her head. Two days
grandmother, and great-grandmother. Growing up in later she died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
a household of strong, independent women did much
to shape Chopin as a person and a writer. Lonely Pioneer For more than fifty years after her
death, Chopin’s works were ignored. Then, in 1969,
at a time when the women’s movement in the
United States was gaining momentum, Per Seyersted
“The artist must possess the published a biography of Chopin and her complete
courageous soul that dares and defies.” works. His efforts galvanized modern readers hungry
to learn more about the woman who, according to
—Kate Chopin, The Awakening Chopin scholar Emily Toth, had written “the most
radical novel of the 1890s.” Today The Awakening is
one of the most read novels in colleges and universi-
At age twenty, Kate married Oscar Chopin and
ties across the United States. Kate Chopin is cele-
moved with him to New Orleans. Business prob-
brated as the lonely pioneer who dared to write
lems, however, soon forced them to move to Oscar’s
realistic portraits of women trapped and stifled by
rural hometown of Cloutierville, Louisiana, an area
the social conventions of their time.
that would later inspire many of Chopin’s stories.
When her husband died in 1882, Chopin was left Kate Chopin was born in 1850 and died in 1904.
with children to raise and support. She soon moved
back to St. Louis to be near her family. When her
mother died a year later, Chopin was overwhelmed
with grief. At her doctor’s advice, she turned to Author Search For more about
writing and published her first work in 1889. Kate Chopin, go to www.glencoe.com.

546 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


Missouri Historical Society
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Applying Background


In Kate Chopin’s story, a woman learns that her hus- Knowledge
band has died. Think about the following questions: Knowing the historical, social, and cultural forces that
• How would you feel if you learned that something influenced an author can help you understand his or
her writing. As you read “The Story of an Hour,” ask
you valued in life was taken from you?
• Under what circumstances might you sacrifice your yourself these questions:
own happiness for that of another person?
• How does the information you have read about
Kate Chopin affect your understanding of the story?
Building Background
Social tension marked the 1890s. While some women
• If you knew nothing about when or by whom the
story was written, how might your opinion of the
attended college and entered professions previously characters be different?
open only to men, many others were told that “the
woman’s place” was in the home. Although society glo-
rified the roles of wives and mothers, women had few
legal rights. For example, when Chopin’s husband died, Vocabulary
she had to petition the court to be appointed the legal elusive (i l¯¯¯
oo siv) adj. difficult to explain or
guardian of her own children. This male-dominated grasp; p. 549 The speaker’s elusive argument left
society was the world that Chopin knew and wrote the audience scratching their heads.
about. In much of her fiction, she criticized the institu-
tion of marriage and wrote about women who struggled tumultuously (t¯¯¯oo mul ch¯¯¯ oo əs lē) adv. in an
against social convention in expressing their individuality. agitated manner; violently; p. 549 The wind
blew across the plains, swirling tumultuously in
Setting Purposes for Reading every direction.

Big Idea Realism exalted (i zol təd) adj. elevated; p. 549 The
film star enjoyed the exalted status that fame
As you read, look for details that reveal Chopin’s realis-
afforded him.
tic description of Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts and emotions
when she learns of her husband’s death. perception (pər sep shən) n. an awareness; an
insight; p. 549 The music student acted modestly
Literary Element Conflict when she accepted the award in order to avoid the
perception that she had worked hard for it.
Conflict is the central struggle between two opposing
forces in a story or a drama. An external conflict exists persistence (pər sis təns) n. stubborn or deter-
when a character struggles against some outside force, mined continuance; p. 550 The reporter pursued
such as another person, nature, society, or fate. An the politician with a persistence that frustrated the
internal conflict is a struggle that takes place within campaign workers who tried to block his way.
the mind of a character who is torn between opposing
feelings, desires, or goals. As you read this story, deter- Vocabulary Tip: Antonyms Words that have
mine the types of conflict that are presented. opposite or nearly opposite meanings are called
antonyms. The words uplifting and degrading, for
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R4. example, are antonyms. Note that antonyms are
always the same part of speech.

Interactive Literary Elements


Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • applying background knowledge
• analyzing the characteristics of Realism • analyzing conflict

KATE CHOPIN 547


Kate Chopin

The Lady Anne, 1899. Edwin Austin Abbey.


Oil on canvas, 48 x 24 in. The Butler Institute
of American Art, Youngstown, OH.

548 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


The Butler Institute of American Art
nowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep
with a heart trouble, great care was taken to continues to sob in its dreams.
break to her as gently as possible the news of She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose
her husband’s death. It was her sister Josephine lines bespoke repression and even a certain
who told her, in broken sentences; veiled1 strength. But now there was a dull stare in her
hints that revealed in half concealing. Her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on
husband’s friend Richards was there, too, near one of those patches of blue sky. It was not a
her. It was he who had been in the newspaper glance of reflection, but rather indicated a sus-
office when intelligence of the railroad disaster pension of intelligent thought.
was received, with Brently Mallard’s name There was something coming to her and she
leading the list of “killed.” He had only taken was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did
the time to assure himself of its truth by a sec- not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name.
ond telegram, and had hastened to forestall2 But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching
any less careful, less tender friend in bearing toward her through the sounds, the scents, the
the sad message. color that filled the air.
She did not hear the story as many women Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously.
have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability She was beginning to recognize this thing that
to accept its significance. She wept at once, with was approaching to possess her, and she was
sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms. striving to beat it back with her will—as pow-
When the storm of grief had spent 3 itself she erless as her two white slender hands would
went to her room alone. She would have no one have been.
follow her. When she abandoned herself a little whis-
There stood, facing the open window, a comfort- pered word escaped her slightly parted lips.
able, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed She said it over and over under her breath:
down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her “free, free, free!” The vacant stare and the look
body and seemed to reach into her soul. of terror that had followed it went from her eyes.
She could see in the open square before her They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat
house the tops of trees that were all aquiver fast, and the coursing4 blood warmed and relaxed
with the new spring life. The delicious breath of every inch of her body.
rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a
was crying his wares. The notes of a distant monstrous joy that held her. A clear and exalted
song which some one was singing reached her perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion
faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering as trivial.
in the eaves.
There were patches of blue sky showing here
4. Coursing means “swiftly moving.”
and there through the clouds that had met and
piled one above the other in the west facing Literary Element Conflict How does this passage com-
her window. plicate the conflict?
She sat with her head thrown back upon the
cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except Reading Strategy Applying Background Knowledge
How does your knowledge of the Victorian era affect your
when a sob came up into her throat and shook
understanding of this passage?

1. Veiled means “disguised” or “obscure.” Vocabulary


2. Forestall means “to hinder or prevent by action taken elusive (i l¯¯¯
oo siv) adj. difficult to explain or grasp
in advance.” tumultuously (t¯¯¯ oo əs lē) adv. in an agitated
oo mul ch¯¯¯
3. Here, spent means “exhausted.” manner; violently
Literary Element Conflict Based on this passage, what do exalted (i zol təd) adj. elevated
you think the main conflict will be? perception (pər sep shən) n. an awareness; an insight

K AT E CHOPIN 549
She knew that she would weep again when “Go away. I am not making myself ill.” No;
she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; she was drinking in a very elixir of life6 through
the face that had never looked save5 with love that open window.
upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw Her fancy was running riot along those days
beyond that bitter moment a long procession of ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and
years to come that would belong to her abso- all sorts of days that would be her own. She
lutely. And she opened and spread her arms out breathed a quick prayer that life might be long.
to them in welcome. It was only yesterday she had thought with a
There would be no one to live for her during shudder that life might be long.
those coming years; she would live for herself. She arose at length and opened the door
There would be no powerful will bending hers to her sister’s importunities.7 There was a
in that blind persistence with feverish triumph in her
which men and women eyes, and she carried herself
believe they have a right to unwittingly like a goddess of
impose a private will upon a
fellow-creature. A kind inten- “Free! Body Victory. She clasped her sis-
ter’s waist, and together
tion or a cruel intention made they descended the stairs.
the act seem no less a crime and soul free!” Richards stood waiting for
as she looked upon it in that them at the bottom.
brief moment of illumination. she kept Some one was opening
And yet she had loved the front door with a latch-
him—sometimes. Often she whispering. key. It was Brently Mallard
had not. What did it matter! who entered, a little travel-
What could love, the unsolved stained, composedly carrying
mystery, count for in face of his grip-sack8 and umbrella.
this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly He had been far from the scene of accident,
recognized as the strongest impulse of her being! and did not even know there had been one. He
“Free! Body and soul free!” she kept whispering. stood amazed at Josephine’s piercing cry; at
Josephine was kneeling before the closed door Richards’ quick motion to screen him from the
with her lips to the keyhole, imploring for admis- view of his wife.
sion. “Louise, open the door! I beg; open the But Richards was too late.
door—you will make yourself ill. What are you When the doctors came they said she had died
doing, Louise? For heaven’s sake open the door.” of heart disease—of joy that kills. 

5. Here, save means “except.”


6. An elixir (i liksər) of life is a substance thought to prolong
Big Idea Realism Why does Chopin include this informa- life indefinitely.
tion about Mrs. Mallard’s relationship with her husband? 7. Importunities are persistent requests or demands.
8. A grip-sack is a small traveling bag.
Vocabulary Reading Strategy Applying Background Knowledge
persistence (pər sis təns) n. stubborn or determined How does this passage reflect what you know about
continuance Chopin’s writing?

550 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
A F TE R YO U R E A D

RESP ON DI NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. At what points in the story did you feel sorry for 5. What is your opinion of Mrs. Mallard? Support your
Mrs. Mallard? Explain. How did the end of the story evaluation with details from the story.
affect you?
6. How does Mrs. Mallard’s admission that often she
Recall and Interpret had not loved her husband affect your evaluation
of her character?
2. (a)How does Mrs. Mallard first react to the news
about her husband? (b)What does her reaction 7. How would this story be different if it were set in
indicate about her feelings toward him? the present rather than at the end of the nine-
teenth century? Explain.
3. (a)How do Mrs. Mallard’s feelings change while
she is in her room? (b)Why might she fear this Connect
change at first but later welcome it?
8. Big Idea Realism How does the central conflict
4. (a)What words does the narrator use to describe of this story illustrate the idea that Chopin wrote
Mrs. Mallard as she leaves her room? (b)How realistic portraits of women’s lives? Support your
might the others interpret her appearance? answer with details from the story.

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R EAD I N G AN D VO CAB U L ARY

Literary Element Conflict Reading Strategy Applying Background


The events of a story develop its conflict. The conflict Knowledge
builds until the story reaches a climax, which is the An author’s message becomes more apparent when
point of greatest emotional intensity. The story then you apply background knowledge to your reading. This
concludes with the resolution, or the final outcome reading strategy can help you infer the commentary
of the conflict. that Chopin’s story makes about the institution of mar-
1. Identify the conflict in Chopin’s story. Is this conflict riage in Victorian America.
external or internal? Explain why. Partner Activity Review your answers to the
2. How does Chopin develop this conflict? At what Reading Strategy questions on page 547. Meet with
point does the conflict reach its climax? another classmate to compare how you each applied
background information to the selection.
3. What is the resolution of the conflict?

Vocabulary Practice
Writing About Literature
Practice with Antonyms Find the antonym for
Evaluate Author’s Craft The original title of “The each boldfaced word.
Story of an Hour” was “The Dream of an Hour.”
1. elusive
How are the titles similar? Different? Why might
a. knowable b. vague
Chopin have chosen to change the title? Which title
2. tumultuously
do you think is more appropriate? Why? Write a
a. simply b. peacefully
paragraph or two in which you answer these ques-
3. exalted
tions.
a. lowered b. enchanted
4. perception
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
a. incomprehension b. awareness
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to 5. persistence
www.glencoe.com. a. insistence b. reluctance

KATE CHOPIN 551


Anton Chekhov

B EF O R E YO U R E A D
Building Background
Anton Chekhov studied both medicine and literature. receiving a medical scholarship and supported his
He eventually focused on his literary pursuits, becoming family by writing comic articles for newspapers and
a master of the short story as well as Russia’s most magazines. In medicine, his role models were doctors
revered playwright. His realistic stories, which focus on who worked for rural governments. He saw their work
atmosphere and character rather than plot and action, as altruistic. Later, Chekhov served as a doctor himself,
became an essential influence on modern literature. providing medical support during a cholera epidemic
Chekhov’s substantial place in literature comes in part in 1892. He died of tuberculosis.
from his ability to reveal how ordinary events can have
Anton Chekhov was born in 1860 and died in 1904.
a huge impact on people’s lives.
Born in southern Russia, Chekhov grew up apart from Author Search For more about
his parents. He rejoined them in Moscow after Anton Chekhov, go to www.glencoe.com.

Olenka,1 the daughter of retired collegiate assessor alone, and it was bliss to think it would soon be
Plemyannikov, sat on the porch in her yard, lost in evening. Dark rain-clouds were moving up from the
thought. It was hot, the flies wouldn’t leave her east, preceded by occasional wafts of humid air.
In the middle of the yard Snookin, manager-
proprietor of the Tivoli Pleasure Gardens, who
1. Olenka is a nickname for Olga. In Russia, people are often lodged across the yard in Olenka’s fliegel,2 stood
informally referred to by their given name and then a gazing at the sky.
patronymic, which is a variation of their father’s given name.
If the father’s name were Ivan, the son’s patronymic name
would be Ivanovich, and the daughter’s would be Ivanovna. 2. A fliegel is a small house on the property of a larger house
Semyonovna is Olga’s patronymic. that might be rented out.

552 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
Scala/Art Resource, NY
“Not again!” he was saying in despair. “Not breathing with difficulty; then she had loved her
rain again! Day after day, day after day, rain, rain, aunt, who came to visit them every other year from
rain! Just my luck! What I have to put up with! Bryansk;5 and earlier still she had loved the French
I’m ruined! I’m losing huge sums every day!” master at her school. She was a quiet, good-
Throwing up his hands, he turned to Olenka natured, tender-hearted girl, with soft gentle eyes,
and said: and in the best of health. Looking at her plump
“You see what our life’s like, Olga Semyonovna. rosy cheeks and soft white neck with its dark birth-
Enough to make you weep! You work hard and do mark, at the innocent, kindly smile on her face
your best, you worry and have sleepless nights, whenever she was listening to something pleasant,
you’re always thinking of improvements—and men said to themselves, “yes, not a bad one, that,”
what’s the result? Take audiences for a start. and smiled, too, while her female visitors could not
They’re nothing but ignorant savages. I give them refrain from seizing her by the hand in the middle
the best operetta and pantomime, top-quality of a conversation and exclaiming with delight:
burlesque,3 but is that what they want? Do they “You’re such a darling!”
appreciate it? No, they want some vulgar little The house she had lived in all her life and was
peepshow. Then take the weather. Rain almost due to inherit stood on the edge of town in Gypsy
every evening. May 10th it started, and it’s been Lane, not far from the Tivoli, so that in the eve-
at it right through May and June. Appalling! The nings and at night, hearing the band playing and
public stays away, but who has to pay the rent, I the rockets going off with a bang, she imagined this
ask you? Who has to pay the performers?” was Snookin challenging his fate and taking his
Clouds began gathering at the same time chief enemy, the indifferent public, by storm; her
next day. heart would melt, she didn’t feel a bit sleepy, and
“Oh yes, let it all come!” Snookin said, laugh- when he returned home in the early hours, she
ing hysterically. “Let it flood the whole Gardens would knock softly on her bedroom window and,
and take me with it! I don’t deserve any happiness letting him see through the curtains only her face
in this world or the next! Let the performers take and one shoulder, smile affectionately. . . .
me to court! Why stop at that? Make it penal ser- He proposed and they were married. Now that
vitude in Siberia! The scaffold!4 Ha-ha-ha!” he could see her neck and both her plump healthy
It was the same next day. . . . shoulders properly, he threw up his hands and said:
Olenka said nothing but listened to Snookin “You darling, you!”
gravely, and sometimes tears came to her eyes. In He was happy, but since it rained on the wed-
the end his misfortunes moved her and she fell in ding day and on the wedding night, the look of
love with him. He was short and skinny, with a sal- despair never left his face.
low complexion and hair combed back off the tem- Life went well after the marriage. She sat in his
ples, he spoke in a high-pitched tenor, twisting his box office, supervised the Gardens, wrote down
mouth as he did so, and his face wore an expression expenses and paid out salaries, and you’d catch a
of permanent despair—yet he aroused in her deep glimpse of her rosy cheeks and sweetly innocent,
and genuine emotion. She was constantly in love radiant smile at the box office window one moment,
with someone and could not live otherwise. behind stage the next, and now in the refreshment
Previously she had loved her Papa, now an invalid bar. Already she was telling her friends that nothing
sitting in his armchair in a darkened room and in the world was so remarkable, so important and
necessary as the theatre, and only in the theatre
3. An operetta is a form of opera that includes elaborate
could you experience real enjoyment and become
dancing and music, as well as a romantic, usually comic plot. an educated, civilized human being.
A pantomime relies on body movement to tell a story. A “But does the public appreciate that?” she
burlesque, usually a series of comic short skits, uses would say. “What they want is a peepshow.
exaggeration to ridicule.
Yesterday we did Faust Inside Out and almost all
4. The governments of Imperial Russia and the Soviet Union
sent criminals to Siberia, an area known for being remote
and having a harsh climate. Here, scaffold refers to the
platform on which a criminal is executed. 5. Bryansk is a Russian city southwest of Moscow.

ANT ON C HEKHOV 553


the boxes were empty, but if we’d
put on something vulgar, me and
Vanya,6 we’d have been packed
out, I can tell you. Tomorrow
we’re doing Orpheus in the
Underworld, me and Vanya, why
don’t you come?”
Whatever Snookin said about
the theatre and the actors, she
repeated. Like him, she despised
the public for its indifference to
art and its ignorance, interfered
in rehearsals, corrected the actors
and made sure the musicians
behaved, and whenever there was
a bad notice in the local press,
she would cry and then go round
to the editorial office to have it
out with them.
The actors were fond of her
and called her “Me and Vanya”
and “The Darling.” She felt sorry
Russian Woman at the Window, 1923. Boris Kustodiev. Watercolor over pencil
for them and gave them small on paper, 24.3 x 21.5 cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Kostroma, Russia.
loans, and if they let her down, she
just had a quiet cry and said nothing
to her husband. delayed in Moscow but said he’d be back by
Life went well that winter, too. They hired the Easter, and his letters were already giving her
town theatre for the whole season and rented it instructions about the Tivoli. But on the Sunday
out for short periods to a Ukrainian troupe, a before Easter, late at night, there was a sudden
conjuror, and the local amateur dramatic com- ominous knocking outside. Someone was bang-
pany. Olenka put on weight and positively radi- ing on the gate until it started booming like a
ated well-being, but Snookin looked thin and barrel. The sleepy cook ran to answer, her bare
sallow, and complained of huge losses, even feet splashing in the puddles.
though business was quite good all winter. At “Open up, please!” someone outside was say-
night he coughed and she gave him raspberry or ing in a deep bass. “Telegram for you!”
lime-blossom tea to drink, rubbed him with eau- Olenka had received telegrams from her hus-
de-Cologne and wrapped him in her soft shawls. band before, but now for some reason she felt
“My wonderful little man!” she would say with petrified. She opened it with trembling hands
complete sincerity, as she stroked his hair. “My and read as follows:
handsome little man!” “Ivan Petrovich8 died suddenly today suchly
During Lent7 he went off to Moscow to await instructions funreal Tuesday.”
engage a new company, and in his absence she That was what the telegram said, “funreal”
couldn’t sleep, but sat by the window looking at and the other meaningless word “suchly”; it was
the stars. She was like the hens, she thought, signed by the producer of the operetta company.
which stay awake all night and are restive when “My darling!” Olenka sobbed. “My sweet dar-
the cock isn’t in the henhouse. Snookin was ling little Vanya! Why did I ever meet you? Why
did I come to know you and love you? Who’s
6. Vanya is a nickname for Ivan, which is Snookin’s given name.
7. Lent is a period of fasting and self-denial prior to the celebra-
tion of Easter that is observed by some Christian denominations. 8. Ivan Petrovich is Snookin’s name.

554 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, NY
going to look after your poor wretched Olenka in the office until evening, doing the accounts
now you’ve abandoned her?” and dispatching orders.
Snookin was buried on the Tuesday at the “Timber’s going up by twenty percent a year
Vagankovo Cemetery in Moscow. Olenka now,” she would tell customers and friends. “In
returned home on Wednesday and as soon as she the past we used to get our timber locally, but
entered her room, flung herself down on the bed now, imagine, my Vasya10 has to fetch it every
and sobbed so loudly she could be heard in the year from Mogilyov Province. And the freight
street and the neighboring yards. charges!” she would say, covering both cheeks
“Poor darling!” the women neighbors said, with her hands in horror. “The freight charges!”
crossing themselves. “She is taking it badly, poor She felt that she had been dealing in timber
darling Olga Semyonovna!” for ages and ages, and it was the most vitally
Three months later Olenka, in full mourning, important thing in life, and the words joist,
was returning home sadly one day from church. batten, offcut, purlin,11 round beam, short
It so happened that a neighbor of hers, Vasily beam, frame and slab, were like dear old friends
Andreich Pustovalov, manager of the merchant to her. At night she dreamed of whole moun-
Babakayev’s timber yard, was also returning from tains of boards and battens, of never-ending
church and walking alongside her. He was wear- convoys of carts carrying timber somewhere
ing a straw hat and a white waistcoat9 with a far beyond the town; she dreamed of a whole
gold watch-chain, and looked more like a land- regiment of beams, thirty feet by nine inches,
owner than a tradesman. marching upright into battle against the tim-
“Everything has to take its proper course, Olga ber yard, and how beams, joists and slabs
Semyonovna,” he was saying soberly, with a sym- banged together with the resounding thud of
pathetic note in his voice, “and if someone dear dry wood, falling over and then righting
to us dies, that means it is God’s wish, so we must themselves, piling up on top of each other.
contain ourselves and bear it with resignation.” Olenka would cry out in her sleep and
After seeing Olenka to her gate, he said good- Pustovalov would say to her tenderly:
bye and walked on. For the rest of the day she “What’s the matter, Olenka dear? Better cross
kept hearing that sober voice, and she had only yourself!”12
to close her eyes to picture his dark beard to her- Whatever thoughts her husband had, she had
self. She liked him very much. Evidently she had also. If he thought the room was too hot or busi-
made an impression on him, too, for not long ness had become quiet, she thought the same.
afterwards an elderly lady, whom she scarcely Her husband did not like any entertainments
knew, came to drink coffee with her, and had no and on holidays stayed at home; so did she.
sooner sat down at the table than she started talking “You’re always at home or in the office,”
about Pustovalov, what a good, reliable man he was friends said to her. “You should go to the theatre,
and how any young lady would be delighted to have darling, or the circus.”
him for a husband. Three days later Pustovalov “Me and Vasya have no time for theatres,” she
himself paid her a visit, stayed no more than about replied soberly. “We’re working folk, we can’t be
ten minutes and said little, but Olenka fell for him bothered with trifles. What do people see in
so completely that she lay awake all night feeling those theatres, anyway?”
hot and feverish, and next morning sent for the On Saturdays she and Pustovalov attended the
elderly lady. The match was quickly arranged, then all-night vigil, and on feast days early-morning ser-
came the wedding. vice. Afterwards, walking home side by side, they
Life went well for Pustovalov and Olenka after
their marriage. He would usually stay at the tim- 10. Vasya is a nickname for Vasily.
ber yard until lunch and then go out on business, 11. A joist is a type of wood beam; a batten is a piece of wood
whereupon Olenka would take his place and stay used on a boat or in a floor; an offcut is a small piece of
wood; a purlin is a piece of wood used in a roof.
12. Pustovalov is suggesting that Olenka make the sign of a
9. A waistcoat is an ornamental vest worn under a jacket. cross to help keep away her nightmare.

ANT ON C HEKHOV 555


both looked deeply moved, they smelt fragrant, When Pustovalov returned, she would tell him
and her silk dress rustled agreeably. At home in a hushed voice about the vet and his unhappy
they drank tea, with rich white bread and var- family situation, and both would sigh, shake
ious jams, then they had pie. Every day at their heads and talk of how the boy must be
noon the yard and the street outside the gates missing his father; then, by some strange associa-
were filled with the appetizing smell of tion of ideas they would both kneel before the
borsch13 and roast lamb or duck, or fish on icons,18 prostrate themselves and pray that God
fast days, and no one could walk past without might send them children.
beginning to feel hungry. In the office the Thus did the Pustovalovs live for six years,
samovar14 was always on the boil, and custom- quietly and peacefully, in love and complete har-
ers were treated to tea and buns. Once a week mony. But one winter’s day at the yard Vasily
the couple went to the baths and walked home Andreich went out bare-headed to dispatch some
side by side, both red in the face. timber after drinking hot tea, caught cold and
“We’re not complaining,” Olenka told her fell ill. He was treated by the best doctors, but
friends. “Life’s going well, praise be to God. the illness took its course and he died four
May God grant everyone as good a life as me months later.
and Vasya.” Olenka had become a widow again.
When Pustovalov went off to Mogilyov “Who will look after me now, my darling?” she
Province for timber, she missed him terribly and sobbed, after burying her husband. “How can I
could not sleep at night for crying. Sometimes possibly live without you? I’m so wretched and
she had an evening visit from the young man unhappy! Pity me, good people, I’m all alone
renting her fliegel, a regimental vet15 called now. . . .”
Smirnin. He would tell her about something or She wore a black dress with weepers,19 having
they’d play cards, and this cheered her up. She vowed never to wear a hat or gloves again, went
was particularly interested to hear about his out seldom and then only to church or to her
own family life: he was married with a son, but husband’s grave, and lived at home like a nun.
had separated from his wife because she’d been Six months passed before she discarded the
unfaithful, and now he hated her and sent her weepers and began opening her shutters. Some
forty roubles16 a month for the boy’s mainte- mornings she was to be seen shopping for food in
nance. As she listened, Olenka sighed and the market with her cook, but people could only
shook her head, and felt sorry for him. surmise how she was living now and what her
“The Lord be with you,” she would say, bidding domestic arrangements were. They surmised
him good night and lighting him to the top of the when they saw her, for example, sitting in her
stairs with a candle. “It was kind of you to while little garden drinking tea with the vet while he
away your time with me, may God and the Holy read the newspaper out to her, and also when she
Mother watch over you. . . .” bumped into a female friend at the post office
She always expressed herself in the same sober, and was heard to say:
judicious tones, imitating her husband. The vet “Our town has no proper veterinary inspection
was already disappearing behind the downstairs and that gives rise to many illnesses. You’re
door when she would call him back and say: always hearing of people being infected by milk
“Vladimir Platonych,17 don’t you think you or catching diseases from horses and cows. We
should make it up with your wife? Forgive her, if really ought to treat the health of domestic ani-
only for your son’s sake! That little chap knows mals as seriously as we do that of human beings.”
just what’s going on, be sure of that.” She repeated the vet’s thoughts and now
shared his opinions on everything. It was clear

13. Borsch is beet soup.


14. A samovar is a type of urn used to make tea in Russia. 18. Here, icons refers to religious images, often painted on
15. Here, vet is short for veterinarian. wood and used in religious practices.
16. Roubles is an alternate spelling of rubles, Russian currency. 19. Here, weepers means “a veil worn as a symbol of
17. Vladimir Platonych is Smirnin’s formal name. mourning.”

556 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
But this happiness did not
last long. The vet departed
with his regiment, and since
they had been transferred
somewhere very distant, practi-
cally to Siberia, his departure
was permanent.
Olenka was left on her own.
This time she was completely
on her own. Her father had
long since died, and his arm-
chair, with one leg missing, was
gathering dust in the attic. She
became plain and thin, and
people meeting her in the street
no longer looked at her and
smiled as they used to; her best
years were evidently gone for
Portrait of Vasily Mathé, 1902. Boris Kustodiev. Oil on canvas, good, now a new, unknown life
125 x 151 cm. The Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. was beginning that did not bear thinking about.
In the evenings Olenka sat on her porch and
that she could not survive even for a year
could hear the band playing and the rockets
without an attachment and had found her new
going off at the Tivoli, but this no longer made
happiness in the fliegel next door. Anyone else
her think of anything. She gazed apathetically at
would have been condemned for this, but no one
her empty yard, had no thoughts or desires, and
could think ill of Olenka, her whole life was so
when night fell, went to bed and dreamed of her
transparent. She and the vet did not tell anyone
empty yard. She seemed reluctant even to eat or
about the change that had taken place in their
drink.
relationship and tried to conceal it, but without
But the worst thing of all was no longer
success, because Olenka could not keep a secret.
having any opinions. She saw objects round
When regimental colleagues came to visit him
her and understood everything that was going
and she was pouring out their tea or serving sup-
on, but she could not form opinions about
per, she would start talking about cattle plague,
anything and did not know what to talk about.
pearl disease,20 and the municipal slaughter-
How awful it is not to have an opinion! You
houses. This made him terribly embarrassed, and
see a bottle, for example, standing there, or
as they were leaving, he would seize her by the
the rain falling, or a peasant going along in his
arm and hiss angrily:
cart, but what the bottle or rain or peasant are
“Haven’t I told you before not to talk about
for, what sense they make, you can’t say and
things you don’t understand? When we vets are
couldn’t say, even if they offered you a thou-
talking shop, please don’t butt in. It’s extremely
sand roubles. In Snookin’s and Pustovalov’s
tedious.”
time, and then with the vet, Olenka could
She would look at him in alarm and astonish-
explain everything and give her opinion on
ment, and say:
any subject you liked, whereas now her mind
“But Volodya21 dear, what am I to talk about?!”
and heart were as empty as the yard outside. It
With tears in her eyes she embraced him
was a horrible, bitter sensation, like a mouth-
and begged him not to be angry, and they
ful of wormwood.22
were both happy.

20. Pearl disease is a blood disease in cattle.


21. Volodya is Smirnin’s nickname (his first name is Vladimir). 22. Wormwood is a plant that produces a bitter oil.

ANT ON C HEKHOV 557


Scala/Art Resource, NY
The town has gradually expanded in all direc- time he went to grammar school. I’ve made it up
tions. Gypsy Lane is now called a street, and where with my wife, you know.”
the Tivoli and the timber yards once stood, houses “And where is she now?” Olenka asked.
have sprung up and there are a number of side “At the hotel with the boy while I go round
streets. How time flies! Olenka’s house looks dingy, looking for lodgings.”
the roof has rusted, the shed is leaning to one side, “But good heavens, have my house, dear!
and the yard is completely overgrown with weeds Far better than lodgings. Oh heavens above,
and stinging nettles.23 Olenka herself has grown I don’t want any rent,” Olenka went on,
older and plainer. In summer she sits on her porch, becoming agitated and bursting into tears
with the same feeling of emptiness, boredom, and again. “You live here and the fliegel will do
bitterness in her soul as before, in winter she sits by for me. Wonderful!”
her window gazing at the snow. If she feels the Next day they were already painting the
breath of spring, or hears the sound of cathedral roof and whitewashing the walls, and Olenka
bells carried on the wind, memories suddenly flood was walking about the yard, arms on hips, giv-
in, tugging at her heart-strings, and copious tears ing orders. Her face shone with its old smile,
stream down her face; but this lasts only a minute, and everything about her was fresh and lively,
then the same emptiness and sense of futility as if she had just woken from a long sleep.
returns. Her black cat Bryska snuggles up to her, The vet’s wife arrived, a thin, unattractive
purring softly, but Olenka is unmoved by these woman with short hair and a peevish expres-
feline caresses. Is that what she needs? No, she sion. With her came the boy, Sasha, who was
needs the kind of love that will possess her com- small for his age (he was over nine) and
pletely, mind and soul, that will provide her with chubby, with bright blue eyes and dimpled
thoughts and a direction in life, and warm her cheeks. He had no sooner set foot in the yard
aging blood. She bundles black Bryska off her lap than he began chasing the cat, and his merry,
and says irritably: joyful laughter rang out.
“Go away . . . I don’t want you here!” “Is that your cat, Auntie?” he asked Olenka.
It’s the same day after day, year after year—she “When it has babies, will you give us one, please?
doesn’t have a single joy in life or a single opinion. Mamma’s scared stiff of mice.”
Whatever Mavra the cook says is good enough. Olenka chatted to him and gave him tea,
One hot July day, towards evening, when the and suddenly felt a warm glow and pleasurable
town cattle were being driven past and clouds of tightening in her heart, as if this boy were her
dust had filled the yard, all of a sudden someone own son. And when he was sitting in the din-
knocked at the gate. Olenka went to open it her- ing-room repeating his lessons in the eve-
self, took one look and was completely dumb- nings, she would look at him with tenderness
founded: Smirnin the vet was standing there, and pity, and whisper:
grey-haired and in civilian clothes. Suddenly “My darling, my pretty little child. . . . You’re
everything came back to her, she broke down and so clever and your skin is so fair.”
burst into tears, laid her head on his chest without “An island,” he read out, “is an area of dry
saying a word, and was so overcome that after- land surrounded on all sides by water.”
wards she had no recollection of how they went “An island is an area of dry land . . .” she
into the house together and sat down to drink tea. repeated, and this was the first opinion she had
“Vladimir Platonych,” she murmured, trembling expressed with confidence after all those years of
with joy, “dearest! Whatever brings you here?” silence and emptiness of mind.
“I’d like to settle down here permanently,” he Now she had her own opinions and talked to
told her. “I’ve resigned my commission and come Sasha’s parents over supper about how hard chil-
to try my luck as a civilian, leading a settled life. dren had to work at grammar school these days,
Then there’s my son, he’s growing up and it’s but all the same a classical education was better
than a modern one, because every career was
23. Stinging nettles are a perennial herb with sharp leaves and open to you afterwards—doctor, engineer, what-
white flowers. ever you wished.

558 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
Sasha had begun attending the grammar school. and people meeting her in the street feel pleasure
His mother went away to her sister’s in Kharkov as they look at her, and say:
and did not come back, his father went off some- “Olga Semyonovna darling, good morning!
where every day to inspect herds and might be away How are you, darling?”
for three days at a time, and Olenka felt that Sasha “They have to work so hard at grammar school
was being completely neglected, his parents didn’t these days,” she tells them in the market. “It’s no
want him and he must be starving to death; so she laughing matter. Yesterday the first year had a fable
transferred him to her fliegel and fixed him up in a to learn by heart and a Latin translation and a math
little room there. problem. . . . How can a small boy cope?”
Six months have now passed since Sasha began She goes on to talk about teachers and lessons
living in her fliegel. Every morning Olenka goes and textbooks—repeating exactly what Sasha
into his room: he is fast asleep with his hand under tells her.
his cheek, breathing imperceptibly. She is sorry to Between two and three they have their meal
have to wake him. together, and in the evening they do Sasha’s home-
“Sashenka,” she says sadly, “get up, dear! Time work together and cry. Putting him to bed, she
for school.” spends a long time making the sign of the cross over
He gets up, dresses, says his prayers, and then sits him and whispering a prayer, then, on going to bed
down to drink tea; he drinks three glasses and con- herself, she pictures that distant hazy future when
sumes two large rolls and half a French loaf with Sasha has finished his degree and become a doctor
butter. Still not fully awake, he is in a bad mood. or an engineer, has his own large house with horses
“You didn’t learn your fable properly, you and a carriage, marries and has children. . . . She
know, Sashenka,” Olenka says, looking at him as falls asleep still thinking about it all, and tears run
if about to see him off on a long journey. “What down her cheeks from her closed eyes. The black
a worry you are to me. You must make an effort cat lies purring by her side: mrr, mrr, mrr. . . .
to learn, dear, and do as the teachers say.” Suddenly there’s a loud knock at the gate.
“Oh, stop nagging!” says Sasha. Olenka wakes up, too terrified to breathe. Her
Then he walks along the street to school, a heart is thumping. Half a minute passes, then
small boy in a big cap, with a satchel on his there’s another knock.
back. Olenka follows silently behind. “It’s a telegram from Kharkov,” she thinks, begin-
“Sashenka-a!” she calls. ning to tremble all over. “Sasha’s mother wants him
He looks round, and she pops a date or a cara- to live with her in Kharkov. . . . Oh heavens!”
mel into his hand. When they turn into the She is in despair. Her head, arms and legs
school street, he feels ashamed at being followed turn cold, she feels the unhappiest person in the
by this tall, stout woman, looks round and says: world. But another minute passes and she hears
“You go home now, Auntie, I’ll do the last bit voices. It’s the vet, he’s come back from his club.
on my own.” “Oh, thank God,” she thinks.
She stops and keeps her eyes fixed on him until Gradually the pressure on her heart eases and
he disappears through the school entrance. Oh, how she feels relaxed again. She lies down and thinks
she loves him! Not one of her previous attachments of Sasha, who is sleeping soundly in the room
has been so deep, never before has she surrendered next door. From time to time he starts talking in
herself so wholeheartedly, unselfishly and joyfully as his sleep:
now, when her maternal feelings are being kindled “I’ll show you! Get out! Stop fighting!” 
more and more. For this boy, who is not hers, for his
cap and his dimpled cheeks, she would give away Quickwrite
her whole life, and do so with gladness and tears of
emotion. Why? Who can possibly say why? Olenka is described as being “constantly in love”
and unable to live without love. How does love
After seeing Sasha off, she returns home qui-
affect Olenka? In what ways is her need for love
etly, feeling so calm and contented, and overflow-
both beneficial and detrimental to her? Write a short
ing with love. In these last six months her face
response explaining your views.
has become younger, she is smiling and radiant,

ANT ON C HEKHOV 559


Gabriela Mistral
Tr a n s l a t e d b y D o r i s D a n a

B E F O R E YO U R EA D

Building Background
Gabriela Mistral (a brē ā la mēs tral) sat I have a faithful joy
unnoticed in the crowd when she received her and a joy that is lost.
first literary award. The 25-year-old was so shy One is like a rose,
that she had another poet accept it for her. In the other, a thorn.
1945, however, Mistral was in the center of the 5 The one that was stolen
literary spotlight when she became the first Latin I have not lost.
American writer to receive the Nobel Prize for I have a faithful joy
Literature. and a joy that is lost.
Mistral was born Lucila Godoy Alcayaga in I am as rich with purple
Vicuña, Chile, north of the capital city of Santiago. 10 as with sorrow.
Her pen name comes from two of her favorite Ay! How loved is the rose,
writers, the Italian poet Gabriele D’Annunzio and how loving the thorn!
the French Provençal poet Frédéric Mistral. Many Paired as twin fruit,
of her poems explore themes of suffering and I have a faithful joy
compassion, and the Bible was one of her most 15 and a joy that is lost.
important influences. Mistral spent her last years
in Long Island, New York.
Gabriela Mistral was born in 1889 and died
in 1957.
Quickwrite
Mistral describes two sides of experience in this
poem—joy and sorrow. She suggests the “richness”
of life includes both of these feelings. Describe how
Author Search For more about the poem links joy and sorrow, exploring how the
Gabriela Mistral, go to www.glencoe.com. imagery adds to the theme. Cite evidence from the
poem in your response.

560 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


Christie’s Images/CORBIS
Wrap-Up: Comparing Literature Across Time and Place

• The Story of an Hour • The Darling • Richness


Kate Chopin Anton Chekhov Gabriela Mistral

COM PAR I NG TH E Big Idea Realism


Group Activity In creating verisimilitude, or the illusion of reality in a literary work, Realist writers
tend to focus more on the motivations of characters than on advancing a plot. These writers strive to
portray the confusion and contradiction of their characters. Discuss how Mrs. Mallard in “The Story of
an Hour,” Olenka in “The Darling,” and the speaker in “Richness” each respond to their problems.

1. Do you find their circumstances and their responses realistic?


2. What contradictions do you find in their thoughts and behaviors?
3. What misconceptions might other characters have about the main character or speaker?

COM PAR I NG Narratives About Relationships


Writing Write a short-response essay comparing and contrasting how each quotation below rep-
resents the benefits and difficulties each character finds in relationships.

“She said it over and over under her breath: ‘free,


free, free!’”
—Kate Chopin, “The Story of an Hour”

“No, she needs the kind of love that will possess her
completely, mind and soul, that will provide her with
thoughts and a direction in life, and warm her aging
blood.”
—Anton Chekhov, “The Darling”

“One is like a rose, A Friendly Call, 1895. William Merritt Chase. Oil on canvas.
the other, a thorn.” National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
—Gabriela Mistral, “Richness”

COM PAR I NG Social Context


Partner Activity Social context, or the values and morals of society, plays a role in each of
these selections. Chopin and Chekhov both use the actions and dialogue of various characters to
reveal social context. However, Mistral renders the feelings of the poem’s speaker in isolation
from social context. With a partner, discuss the following questions.

1. Compare and contrast the use of social context in the stories by Chopin and Chekhov.
2. How does the lack of social context affect the reader’s understanding of Mistral’s poem?

O B J EC TIVES
• Compare and contrast authors’ messages. • Evaluate narratives about relationships.
• Compare works associated with Realism. • Analyze social context.

COMPARING LITERATURE 561


William Merritt Chase/National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, USA/Bridgeman Art Library
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Douglass and We Wear the Mask


M E E T PAU L L AU R E NC E D U N BA R Oak and Ivy, which
he sold to elevator
passengers and at
recitals. After it
“I know why the caged bird sings, ah was published, he
me, . . . When he beats his bars and joined Frederick
Douglass at the
he would be free. . . . ” Chicago World’s
—Paul Laurence Dunbar, “Sympathy” Fair, where he
gave recitations of
his poetry. His sec-
ond volume, Majors

T
hese words aptly describe the complex and Minors, came out
plight of Paul Laurence Dunbar. To in 1895 and was fol-
reach an audience for his poetry, he lowed by Lyrics of a Lonely
often felt he had to “sing” within the con- Life in 1896. He married Alice
straints of the taste and prejudice that domi- Ruth Moore, an African American poet, in
nated his times. 1898. When the influential writer and critic
William Dean Howells favorably reviewed
A Midwestern Childhood One of the first Majors and Minors, Dunbar found himself
African American writers to attain national famous and in great demand across the United
recognition, Dunbar was the son of formerly States and in England as a reader.
enslaved people. He grew up hearing their sto- Much to Dunbar’s despair, the poems he wrote
ries of pre-Emancipation days, which would in black dialect—he called them “jingles in a
later provide a wealth of material for his work. broken tongue”—were his best-received works.
Dunbar had a close relationship with his He also wrote novels, librettos, short stories,
mother throughout his life, but his father died and Standard English poems, but these received
when Dunbar was only twelve years old. little attention from critics and readers. His
Dunbar was the only African American student poetry eventually garnered him a clerkship at
at his Dayton, Ohio, high school. He excelled the Library of Congress. Toward the end of his
at his studies, edited the school paper, wrote life, he told James Weldon Johnson, “I have
plays for the drama club, and became class pres- never really gotten to the things I really wanted
ident. Despite his success in school, he could to do.” Despite this sentiment, he was the first
not afford college and had trouble finding a job African American who was able to live solely
in a newspaper or a legal office. He worked on the profits of his writing, and his home
instead as an elevator operator and spent time became the first state memorial to an African
writing between calls for the elevator. With American.
help from the Wright Brothers—who owned a Paul Laurence Dunbar was born in 1872 and died
printing business in addition to pioneering avia- in 1906.
tion—he published the Dayton Tattler, an
African American newsletter.

Dunbar the Poet Dunbar took out a loan Author Search For more about
in 1893 to publish his first volume of poetry, Paul Laurence
this author, go Dunbar, go to www.glencoe.com.
to www.literature.glencoe.com.

562 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Poems Reading Strategy Clarifying Meaning


Sometimes it is difficult to express one’s feelings. If you have trouble understanding a passage, you
As a result, one might try to conceal them from may need to carefully reread the section that con-
others. For example, one might be afraid but hide fuses you to better comprehend its meaning. Be
behind a “mask” of confidence. As you read sure to read any footnotes and definitions that
Dunbar’s poems, ask yourself these questions: accompany the text and look for context clues to
define unfamiliar words.
• What kinds of “masks” do people wear and why?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of masks? Reading Tip: Paraphrasing One way to clarify
meaning is to paraphrase, or state a passage in
Building Background your own words. When paraphrasing a poem, look
Dunbar wrote two kinds of poetry. He was known for natural breaks in thoughts—at the ends of lines
and loved for his sentimental verse, written in dia- or stanzas and at end punctuation. Paraphrase each
lect, about an idyllic, pastoral, pre-Civil War planta- section, then add them together to form complete
tion life. However, this portion of his work has led thoughts. For example, here is one way to para-
some to criticize him for failing to confront the phrase lines 11–14 of “Douglass”: Today, when
issues of racial stereotypes and discrimination. Yet, there is so much disagreement, and we have no
Dunbar also produced less popular poems in leaders whom we can trust, we need your clear
Standard English that meditate on love, nature, or voice, guiding arm, and inspiring presence to com-
death; express pride in African Americans; or fort us in difficult times.
lament thwarted efforts to live and create freely.
“Douglass” and “We Wear the Mask” are examples
Vocabulary
of his Standard English poems.
salient (sāl yənt) adj. prominent or conspicu-
Setting Purposes for Reading ously noticeable; p. 564 Arrogance was a salient
aspect of his personality.
Big Idea Naturalism
Naturalism held that people often faced challenges tempest (tem pist) n. a violent storm; p. 564
beyond their control. As you read, consider how much The trees shook wildly in the tempest.
control Dunbar seems to have felt he had over his dissension (di sen shən) n. disagreement or dis-
own life and the challenges he faced. cord; p. 564 There was dissension in the drama
club over which play to perform.
Literary Element Rhyme Scheme
guile ( ¯ l) n. deceit or slyness; p. 565 She
The pattern formed by end rhymes in a stanza or swayed the jury with her guile.
poem is called a rhyme scheme. If you assign a
different letter to each ending sound in “Douglass,” vile (v¯ l) adj. repulsive or digusting; p. 565
you can chart the rhyme scheme like this: abba, The smell of the rotten fish was vile.
abba, cdcdcd. As you read, chart the rhyme
scheme of “We Wear the Mask.” Vocabulary Tip: Denotation and Connotation A
word’s denotation is its literal, or dictionary, mean-
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R15. ing. A word’s connotation, however, is the feeling
or association the word suggests.
Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following:
• analyzing Naturalism • identifying rhyme scheme
• paraphrasing to clarify meaning • expanding vocabulary

PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR 56 3


Paul Laurence Dunbar

Ah, Douglass,1 we have fall’n on evil days,


Such days as thou, not even thou didst know,
When thee, the eyes of that harsh long ago
Saw, salient, at the cross of devious ways,
5 And all the country heard thee with amaze.
Not ended then, the passionate ebb and flow,2
The awful tide that battled to and fro;
We ride amid a tempest of dispraise.

Now, when the waves of swift dissension swarm,


10 And Honor, the strong pilot, lieth stark,3
Oh, for thy voice high-sounding o’er the storm,
For thy strong arm to guide the shivering bark,4
The blast-defying power of thy form,
To give us comfort through the lonely dark.

1. Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery and became


a great speaker and leader in the abolition movement.
2. Ebb and flow means “fall and rise.”
3. Stark means “stiffly” or “rigidly.”
The Life of Frederick Douglass #30,1939. Jacob Lawrence.
4. A bark is a type of boat.
Casein tempera on hardboard, 12 x 177/8 in.
Reading Strategy Clarifying Meaning What does the
speaker tell Douglass in the first two lines?

Big Idea Naturalism From this statement, do you think


that the speaker feels like he has control over his circum-
stances?

Vocabulary
salient (sālyənt) adj. prominent or conspicuously
noticeable
tempest (tempist) n. a violent storm
dissension (di senshən) n. disagreement or discord

564 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
Photograph Courtesy of Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence/Art Resource, NY
Paul Laurence Dunbar

We wear the mask that grins and lies,


It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
5 And mouth with myriad1 subtleties.2
Back Home from Up the Country. Romare Bearden.
Why should the world be overwise, Romare Bearden Foundation/VAGA, New York.
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.

10 We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries


To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
15 We wear the mask!

1. Myriad means “countless” or “innumerable.”


2. Subtleties are things so slight that they are barely
perceptible.

Literary Element Rhyme Scheme What is the rhyme


scheme of this poem? What is the effect of the word mask?

Vocabulary
guile (̄l) n. deceit or slyness
vile (v̄l) adj. repulsive or disgusting

PAUL LAUR ENC E D UNBAR 565


Christie’s Images/CORBIS/Romare Bearden Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Which lines in these poems had the greatest 5. The speaker in “Douglass” addresses his words
emotional impact on you? Explain your choices. directly to Frederick Douglass, even though
Douglass had died by the time the poem was writ-
ten. What is the purpose of this apostrophe, or
Recall and Interpret direct address to an absent person?
2. (a)According to the speaker in “Douglass,” how
does the present time compare to Douglass’s 6. Evaluate how well the extended metaphor used by
time? (b)What does the speaker wish that the speaker in “Douglass” represents the struggle
Douglass could do? the speaker is describing.

3. (a)What words does the speaker in “We Wear the 7. Do you think the theme, or central message, of
Mask” use to describe the mask? (b)Who wears “We Wear the Mask” is relevant today? Explain.
the mask, and why must it be worn?
Connect
4. (a)What reality is hidden behind the mask?
8. Big Idea Naturalism Naturalist writers believed
(b)What words and images describe this reality?
social pressures shaped human destiny. Do you
see evidence of this belief in Dunbar’s poems?
Explain.

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Rhyme Scheme Reading Strategy Clarifying Meaning


A rhyme scheme is the pattern formed by end Paraphrase the lines below. It will be easier to para-
rhymes in a stanza or a poem. phrase if you refer to the poems to clarify the context.
1. Compare the rhyme scheme of “We Wear the This debt we pay to human guile;
Mask” with that of “Douglass.” How do the rhyme With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
schemes in the poems differ? And mouth with myriad subtleties.
2. What letter in “We Wear the Mask” represents an
entire repeated line, or refrain? Vocabulary Practice
Practice with Denotation and Connotation
Literary Criticism Each of the following pairs of words have similar
Partner Activity Editor Dennis Poupard wrote of denotations. In each pair, decide which word has
Dunbar’s Standard English poems, “These poems stronger negative connotations.
consistently examine the nature and possibility of 1. a. tempest b. thunderstorm
personal freedom.” Discuss with a partner whether
2. a. slyness b. guile
this statement applies to “Douglass” and “We Wear
the Mask.” Support your points with evidence from 3. a. disgusting b. vile
the poems.

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

566 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Richard Cory and


Miniver Cheevy
M E E T E DW I N A RLI NGTON RO BI NSON

E
dwin Arlington Robinson devoted his life became well known for his
almost exclusively to writing poetry, but poetic structure based on natural
recognition and success did not come easily. diction and skillful rhyming pat-
Describing his childhood in Gardiner, Maine, as stark terns within stanzas. His later works
and unhappy, he once wrote to a friend that by the include several long narrative poems in blank verse,
time he was six years old he wondered why he had which were often expanded versions of the psycholog-
been born. He began writing at an early age because ical portraits he wrote during his earlier period.
he felt “doomed, or elected, or sentenced for life, to Robinson was not an experimental poet, yet his
the writing of poetry.” As a high school student, he poems do break with the traditions of nineteenth-
practiced writing in intricate verse forms under the century romantic verse in their use of precise, conver-
guidance of a local poet. He continued to write during sational language and irregular lines.
the two years he attended Harvard University until Struggle for Recognition Robinson’s first two
family financial problems forced him to leave and books of poems, The Torrent and the Night Before and
return to a troubled home. Robinson’s father died in The Children of the Night, were published in 1896 and
1892, and his mother died of diphtheria in 1896. One 1897 at his friends’ expense. Robinson moved to New
of Robinson’s brothers became a drug addict, and the York City in 1897 when he was twenty-eight and
other became an alcoholic; both died early. poverty-stricken. He held a variety of jobs there but
made little money and was unable to get more of his
poems published. He was rescued from his desperate
“I used to read about clearness, force, state by President Theodore Roosevelt, who had read
and admired some of his work. Roosevelt arranged a
and elegance in the rhetoric books, but position for Robinson at the U.S. Customs House in
I’m afraid I go in chiefly for force. . . . New York, an easy job that enabled him to write
without worrying about money. Robinson dedicated
There are too many elegant men in the his third collection, The Town Down by the River, to
world just now and they seem to be the president. He left his position at the Customs
increasing.” House in 1909 to devote himself entirely to his
writing. Robinson was generally ignored by both
—Edwin Arlington Robinson critics and the public until relatively late in his
career. The first collection that brought him critical
acclaim was The Man Against the Sky, published in
1916. His later works include a trilogy based on
Hope and Despair The subjects of Robinson’s Arthurian legend, Merlin, Lancelot, and Tristram,
character studies are often people who feel defeated which was his biggest critical and popular success at
or frustrated by life and who lack a sense of direction. the time. Eventually, Robinson won three Pulitzer
Most of his poems are written with an ironic tone, Prizes and became one of America’s favorite poets.
contain philosophical themes, and end tragically. Edwin Arlington Robinson was born in 1869 and died
However, Robinson was not a true pessimist. He in 1935.
believed that life has meaning despite its hardships
and that there is hope beyond what he described as
“the black and awful chaos of the night.” Most of Author Search For more about
Robinson’s early poems are dramatic lyrics, and he Edwin Arlington Robinson, go to www.glencoe.com.

EDWIN ARLINGT ON R OBINSON 567


Bettmann/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W READI NG PREVI EW

Connecting to the Poems Reading Strategy Making Inferences


Have you ever been extremely sad or felt that you About Characters
were isolated and misunderstood? As you read You make inferences when you use reason and your
Robinson’s poems, think about these questions: experience to understand meaning that is implied but
• How does sorrow affect the title characters? not stated directly. As you read Robinson’s portraits of
• What do you think is a good way to deal with Richard Cory and Miniver Cheevy, look for the clues
that the poet offers about each man’s public and pri-
unhappiness?
vate “faces”—how they appear to the world around
them and how they appear to themselves.
Building Background
More than sixty of Robinson’s earliest and best-known Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart to record the
poems are set in Tilbury Town, a fictional setting modeled inferences you draw from the details presented.
on the poet’s hometown, Gardiner, Maine. Robinson is
daringly realistic in his portrayal of the town and its inhab-
itants. The people that he writes about tend to be loners Detail Inference
and misfits, as Robinson often felt himself to be. The p. 569 Richard Cory
characters in Tilbury Town feel pressured to conform, and “He was a takes care of his
their creativity is wasted through their own despair or gentleman from appearance and
because of the neglect and misunderstanding of others. sole to crown” dresses appropriately.

Setting Purposes for Reading


Big Idea Naturalism Vocabulary
Robinson’s poetry often focuses on characters who
imperially (im pēr ē əl ē) adv. majestically;
seem to have little control over their lives or who are
magnificently; p. 569 The queen walked imperi-
unable to cope with the scientific, social, and environ-
ally into the palace.
mental forces that affect them. As you read, notice
how Richard Cory and Miniver Cheevy react to assail (ə sāl ) v. to attack violently; p. 570
these forces. The ship was assailed by the heavy storm.
fragrant (frā rənt) adj. having a strong, pleas-
Literary Element Irony ant smell; p. 570 The fragrant roses made the
apartment look and smell lovely.
Irony is a contrast or discrepancy between appearance
and reality. In literature it is often accompanied by grim incessantly (in ses ənt lē) adv. continually; hap-
humor. Be aware of what appears to be true and what pening over and over without interruption; p.
is actually true as you read these poems. 570 Alison’s brother incessantly asked for a cookie.
scorned (skornd) v. treated with open con-
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R10. tempt; rejected something as worthless; p. 570
The angry citizens scorned the mayor’s proposal.

Vocabulary Tip: Denotation and Connotation


A word’s denotation is its literal, or dictionary,
Interactive Literary Elements meaning. A word’s connotation, however, is the
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements, feeling or association the word suggests.
go to www.glencoe.com.

OB J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • analyzing irony
• understanding characteristics of Realism and Naturalism • making inferences about characters

56 8 U N IT 4 REGIONALISM AND REALISM


Edwin Arlington Robinson

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,


We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored,1 and imperially slim.

S11-108-01C-635423 5 And he Mark


Bodoni/customized was always quietly arrayed,2
U4T6 And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
“Good-morning,” and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich—yes, richer than a king—


10 And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine,3 we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,


And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
15 And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Man with the Cat (Henry Sturgis Drinker), 1898. Went home and put a bullet through his head.
Cecilia Beaux. Oil on canvas, 48 x 345/8 in. Bequest of
Henry Ward Ranger through the National Academy of
Design. Smithsonian American Art Museum,
Washington, DC.

1. Clean favored means “having a tidy appearance.”


2. Arrayed means “dressed.”
3. In fine means “in short.”

Reading Strategy Making Inferences About Characters


What can you infer about Richard Cory’s relationship with the peo-
ple based on the speaker’s description?

Vocabulary
imperially (im pērē əl ē) adv. majestically; magnificently

EDWIN ARLIN GT ON R OBINSON 569


Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC/Art Resource, NY
Miniver Cheevy, child of scorn,
Grew lean while he assailed the seasons;
He wept that he was ever born,
And he had reasons.

5 Miniver loved the days of old


When swords were bright and steeds were prancing;
The vision of a warrior bold
Would set him dancing.

Miniver sighed for what was not,


10 And dreamed, and rested from his labors;
He dreamed of Thebes1 and Camelot,2
And Priam’s3 neighbors.
Edwin Arlington Robinson
Miniver mourned the ripe renown
That made so many a name so fragrant;
15 He mourned Romance, now on the town,4
And Art, a vagrant.

S11-109-01C-635423 Bodoni Miniver loved the Medici,5


Mark
U4T6 Albeit he had never seen one;
Drop cap font = Arkona
He would have sinned incessantly
20 Could he have been one.

Miniver cursed the commonplace


And eyed a khaki suit with loathing;
He missed the mediæval grace
Of iron clothing.

25 Miniver scorned the gold he sought,


But sore annoyed was he without it;
Miniver thought, and thought, and thought,
And thought about it.

Miniver Cheevy, born too late,


30 Scratched his head and kept on thinking;
Miniver coughed, and called it fate,
And kept on drinking.

1. Thebes (thēbz) was a city-state in ancient Greece.


Vocabulary 2. Camelot is the legendary site of King Arthur’s court.
3. In Homer’s Iliad, Priam was the king of Troy.
assail (ə sāl) v. to attack violently
4. On the town means “on welfare.”
fragrant (frārənt) adj. having a strong, pleasant smell 5. Medici (med i chē) refers to a noble, rich, and powerful
incessantly (in sesənt lē´) adv. continually; happening family in Florence, Italy (1300—1500).
over and over without interruption
scorned (skornd) v. treated with open contempt; rejected Literary Element Irony What is the verbal irony in
something as worthless these lines?

570 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. What was your reaction to the last line in each 5. (a)What is ironic about Richard Cory’s life and
poem? Give reasons for your answer. death? (b)Do you find Cory a sympathetic figure?
Explain.
Recall and Interpret
6. (a)What is the speaker’s tone, or attitude, toward
2. (a)Summarize the speaker’s description of Richard the title character in “Miniver Cheevy”? (b)How
Cory. (b)In what ways does Cory’s life differ from does the speaker’s tone affect your own attitude
the lives of the “people on the pavement”? toward Cheevy?
3. (a)What does Richard Cory do “one calm summer
night”? (b)What does this action suggest about Connect
Cory’s quality of life? 7. Big Idea Naturalism Richard Cory has wealth;
4. (a)What does Miniver Cheevy blame for his Miniver Cheevy is obsessed with the art and culture
unhappiness? (b)What do you think is the real of the past. According to Robinson, why do money
reason he is unhappy? Explain. and art not necessarily make people happy or help
them overcome their limitations?

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Irony Reading Strategy Making Inferences


Situational irony occurs when the actual outcome of About Characters
a situation is the opposite of what is expected. Verbal When you make inferences about characters, you use
irony occurs when the meaning of a statement is the clues in the text to find information stated indirectly.
opposite of what is said.
1. What clues indicate that the townspeople regard
Partner Activity How does Robinson use situational Richard Cory as many people regard royalty?
and verbal irony to reveal details about the various
characters—including the townspeople—in these 2. What details lead you to understand that Miniver
poems? Discuss this question with one or more Cheevy is an unhappy person who is unable or
classmates. unwilling to improve his quality of life?

Reading Further Vocabulary Practice


Practice with Denotation and Connotation
For more of Edwin Arlington Robinson’s poetry, see
For each of the vocabulary words listed below, tell
these books:
which word in parentheses is the word’s denota-
Collected Poems (1921) and The Man Who Died tion and which is its connotation.
Twice (1924) were awarded the Pulitzer Prize.
1. fragrant (scented, perfumed)
Merlin (1917), Lancelot (1920), and Tristram (1928) 2. incessantly (relentlessly, repeatedly)
are long narrative poems based on the legends of 3. scorned (rejected, disdained)
King Arthur. Robinson received his third Pulitzer Prize
for Tristram.

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

EDWIN ARLINGT ON R OBINSON 571


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

The Open Boat


M E E T ST E PH E N C R A N E Live Quick; Write Fast
Crane’s second novel,

B
The Red Badge of
y the time he reached college, Stephen Crane
Courage: An Episode
was better known for his baseball-playing skills
of the American Civil
than for his scholarly achievements. Within a
War, appeared first
decade, however, Crane’s rebelliousness toward his
as a syndicated news-
schooling, his upbringing, and society at large would
paper feature in 1894
help shape a short but prolific literary career. In his
and became a best-
work, Crane embraced a pessimistic realism that
seller in 1895. At
undermined earlier, romanticized visions of human
age twenty-four, the
experiences. In fiction, as in journalism, Crane por-
struggling journalist
trayed life as it was, not as one wished it were.
had reached international fame with the novel’s
success. In The Red Badge of Courage, Crane
turned his power for acute observation inward,
“A man said to the universe: exploring the psychology of a Civil War soldier
‘Sir, I exist!’ who grapples with his fear, cowardice, and pride
in battle. Ironically, Crane became famous for
‘However,’ replied the universe, his realistic portrayal of a soldier during battle
‘The fact has not created in me even though he had not yet experienced war
firsthand and was born six years after the Civil
A sense of obligation.’” War ended. Nonetheless, many veterans
—Stephen Crane, “War Is Kind” applauded his ability to re-create the internal
tension experienced during combat. In late
1895, Crane published a book of poems, The
Black Riders and Other Lines, to less favorable
Bowery Life The fourteenth child of a Methodist reviews.
minister and his devout wife, Crane chafed against
Fascinated with danger and war, Crane covered
the constraints of structured family life. University
the Greco-Turkish War in Greece and the
life left him with much the same feeling, and he
Spanish-American War in Cuba. He then settled
attended classes sporadically before leaving college
in Sussex, England, in 1899, heavily in debt and
entirely to work as a newspaper writer. As a free-
ill with tuberculosis and recurrent malarial fever.
lance reporter, Crane lived in the Bowery district
Years of exposure, poor food, and lack of treat-
of Manhattan, reporting on the poverty of the dis-
ment ended Crane’s life at twenty-eight.
trict’s slums through firsthand experience. His
observations of Bowery life eventually became the Crane is known as a man who “lived quickly and
basis for his controversial first novel, Maggie: A wrote fast.” Despite a brief literary career, his stud-
Girl of the Streets (1893). Crane’s sympathetic but ies of characters overwhelmed by uncontrollable
starkly realistic portrayal of New York slum life circumstances still resonate today. As Sherwood
repelled publishers; he finally published the novel Anderson noted, “Stephen Crane was a craftsman.
at his own expense under the pseudonym Johnston The stones he put in the wall are still there.”
Smith. Crane’s harsh story did not sell well.
However, critics Hamlin Garland and William
Dean Howells noticed Crane’s talent and became Author Search For more about
his mentors. Stephen Crane,gogototowww.literature.glencoe.com.
Author Name, www.glencoe.com.

572 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


Bettmann/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Summarizing


What do you think it might be like to fight for your life? Summarizing means stating the main ideas of a
In “The Open Boat,” four men struggle to survive in selection or passage in your own words and in a logi-
the Atlantic Ocean. As you read the story, think about cal sequence. Summarizing will help you understand
the following questions: and think about what you have read.

• How do one’s priorities change in times of great Reading Tip: Answering the 5 Ws Use a chart to
danger?
help you answer the who, what, where, when, and
• How much of survival depends on personal will, why questions about the passage you’re summarizing.
and how much depends on outside circumstances?

Building Background Quotation: “After a search, somebody produced three


As a war correspondent, Stephen Crane traveled from dry matches, and thereupon the four waifs rode impudently
Jacksonville, Florida, to Cuba aboard the steamship in their little boat, and with an assurance of an impending
Commodore in January 1897. The ship sank, and Crane rescue shining in their eyes, puffed at the big cigars and
and three others faced the raging Atlantic in a ten-foot judged well and ill of all men.”
dinghy until they managed to reach the Florida coast.
Afterward, Crane published a fictionalized account in
Who What Where When Why
The four
Scribner’s Magazine. The tale then became the title members of
story in his book The Open Boat and Other Tales of the crew in
Adventure. Throughout the story, Crane maintains sus- the dinghy
pense by pulling the characters between illusion and
reality, hope and despair.

Setting Purposes for Reading Vocabulary


Big Idea Naturalism
uncanny (un ka nē) adj. strangely unsettling;
Like other Naturalists, Crane does not soften his depiction eerie; p. 576 Yoshi found the presence of two dead
of the struggle his characters face. As you read, notice birds on the path uncanny.
how the characters in “The Open Boat” are continually at
the mercy of environmental forces. emphatic (em fa tik) adj. forceful; p. 576 Jon
gave one last emphatic push, and the door opened.
Literary Element Author’s Purpose ingenuously (in jen ū əs lē) adv. honestly;
frankly; p. 578 The child talked ingenuously to the
An author’s purpose is his or her intent in writing a
doctor about his broken arm.
literary work. For example, an author may want to
inform, entertain, persuade, or express an opinion. An impudently (im pyə dənt lē) adv. in an offen-
author’s purpose may be expressed through direct sively bold manner; p. 579 The politician spoke
commentary, through the dialogue, actions, and so impudently that few voters trusted him.
thoughts of the characters, or through tone, word
coerce (kō urs ) v. to force; p. 587 The boy
choice, and narrative point of view. As you read, look
coerced his sister into giving him all her candy.
for places in the story where Crane reveals his purpose.

• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R2. Vocabulary Tip: Context Clues Context clues are
the words and sentences around an unfamiliar
Interactive Literary Elements word that help you figure out the word’s meaning.
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • analyzing Naturalism
• understanding the literary movement of Naturalism • summarizing

STEPHEN CRANE 573


Stephen Crane

A tale intended to be after the fact. Being the The oiler,2 steering with one of the two oars
experience of four men from the sunk steamer in the boat, sometimes raised himself suddenly
Commodore . . . to keep clear of water that swirled in over the
stern.3 It was a thin little oar and it seemed often
I ready to snap.
None of them knew the color of the sky. Their The correspondent, pulling at the other oar,
eyes glanced level, and were fastened upon the watched the waves and wondered why he was
waves that swept toward them. These waves there.
were of the hue of slate, save for the tops, which The injured captain, lying in the bow, was at
were of foaming white, and all of the men knew this time buried in that profound dejection and
the colors of the sea. The horizon narrowed and indifference which comes, temporarily at least, to
widened, and dipped and rose, and at all times its even the bravest and most enduring when, willy
edge was jagged with waves that seemed thrust nilly,4 the firm fails, the army loses, the ship goes
up in points like rocks. down. The mind of the master of a vessel is
Many a man ought to have a bathtub larger rooted deep in the timbers of her, though he
than the boat which here rode upon the sea. command for a day or a decade, and this captain
These waves were most wrongfully and barba- had on him the stern impression of a scene in
rously abrupt and tall, and each froth-top was the grays of dawn of seven turned faces, and later
a problem in small boat navigation. a stump of a top-mast with a white ball on it that
The cook squatted in the bottom and looked slashed to and fro at the waves, went low and
with both eyes at the six inches of gunwale1 lower, and down. Thereafter there was something
which separated him from the ocean. His sleeves
were rolled over his fat forearms, and the two
flaps of his unbuttoned vest dangled as he bent 2. The oiler is the person responsible for oiling machinery in
to bail out the boat. Often he said: “Gawd! That the engine room on a ship.
was a narrow clip.” As he remarked it he invari- 3. The stern is the rear part of a boat or ship.
4. Willy nilly means “whether one wishes it or not.”
ably gazed eastward over the broken sea.
Big Idea Naturalism How does this passage reflect
characteristics of Naturalism?
1. A gunwale is the upper edge of the side of a boat.

574 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


strange in his voice. Although steady, it was deep occupy their minds. The sun swung steadily up
with mourning, and of a quality beyond oration5 the sky, and they knew it was broad day because
or tears. the color of the sea changed from slate to emer-
“Keep’er a little more south, Billie,” said he. ald green, streaked with amber lights, and the
“‘A little more south,’ sir,” said the oiler in the foam was like tumbling snow. The process of the
stern. breaking day was unknown to them. They were
A seat in this boat was not unlike a seat upon aware only of this effect upon the color of the
a bucking bronco, and, by the same token, a waves that rolled toward them.
bronco is not much smaller. The craft pranced In disjointed sentences the cook and the cor-
and reared, and plunged like an animal. As each respondent argued as to the difference between a
wave came, and she rose for it, she seemed like a lifesaving station and a house of refuge. The
horse making at a fence outrageously high. The cook had said: “There’s a house of refuge just
manner of her scramble over these walls of water north of the Mosquito Inlet Light, and as soon as
is a mystic thing, and, moreover, at the top of they see us, they’ll come off in their boat and
them were ordinarily these problems in white pick us up.”
water, the foam racing down from the summit of “As soon as who see us?” said the correspondent.
each wave, requiring a new leap, and a leap from “The crew,” said the cook.
the air. Then, after scornfully bumping a crest, “Houses of refuge don’t have crews,” said the
she would slide, and race, and splash down a correspondent. “As I understand them, they are
long incline and arrive bobbing and nodding in only places where clothes and grub are stored for
front of the next menace. the benefit of shipwrecked people. They don’t
A singular disadvantage of the sea lies in the carry crews.”
fact that after successfully surmounting one wave “Oh, yes, they do,” said the cook.
you discover that there is another behind it just “No, they don’t,” said the correspondent.
as important and just as nervously anxious to do “Well, we’re not there yet, anyhow,” said the
something effective in the way of swamping oiler, in the stern.
boats. In a ten-foot dinghy one can get an idea “Well,” said the cook, “perhaps it’s not a house
of the resources of the sea in the line of waves of refuge that I’m thinking of as being near
that is not probable to the average experience, Mosquito Inlet Light. Perhaps it’s a lifesaving
which is never at sea in a dinghy. As each slaty6 station.”
wall of water approached, it shut all else from “We’re not there yet,” said the oiler, in the
the view of the men in the boat, and it was not stern.
difficult to imagine that this particular wave was
the final outburst of the ocean, the last effort of II
the grim water. There was a terrible grace in the
As the boat bounced from the top of each wave,
move of the waves, and they came in silence,
the wind tore through the hair of the hatless
save for the snarling of the crests.
men, and as the craft plopped her stern down
In the wan7 light, the faces of the men must
again the spray slashed past them. The crest of
have been gray. Their eyes must have glinted
each of these waves was a hill, from the top of
in strange ways as they gazed steadily astern.
which the men surveyed, for a moment, a broad
Viewed from a balcony, the whole thing would
tumultuous8 expanse, shining and wind-riven. It
doubtlessly have been weirdly picturesque. But
was probably splendid. It was probably glorious,
the men in the boat had no time to see it, and if
this play of the free sea, wild with lights of emer-
they had had leisure there were other things to
ald and white and amber.
“Bully good thing it’s an onshore wind,” 9 said
5. An oration is a formal speech.
the cook. “If not, where would we be? Wouldn’t
6. Slaty means “having the bluish gray color of slate.” have a show.”
7. Wan means “pale.”

Literary Element Author’s Purpose Why does Crane


8. Tumultuous means “agitated” or “turbulent.”
have the narrator address the reader in this paragraph?
9. An onshore wind is one that blows toward the shore.

ST EPHEN CRANE 575


“That’s right,” said the correspondent. to alight on the top of the captain’s head. The
The busy oiler nodded his assent. bird flew parallel to the boat and did not cir-
Then the captain, in the bow, chuckled in a cle, but made short sidelong jumps in the air
way that expressed humor, contempt, tragedy, all in chicken-fashion. His black eyes were wist-
in one. “Do you think we’ve got much of a show, fully fixed upon the captain’s head. “Ugly
now, boys?” said he. brute,” said the oiler to the bird. “You look as if
Whereupon the three were silent, save for a you were made with a jackknife.” The cook and
trifle of hemming and hawing. To express any the correspondent swore darkly at the creature.
particular optimism at this time they felt to be The captain naturally wished to knock it away
childish and stupid, but they all doubtless pos- with the end of the heavy painter,13 but he did
sessed this sense of the situation in their mind. A not dare do it, because anything resembling an
young man thinks doggedly10 at such times. On emphatic gesture would have capsized this
the other hand, the ethics of their condition was freighted boat, and so with his open hand, the
decidedly against any open suggestion of hope- captain gently and carefully waved the gull
lessness. So they were silent. away. After it had been discouraged from the
“Oh, well,” said the captain, soothing his chil- pursuit the captain breathed easier on account
dren, “we’ll get ashore all right.” of his hair, and others breathed easier because
But there was that in his tone which made the bird struck their minds at this time as being
them think, so the oiler quoth: “Yes! If this wind somehow gruesome and ominous.
holds!” In the meantime the oiler and the correspon-
The cook was bailing. “Yes! If we don’t catch dent rowed. And also they rowed.
hell in the surf.” They sat together in the same seat, and each
Canton flannel gulls11 flew near and far. rowed an oar. Then the oiler took both oars;
Sometimes they sat down on the sea, near then the correspondent took both oars; then the
patches of brown seaweed that rolled over the oiler; then the correspondent. They rowed and
waves with a movement like carpets on a line they rowed. The very ticklish part of the business
in a gale. The birds sat comfortably in groups, was when the time came for the reclining one in
and they were envied by some in the dinghy, the stern to take his turn at the oars. By the very
for the wrath of the sea was no more to them last star of truth, it is easier to steal eggs from
than it was to a covey of prairie chickens a under a hen than it was to change seats in the
thousand miles inland. Often they came very dinghy. First the man in the stern slid his hand
close and stared at the men with black bead- along the thwart14 and moved with care, as if he
like eyes. At these times they were uncanny were of Sèvres.15 Then the man in the rowing
and sinister12 in their unblinking scrutiny, and seat slid his hand along the other thwart. It was
the men hooted angrily at them, telling them all done with the most extraordinary care. As
to be gone. One came, and evidently decided the two sidled past each other, the whole party
kept watchful eyes on the coming wave, and the
captain cried: “Look out now! Steady there!”
10. Doggedly means “in a stubbornly persistent manner.” The brown mats of seaweed that appeared
11. Canton flannel gulls are gulls whose feathers resemble from time to time were like islands, bits of earth.
Canton flannel, a strong cotton fabric that is soft on one They were traveling, apparently, neither one way
side and ribbed on the other.
12. Sinister means “evil” or “ominous.”
nor the other. They were, to all intents, stationary.

Reading Strategy Summarizing How would you summa-


rize the thoughts of the four men at this point? 13. A painter is a rope attached to the front of a boat, used for
tying up to a dock.
Big Idea 14. A thwart is a seat going across a boat, on which a rower or
Naturalism How is the influence of Naturalism
passenger sits.
reflected in this passage?
15. Sèvres (sevrə) refers to fine porcelain made in Sèvres, France.

Vocabulary Vocabulary
uncanny (un kanē) adj. strangely unsettling; eerie emphatic (em fatik) adj. forceful

576 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


Moonlit Shipwreck at Sea, 1901. Thomas Moran. Oil on canvas, 30 x 401/4 in. Private collection.

They informed the men in the boat that it was “If this wind holds and the boat don’t swamp,
making progress slowly toward the land. we can’t do much else,” said the captain.
The captain, rearing cautiously in the bow, The little boat, lifted by each towering sea,
after the dinghy soared on a great swell, said that and splashed viciously by the crests, made prog-
he had seen the lighthouse at Mosquito Inlet. ress that in the absence of seaweed was not
Presently the cook remarked that he had seen it. apparent to those in her. She seemed just a wee
The correspondent was at the oars, then, and for thing wallowing, miraculously, top up, at the
some reason he too wished to look at the light- mercy of five oceans. Occasionally, a great spread
house, but his back was toward the far shore and of water, like white flames, swarmed into her.
the waves were important, and for some time he “Bail her, cook,” said the captain, serenely.
could not seize an opportunity to turn his head. “All right, Captain,” said the cheerful cook.
But at last there came a wave more gentle than
the others, and when at the crest of it he swiftly III
scoured the western horizon.
It would be difficult to describe the subtle broth-
“See it?” said the captain.
erhood of men that was here established on the
“No,” said the correspondent, slowly, “I didn’t
seas. No one said that it was so. No one men-
see anything.”
tioned it. But it dwelt in the boat, and each man
“Look again,” said the captain. He pointed.
felt it warm him. They were a captain, an oiler, a
“It’s exactly in that direction.”
At the top of another wave, the correspondent
did as he was bid, and this time his eyes chanced Literary Element Author’s Purpose What is the function
on a small still thing on the edge of the swaying of the captain’s optimistic reply to the correspondent?
horizon. It was precisely like the point of a pin. It
Reading Strategy Summarizing What is the main idea
took an anxious eye to find a lighthouse so tiny.
expressed in this paragraph?
“Think we’ll make it, Captain?”

ST EPHEN CRANE 577


Private Collection/Christie’s Images
cook, and a correspondent, and they were at the dinghy, and the little craft, no longer
friends, friends in a more curiously iron-bound under way, struggled woundily over them. The
degree than may be common. The hurt captain, oiler or the correspondent took the oars again.
lying against the water jar in the bow, spoke Shipwrecks are apropos18 of nothing. If men
always in a low voice and calmly, but he could could only train for them and have them occur
never command a more ready and swiftly obedi- when the men had reached pink condition, there
ent crew than the motley three of the dinghy. would be less drowning at sea. Of the four in the
It was more than a mere recognition of what dinghy none had slept any time worth mention-
was best for the common safety. There was ing for two days and two nights previous to
surely in it a quality that was personal and embarking in the dinghy, and in the excitement
heartfelt. And after this devotion to the com- of clambering about the deck of a foundering 19
mander of the boat there was this comradeship ship they had also forgotten to eat heartily.
that the correspondent, for instance, who had For these reasons, and for others, neither the
been taught to be cynical of men, knew even at oiler nor the correspondent was fond of rowing
the time was the best experience of his life. But at this time. The correspondent wondered
no one said that it was so. No one mentioned it. ingenuously how in the name of all that was
“I wish we had a sail,” remarked the captain. sane could there be people who thought it amus-
“We might try my overcoat on the end of an oar ing to row a boat. It was not an amusement; it
and give you two boys a chance to rest.” So the was a diabolical punishment, and even a genius
cook and the correspondent held the mast and of mental aberrations could never conclude that
spread wide the overcoat. The oiler steered, and it was anything but a horror to the muscles and
the little boat made good way with her new rig. a crime against the back. He mentioned to the
Sometimes the oiler had to scull16 sharply to boat in general how the amusement of rowing
keep a sea from breaking into the boat, but oth- struck him, and the weary-faced oiler smiled in
erwise sailing was a success. full sympathy. Previously to the foundering, by
Meanwhile the lighthouse had been growing the way, the oiler had worked doublewatch in
slowly larger. It had now almost assumed color, the engineroom of the ship.
and appeared like a little gray shadow on the sky. “Take her easy, now, boys,” said the captain.
The man at the oars could not be prevented “Don’t spend yourselves. If we have to run a surf
from turning his head rather often to try for a you’ll need all your strength, because we’ll sure
glimpse of this little gray shadow. have to swim for it. Take your time.”
At last, from the top of each wave the men Slowly the land arose from the sea. From a
in the tossing boat could see land. Even as the black line it became a line of black and a line
lighthouse was an upright shadow on the sky, of white—trees and sand. Finally, the captain
this land seemed but a long black shadow on said that he could make out a house on the
the sea. It certainly was thinner than paper. shore. “That’s the house of refuge, sure,” said
“We must be about opposite New Smyrna,”17 the cook. “They’ll see us before long, and come
said the cook, who had coasted this shore often out after us.”
in schooners. “Captain, by the way, I believe The distant lighthouse reared high. “The
they abandoned that lifesaving station there keeper ought to be able to make us out now, if
about a year ago.” he’s looking through a glass,” said the captain.
“Did they?” said the captain. “He’ll notify the lifesaving people.”
The wind slowly died away. The cook and
the correspondent were not now obliged to
18. Apropos means “relevant” or “pertinent.”
slave in order to hold high the oar. But the 19. Foundering means “sinking.”
waves continued their old impetuous swooping
Big Idea Naturalism From your understanding of
Naturalism, why is this passage important to the story?
16. Scull means “to propel a boat forward by moving a single
oar from side to side over the stern of a boat.” Vocabulary
17. New Smyrna refers to the town of New Smyrna Beach, on
ingenuously (in jen ū əs lē) adv. honestly; frankly
the east coast of Florida.

578 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


“None of those other boats could have got “No,” replied the cook. “Funny they don’t
ashore to give word of the wreck,” said the oiler, see us!”
in a low voice. “Else the lifeboat would be out A broad stretch of lowly coast lay before the eyes
hunting us.” of the men. It was of dunes topped with dark vege-
Slowly and beautifully the land loomed out of tation. The roar of the surf was plain, and some-
the sea. The wind came again. It had veered times they could see the white lip of a wave as it
from the northeast to the southeast. Finally, a spun up the beach. A tiny house was blocked out
new sound struck the ears of the men in the black upon the sky. Southward, the slim lighthouse
boat. It was the low thunder of the surf on the lifted its little gray length.
shore. “We’ll never be able to make the light- Tide, wind, and waves were swinging the dinghy
house now,” said the captain. “Swing her head a northward. “Funny they don’t see us,” said the men.
little more north, Billie.” The surf’s roar was here
“‘A little more north,’ dulled, but its tone was,
sir,” said the oiler. nevertheless, thunderous
Whereupon the little and mighty. As the boat
boat turned her nose once swam over the great roll-
more down the wind, and ers, the men sat listening
all but the oarsman
“Funny they to this roar. “We’ll swamp
watched the shore grow. don’t see us,” sure,” said everybody.
Under the influence of this It is fair to say here that
expansion doubt and dire- said the men. there was not a lifesaving
ful apprehension was leav- station within twenty miles
ing the minds of the men. in either direction, but the
The management of the men did not know this fact
boat was still most absorb- and in consequence they
ing, but it could not prevent a quiet cheerfulness. made dark and opprobrious21 remarks concerning
In an hour, perhaps, they would be ashore. the eyesight of the nation’s lifesavers. Four scowl-
Their backbones had become thoroughly used to ing men sat in the dinghy and surpassed records in
balancing in the boat and they now rode this wild the invention of epithets.22
colt of a dinghy like circus men. The correspondent “Funny they don’t see us.”
thought that he had been drenched to the skin, but The light-heartedness of a former time had com-
happening to feel in the top pocket of his coat, he pletely faded. To their sharpened minds it was easy
found therein eight cigars. Four of them were to conjure pictures of all kinds of incompetency
soaked with seawater; four were perfectly scatheless. and blindness and, indeed, cowardice. There was
After a search, somebody produced three dry the shore of the populous land, and it was bitter
matches, and thereupon the four waifs20 rode and bitter to them that from it came no sign.
impudently in their little boat, and with an assur- “Well,” said the captain, ultimately, “I suppose
ance of an impending rescue shining in their eyes, we’ll have to make a try for ourselves. If we stay
puffed at the big cigars and judged well and ill of all out here too long, we’ll none of us have strength
men. Everybody took a drink of water. left to swim after the boat swamps.”
And so the oiler, who was at the oars, turned
IV the boat straight for the shore. There was a sud-
den tightening of muscles. There was some
“Cook,” remarked the captain, “there don’t seem
thinking.
to be any signs of life about your house of refuge.”

21. Opprobrious (ə prō brē əs) means “derogatory.”


20. Waifs are persons having no apparent home.
22. Epithets are descriptive, sometimes abusive, words or
Vocabulary phrases used with or in place of a name.

impudently (im pyə dənt lē) adv. in an offensively Reading Strategy Summarizing In your own words,
bold manner summarize what is happening in this paragraph.

ST EPHEN CRANE 579


“If we don’t all get ashore—” said the captain. “Yes! Go ahead!” said the captain.
“If we don’t all get ashore, I suppose you fellows This oiler, by a series of quick miracles, and
know where to send news of my finish?” fast and steady oarsmanship, turned the boat in
They then briefly exchanged some addres- the middle of the surf and took her safely to sea
ses and admonitions.23 As for the reflections again.
of the men, there was a great deal of rage in There was a considerable silence as the boat
them. Perchance they might be formulated bumped over the furrowed sea to deeper water.
thus: “If I am going to be drowned—if I am Then somebody in gloom spoke. “Well, anyhow,
going to be drowned—if I am going to be they must have seen us from the shore by now.”
drowned, why, in the name of the seven mad The gulls went in slanting flight up the
gods who rule the sea,24 was I allowed to come wind toward the gray desolate east. A squall,27
thus far and contemplate sand and trees? Was I marked by dingy clouds, and clouds brick-red,
brought here merely to have my nose dragged like smoke from a burning building, appeared
away as I was about to nibble the sacred cheese from the southeast.
of life? It is preposterous. If this old ninny- “What do you think of those lifesaving peo-
woman, Fate,25 cannot do better than this, she ple? Ain’t they peaches?”
should be deprived of the management of “Funny they haven’t seen us.”
men’s fortunes. She is an old hen who knows “Maybe they think we’re out here for sport?
not her intention. If she has decided to drown Maybe they think we’re fishin’. Maybe they
me, why did she not do it in the beginning think we’re damned fools.”
and save me all this trouble. The whole affair It was a long afternoon. A changed tide tried
is absurd. . . . But, no, she cannot mean to to force them southward, but wind and wave said
drown me. She dare not drown me. She can- northward. Far ahead, where coastline, sea, and
not drown me. Not after all this work.” After- sky formed their mighty angle, there were little
ward the man might have had an impulse to dots which seemed to indicate a city on the
shake his fist at the clouds. “Just you drown shore.
me, now, and then hear what I call you!” “St. Augustine?”
The billows that came at this time were more The captain shook his head. “Too near
formidable. They seemed always just about to Mosquito Inlet.”
break and roll over the little boat in a turmoil of And the oiler rowed, and then the correspon-
foam. There was a preparatory and long growl in dent rowed. Then the oiler rowed. It was a weary
the speech of them. No mind unused to the sea business. The human back can become the seat
would have concluded that the dinghy could of more aches and pains than are registered in
ascend these sheer heights in time. The shore books for the composite anatomy of a regiment.
was still afar. The oiler was a wily26 surfman. It is a limited area, but it can become the theater
“Boys,” he said, swiftly, “she won’t live three of innumerable muscular conflicts, tangles,
minutes more and we’re too far out to swim. wrenches, knots, and other comforts.
Shall I take her to sea again, Captain?” “Did you ever like to row, Billie?” asked the
correspondent.
23. Admonitions are warnings or advice. “No,” said the oiler. “Hang it.”
24. [seven . . . the sea] This description probably refers to the When one exchanged the rowing-seat for a
seven major seas, each at the mercy of a deity.
25. Fate implies a supernatural power guiding one to an
place in the bottom of the boat, he suffered a
inevitable end. In classical mythology, the three Fates were bodily depression that caused him to be care-
portrayed as old women. less of everything save an obligation to wiggle
26. Wily means “cunning” or “sly.” one finger. There was cold seawater swashing
Big Idea Naturalism What might the response of a
to and fro in the boat, and he lay in it. His
Naturalist be to this question? head, pillowed on a thwart, was within an inch
of the swirl of a wave crest, and sometimes a
Literary Element Author’s Purpose Why does Crane
have the narrator attribute this sentiment to the men in the
27. A squall is a short, sudden, strong windstorm, often
boat?
accompanied by rain or snow.

580 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
cern the little black figure. The cap-
tain saw a floating stick and they
rowed to it. A bath-towel was by
some weird chance in the boat, and,
tying this on the stick, the captain
waved it. The oarsman did not dare
turn his head, so he was obliged to
ask questions.
“What’s he doing now?”
“He’s standing still again. He’s look-
ing, I think. . . . There he goes again.
Toward the house. . . . Now he’s
stopped again.”
“Is he waving at us?”
“No, not now! he was, though.”
“Look! There comes another man!”
“He’s running.”
“Look at him go, would you.”
“Why, he’s on a bicycle. Now he’s
met the other man. They’re both wav-
ing at us. Look!”
“There comes something up the
Lord Ullin’s Daughter, before 1907. Albert Pinkham Ryder. Oil on canvas, beach.”
20 / x 18 / in. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly.
1
2
3
8 “What the devil is that thing?”
Viewing the Art: How does the painting convey a sense of the power of “Why, it looks like a boat.”
the sea?
“Why, certainly it’s a boat.”
“No, it’s on wheels.”
particularly obstreperous sea came inboard
28 “Yes, so it is. Well, that must be the
and drenched him once more. But these mat- lifeboat. They drag them along shore on a
ters did not annoy him. It is almost certain wagon.”
that if the boat had capsized he would have “That’s the lifeboat, sure.”
tumbled comfortably out upon the ocean as if “No, by——, it’s—it’s an omnibus.”29
he felt sure that it was a great soft mattress. “I tell you it’s a lifeboat.”
“Look! There’s a man on the shore!” “It is not! It’s an omnibus. I can see it plain.
“Where?” See? One of those big hotel omnibuses.”
“There! See ’im? See ’im?” “By thunder, you’re right. It’s an omnibus, sure
“Yes, sure! He’s walking along.” as fate. What do you suppose they are doing with
“Now he’s stopped. Look! He’s facing us!” an omnibus? Maybe they are going around col-
“He’s waving at us!” lecting the lifecrew, hey?”
“So he is! By thunder!” “That’s it, likely. Look! There’s a fellow
“Ah, now, we’re all right! Now we’re all right! waving a little black flag. He’s standing on the
There’ll be a boat out here for us in half an hour.” steps of the omnibus. There come those other
“He’s going on. He’s running. He’s going up to two fellows. Now they’re all talking together.
that house there.” Look at the fellow with the flag. Maybe he
The remote beach seemed lower than the ain’t waving it!”
sea, and it required a searching glance to dis- “That ain’t a flag, is it? That’s his coat. Why,
certainly, that’s his coat.”
28. Obstreperous (əb strep ər əs) means “unruly.”

Reading Strategy Summarizing Summarize this


29. An omnibus, or bus, would have been pulled by horses
paragraph in your own words.
during this time period.

ST EPHEN CRANE 581


Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC/Art Resource, NY
“So it is. It’s his coat. He’s taken it off and is deepened. The wind bore coldness with it, and
waving it around his head. But would you look at the men began to shiver.
him swing it!” “Holy smoke!” said one, allowing his voice to
“Oh, say, there isn’t any lifesaving station express his impious mood, “if we keep on mon-
there. That’s just a winter resort hotel omnibus keying out here! If we’ve got to flounder out here
that has brought over some of the boarders to see all night!”
us drown.” “Oh, we’ll never have to stay here all night!
“What’s that idiot with the coat mean? What’s Don’t you worry. They’ve seen us now, and it
he signaling, anyhow?” won’t be long before they’ll come chasing out
“It looks as if he were trying to tell us to go after us.”
north. There must be a lifesaving station up The shore grew dusky. The man waving a coat
there.” blended gradually into this gloom, and it swal-
“No! He thinks we’re fishing. Just giving us a lowed in the same manner the omnibus and the
merry hand. See? Ah, there, Willie.” group of people. The spray, when it dashed
“Well, I wish I could make something out of uproariously over the side, made the voyagers
those signals. What do you suppose he means?” shrink and swear like men who were being
“He don’t mean anything. He’s just playing.” branded.
“Well, if he’d just signal us to try the surf “I’d like to catch the chump who waved the
again, or to go to sea and wait, or go north, or go coat. I feel like soaking him one, just for luck.”
south, or go to hell—there would be some reason “Why? What did he do?”
in it. But look at him. He just stands there and “Oh, nothing, but then he seemed so damned
keeps his coat revolving like a wheel. The ass!” cheerful.”
“There come more people.” In the meantime the oiler rowed, and then the
“Now there’s quite a mob. Look! Isn’t that a correspondent rowed, and then the oiler rowed.
boat?” Gray-faced and bowed forward, they mechanically,
“Where? Oh, I see where you mean. No, that’s turn by turn, plied the leaden oars. The form of the
no boat.” lighthouse had vanished from the southern horizon,
“That fellow is still waving his coat.” but finally a pale star appeared, just lifting from the
“He must think we like to see him do that. sea. The streaked saffron31 in the west passed before
Why don’t he quit it. It don’t mean anything.” the all-merging darkness, and the sea to the east was
“I don’t know. I think he is trying to make us black. The land had vanished, and was expressed
go north. It must be that there’s a lifesaving sta- only by the low and drear thunder of the surf.
tion there somewhere.” “If I am going to be drowned—if I am
“Say, he ain’t tired yet. Look at ’im wave.” going to be drowned—if I am going to be
“Wonder how long he can keep that up. He’s drowned, why, in the name of the seven mad
been revolving his coat ever since he caught gods who rule the sea, was I allowed to come
sight of us. He’s an idiot. Why aren’t they getting thus far and contemplate sand and trees? Was I
men to bring a boat out. A fishing boat—one of brought here merely to have my nose dragged
those big yawls30— could come out here all right. away as I was about to nibble the sacred cheese
Why don’t he do something?” of life?”
“Oh, it’s all right, now.” The patient captain, drooped over the water jar,
“They’ll have a boat out here for us in less was sometimes obliged to speak to the oarsman.
than no time, now that they’ve seen us.” “Keep her head up! Keep her head up!”
A faint yellow tone came into the sky over “‘Keep her head up,’ sir.” The voices were
the low land. The shadows on the sea slowly weary and low.

30. A yawl is a sailboat with two masts, the large mast near
the front of the boat and the smaller one near the back. 31. Here, saffron means “yellow-orange in color.”

Literary Element Author’s Purpose What is the function Literary Element Author’s Purpose Why does Crane
of these lines at this point in the story? repeat this speech verbatim from page 580?

582 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
This was surely a quiet evening. All save the called his name. “Will you spell me for a little
oarsman lay heavily and listlessly in the boat’s while?” he said, meekly.
bottom. As for him, his eyes were just capable “Sure, Billie,” said the correspondent, awaken-
of noting the tall black waves that swept forward ing and dragging himself to a sitting position.
in a most sinister silence, save for an occasional They exchanged places carefully, and the oiler,
subdued growl of a crest. cuddling down in the seawater at the cook’s side,
The cook’s head was on a thwart, and he seemed to go to sleep instantly.
looked without interest at the water under his The particular violence of the sea had ceased.
nose. He was deep in other scenes. Finally he The waves came without snarling. The obliga-
spoke. “Billie,” he murmured, dreamfully, “what tion of the man at the oars was to keep the boat
kind of pie do you like best?” headed so that the tilt of the rollers would not
capsize her, and to preserve her from filling when
V the crests rushed past. The black waves were
silent and hard to be seen in the darkness. Often
“Pie,” said the oiler and the correspondent, agitat- one was almost upon the boat before the oars-
edly. “Don’t talk about those things, blast you!” man was aware.
“Well,” said the cook, “I was just thinking In a low voice the correspondent addressed
about ham sandwiches, and—” the captain. He was not sure that the captain
A night on the sea in an open boat is a long was awake, although this iron man seemed to be
night. As darkness settled finally, the shine of the always awake. “Captain, shall I keep her making
light, lifting from the sea in the south, changed to for that light north, sir?”
full gold. On the northern horizon a new light The same steady voice answered him. “Yes.
appeared, a small bluish gleam on the edge of the Keep it about two points off the port bow.”32
waters. These two lights were the furniture of the The cook had tied a life belt around himself in
world. Otherwise there was nothing but waves. order to get even the warmth which this clumsy
Two men huddled in the stern, and distances cork contrivance could donate, and he seemed
were so magnificent in the dinghy that the rower almost stove-like when a rower, whose teeth
was enabled to keep his feet partly warmed by invariably chattered wildly as soon as he ceased
thrusting them under his companions. Their legs his labor, dropped down to sleep.
indeed extended far under the rowing seat until they The correspondent, as he rowed, looked down
touched the feet of the captain forward. Sometimes, at the two men sleeping under foot. The cook’s
despite the efforts of the tired oarsman, a wave came arm was around the oiler’s shoulders, and, with
piling into the boat, an icy wave of the night, and their fragmentary clothing and haggard faces,
the chilling water soaked them anew. They would they were the babes of the sea, a grotesque ren-
twist their bodies for a moment and groan, and sleep dering of the old babes in the wood.33
the dead sleep once more, while the water in the Later he must have grown stupid at his work,
boat gurgled about them as the craft rocked. for suddenly there was a growling of water, and a
The plan of the oiler and the correspondent crest came with a roar and a swash into the boat,
was for one to row until he lost the ability, and and it was a wonder that it did not set the cook
then arouse the other from his seawater couch afloat in his life belt. The cook continued to
in the bottom of the boat. sleep, but the oiler sat up, blinking his eyes and
The oiler plied the oars until his head drooped shaking with the new cold.
forward, and the overpowering sleep blinded
him. And he rowed yet afterward. Then he 32. The bow is the forward part of a boat or ship. The port
touched a man in the bottom of the boat, and bow, then, would be the left side of the forward part.
33. In the fairytale “Babes in the Wood,” two children are left
after their parents die. An uncle tries to have them killed,
but the children are spared. Alone in the woods, the
children are lulled to sleep by birds.
Big Idea Naturalism From your understanding of
Naturalism, why might discussion of food be dangerous, Reading Strategy Summarizing Summarize this para-
rather than pleasantly distracting, given the circumstances? graph. How have the crew’s challenges changed?

ST EPHEN CRANE 583


The correspondent looked
over his shoulder at the captain.
His face was hidden, and he
seemed to be asleep. He looked
at the babes of the sea. They
certainly were asleep. So, being
bereft34 of sympathy, he leaned
a little way to one side and
swore softly into the sea.
But the thing did not then
leave the vicinity of the boat.
Ahead or astern, on one side
or the other, at intervals long
or short, fled the long spar-
kling streak, and there was to
be heard the whiroo of the
dark fin. The speed and power
of the thing was greatly to be
admired. It cut the water like
a gigantic and keen projectile.
The presence of this bid-
ing thing did not affect the
Moonlight, 1885. Albert Pinkham Ryder. Oil on canvas, man with the same horror that it would if he
16 x 173/4 in. Smithsonian American Art Museum,
Washington, DC.
had been a picnicker. He simply looked at the
sea dully and swore in an undertone.
“Oh, I’m awful sorry, Billie,” said the corre- Nevertheless, it is true that he did not wish
spondent, contritely. to be alone with the thing. He wished one of
“That’s all right, old boy,” said the oiler, and his companions to awaken by chance and keep
lay down again and was asleep. him company with it. But the captain hung
Presently it seemed that even the captain motionless over the water jar and the oiler and
dozed, and the correspondent thought that he the cook in the bottom of the boat were
was the one man afloat on all the oceans. The plunged in slumber.
wind had a voice as it came over the waves, and
it was sadder than the end. VI
There was a long, loud swishing astern of the
“If I am going to be drowned—if I am going to
boat, and a gleaming trail of phosphorescence,
be drowned—if I am going to be drowned, why,
like blue flame, was furrowed on the black waters.
in the name of the seven mad gods who rule the
It might have been made by a monstrous knife.
sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contem-
Then there came a stillness, while the corre-
plate sand and trees?”
spondent breathed with the open mouth and
During this dismal night, it may be remarked
looked at the sea.
that a man would conclude that it was really the
Suddenly there was another swish and another
intention of the seven mad gods to drown him,
long flash of bluish light, and this time it was along-
despite the abominable injustice of it. For it was
side the boat, and might almost have been reached
certainly an abominable injustice to drown a
with an oar. The correspondent saw an enormous fin
man who had worked so hard, so hard. The man
speed like a shadow through the water, hurling the
felt it would be a crime most unnatural. Other
crystalline spray and leaving the long glowing trail.

Literary Element Author’s Purpose Why does Crane


have the correspondent react this way to the shark?
34. Bereft means “lacking something needed.”

584 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC/Art Resource, NY
people had drowned at sea since galleys35 schoolfellows had informed him of the soldier’s
swarmed with painted sails, but still— plight, but the dinning40 had naturally ended
When it occurs to a man that nature does by making him perfectly indifferent. He had
not regard him as important, and that she feels never considered it his affair that a soldier of the
she would not maim the universe by disposing Legion lay dying in Algiers, nor had it appeared
of him, he at first wishes to throw bricks at the to him as a matter for sorrow. It was less to him
temple, and he hates deeply the fact that there than the breaking of a pencil’s point.
are no bricks and no temples. Any visible Now, however, it quaintly came to him as a
expression of nature would surely be pelleted human, living thing. It was no longer merely a
with his jeers. picture of a few throes41 in the breast of a poet,
Then, if there be no tangible thing to hoot meanwhile drinking tea and warming his feet at
he feels, perhaps, the desire to confront a the grate; it was an actuality—stern, mournful,
personification and indulge in pleas, bowed to and fine.
one knee, and with hands supplicant, saying: The correspondent plainly saw the soldier. He
“Yes, but I love myself.” lay on the sand with his feet out straight and
A high cold star on a winter’s night is the still. While his pale left hand was upon his chest
word he feels that she says to him. Thereafter he in an attempt to thwart the going of his life, the
knows the pathos36 of his situation. blood came between his fingers. In the far
The men in the dinghy had not discussed Algerian distance, a city of low square forms was
these matters, but each had, no doubt, set against a sky that was faint with the last sun-
reflected upon them in silence and according set hues. The correspondent, plying the oars and
to his mind. There was seldom any expression dreaming of the slow and slower movements of
upon their faces save the general one of com- the lips of the soldier, was moved by a profound
plete weariness. Speech was devoted to the and perfectly impersonal comprehension. He was
business of the boat. sorry for the soldier of the Legion who lay dying
To chime the notes of his emotion, a verse in Algiers.
mysteriously entered the correspondent’s head. The thing which had followed the boat and
He had even forgotten that he had forgotten waited had evidently grown bored at the delay.
this verse, but it suddenly was in his mind. There was no longer to be heard the slash of the
cut water, and there was no longer the flame of the
A soldier of the Legion37 lay dying in long trail. The light in the north still glimmered,
Algiers,38 but it was apparently no nearer to the boat.
There was lack of woman’s nursing, Sometimes the boom of the surf rang in the corre-
there was dearth of woman’s tears; spondent’s ears, and he turned the craft seaward
But a comrade stood beside him, and he then and rowed harder. Southward, some one had
took that comrade’s hand, evidently built a watch fire on the beach. It was too
And he said: “I never more shall see my low and too far to be seen, but it made a shimmer-
own, my native land.”39 ing, roseate reflection upon the bluff back of it, and
this could be discerned from the boat. The wind
In his childhood, the correspondent had been came stronger, and sometimes a wave suddenly
made acquainted with the fact that a soldier raged out like a mountain cat and there was to be
of the Legion lay dying in Algiers, but he had seen the sheen and sparkle of a broken crest.
never regarded it as important. Myriads of his The captain, in the bow, moved on his water
jar and sat erect. “Pretty long night,” he observed
35. A galley is a medieval ship propelled by sails and a row
(or rows) of oars on either side.
36. Pathos means “deep sadness.” 40. Dinning means “insistent repetition.”
37. Legion refers to the French Foreign Legion, an army 41. Throes are pains.
composed mainly of foreign volunteers.
Reading Strategy Summarizing Summarize this passage.
38. Algiers (al jērz) is the capital of Algeria, a country in
Why has the correspondent’s reaction to the poem changed
northern Africa that was once ruled by France.
since he was a child?
39. This verse compresses the first stanza of “Bingen on the
Rhine” by English poet Caroline E. S. Norton (1808–1877).
ST EPHEN CRANE 585
to the correspondent. He looked at the shore. As he was rowing, the captain gave him some
“Those lifesaving people take their time.” whiskey and water, and this steadied the chills
“Did you see that shark playing around?” out of him. “If I ever get ashore and anybody
“Yes, I saw him. He was a big fellow, all right.” shows me even a photograph of an oar—”
“Wish I had known you were awake.” At last there was a short conversation.
Later the correspondent spoke into the bot- “Billie . . . Billie, will you spell me?”
tom of the boat. “Sure,” said the oiler.
“Billie!” There was a slow and gradual disen-
tanglement. “Billie, will you spell me?” VII
“Sure,” said the oiler.
When the correspondent again opened his eyes,
As soon as the correspondent touched the
the sea and the sky were each of the gray hue of
cold comfortable seawater in the bottom of the
the dawning. Later, carmine and gold was painted
boat, and had huddled close to the cook’s life
upon the waters. The morning appeared finally, in
belt he was deep in sleep, despite the fact that
its splendor, with a sky of pure blue, and the sun-
his teeth played all the popular airs. This sleep
light flamed on the tips of the waves.
was so good to him that it was but a moment
On the distant dunes were set many little
before he heard a voice call his name in a tone
black cottages, and a tall white windmill reared
that demonstrated the last stages of exhaustion.
above them. No man, nor dog, nor bicycle
“Will you spell me?”
appeared on the beach. The cottages might have
“Sure, Billie.”
formed a deserted village.
The light in the north had mysteriously van-
The voyagers scanned the shore. A conference
ished, but the correspondent took his course
was held in the boat. “Well,” said the captain, “if
from the wide-awake captain.
no help is coming, we might better try a run
Later in the night they took the boat farther
through the surf right away. If we stay out here
out to sea, and the captain directed the cook
much longer we will be too weak to do anything
to take one oar at the stern and keep the boat
for ourselves at all.” The others silently acquiesced
facing the seas. He was to call out if he should
in this reasoning. The boat was headed for the
hear the thunder of the surf. This plan enabled
beach. The correspondent wondered if none ever
the oiler and the correspondent to get respite
ascended the tall wind-tower, and if then they
together. “We’ll give those boys a chance to
never looked seaward. This tower was a giant,
get into shape again,” said the captain. They
standing with its back to the plight of the ants. It
curled down and, after a few preliminary chat-
represented in a degree, to the correspondent, the
terings and trembles, slept once more the dead
serenity of nature amid the struggles of the individ-
sleep. Neither knew they had bequeathed to
ual—nature in the wind, and nature in the vision
the cook the company of another shark, or
of men. She did not seem cruel to him then, nor
perhaps the same shark.
beneficent, nor treacherous, nor wise. But she was
As the boat caroused on the waves, spray occa-
indifferent, flatly indifferent. It is, perhaps, plausible
sionally bumped over the side and gave them a
that a man in this situation, impressed with the
fresh soaking, but this had no power to break their
unconcern of the universe, should see the innumer-
repose. The ominous slash of the wind and the
able flaws of his life and have them taste wickedly
water affected them as it would have affected
in his mind and wish for another chance. A dis-
mummies.
tinction between right and wrong seems absurdly
“Boys,” said the cook, with the notes of every
clear to him, then, in this new ignorance of the
reluctance in his voice, “she’s drifted in pretty
grave-edge, and he understands that if he were
close. I guess one of you had better take her to
given another opportunity he would mend his
sea again.” The correspondent, aroused, heard
the crash of the toppled crests.

Reading Strategy Big Idea Naturalism How is Naturalism apparent in the


Summarizing What is the main idea
expressed in this paragraph? correspondent’s attitude in this paragraph?

586 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
conduct and his words, and be better and
brighter during an introduction, or at a tea.
“Now, boys,” said the captain, “she is
going to swamp sure. All we can do is to
work her in as far as possible, and then
when she swamps, pile out and scramble
for the beach. Keep cool now, and don’t
jump until she swamps sure.”
The oiler took the oars. Over his shoul-
ders he scanned the surf. “Captain,” he
said, “I think I’d better bring her about, and
keep her head-on to the seas and back her
in.”
“All right, Billie,” said the captain.
“Back her in.” The oiler swung the boat
then and, seated in the stern, the cook
and the correspondent were obliged to
look over their shoulders to contem-
plate the lonely and indifferent shore.
The monstrous inshore rollers heaved
the boat high until the men were again
enabled to see the white sheets of water Veiled Moon, 1995. Jane Wilson. Oil on linen, 18 x 18 in. Fischbach Gallery, NY.
scudding up the slanted beach. “We
42 Viewing the Art: How is nature portrayed in the painting?

won’t get in very close,” said the captain. Each


time a man could wrest his attention from the “Steady now,” said the
rollers, he turned his glance toward the shore, captain. The men were silent. They turned their
and in the expression of the eyes during this con- eyes from the shore to the comber and waited.
templation there was a singular quality. The cor- The boat slid up the incline, leaped at the furi-
respondent, observing the others, knew that they ous top, bounced over it, and swung down the
were not afraid, but the full meaning of their long back of the wave. Some water had been
glances was shrouded. shipped and the cook bailed it out.
As for himself, he was too tired to grapple funda- But the next crest crashed also. The tum-
mentally with the fact. He tried to coerce his mind bling boiling flood of white water caught the
into thinking of it, but the mind was dominated at boat and whirled it almost perpendicular.
this time by the muscles, and the muscles said they Water swarmed in from all sides. The corre-
did not care. It merely occurred to him that if he spondent had his hands on the gunwale at this
should drown it would be a shame. time, and when the water entered at that place
There were no hurried words, no pallor, no 43
he swiftly withdrew his fingers, as if he objected
plain agitation. The men simply looked at the to wetting them.
shore. “Now, remember to get well clear of the The little boat, drunken with this weight of
boat when you jump,” said the captain. water, reeled and snuggled deeper into the sea.
Seaward the crest of a roller suddenly fell with “Bail her out, cook! Bail her out,” said the
a thunderous crash, and the long white comber 44
captain.
came roaring down upon the boat. “All right, Captain,” said the cook.
“Now, boys, the next one will do for us,
42. Scudding means “moving swiftly.”
sure,” said the oiler. “Mind to jump clear of
43. Pallor is paleness or the lack of natural or healthy color. the boat.”
44. A comber is a long, rolling wave that curls over and breaks.

Vocabulary
coerce (kō urs) v. to force

ST EPHEN CRANE 587


DC Moore Gallery, NY
The third wave moved forward, huge, furious, of current had caught him, but there his prog-
implacable.45 It fairly swallowed the dinghy, and ress ceased. The shore was set before him like
almost simultaneously the men tumbled into the a bit of scenery on a stage, and he looked at it
sea. A piece of lifebelt had lain in the bottom of and understood with his eyes each detail of it.
the boat, and as the correspondent went over- As the cook passed, much farther to the left,
board he held this to his chest with his left hand. the captain was calling to him, “Turn over on
The January water was icy, and he reflected your back, cook! Turn over on your back and
immediately that it was colder than he had use the oar.”
expected to find it off the coast of Florida. “All right, sir.” The cook turned on his back,
This appeared to his dazed mind as a fact and, paddling with an oar, went ahead as if he
important enough to be noted at the time. were a canoe.
The coldness of the water was sad; it was Presently the boat also passed to the left of
tragic. This fact was somehow so mixed and the correspondent with the captain clinging
confused with his opinion of his own situation with one hand to the keel. He would have
that it seemed almost a appeared like a man rais-
proper reason for tears. ing himself to look over
The water was cold. a board fence, if it were
When he came to the Perhaps an not for the extraordinary
surface he was conscious of gymnastics of the boat.
little but the noisy water. individual must The correspondent mar-
Afterward he saw his com- consider his own velled that the captain
panions in the sea. The could still hold to it.
oiler was ahead in the race. death to be the They passed on, nearer
He was swimming strongly to shore—the oiler, the
and rapidly. Off to the cor-
final phenomenon cook, the captain—and
respondent’s left, the of nature. following them went the
cook’s great white and water jar, bouncing gayly
corked back bulged out of over the seas.
the water, and in the rear The correspondent
the captain was hanging with his one good hand remained in the grip of this strange new
to the keel46 of the overturned dinghy. enemy—a current. The shore, with its white
There is a certain immovable quality to a shore, slope of sand and its green bluff, topped with
and the correspondent wondered at it amid the little silent cottages, was spread like a picture
confusion of the sea. before him. It was very near to him then, but
It seemed also very attractive, but the cor- he was impressed as one who in a gallery looks
respondent knew that it was a long journey, at a scene from Brittany47 or Holland.
and he paddled leisurely. The piece of life He thought: “I am going to drown? Can it be
preserver lay under him, and sometimes he possible? Can it be possible? Can it be possible?”
whirled down the incline of a wave as if he Perhaps an individual must consider his own
were on a hand-sled. death to be the final phenomenon of nature.
But finally he arrived at a place in the sea But later a wave perhaps whirled him out of
where travel was beset with difficulty. He did this small deadly current, for he found suddenly
not pause swimming to inquire what manner that he could again make progress toward the
shore. Later still, he was aware that the captain,
clinging with one hand to the keel of the dinghy,
45. Implacable means “unrelenting” or “unyielding.” had his face turned away from the shore and
46. The keel runs along the center of the bottom of a boat. It toward him, and was calling his name. “Come to
supports the boat’s frame and gives the boat stability.
the boat! Come to the boat!”
Literary Element Author’s Purpose Why do you think
Crane chose to narrate this part of the story from the corre-
spondent’s point of view?
47. Brittany is a region in northwestern France.

588 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
In his struggle to reach the captain and the long drag, and a bully heave at the correspon-
boat, he reflected that when one gets properly dent’s hand. The correspondent, schooled in the
wearied, drowning must really be a comfortable minor formulæ, said: “Thanks, old man.” But
arrangement, a cessation of hostilities accompa- suddenly the man cried: “What’s that?” He
nied by a large degree of relief, and he was glad pointed a swift finger. The correspondent said:
of it, for the main thing in his mind for some “Go.”
moments had been horror of the temporary In the shallows, face downward, lay the oiler.
agony. He did not wish to be hurt. His forehead touched sand that was periodically,
Presently he saw a man running along the between each wave, clear of the sea.
shore. He was undressing with most remarkable The correspondent did not know all that trans-
speed. Coat, trousers, shirt, everything flew magi- pired afterward. When he achieved safe ground he
cally off him. fell, striking the sand with each particular part of
“Come to the boat,” called the captain. his body. It was as if he had dropped from a roof,
“All right, Captain.” As the correspondent but the thud was grateful to him.
paddled, he saw the captain let himself down to It seems that instantly the beach was populated
bottom and leave the boat. Then the correspon- with men with blankets, clothes, and flasks, and
dent performed his one little marvel of the voy- women with coffeepots and all the remedies sacred
age. A large wave caught him and flung him to their minds. The welcome of the land to the
with ease and supreme speed completely over the men from the sea was warm and generous, but a
boat and far beyond it. It struck him even then still and dripping shape was carried slowly up the
as an event in gymnastics, and a true miracle of beach, and the land’s welcome for it could only be
the sea. An overturned boat in the surf is not a the different and sinister hospitality of the grave.
plaything to a swimming man. When it came night, the white waves paced
The correspondent arrived in water that to and fro in the moonlight, and the wind
reached only to his waist, but his condition brought the sound of the great sea’s voice to the
did not enable him to stand for more than a men on shore, and they felt that they could then
moment. Each wave knocked him into a be interpreters. 
heap, and the undertow pulled
at him.
Then he saw the man who
had been running and undress-
ing, and undressing and run-
ning, come bounding into the
water. He dragged ashore the
cook, and then waded toward
the captain, but the captain
waved him away, and sent him
to the correspondent. He was
naked, naked as a tree in win-
ter, but a halo was about his
head, and he shone like a saint.
He gave a strong pull, and a

Moonrise on the Seashore, 1821. Caspar


David Friedrich. Oil on canvas, 221/2 x
281/2 in. Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia

Reading Strategy Summarizing Summarize this para-


graph and explain how the correspondent’s goals have Big Idea Naturalism What ironic prophecy is fulfilled by
changed. the oiler’s death?

ST EPHEN CRANE 589


Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY
A F TE R YO U R E A D

RESP ON DI NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond 6. How does Crane use foreshadowing to help pre-
pare the reader for future events? Give specific
1. How did you react when you realized the corre-
examples.
spondent survives but the oiler does not?
7. Could the emotional effect of this story be con-
Recall and Interpret veyed just as well in the form of a newspaper arti-
2. (a)Summarize the situation in which the four men cle about the shipwreck and the men’s struggle to
find themselves in part I. (b)From the discussion survive? Explain.
that three of the men have at the end of part I,
what might you infer about each man’s character?
Connect
3. (a)How does each man behave during the night at
8. Describe a time when you were part of a group in
sea (parts V and VI)? (b)What can you infer about
a difficult or dangerous situation. How did you feel
their characters from their actions?
about the others in the group as a result of your
4. (a)What is the outcome of the story? (b)How is shared experience?
the outcome ironic, and what might this imply
about nature? 9. Big Idea Naturalism How might being lost at
sea influence the crew’s view of nature in a way
Analyze and Evaluate that a less dangerous accident might not?
5. (a)List several similes and metaphors Crane uses in
the story. (b)What effect do these comparisons
have on the reader?

V I S UA L L I T E R AC Y: Fine Art

T he U nt ouc he d L andsc ap e
Moonlit Shipwreck at Sea was painted in 1901 by 3. (a)From what perspective is the viewer watch-
Thomas Moran, one of several American land- ing this scene? (b)How does this perspective
scape painters known collectively as the Hudson contribute to the mood of the painting?
River school. The Hudson River school artists
were known for their use of light and shadow
and their highly Romantic style. Their paintings
attempted to evoke a specific mood and emo-
tional state, often in order to express the sub-
lime in nature. Rarely were the paintings simple
observations.

Look at Moran’s painting and answer these questions:

1. (a)What is the subject of the painting? (b)How


is the human element treated? (c)How does
this compare to Crane’s story?
2. (a)What is the effect of the light and shadow in
the painting? (b)How is this effect comparable
to Crane’s literary effects in “The Open Boat”?

59 0 U N IT 4 REGIONALISM AND REALISM


Private Collection/Christie’s Images
L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Author’s Purpose Reading Strategy Summarizing


An author can have more than one purpose in writing Summarizing Theme As the men become more
a literary work. For example, a short story writer’s main resigned to the reality of their circumstances on the
purpose might be to convey an idea or present a boat, the theme, or central message, of the story
philosophical view of life. In addition, the writer might becomes clear. By analyzing the thoughts and dialogue
have several other purposes, such as to construct a of the crew and the description and events in the story,
suspenseful plot, to create sympathetic characters, you can piece together the author’s message about life.
or to entertain the reader through humor, irony, or
1. Summarize the theme you feel is most important
figurative language.
in the story.
1. (a)What do you think was Crane’s main purpose in
2. What details from the story support your summary
writing “The Open Boat”? (b)Identify at least one
of the theme?
of Crane’s other purposes.
2. On page 578, the narrator says of the crew, “. . .
there was this comradeship that the correspondent, Vocabulary Practice
for instance, who had been taught to be cynical of Practice with Context Clues Read the paragraph
men, knew even at the time was the best experi- below. Use context clues around the boldfaced
ence of his life.” What might Crane’s purpose have vocabulary words to make an informed guess as to
been in having the narrator make this statement? what each word means.

An emphatic crash in the alley jolted Miranda


Review: Conflict
awake. She was usually fearless, but the noise gave
As you learned on page 547, conflict refers to the her an eerie, uncanny feeling. Miranda had to
central struggle between two opposing forces in a coerce herself to take a look. It’s nothing, she
story. External conflict exists when a character strug- thought frankly, growing less afraid. I know it’s
gles against an outside force, such as another person, nothing, she repeated ingenuously. Outside, she
nature, society, or fate. Internal conflict is a struggle shined a flashlight into the alley. A portly raccoon
between two opposing thoughts or desires within the glanced at Miranda from a trashcan and then
mind of a character. impudently went back to work, boldly clanking
Partner Activity With a partner, discuss the conflicts about as if he were all by himself.
that the correspondent faces in “The Open Boat.” Which
type of conflict—internal or external—is more prevalent?
Create a chart like the one below, filled in with textual Academic Vocabulary
evidence. With your partner, discuss whether one type
of conflict is more prevalent or if they are equal. Here are two words from the vocabulary list on
page R86. These words will help you think,
write, and talk about the selection.
External Conflict Internal Conflict
technique (tek nēk) n. the method or manner
in which something is treated
create (krē āt) v. to bring into existence or being

Practice and Apply


1. Give an example of a technique Crane uses to
show internal conflict.
2. What mood does he create by describing the
birds on page 576?

ST EPHEN CRANE 591


WR LITE AN DANALYS
GARY
ITI N R I SI N G
EXTE N D N G MAR
G RIAM
R EAD ST U
VODCAB
AN D AN L ARY
YLE

Writing About Literature Crane’s Language and Style


Evaluate Author’s Craft Throughout “The Open Boat,” Varying Sentence Length Note the effect of Crane’s
Crane uses figures of speech—such as metaphors, simi- varied sentence lengths in the passage below:
les, personification, and symbols—to help readers visual-
The January water was icy, and he reflected
ize and gain a deeper understanding of what he
immediately that it was colder than he had expected
describes. Choose examples of figurative language from
to find it off the coast of Florida. This appeared to
the text and determine what overall effect is created by
his dazed mind as a fact important enough to be
Crane’s use of these devices. Then write a short essay in
noted at the time. The coldness of the water was
which you evaluate the author’s craft, analyzing how he
sad; it was tragic. This fact was somehow so mixed
uses figurative language to enhance the story and evalu-
and confused with his opinion of his own situation
ating how successful he is. Use a graphic organizer like
that it seemed almost a proper reason for tears. The
the one below to help you organize your thoughts.
water was cold.
—from “The Open Boat,” page 588
figure
of speech Note how Crane uses short, direct sentences within
figure figure the lengthier description of the correspondent’s reac-
of speech of speech tion to the water. These short, abrupt sentences evoke
the shock of the cold water.
Effect:
To make your writing interesting, vary sentence length.
figure figure Too many short sentences can make your writing
of speech of speech choppy, whereas too many long, complicated sen-
figure tences may be confusing. Think about the effect you
of speech are trying to create with your writing and how the flow
or rhythm of your sentences can enhance that effect.
After you complete your draft, exchange it with a part- • Shorter, simple sentences can have a fast-paced,
ner to evaluate each other’s work and suggest revi- abrupt effect.
sions. Make sure the examples of figurative language • Compound and compound-complex sentences are
support the writer’s evaluation of the author’s craft. usually longer than simple sentences and have a
Then proofread and edit your draft for errors in spell- slow, meandering quality.
ing, grammar, and punctuation.
Activity With a partner, scan the story for other exam-
ples of varied sentence length and determine how
Interdisciplinary Activity: Film they contribute to the story’s tone and mood.

Outlining a Screenplay “The Open Boat” is separated


into seven parts. Create an outline for a screenplay by Revising Check
dividing the parts of the story into scenes of the movie, Sentence Length Work with a partner to review and
noting which parts you might cut and which you might revise the variety of sentence length in your essay for
focus on. The middle of the story has little action; think “The Open Boat.”
about how you might use other techniques, such as
narration, to evoke the changing feelings of the charac-
ters. Compare your outline with a classmate’s to see
whether you focused on similar aspects of the story.

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

592 U N IT 4 REGIONALISM AND REALISM


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

To Build a Fire
M E E T JAC K LON DO N livelihood. In 1903, London published The Call
of the Wild, the novel that firmly established his

I
reputation. Before long, he became the country’s
n 1897 Jack London left college and went to
highest-paid author—a stunning reversal of fortune
the Yukon to join the Klondike gold rush. He
for the once-impoverished writer.
never found gold, but he did find something
that proved more precious to him: a wealth of raw
Struggle to Make Ends Meet Throughout his
material for the stories that eventually made him
life, London worked under pressure to support
famous.
not only himself but also numerous family members
and friends. He set himself the task of writing at
least a thousand
“I would rather be ashes than dust!” publishable words
every day, and he
—Jack London rarely deviated
from that schedule.
But despite pub-
An Adventurous Life Born in 1876 in San lishing more than
Francisco to an unstable mother and a father who fifty books and
refused to claim him, London was raised mainly by becoming the
a family friend and a stepsister. From the age of country’s first mil-
eleven, he worked to earn money to help put food lionaire author,
on his family’s table. London loved the sea, so he London habitually
hung around the harbor, doing odd jobs and learn- spent more money
ing to be an expert sailor. While still in his teens, than he earned, and
he signed on to a schooner sailing to Siberia. From he often wrote stories
that adventure came his first published story. in order to pay off
urgent debts.
At eighteen, London set off to ride the rails,
living the life of a drifter as he traveled across In the last years of
the country on freight trains. This journey his life, London
became a turning point in his life as he saw up bought a ranch
close the raw, painful lives of men and women who in northern
did not seem to belong anywhere in society. As a California and
result of the conditions he saw, London vowed to began building his
educate himself so he could survive by his mental dream house, Wolf
powers rather than by his physical strength. House, on it. In
After completing high school in just one year, 1913, shortly before he was to move into the
London attended the University of California at newly completed house, it burned down. The
Berkeley for a semester before rushing off to the fire devastated London both emotionally and
Klondike. He failed to strike it rich, however, financially. He continued to live on the ranch
so he came home and turned to writing for his but never rebuilt the house. Three years later,
plagued by severe health problems and financial
difficulties, London died. He was only forty
years old.
Author Search For more about Author Search For more about
Jack London, go to www.glencoe.com. Jackauthor,
this London was
go to born in 1876 and died in 1916.
www.literature.glencoe.com.

JAC K LONDON 593


Underwood & Underwood/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W READI NG PREVI EW

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Analyzing Cause-and-


In “To Build a Fire,” a lone man is pitted against a Effect Relationships
relentless Yukon winter. As you read the story, think Cause and effect refers to a relationship in which one
about the following questions: event brings about a second event. The second event
• When have you experienced extreme weather? occurs not only after the first event but as a conse-
• How did it affect you physically and mentally? quence of it. A cause may have several effects, and an
effect may, in turn, cause other events to happen. In
Building Background “To Build a Fire,” cause-and-effect relationships are
On July 17, 1897, sixty-eight miners arrived in Seattle on essential to the plot.
the steamship Portland, carrying boxes, suitcases, and
gunnysacks filled with more than two tons of gold. Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a map to record
Thousands of prospectors soon poured into the Klondike cause-and-effect relationships in the story.
region of Canada, where gold had been discovered in
the sands of Bonanza Creek, a tributary of the Klondike
Cause Effect
River. Many of the prospectors were unprepared for the
brutal conditions in the north, where temperatures could The temperature The man’s spittle
sink below minus fifty degrees Fahrenheit.
The Klondike River is a tributary of the Yukon River, which
is colder than
fifty below zero. ➧ crackles in the
air before falling
to the snow.
is about 1,875 miles long and has a drainage basin of
330,000 square miles in the Yukon Territory in Canada
and in the eastern and central parts of Alaska. The Yukon
and its tributaries flow across Alaska’s interior plateau, Vocabulary
which comprises millions of acres of subarctic forest.
intangible (in tan jə bəl) adj. not easily defined
Setting Purposes for Reading or evaluated by the mind; p. 595 Volunteer work
brings not money but intangible benefits.
Big Idea Naturalism
A battle with nature is a common conflict in literature, immortality (im or tal ə tē) n. the condition of
particularly in Naturalist literature. As you read “To Build a having eternal life; p. 596 Unlike mortals, who
Fire,” consider whether humans ever win such a battle. live and then die, the gods in Greek myths enjoyed
immortality.
Literary Element Setting compel (kəm pel ) n. to force; p. 598 His
tardiness and lack of hustle compelled the coach to
The setting is the time and place in which the events of a
bench him.
literary work occur. Naturalist writers generally emphasize
the setting, focusing on the importance of the environ- intervene (in´ tər və̄n ) v. to come or lie between;
ment in defining human character. As you read, note how p. 598 He decided to intervene to prevent the quarrel
London uses the setting to develop plot and character. between the angry motorists from escalating.
apathetically (ap´ə thet i kal ē) adv. in a
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R16. manner showing little interest or concern;
p. 603 Apathetically, she cast her vote, not
really caring who would win or lose.
Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

OB J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • evaluating cause-and-effect relationships
• analyzing characteristics of Naturalism • analyzing setting

59 4 U N IT 4 REGIONALISM AND REALISM


D ay had broken cold and gray, exceedingly
cold and gray, when the man turned aside from
the main Yukon1 trail and climbed the high
earth-bank, where a dim and little-traveled trail
led eastward through the fat spruce timberland.
It was a steep bank, and he paused for breath at
the top, excusing the act to himself by looking at
his watch. It was nine o’clock. There was no sun
nor hint of sun, though there was not a cloud in
the sky. It was a clear day, and yet there seemed
an intangible pall over the face of things, a sub-
tle gloom that made the day dark, and that was
due to the absence of sun.
This fact did not worry the man. He was used
to the lack of sun. It had been days since he had
seen the sun, and he knew that a few more days
must pass before that cheerful orb, due south,
would just peep above the skyline and dip imme-
diately from view.

Jack London
1. Here, Yukon refers to the Yukon River. The river was a major
route to the Klondike gold fields.

Literary Element Setting What mood do these details


create?

Vocabulary
intangible (in tan jə bəl) adj. not easily defined or eval-
uated by the mind

JAC K LONDON 595


The Cavalry Club/E.T.Archives/SuperStock
The man flung a look back along the way he had place in the universe. Fifty degrees below zero stood
come. The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under for a bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded
three feet of ice. On top of this ice were as many against by the use of mittens, earflaps, warm mocca-
feet of snow. It was all pure white, rolling in gentle sins, and thick socks. Fifty degrees below zero was to
undulations2 where the ice jams of the freeze up had him just precisely fifty degrees below zero. That
formed. North and south, as far as his eye could see, there should be anything more to it than that was a
it was unbroken white save for a dark hairline that thought that never entered his head.
curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered As he turned to go on, he spat speculatively.
island to the south, and that curved and twisted There was a sharp, explosive crackle that startled
away into the north, where it disappeared behind him. He spat again. And again, in the air, before
another spruce-covered island. This dark hairline it could fall to the snow, the spittle crackled. He
was the trail—the main trail—that led south five knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the
hundred miles to the Chilkoot Pass, Dyea, and snow, but this spittle had crackled in the air.
saltwater; and that led north seventy miles to Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below—how
Dawson, and still on to the north a thousand miles much colder he did not know. But the tempera-
to Nulato,3 and finally to St. Michael on Bering ture did not matter. He was bound for the old
Sea, a thousand miles and half a thousand more. claim6 on the left fork of Henderson Creek,
But all this—the mysterious, far-reaching hairline where the boys were already. They had come over
trail, the absence of sun from the sky, the tremen- across the divide7 from the Indian Creek country,
dous cold, and the strangeness and weirdness of it while he had come the roundabout way to take a
all—made no impression on the man. It was not look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the
because he was long used to it. He was a newcomer spring from the islands in the Yukon. He would
in the land, a chechaquo,4 and this was his first win- be in to camp by six o’clock; a bit after dark, it
ter. The trouble with him was that he was without was true, but the boys would be there, a fire
imagination. He was quick and alert in the things of would be going, and a hot supper would be ready.
life, but only in the things, and not in the signifi- As for lunch, he pressed his hand against the pro-
cances. Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd truding bundle under his jacket. It was also under
degrees of frost. Such fact impressed him as being his shirt, wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying
cold and uncomfortable, and that was all. It did not against the naked skin. It was the only way to
lead him to meditate upon his frailty in general, keep the biscuits from freezing. He smiled agree-
able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat ably to himself as he thought of those biscuits,
and cold; and from there on it did not lead him to each cut open and sopped in bacon grease, and
the conjectural5 field of immortality and man’s each enclosing a generous slice of fried bacon.
He plunged in among the big spruce trees.
2. Undulations are rippling or wavelike forms or outlines. The trail was faint. A foot of snow had fallen
3. Dyea (d̄ ā) was a mining village in Alaska at the beginning since the last sled had passed over, and he was
of the route to the gold fields. The trail led through the glad he was without sled, traveling light. In fact,
Chilkoot Pass and to northern gold-mining centers in the
he carried nothing but the lunch wrapped in the
Yukon such as Dawson and Nulato (n oo ¯¯¯ la tō).
4. In the language of the Chinook, Native Americans of the
handkerchief. He was surprised, however, at the
Pacific Northwest, a chechaquo (chē cha kō) is a cold. It certainly was cold, he concluded, as he
“newcomer” or a “tenderfoot.” rubbed his numb nose and cheekbones with his
5. Conjectural means “based on guesswork or indefinite evidence.” mittened hand. He was a warm-whiskered man,
Literary Element Setting Why does the author include but the hair on his face did not protect the high
these details? cheekbones and the eager nose that thrust itself
aggressively into the frosty air.
Reading Strategy Cause and Effect Why is a good At the man’s heel trotted a dog, a big native
imagination especially important in this environment? husky, the proper wolf dog, gray-coated and without

Vocabulary
6. A claim is a piece of land registered for mining rights.
immortality (im´ o r tal ə tē) n. the condition of having
7. A divide is a ridge of land that separates two river drainage
eternal life
systems.

596 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
any visible or temperamental difference from its country, and he had been out before in two cold
brother, the wild wolf. The animal was depressed by snaps. They had not been so cold as this, he knew,
the tremendous cold. It knew that it was no time but by the spirit thermometer10 at Sixty Mile he
for traveling. Its instinct told a truer tale than was knew they had been registered at fifty below and at
told to the man by the man’s judgment. In reality, it fifty-five.
was not merely colder than fifty below zero; it was He held on through the level stretch of woods for
colder than sixty below, than seventy below. It was several miles and dropped down a bank to the fro-
seventy-five below zero. Since zen bed of a small stream. This
the freezing point is thirty-two was Henderson Creek, and he
above zero, it meant that one knew he was ten miles from the
hundred and seven degrees of forks. He looked at his watch. It
frost obtained. The dog did The dog had was ten o’clock. He was making
not know anything about ther- four miles an hour, and he cal-
mometers. Possibly in its brain learned fire, and culated that he would arrive at
there was no sharp conscious- the forks at half-past twelve. He
ness of a condition of very cold it wanted fire, or decided to celebrate that event
such as was in the man’s brain.
But the brute had its instinct.
else to burrow by eating his lunch there.
The dog dropped in again
It experienced a vague but
menacing apprehension that
under the snow at his heels, with a tail droop-
ing discouragement, as the
subdued it and made it slink and cuddle its man swung along the creek
along at the man’s heels, and bed. The furrow11 of the old
that made it question eagerly warmth away from sled trail was plainly visible,
every unwonted8 movement of but a dozen inches of snow
the man as if expecting him to the air. covered the marks of the last
go into camp or to seek shelter runners. In a month no man
somewhere and build a fire. had come up or down that
The dog had learned fire, and silent creek. The man held
it wanted fire, or else to burrow under the snow steadily on. He was not much given to thinking,
and cuddle its warmth away from the air. and just then particularly he had nothing to think
The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled about save that he would eat lunch at the forks
on its fur in a fine powder of frost, and especially and that at six o’clock he would be in camp with
were its jowls, muzzle, and eyelashes whitened by its the boys. There was nobody to talk to; and, had
crystalled breath. The man’s red beard and mus- there been, speech would have been impossible
tache were likewise frosted, but more solidly, the because of the ice muzzle on his mouth. So he
deposit taking the form of ice and increasing with continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to
every warm, moist breath he exhaled. Also, the increase the length of his amber beard.
man was chewing tobacco, and the muzzle of ice Once in a while the thought reiterated12 itself
held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear that it was very cold and that he had never experi-
his chin when he expelled the juice. The result was enced such cold. As he walked along he rubbed his
that a crystal beard of the color and solidity of cheekbones and nose with the back of his mittened
amber was increasing its length on his chin. If he hand. He did this automatically, now and again
fell down it would shatter itself, like glass, into brit- changing hands. But rub as he would, the instant he
tle fragments. But he did not mind the appendage.9
It was the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that 10. A spirit thermometer is an alcohol thermometer. It is used
in areas of extreme cold, where the more common
mercury thermometer would freeze.
8. Unwonted means “unusual.” 11. A furrow is a long, narrow groove or depression.
9. An appendage is something that is added on or attached. 12. Reiterated means “repeated.”

Big Idea Naturalism Why does the man still chew Reading Strategy Cause and Effect Why doesn’t the
tobacco even after ice forms on his chin? man seek shelter and build a fire?

JAC K LONDON 597


stopped his cheekbones went numb, and the follow- he had a close call; and once, suspecting danger,
ing instant the end of his nose went numb. He was he compelled the dog to go on in front. The dog
sure to frost his cheeks; he knew that, and experi- did not want to go. It hung back until the man
enced a pang of regret that he had not devised a shoved it forward, and then it went quickly across
nose strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps. Such the white, unbroken surface. Suddenly it broke
a strap passed across the cheeks, as well, and saved through, floundered to one side, and got away to
them. But it didn’t matter much, after all. What firmer footing. It had wet its forefeet and legs, and
were frosted cheeks? A bit painful, that was all; they almost immediately the water that clung to it
were never serious. turned to ice. It made quick efforts to lick the ice
Empty as the man’s mind was of thoughts, he was off its legs, then dropped down in the snow and
keenly observant, and he noticed the changes in the began to bite out the ice that had formed between
creek, the curves and bends and timber jams, and the toes. This was a matter of instinct. To permit
always he sharply noted where he placed his feet. the ice to remain would mean sore feet. It did not
Once, coming around the bend, he shied13 abruptly, know this. It merely obeyed the mysterious
like a startled horse, curved away from the place prompting that arose from the deep crypts14 of its
where he had been walking, and retreated several being. But the man knew, having achieved a judg-
paces back along the trail. The creek he knew was ment on the subject, and he removed the mitten
frozen clear to the bottom—no creek could contain from his right hand and helped tear out the ice
water in that arctic winter—but he knew also that particles. He did not expose his fingers more than
there were springs that bubbled out from the hill- a minute, and was astonished at the swift numb-
sides and ran along under the snow and on top the ness that smote15 them. It certainly was cold. He
ice of the creek. He knew that the coldest snaps pulled on the mitten hastily, and beat the hand
never froze these springs, and he knew likewise their savagely across his chest.
danger. They were traps. They hid pools of water At twelve o’clock the day was at its brightest.
under the snow that might be three inches deep, or Yet the sun was too far south on its winter jour-
three feet. Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch ney to clear the horizon. The bulge of the earth
thick covered them, and in turn was covered by the intervened between it and Henderson Creek,
snow. Sometimes they were alternate layers of water where the man walked under a clear sky at noon
and ice skin, so that when one broke through he and cast no shadow. At half-past twelve, to the
kept on breaking through for a while, sometimes minute, he arrived at the forks of the creek. He
wetting himself to the waist. was pleased at the speed he had made. If he
That was why he had shied in such panic. He kept it up, he would certainly be with the boys
had felt the give under his feet and heard the by six. He unbuttoned his jacket and shirt and
crackle of a snow-hidden ice skin. And to get his drew forth his lunch. The action consumed no
feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and more than a quarter of a minute, yet in that
danger. At the very least it meant delay, for he brief moment the numbness laid hold of the
would be forced to stop and build a fire, and under exposed fingers. He did not put the mitten on,
its protection to bare his feet while he dried his but, instead, struck the fingers a dozen sharp
socks and moccasins. He stood and studied the smashes against his leg. Then he sat down on a
creek bed and its banks, and decided that the flow snow-covered log to eat. The sting that followed
of water came from the right. He reflected awhile, upon the striking of his fingers against his leg
rubbing his nose and cheeks, then skirted to the left,
stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each 14. Here, crypts means “hidden recesses.”
step. Once clear of the danger, he took a fresh chew 15. Smote (past tense of smite) means “afflicted” or “attacked.”
of tobacco and swung along at his four-mile gait.
Literary Element Setting What do these details suggest
In the course of the next two hours he came
about the relationship of the man and the environment?
upon similar traps. Usually the snow above the
hidden pools had a sunken, candied appearance Vocabulary
that advertised the danger. Once again, however,
compel (kəm pel) v. to force
intervene (in´ tər vēn) v. to come or lie between
13. Shied means “moved suddenly, as in fear.”

598 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
Viewing the Photograph: As you look at this photograph, jot down the first five words that
come to mind. Which of these words seems most applicable to the story? Explain.

ceased so quickly that he was startled. He had stamping his feet and threshing his arms, until
had no chance to take a bite of biscuit. He struck reassured by the returning warmth. Then he got
the fingers repeatedly and returned them to the out matches and proceeded to make a fire. From
mitten, baring the other hand for the purpose of the undergrowth, where high water of the previ-
eating. He tried to take a mouthful, but the ice ous spring had lodged a supply of seasoned twigs,
muzzle prevented. He had forgotten to build a fire he got his firewood. Working carefully from a
and thaw out. He chuckled at his foolishness, and small beginning, he soon had a roaring fire, over
as he chuckled he noted the numbness creeping which he thawed the ice from his face and in the
into his exposed fingers. Also, he noted that the protection of which he ate his biscuits. For the
stinging which had first come to his toes when he moment the cold of space was outwitted. The dog
sat down was already passing away. He wondered took satisfaction in the fire, stretching out close
whether the toes were warm or numb. He moved enough for warmth and far enough away to
them inside the moccasins and decided that they escape being singed.
were numb. When the man had finished, he filled his pipe
He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood and took his comfortable time over a smoke.
up. He was a bit frightened. He stamped up and Then he pulled on his mittens, settled the earflaps
down until the sting returned into the feet. It cer- of his cap firmly about his ears, and took the creek
tainly was cold, was his thought. That man from trail up the left fork. The dog was disappointed
Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling and yearned back toward the fire. This man did
how cold it sometimes got in the country. And he not know cold. Possibly all the generations of his
had laughed at him at the time! That showed one ancestry had been ignorant of cold, of real cold, of
must not be too sure of things. There was no mis- cold one hundred and seven degrees below freez-
take about it, it was cold. He strode up and down, ing point. But the dog knew; all its ancestry knew,
and it had inherited the knowledge. And it knew
that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful
Reading Strategy Cause and Effect Why does the man cold. It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the
suddenly recall the man from Sulphur Creek?
snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn

JAC K LONDON 599


Berhard Otto/FPG
across the face of outer space whence this cold He worked slowly and carefully, keenly aware
came. On the other hand, there was no keen inti- of his danger. Gradually, as the flame grew stron-
macy between the dog and the man. The one was ger, he increased the size of the twigs with which
the toil slave of the other, and the only caresses it he fed it. He squatted in the snow, pulling the
had ever received were the caresses of the whip- twigs out from their entanglement in the brush
lash and of harsh and menacing throat sounds and feeding directly to the flame. He knew there
that threatened the whiplash. So the dog made must be no failure. When it is seventy-five below
no effort to communicate its apprehension to the zero, a man must not fail in his first attempt to
man. It was not concerned in the welfare of the build a fire—that is, if his feet are wet. If his feet
man; it was for its own sake that it yearned back are dry, and he fails, he can run along the trail
toward the fire. But the man whistled, and spoke for half a mile and restore his circulation. But
to it with the sound of whiplashes, and the dog the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be
swung in at the man’s heels and followed after. restored by running when it is seventy-five
The man took a chew of tobacco and pro- below. No matter how fast he runs, the wet feet
ceeded to start a new amber beard. Also, his will freeze the harder.
moist breath quickly powdered with white his All this the man knew. The old-timer on
mustache, eyebrows, and lashes. There did not Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous
seem to be so many springs on the left fork of the fall, and now he was appreciating the advice.
Henderson, and for half an hour the man saw no Already all sensation had gone out of his feet. To
signs of any. And then it happened. At a place build the fire he had been forced to remove his
where there were no signs, where the soft, unbro- mittens, and the fingers had quickly gone numb.
ken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath, His pace of four miles an hour had kept his heart
the man broke through. It was not deep. He wet pumping blood to the surface of his body and to all
himself to the knees before he floundered out to the extremities. But the instant he stopped, the
the firm crust. action of the pump eased down. The cold of space
He was angry, and cursed his luck aloud. He smote the unprotected tip of the planet, and he,
had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six being on that unprotected tip, received the full
o’clock, and this would delay him an hour, for he force of the blow. The blood of his body recoiled
would have to build a fire and dry out his foot before it. The blood was alive, like the dog, and
gear. This was imperative16 at that low tempera- like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself
ture—he knew that much; and he turned aside up from the fearful cold. So long as he walked four
to the bank, which he climbed. On top, tangled miles an hour, he pumped that blood, willy-nilly,17
in the underbrush about the trunks of several to the surface; but now it ebbed18 away and sank
small spruce trees, was a high-water deposit of down into the recesses of his body. The extremities
dry firewood—sticks and twigs, principally, but were the first to feel its absence. His wet feet froze
also larger portions of seasoned branches and the faster, and his exposed fingers numbed the
fine, dry, last-year’s grasses. He threw down sev- faster, though they had not yet begun to freeze.
eral large pieces on top of the snow. This served Nose and cheeks were already freezing, while the
for a foundation and prevented the young flame skin of all his body chilled as it lost its blood.
from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise But he was safe. Toes and nose and cheeks
would melt. The flame he got by touching a would be only touched by the frost, for the fire
match to a small shred of birch bark that he took was beginning to burn with strength. He was feed-
from his pocket. This burned even more readily ing it with twigs the size of his finger. In another
than paper. Placing it on the foundation, he fed minute he would be able to feed it with branches
the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the size of his wrist, and then he could remove his
the tiniest dry twigs. wet foot gear, and, while it dried, he could keep
his naked feet warm by the fire, rubbing them at
16. Imperative means “absolutely necessary.”
first, of course, with snow. The fire was a success.

Big Idea Naturalism What view of nature is suggested


by this passage? 17. Willy-nilly means “without choice.”
18. Ebbed means “flowed back” or “receded.”

600 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
He was safe. He remembered the advice of the out and involving the whole tree. It grew like an
old-timer on Sulphur Creek, and smiled. The avalanche, and it descended without warning upon
old-timer had been very serious in laying down the man and the fire, and the fire was blotted out!
the law that no man must travel alone in the Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and dis-
Klondike after fifty below. Well, here he was; he ordered snow.
had had the accident; he was alone; and he had The man was shocked. It was as though he
saved himself. Those old-timers were rather wom- had just heard his own sentence of death. For a
anish, some of them, he thought. All a man had moment he sat and stared at the spot where the
to do was to keep his head, and he was all right. fire had been. Then he grew very calm. Perhaps
Any man who was a man could travel alone. But the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right. If he
it was surprising, the rapidity with which his had only had a trail mate he would have been
cheeks and nose were freez- in no danger now. The trail
ing. And he had not thought mate could have built the
his fingers could go lifeless in fire. Well, it was up to him
so short a time. Lifeless they to build the fire over again,
were, for he could scarcely There was the and this second time there
make them move together to must be no failure. Even if
grip a twig, and they seemed fire, snapping he succeeded, he would
remote from his body and most likely lose some toes.
from him. When he touched and crackling and His feet must be badly fro-
a twig, he had to look and see
whether or not he had hold
promising life with zen by now, and there would
be some time before the sec-
of it. The wires were pretty
well down between him and
every dancing ond fire was ready.
Such were his thoughts,
his finger-ends. flame. but he did not sit and think
All of which counted for lit- them. He was busy all the
tle. There was the fire, snap- time they were passing
ping and crackling and through his mind. He made
promising life with every danc- a new foundation for a fire,
ing flame. He started to untie his moccasins. They this time in the open, where no treacherous tree
were coated with ice; the thick German socks were could blot it out. Next, he gathered dry grasses
like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees; and the and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam.19 He
moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted could not bring his fingers together to pull them
and knotted as by some conflagration. For a out, but he was able to gather them by the
moment he tugged with his numb fingers, then, handful. In this way he got many rotten twigs
realizing the folly of it, he drew his sheath-knife. and bits of green moss that were undesirable, but
But before he could cut the strings, it happened. it was the best he could do. He worked methodi-
It was his own fault or, rather, his mistake. He cally, even collecting an armful of the larger
should not have built the fire under the spruce tree. branches to be used later when the fire gathered
He should have built it in the open. But it had been strength. And all the while the dog sat and
easier to pull twigs from the brush and drop them watched him, a certain yearning wistfulness20 in
directly on the fire. Now the tree under which he its eyes, for it looked upon him as the fire pro-
had done this carried a weight of snow on its vider, and the fire was slow in coming.
boughs. No wind had blown for weeks, and each
bough was fully freighted. Each time he had pulled a
twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the 19. Flotsam (flot səm) is floating debris, here left behind by a
river or stream in the spring when the water rises with the
tree—an imperceptible agitation, so far as he was runoff from melting snow and ice.
concerned, but an agitation sufficient to bring about 20. Wistfulness means “thoughtful sadness.”
the disaster. High up in the tree one bough capsized
Reading Strategy Cause and Effect Why does the man
its load of snow. This fell on the boughs beneath,
make a crucial mistake when his life is on the line?
capsizing them. This process continued, spreading

JAC K LONDON 601


When all was ready, the man reached in his bunch of matches, along with much snow, into
pocket for a second piece of birch bark. He knew his lap. Yet he was no better off.
the bark was there, and, though he could not feel After some manipulation he managed to get
it with his fingers, he could hear its crisp rustling the bunch between the heels of his mittened
as he fumbled for it. Try as he would, he could not hands. In this fashion he carried it to his mouth.
clutch hold of it. And all the time, in his con- The ice crackled and snapped when by a violent
sciousness, was the knowledge that each instant effort he opened his mouth. He drew the lower
his feet were freezing. This thought tended to put jaw in, curled the upper lip out of the way, and
him in a panic, but he fought against it and kept scraped the bunch with his upper teeth in order
calm. He pulled on his mittens with his teeth, and to separate a match. He succeeded in getting
threshed his arms back and forth, beating his one, which he dropped on his lap. He was no
hands with all his might against his sides. He did better off. He could not pick it up. Then he
this sitting down, and he stood up to do it; and all devised a way. He picked it up in his teeth and
the while the dog sat in the snow, its wolf brush scratched it on his leg. Twenty times he scratched
of a tail curled around warmly over its forefeet, before he succeeded in lighting it. As it flamed
its sharp wolf ears pricked forward intently as it he held it with his teeth to the birch bark. But
watched the man. And the man, as he beat and the burning brimstone21 went up his nostrils
threshed with his arms and hands, felt a great and into his lungs, causing him to cough
surge of envy as he regarded the creature that spasmodically.22 The match fell into the snow
was warm and secure in its natural covering. and went out.
After a time he was aware of the first faraway The old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right,
signals of sensation in his beaten fingers. The he thought in the moment of controlled
faint tingling grew stronger till it evolved into a despair that ensued;23 after fifty below, a man
stinging ache that was excruciating, but which should travel with a partner. He beat his hands,
the man hailed with satisfaction. He stripped the but failed in exciting any sensation. Suddenly
mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the he bared both hands, removing his mittens with
birch bark. The exposed fingers were quickly his teeth. He caught the whole bunch between
going numb again. Next he brought out his the heels of his hands. His arm muscles not
bunch of sulphur matches. But the tremendous being frozen enabled him to press the hand
cold had already driven the life out of his fingers. heels tightly against the matches. Then he
In his effort to separate one match from the oth- scratched the bunch along his leg. It flared into
ers, the whole bunch fell in the snow. He tried to flame, seventy sulphur matches at once! There
pick it out of the snow, but failed. The dead fin- was no wind to blow them out. He kept his
gers could neither touch nor clutch. He was very head to one side to escape the strangling fumes,
careful. He drove the thought of his freezing feet, and held the blazing bunch to the birch bark.
and nose, and cheeks, out of his mind, devoting As he so held it, he became aware of sensation
his whole soul to the matches. He watched, in his hand. His flesh was burning. He could
using the sense of vision in place of that of smell it. Deep down below the surface he could
touch, and when he saw his fingers on each side feel it. The sensation developed into pain that
of the bunch, he closed them—that is, he willed grew acute. And still he endured it, holding
to close them, for the wires were down, and the the flame of the matches clumsily to the bark
fingers did not obey. He pulled the mitten on the that would not light readily because his own
right hand, and beat it fiercely against his knee.
Then, with both mittened hands, he scooped the
21. Brimstone is sulfur.
22. Spasmodically means “in a sudden, violent manner” or
Big Idea “convulsively.”
Naturalism Why is the dog better adapted to
23. Ensued means “happened afterward” or “followed.”
survive in this environment? Explain.
Reading Strategy Cause and Effect What will be the
Big Idea Naturalism Why does the author use the likely consequences of the man’s failure to build a fire a
phrase the wires were down? second time?

602 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
burning hands were in the
way, absorbing most of the
flame.
At last, when he could
endure no more, he jerked
his hands apart. The blaz-
ing matches fell sizzling
into the snow, but the
birch bark was alight. He
began laying dry grasses
and the tiniest twigs on the
flame. He could not pick
and choose, for he had to
lift the fuel between the
heels of his hands. Small
pieces of rotten wood and
green moss clung to the
twigs, and he bit them off
as well as he could with his
teeth. He cherished the
flame carefully and awk-
wardly. It meant life, and it
must not perish. The with-
drawal of blood from the Timber wolf in snowstorm.
surface of his body now made
him begin to shiver, and he
grew more awkward. A large piece of green The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his
moss fell squarely on the little fire. He tried to head. He remembered the tale of the man,
poke it out with his fingers, but his shivering caught in a blizzard, who killed a steer and
frame made him poke too far, and he disrupted crawled inside the carcass, and so was saved.
the nucleus of the little fire, the burning He would kill the dog and bury his hands in
grasses and tiny twigs separating and scattering. the warm body until the numbness went out
He tried to poke them together again, but in of them. Then he could build another fire. He
spite of the tenseness of the effort, his shiver- spoke to the dog, calling it to him; but in his
ing got away with him, and the twigs were voice was a strange note of fear that frightened
the animal, who had never known the man to
hopelessly scattered. Each twig gushed a puff of
speak in such way before. Something was the
smoke and went out. The fire provider had matter, and its suspicious nature sensed danger—
failed. As he looked apathetically about him, it knew not what danger, but somewhere, some-
his eyes chanced on the dog, sitting across the how, in its brain arose an apprehension of the
ruins of the fire from him, in the snow, making man. It flattened its ears down at the sound of
restless, hunching movements, slightly lifting the man’s voice, and its restless, hunching move-
one forefoot and then the other, shifting its ments and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet
weight back and forth on them with wistful became more pronounced; but it would not come
eagerness. to the man. He got on his hands and knees and
crawled toward the dog. This unusual posture
Literary Element Setting What does this detail tell you again excited suspicion, and the animal sidled
about the setting? mincingly24 away.
The man sat up in the snow for a moment
Vocabulary and struggled for calmness. Then he pulled on
apathetically (ap´ ə theti kal ē) adv. in a manner show-
ing little interest or concern 24. Sidled mincingly means “moved sideways in a careful
manner.”

JAC K LONDON 603


Lynn Stone/Animals Animals - Earth Scenes
his mittens, by means of his teeth, and got upon A certain fear of death, dull and oppressive,
his feet. He glanced down at first in order to came to him. This fear quickly became poi-
assure himself that he was really standing up, for gnant26 as he realized that it was no longer a
the absence of sensation in his feet left him mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes, or
unrelated to the earth. His erect position in itself of losing his hands and feet, but that it was a
started to drive the webs of suspicion from the matter of life and death with the chances
dog’s mind; and when he spoke peremptorily,25 against him. This threw him into a panic, and
with the sound of whiplashes in his voice, the he turned and ran up the creek bed along the
dog rendered its customary allegiance and came old, dim trail. The dog joined in behind and
to him. As it came within reaching distance, the kept up with him. He ran blindly, without
man lost his control. His arms flashed out to the intention, in fear such as he had never known
dog, and he experienced genuine surprise when in his life. Slowly, as he ploughed and floun-
he discovered that his hands could not clutch, dered through the snow, he began to see things
that there was neither bend nor feeling in the again—the banks of the creek, the old timber
fingers. He had forgotten for the moment that jams, the leafless aspens, and the sky. The run-
they were frozen and that they were freezing ning made him feel better. He did not shiver.
more and more. All this happened quickly, and Maybe, if he ran on, his feet would thaw out;
before the animal could get away, he encircled its and, anyway, if he ran far enough, he would
body with his arms. He sat down in the snow, reach camp and the boys. Without doubt he
and in this fashion held the dog, while it snarled would lose some fingers and toes and some of
and whined and struggled. his face; but the boys would take care of him,
But it was all he could do, hold its body and save the rest of him when he got there.
encircled in his arms and sit there. He realized And at the same time there was another
that he could not kill the dog. There was no thought in his mind that said he would never
way to do it. With his helpless hands he could get to the camp and the boys; that it was too
neither draw nor hold his sheath knife nor many miles away, that the freezing had too
throttle the animal. He released it, and it great a start on him, and that he would soon
plunged wildly away, with tail between its be stiff and dead. This thought he kept in
legs, and still snarling. It halted forty feet the background and refused to consider.
away and surveyed him cautiously, with ears Sometimes it pushed itself forward and
sharply pricked forward. The man looked demanded to be heard, but
down at his hands in order to locate them, he thrust it back and strove
and found them hanging on the ends of his to think of other things.
arms. It struck him as curious that one should It struck him as curious
have to use his eyes in order to find out where that he could run at all
his hands were. He began threshing his arms on feet so frozen that he
back and forth, beating the mittened hands could not feel them when
against his sides. He did this for five minutes, they struck the earth and Visual
violently, and his heart pumped enough blood took the weight of his Vocabulary
In Roman mythol-
up to the surface to put a stop to his shiver- body. He seemed to him- ogy, Mercury is
ing. But no sensation was aroused in the self to skim along above the messenger of
hands. He had an impression that they hung the surface, and to have no the gods. He is
like weights on the ends of his arms, but when connection with the earth. portrayed wearing
a winged hat and
he tried to run the impression down, he could Somewhere he had once winged sandals.
not find it. seen a winged Mercury,

25. Peremptorily (pə remp tə rə lē) means “authoritatively” or 26. Poignant (poin yənt) means “sharply felt” or “intensely
“dictatorially.” distressing.”

Reading Strategy Cause and Effect Why does the man Reading Strategy Cause and Effect Why does the man
forget that his hands are frozen? try to repress thoughts of his impending death?

604 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
Giraudon/Art Resource, NY
and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt bound to freeze anyway, and he might as well take it
when skimming over the earth. decently. With this newfound peace of mind came
His theory of running until he reached camp the first glimmerings of drowsiness. A good idea, he
and the boys had one flaw in it: he lacked the thought, to sleep off to death. It was like taking
endurance. Several times he stumbled, and an anaesthetic.27 Freezing was not so bad as peo-
finally he tottered, crumpled up, and fell. When ple thought. There were lots worse ways to die.
he tried to rise, he failed. He must sit and rest, He pictured the boys finding his body next
he decided, and next time he would merely walk day. Suddenly he found himself with them, com-
and keep on going. As he sat and regained his ing along the trail and looking for himself. And,
breath, he noted that he was feeling quite warm still with them, he came around a turn in the
and comfortable. He was not shivering, and it trail and found himself lying in the snow. He did
even seemed that a warm glow had come to his not belong with himself any more, for even then
chest and trunk. And yet, when he touched his he was out of himself, standing with the boys
nose or cheeks, there was no sensation. Running and looking at himself in the snow. It certainly
would not thaw them out. Nor would it thaw out was cold, was his thought. When he got back to
his hands and feet. Then the thought came to the States he could tell the folks what real cold
him that the frozen portions of his body must be was. He drifted on from this to a vision of the
extending. He tried to keep this thought down, old-timer on Sulphur Creek. He could see him
to forget it, to think of something else; he was quite clearly, warm and comfortable, and smok-
aware of the panicky feeling that it caused, and ing a pipe.
he was afraid of the panic. But the thought “You were right, old hoss; you were right,” the
asserted itself, and persisted, until it produced a man mumbled to the old-timer on Sulphur Creek.
vision of his body totally frozen. This was too Then the man drowsed off into what
much, and he made another wild run along the seemed to him the most comfortable and satis-
trail. Once he slowed down to a walk, but the fying sleep he had ever known. The dog sat
thought of the freezing extending itself made facing him and waiting. The brief day drew to
him run again. a close in a long, slow twilight. There were no
And all the time the dog ran with him, at his signs of a fire to be made, and, besides, never
heels. When he fell down a second time, it in the dog’s experience had it known a man to
curled its tail over its forefeet and sat in front of sit like that in the snow and make no fire. As
him, facing him, curiously eager and intent. The the twilight drew on, its eager yearning for
warmth and security of the animal angered him, the fire mastered it, and with a great lifting
and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears and shifting of its forefeet, it whined softly,
appeasingly. This time the shivering came more then flattened its ears down in anticipation of
quickly upon the man. He was losing in his bat- being chidden28 by the man. But the man
tle with the frost. It was creeping into his body remained silent. Later, the dog whined loudly.
from all sides. The thought of it drove him on, And still later it crept close to the man and
but he ran no more than a hundred feet, when caught the scent of death. This made the ani-
he staggered and pitched headlong. It was his mal bristle and back away. A little longer it
last panic. When he had recovered his breath delayed, howling under the stars that leaped
and control, he sat up and entertained in his and danced and shone brightly in the cold
mind the conception of meeting death with dig- sky. Then it turned and trotted up the trail in
nity. However, the conception did not come to the direction of the camp it knew, where were
him in such terms. His idea of it was that he had the other food providers and fire providers. 
been making a fool of himself, running around
like a chicken with its head cut off—such was
27. An anaesthetic is something that produces a loss of
the simile that occurred to him. Well, he was
sensation.
28. Chidden (past participle of chide) means “scolded.”

Big Idea Naturalism What do these thoughts tell us Literary Element Setting Why does the author describe
about the man as he faces this hostile environment? the stars as leaping and dancing?

J ACK L O N D O N 605
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Which images from the story do you find the most 6. (a)Explain how the mood, or atmosphere, changes
vivid and memorable? as the story develops. (b)How are the events of
the story reflected in the change of mood?
Recall and Interpret
7. (a)What are two contrasting qualities of the dog
2. (a)Where is the man going and what is his atti-
and of the man? (b)What does the ending suggest
tude toward his journey? (b)What can you infer
about London’s view of these qualities and their
about the man’s personality and character based
relationship to survival in the natural world?
on the first five paragraphs?
8. Is the dog merely a foil, or a character used to con-
3. (a)Describe how the man’s dog behaves. (b)What
trast with another character, or is it an important
event does the dog’s behavior foreshadow?
character in its own right? Support your answer.
4. (a)What mishap occurs shortly after the man eats
lunch and resumes his journey? (b)What external Connect
and internal forces must the man struggle against? 9. Big Idea Naturalism (a)What elements of
5. (a)What happens to the man at the end of the story? Naturalism does the story contain? (b)How might
What happens to his dog? (b)What lesson or lessons the story have been different if it had been written
might be learned from reading this story? by a Romantic writer?

LI TE R A RY A N A LYS I S

Literary Element Setting Review: Suspense


“To Build a Fire” is set in a specific historical time and Suspense is a feeling of curiosity, anticipation, or even
place. The setting of London’s story is well-defined dread about what is going to happen next. Writers can
and essential; without the setting, this particular story increase the level of suspense in a story by creating a
could not have been written. threat to the central character, or protagonist, and by
giving readers clues as to what might happen.
1. (a)How does the setting of the story establish
the central conflict? (b)How does it influence the Group Activity With a small group of classmates, dis-
resolution, or final outcome, of this conflict? cuss how London builds suspense in “To Build a Fire.” Fill
in a flow chart like the one below, showing how each
2. How does London reveal the man’s character through
event builds suspense, ultimately leading to the final scene.
his interactions with the physical environment? Give
specific examples.
3. How would you describe the relationship between There was no sun, but the man
decides to hike to camp anyway.
humans and the environment in this story?
➧ ➧

606 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
R E AD I N G A N D VO CA B U L A RY W R I T I N G A N D E XT E N D I N G

Reading Strategy Analyzing Cause-and- Writing About Literature


Effect Relationships Evaluate Author’s Craft At crucial points in “To Build
In “To Build a Fire,” each event moves the plot forward, a Fire,” the traveler recalls the old-timer from Sulphur
setting up a chain reaction of events. Review the Creek. Though this character appears only in the travel-
cause-and-effect map you created on page 594 and er’s thoughts, he is still important. Write a brief essay
then consider the following questions: exploring why London includes this character in the story.
Use evidence from the story to support your views.
1. What events do you feel had the greatest effect on
the outcome of the story? As you draft, follow the plan shown here to develop
your ideas.
2. What different decisions do you think the man
could have made in order to survive? START
Introduce the topic and state


Beginning your thesis, the opinion you
Vocabulary Practice intend to defend.

➧ ➧
Practice with Word Origins Dictionary entries
often include the etymology, which tells the origin
Middle


Support your opinion with
of the word. For example: evidence.
im·mor·tal·ity Latin immortalis, deathless,
mors, death Close your essay with a parting
End


thought about this character’s
This entry shows that the word immortality derives function and importance.
from the Latin word mors, which means “death.”
F INISH
Match each vocabulary word with its corresponding
Latin source. Use a dictionary for assistance. When you have finished, exchange your draft with a
1. intangible a. pellere, meaning “to drive” peer reviewer to evaluate each other’s work and to
suggest revisions. Then proofread and edit your draft
2. compel b. pathein, meaning “to suffer”
for errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
3. intervene c. tangere, meaning “to touch”
4. apathetically d. venire, meaning “to come”

Academic Vocabulary
Here are two words from the vocabulary list
on page R86.

interval (intər vəl) n. intervening time and


space; a temporary stop or break in an action
sole (sōl) adj. being the only one; single;
individual

Practice and Apply


1. In what interval of time did the man expect to
return to his camp?
2. What does the sole survivor of the expedition
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
suggest about the value of instincts?
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

JAC K LONDON 607


Lynn Stone/Animals Animals - Earth Scenes
GEOGR AP H IC P ER SP ECTIVE on To Build a Fire
Informational Text

Barry Lopez
National Book Award Winner

Building Background
Writer and photographer Barry Lopez finds many of the
subjects for his writing in nature and the environment.
W e left our camp on Pingok Island1 one
morning knowing a storm was moving
in from the southwest, but we were not
worried. We were planning to work in open water
He is often drawn to extreme locales, describing his
own experiences in those harsh regions. In the follow- between the beach and the edge of the pack ice,2
ing passage from Arctic Dreams, Lopez describes his only a few miles out, making bottom trawls3 from
experiences working with scientists in the Arctic Ocean. an open 20-foot boat. The four of us were dressed,
as usual, in heavy clothes and foul-weather gear.
Set a Purpose for Reading You accept the possibility of death in such situ-
Read to learn about survival in the Arctic and what ations, prepare for it, and then forget about it. We
may compel a person to take on such an adventure. carried emergency and survival equipment in
addition to all our scientific gear—signal flares,
Reading Strategy survival suits, a tent, and each of us had a pack
Analyzing Relevance of Setting with extra clothing, a sleeping bag, and a week’s
worth of food. Each morning we completed a
Analyzing the relevance of setting involves gathering
checklist of the boat and radioed a distant base
information about the importance of time and place
camp with our day plan. When we departed, we
in a literary work. Remember that setting is not lim-
left a handwritten note on the table in our cabin,
ited to the characters’ physical surroundings. As you
read, take notes about the setting of both Arctic
saying what time we left, the compass bearing we
Dreams and “To Build a Fire.” Use a two-column
were taking, and when we expected to return.
chart like the one below.

Setting of “To Setting of Arctic 1. Pingok Island lies in the Beaufort Sea, which is a part of
Build a Fire” Dreams the Arctic Ocean.
2. Pack ice is ice formed in the sea from the crashing together
of floes and other ice masses.
3. Trawls are large nets that are dragged along the bottom of
a body of water to gather marine life.

608 U N IT 4 REGIONALISM AND REALISM


Frank Krahme/Masterfile
Informational Text
My companions, all scientists, were serious under, or they could force it out of the water
about this, but not solemn or tedious. They fore- where we would have it for shelter.
stalled trouble by preparing for it, and were We took advantage of any momentary opening
guided, not deterred, by the danger inherent in in the ice to move toward open water, widening
their work. It is a pleasure to travel with such the channels with ice chisels, pushing with the
people. As in other walks of life, the person who twin 90-horsepower engines, the four of us heaving
feels compelled to dramatize the risks or is either at the stern and gunnels.6 We were angling for a
smugly complacent or eager to demonstrate his small patch of water within the pack. From there,
survival skills is someone you hope not to meet. it seemed, after a quick reconnoiter7 ahead on
Our camaraderie came from our enthusiasm for foot, we might be able to get out to the open sea.
the work and from exhilaration with the landscape, Thirty feet shy of our patch of water, we doubted
the daily contact with seabirds, seals, and fish. We the wisdom of taking ice chisels to one particular
rarely voiced these things to each other; they sur- chunk of weathered pressure ice that blocked our
faced in a word of encouragement or understanding path. Fractured the wrong way, its center of gravity
around rough work done in unending dampness would shift and the roll could take the boat under.
and cold. Our mutual regard was founded in the The only way around it was to pull the boat,
accomplishment of our tasks and was as important which weighed 3000 pounds, completely out of the
to our survival as the emergency gear stowed in a water. With an improvised system of ice anchors,
blue box forward of the steering console. lines, and block and tackle,8 and out of the terrific
We worked through the morning, sorting the desire to get free, we set to. We got the boat up on
contents of bottom trawls and vertical plankton the floe, across it, and back into the water.
tows.4 Around noon we shut the engines off and Had that been open water, we would have
drifted under overcast skies, eating our lunch. cheered. As it was, we exchanged quick glances
The seas were beginning to slap at the hull, but of justifiable but not foolish hope. While we had
we had another couple of hours before they built been winching the boat over the ice toward it, this
up to three or four feet—our match, comfortably. patch of water had been closing up. And another
We decided, then, to search for seals in the ice large floe still separated us from the ocean. Where
front before heading in. An hour later, by a the surf broke against it, it fell a sheer four feet to
movement of the ice so imperceptible it was fin- the sea. Even if we got the boat over that ice, we
ished before we realized it, we were cut off from could never launch it from such a precipice.
the sea. The wind, compacting the ice, was clos- Two stayed in the boat. I and one other went
ing off the channels of calm water where we had in opposite directions along the floe. Several
been cruising. We were suddenly 200 yards from hundred yards to the east I found a channel.
open water, and a large floe, turning off the wind I looked it over quickly and then signaled with
and folding in from the west, threatened to close the upraised shaft of my ice chisel for the others.
us off even deeper in the pack. Already we had It was barely negotiable to begin with, and in the
lost steerageway5—the boat was pinned at that few minutes it took to get the boat there, the
moment on all four sides. channel closed. We put the prow9 of the boat
In those first hours we worked wordlessly against the seaward floe and brought both
and diligently. We all knew what we faced. engines up to full power, trying to hold it against
Even if someone heard our distress call over the wind. The ice beside it continued to move
the radio, we could not tell him precisely east. The channel started to open. With the
where we were, and we were in pack ice mov- engines roaring, the gap opened to six feet. With
ing east. A three-day storm was coming on. a silent, implicit understanding each of us acted
The floes might crush the boat and drive it
6. The stern is the rear of a boat. The gunnel, or gunwale, is
4. Vertical plankton tows are funnel-shaped nets that are the upper edge of the side of a ship.
dropped into the water and lifted straight up to collect 7. Reconnoiter means “to survey.”
samples, such as plankton, from the water. 8. A block and tackle is a series of pulleys used to pull or lift a
5. Steerageway is the minimum rate of movement needed to heavy object.
make a boat respond to its rudder. 9. The prow, or bow, is the front of a boat.

BAR RY LOPEZ 609


Informational Text
decisively. The man at the helm reversed the
engines, heeled the boat around, and burst up
the channel. We made 20 quick feet, careened
the boat over on its port10 gunnel, and pivoted
through a 120° turn. One ran ahead, chopping
swift and hard at the closing ice with a chisel.
Two of us heaved, jumping in and out of the
boat, stabbing at chunks of ice closing on the
props.11 One man remained at the throttles.
Suddenly he lunged away, yanking the star-
board12 engine clear of fouling ice. The man
ahead threw his ice chisel into the boat and
jumped across to help lift at the port gunnel. We
could feel how close. The starboard side of the
boat slid off the ice, into the water. The bow east, we would be able to run up on a leeward17
lifted on the open sea. There was nothing more shore somewhere and wait out the storm.
for our legs to strain against. We pulled ourselves We plowed ahead. Three of us stood hunched
over the gunnel and fell into the boat, limp as backward to the weather.
feed sacks. Exhausted. We were out. I began to recognize in the enduring steadiness
We were out, and the seas were running six another kind of calmness, or relief. The distance
feet. And we were miles now from a shore that we between my body and my thoughts slowly became
could not see. In the hours we had been in the elongated, and muffled like a dark, carpeted corri-
ice, the storm had built considerably, and we had dor. I realized I was cold, that I was shivering. I
been carried we did not know how far east. The sensed the dry pits of warmth under my clothes
seas were as much as the boat could handle, and and, against this, an opening and closing over my
too big to quarter13—we had to take them nearly chest, like cold breath. I realized with dreamlike
bow-on. The brief views from wave crests showed stillness that the whole upper right side of my body
us nothing. We could not see far enough through was soaked. The shoulder seams of my foul-weather
the driving sleet and spray, and the arctic coast gear were torn open.
here lies too low, anyway. We could only hope we I knew I had to get to dry clothes, to get them on.
were east of Pingok, the westernmost of the bar- But desire could not move my legs or arms. They
rier islands, and not to the west, headed down were too far away. I was staring at someone, then
into Harrison Bay,14 where the wind has a greater moving; the soaked clothes were coming off. I could
fetch15 and the shore is much farther on. not make a word in my mouth. I felt suspended in a
We took water over the bow and shouted shaft in the earth, and then imagined I was sitting
strategy to each other over the wind and the on a bare earthen floor somewhere within myself.
sound of engines screaming as the props came The knowledge that I was being slammed around
out of the water. We erected a canvas shelter for- like a wooden box in the bottom of the boat was like
ward to break the force of the sea and shed something I had walked away from.
water. We got all the weight we could out of the In dry wool and protected by a tarp from the seas,
bow. A resolute steadiness came over us. We I understood that I was safe; but I could not under-
were making headway. We were secure. If we did stand the duration of time. I could not locate any
not broach16 and if we were far enough to the visual image outside myself. I concentrated on try-
ing to gain a sense of the boat; and then on a rhyth-
mic tensing and loosening of my muscles. I kept at
10. Port is a ship’s left side. it and at it; then I knew time was passing. There
11. Here, props means “propellers.”
was a flow of time again. I heard a shout. I tried to
12. Starboard is a ship’s right side.
13. Here, quarter means “to travel in a crisscross manner.”
14. Harrison Bay is a shallow inlet of the Beaufort Sea.
15. Here, fetch means “intensity.” 17. Leeward, or the lee side, means “facing the same direction
16. Here, broach means “to be turned broadside into the wind.” toward which the wind is blowing.”

610 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


Robert van der Hilst/CORBIS
Informational Text
My God, what had driven them? All we know
is what we have deduced from the records of
early historians. And the deference those men
showed to their classical predecessors, to
Ptolemy, Solinus, and Isidore,19 their own
nationalism and religious convictions, their
vanity, and the shape of the ideas of their
age—all this affected what they expressed.
And when it was translated, or when they
themselves translated from others, interpola-
tions, adaptation, and plain error colored the
historical record further. So the early record of
arctic exploration is open to interpretation.
Small boat by iceberg in Disko Bay, Greenland. And this refined history is less real, less har-
rowing than what had happened to us in the
shout myself, and when I heard an answer I knew boat. It is events mulled and adjudicated.20
that I was at the edge of time again, and could just I wanted to walk the length of the seaside
step into it. I realized I was sitting up, that I was beach on Pingok, knowing the storm was dying
bracing myself against heavy seas. away. I brooded over the fates of those early
The shouts were for the coast. We had found immigrants, people whose names no one
Pingok. knows, who sailed in ships of which there are
We anchored the boat under the lee shore and neither descriptions nor drawings, through ice
went into the cabin and changed clothes and fixed and storms like this one—but so much farther
dinner. Our sense of relief came out in a patter of from a shore, with intentions and dreams I
jokes at each other’s expense. We ate quietly and could only imagine.
went to bed and slept like bears in winter. The earliest arctic voyages are recorded in
the Icelandic sagas and Irish imramha. But
The storm blew for two days. We nearly lost they were written down hundreds of years after
the boat when an anchor line parted, and got the fact by people who did not make the jour-
wet and cold again trying to secure it; but that neys, who only heard about them. The Norse
seemed no more than what we had chosen by Eddas21 and Icelandic sagas, wrote the arctic
coming here. I went for a long walk on the explorer and historian Fridtjof Nansen, are
afternoon of the second day, after the storm had “narratives somewhat in the light of historical
become only fretful gusts and sunlight threat- romances, founded upon legend and more or
ened to break through the low clouds. less uncertain traditions.” The same can be
I still felt a twinge of embarrassment at hav- said of the imramha and the records of Saint
ing been reduced from a state of strength to Brendan’s voyage,22 though in tone and inci-
such an impassive weight, to a state of disasso- dent these latter are different from the sagas.
ciation, so quickly. But I did not dwell on it In the following ages, beginning in a time
long. And we would go out again, when the before the sagas, the notion of a road to Cathay, a
seas dropped. We would go into the ice again.
We would watch more closely; but nothing,
19. Ptolemy (c. 85–c. 165 B.C.) was an Egyptian geographer and
really, had changed.
astronomer; Gaius Julius Solinus (third century A.D.) was a
With the experience so fresh in my mind, Latin grammarian who wrote a book titled The Wonders of
I began thinking of frail and exposed craft the World; Saint Isidore of Seville (560–636 A.D.) was a
as I walked down the beach, of the Irish car- Spanish theologian and historian.
raughs and Norse knarrs18 that brought people 20. Adjudicated means “settled” or “judged.”
21. The sagas, imramha, and Eddas are all tales of sea voyages.
across the Atlantic, bucking pack ice streaming 22. Saint Brendan (c. 484–c. 578 A.D.) was an Irish monk who
southward on the East Greenland Current. is said to have gone on a seven-year sea voyage in search
of the Garden of Eden. Some believe he found North
18. Carraughs and knarrs are both types of ships. America during this voyage.

BARRY LOPEZ 611


Visions of achievement drove them
on. In the worst moments they were
held together by regard for each
other, by invincible bearing, or by
stern naval discipline. Whether one
finds such resourceful courage
among a group of young monks on
a spiritual voyage in a carraugh, or
among worldly sailors with John
Davis in the sixteenth century, or in
William Parry’s25 snug winter quar-
ters on Melville Island in 1819–20,
it is a sterling human quality.
In the journals and histories I
read of these journeys I was drawn
on by a sharp leaning in the
Tourist on Ellesmere Island. human spirit: pure desire—the
complexities of human passion and cupidity.
Northwest Passage,23 emerges. The quest for such
Someone, for example, had to pay for these trips;
a corridor, a path to wealth that had to be fol-
and whoever paid was looking for a way to be paid
lowed through a perilous landscape, gathers the
back. Rarely was the goal anything as selfless as an
dreams of several ages. Rooted in this search is one
increase in mankind’s geographical knowledge. An
of the oldest of all human yearnings—finding the
arctic voyage in quest of unknown riches, or of a
material fortune that lies beyond human struggle,
new passage to known riches, could mean tangible
and the peace that lies on the other side of hope.
wealth for investors, and it could mean fame and
I should emphasize two points. Few original doc-
social position for a captain or pilot. For a com-
uments point up the unadorned character, the
mon seaman the reward might only mean some
undisguised sensibilities, of the participants in these
slip of the exotic, or a chance at the riches him-
dramas. And the most common simile of compari-
self—at the very least a good story, probably some-
son for these journeys—the exploits of astronauts—
thing astounding. Enough, certainly, to sign on.
falls short. The astronaut is suitably dressed for his
As I read, I tried to imagine the singular hunger
work, professionally trained, assiduously looked
for such things, how desire alone might convey a
after en route, and nationally regarded. He possesses
group of people into those fearsome seas. The
superb tools of navigation and observation. The
achievement of one’s desires may reveal what one
people who first came into the Arctic had no pho-
considers moral; but it also reveals the aspiration
tograph of the far shore before they left. They sailed
and tack of an individual life, and the tenor of an
in crude ships with cruder tools of navigation, and
age. In this light, one can better understand fail-
with maps that had no foundation or geographic
ures of nerve in the Arctic, such as Bering’s in the
authority. They shipwrecked so often that it is dif-
Chukchi Sea in 1728—he simply did not have
ficult to find records of their deaths, because ship-
Peter the Great’s26 burning desire to define eastern
wreck and death were unremarkable at the time.
Russia. And one can better understand figures in
They received, for the most part, no support—pop-
arctic exploration so obsessed with their own
ular or financial. They suffered brutally and fatally
from the weather and from scurvy,24 starvation,
Eskimo hostility, and thirst. Their courage and 25. Sir William Parry (1790–1855), a British explorer, discovered
and named several islands in the Arctic, including the
determination in some instances were so extreme as inhospitable Melville Island, where he and his group were
to seem eerie and peculiar rather than heroic. forced to spend a winter because of sea ice.
26. Vitus Bering (1681–1741) was a Danish-born Russian
23. Cathay is an old name for China; the Northwest Passage is explorer. The Russian tsar Peter the Great chose Bering to
a route through the Arctic that passes from the Atlantic discover whether Asia and North America were connected.
Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Heavy fog caused Bering to return to Russia, where he was
24. Scurvy is a disease brought on by lack of vitamin C. criticized for not actually seeing the American coast.

612 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M


Brian A. Vikander/CORBIS
Informational Text
achievement that they found it irksome to acknowl- naval officers, behind the self-conscious prose
edge the Eskimos, unnamed companions, and inde- of dashing explorers, were the lives of coura-
fatigable dogs who helped them. geous, bewildered, and dreaming people. Some
Arctic history became for me, then, a legacy reports suggest that heroic passage took place
of desire—the desire of individual men to achieve for many just offstage. They make clear that
their goals. But it was also the legacy of a kind of others struggled mightily to find some meaning
desire that transcends heroics and which was pri- in what they were doing in those regions, for
vately known to many—the desire for a safe and the very act of exploration seemed to them at
honorable passage through the world. times completely mad. They wanted to feel that
As I walked the beach I stopped now and then what they were doing was necessary, if not for
to pick over something on the storm-hardened themselves then for the nation, for mankind.
shore—bits of whale vertebrae, waterlogged The literature of arctic exploration is fre-
feathers, the odd but ubiquitous piece of plastic, quently offered as a record of resolute will
a strict reminder against romance. before the menacing fortifications of the land-
The narratives I carried in my head that scape. It is more profitable I think to disregard
afternoon fascinated me, but not for what they this notion—that the land is an adversary bent
recorded of geographic accomplishment or for on human defeat, that the people who came
how they might be used in support of one side and went were heroes or failures in this. It is
or another of a controversy, such as whether better to contemplate the record of human
Frederick Cook or Robert Peary27 got to the longing to achieve something significant, to be
Pole first. They held the mind because of what free of some of the grim weight of life. That
they said about human endeavor. Behind the weight was ignorance, poverty of spirit, indo-
polite and abstemious journal entries of British lence, and the threat of anonymity and desti-
tution. This harsh landscape became the focus
of a desire to separate oneself from those
27. Frederick Cook (1865–1940) and Robert Peary (1856–1920)
were both American explorers. While Peary is usually listed
things and to overcome them. In these arctic
as the first person to reach the North Pole (in April 1909), narratives, then, are the threads of dreams that
Cook claimed to have reached it in 1908. serve us all.

R ES P O N D I N G AN D TH I N K I N G C R ITI CALLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. What part of this narrative did you find the most 4. How do Lopez’s descriptions at the end of this
engaging? Explain. excerpt compare with Jack London’s descriptions at
the end of “To Build a Fire”?
Recall and Interpret
5. Lopez recounts the stories of earlier arctic explorers.
2. (a)How does Lopez feel about the scientists with Do you agree that in these stories are “the threads
whom he worked? (b)Why is the quality of their of dreams that serve us all”? Why or why not?
relationships important?
3. (a)How does the boat become stuck in the ice? Connect
(b)What does this incident suggest about the arctic 6. Briefly describe some of the differences and similari-
environment? (c)What does it suggest about the ties in the settings of Arctic Dreams and “To Build a
expedition? Fire.” How do these settings affect the events of each?

O B J EC TIVES
• Read to enhance understanding of geography and American • Analyze the relevance of setting to a text’s meaning.
culture.

BARRY LOPEZ 613


Writing Workshop
Literary Analysis

The Writing Process


➥ Analyzing a Short Story
In this workshop, you will “The difference between the almost right word and the right
follow the stages of the writing
word is the difference between the lightning-bug and the
process. At any stage, you may
think of new ideas to include lightning.”
and better ways to express —Mark Twain, from “William Dean Howells”
them. Feel free to return to
earlier stages as you write.

Prewriting Connecting to Literature Mark Twain’s quotation analyzes the importance of


precise word choice in writing. This comment is a kind of literary analysis—a
Drafting close-up view of a literary work. When writing a literary analysis of a short story,
Revising
first consider your immediate impression of the story. Then as you reread the
story, you can look for themes and techniques that contributed to your impres-
➥ Focus Lesson: Improving
Sentence Variety and Style
sion. By analyzing these elements, you will clarify the deeper meanings and
understand how they are revealed in the story. Study the rubric below to learn
the goals and strategies for writing a successful literary analysis.
Editing & Proofreading

➥ Focus Lesson: Subject-Verb


Agreement
Rubric: Features of Literary Analysis Essays
Goals Strategies
Presenting
Analyze important and original ✓ Show how language, imagery, themes,
aspects of the story and original aspects of the text contribute
to the story’s meaning as a whole

Write a concise thesis statement ✓ Begin with your thesis, or your


interpretation of the story you will
analyze
Writing Models For models ✓ In the conclusion, restate your thesis
and other writing activities, go to
www.glencoe.com. and summarize your analysis

Support your analysis with ✓ Use evidence from the story to support
evidence and develop your analysis
✓ Use secondary sources such as
OB J EC TIVES dictionaries and literary criticism, if
• Write a literary analysis essay
applicable, as further support
to demonstrate an under-
standing of the author’s style
and an appreciation of the Organize your main points in a ✓ Organize your major points in
effects created. logical, effective order chronological order or in order of
• Advance a judgment of the
importance
text supported by evidence.

614 UNIT 4 REGIONALISM AND REALISM


Exposition

º Assignment Real-World Connection

Write a literary analysis essay about a story from the unit that shows how You analyze all the time,
the author’s language, characters, plot, setting, themes, and other elements particularly when making
of the text contribute to the story’s meaning. As you move through the important decisions. If you
stages of the writing process, keep your audience and purpose in mind. were choosing which col-
lege to go to, for example,
you might consider sev-
Audience: peers, classmates, and teachers who are familiar with the story
eral separate angles first:
Purpose: to demonstrate an understanding of the author’s style and whether you liked the
appreciation of the effects created programs offered, the size
of the school, and the
location. Then, you could
determine whether the
Analyzing a Professional Model
complete package made
In her literary analysis essay, Bettina L. Knapp analyzes the effects of terror on the sense for you.
crew in Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat.” As you read the following passage,
note how Knapp uses direct evidence from the story and explains the significance
of that evidence. Pay close attention to the comments in the margin. They point
out features that you may want to include in your own literary analysis.

From Stephen Crane: Tales of Adventure


by Bettina L. Knapp

“None of them knew the color of the sky,” is perhaps one of the most cele-
brated opening lines of any short story. The opening line conveys the fierce
struggle between finite man and the infinitude that engulfs him—as in
Melville’s Moby-Dick. The sea for Crane, as it is for Melville, is “the image Thesis
of the ungraspable phantom of life.” Make a concise judgment
that analyzes a literary
The men’s agony at not knowing their fate is underscored by the power of
element, such as theme,
those surging waters—waves that could sweep the men under at any moment. throughout the story.
“The horizon narrowed and widened, and dipped and rose, at all times its edge
Major Points
was jagged with waves that seemed thrust up in points like rocks.” Make sure that your major
Man, like the helpless survivors in the boat, is thrust here and there and points support your thesis.

floats about in utter helplessness. No matter how hard people try to fix and
direct themselves, they are castaways. Salvation—if there is one—lies in the
bonds between men that assuage their implacable solitude.

The craft pranced and reared, and plunged like an animal. As each wave
came, and she rose for it, she seemed like a horse making at a fence out-
rageously high. The manner of her scramble over these walls of water
is a mystic thing, and moreover, at the top of them were ordinarily these

WRIT ING WO RKSHOP 615


problems in white water, the foam racing down from the summit of each
wave, requiring a new leap, and a leap from the air.

Crane’s use of changing rhythms throughout the tale points up the terror
Analysis of Literary Element
of the dinghy’s passengers and exemplifies the utter senselessness of exis-
Analyze language, set-
ting, character, and tence itself.
unique aspects of the Crane suggests that if an observer were to look upon the events objec-
text to show how these
tively, viewing them “from a balcony, the whole thing would doubtless have
elements contribute to
the story’s meaning as a been weirdly picturesque. But the men in the boat had no time to see it, and
whole.
even if they had had leisure, there were other things to occupy their minds.”
Primary Source Values of virtue, bravery, integrity were once of importance, but now are
Support your analysis meaningless in a godless universe where nature observes impassively human
with direct evidence
despair and frustration. Yet, the harrowing sea journey creates a new moral-
from the story.
ity, which gives fresh meaning to life: “the brotherhood of men . . . was
Explanation of Evidence
established on the seas. No one said that it was so. No one mentioned it. But
Draw connections
between your evidence it dwelt in the boat, and each man felt it warm him.” Comfort and feelings of
and your thesis, and well-being emerge as each helps the other assuage his growing terror.
explain the significance
to your reader.
In the midst of fear and harrowing terror, there is also irony and humor:

If I am going to be drowned—if I am going to be drowned—if I am


going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven mad gods who rule
the sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate sand and trees?
Was I brought here merely to have my nose dragged away as I was about
to nibble the sacred cheese of life? It is preposterous. If this old ninny-
woman, Fate, cannot do better than this, she should be deprived of the
management of men’s fortunes. She is an old hen who knows not her
intention. If she has decided to drown me, why did she not do it in the
beginning and save me all this trouble. The whole affair is absurd. . . .
But, no, she cannot mean to drown me. Not after all this work.

A mystical relationship exists between the men in the dinghy—and the


sea and heavens. Crane feels compelled to point out man’s smallness, to set
him back into nature and reduce him to size.
Explanation of Conversations between the oiler and the cook, seemingly trivial, since they
Ambiguities
revolve around food—“What kind of pie do you like best?”—serve in reality
Identify and explain
ambiguities, complexi- to point out the absurdity of humankind’s preoccupations. They also act as
ties, and nuances in the a way of dispelling progressive terror. As for the captain, he is ridiculed; the
text to reveal additional
men laugh at him, again distracting themselves from their great fear of death.
layers of meaning.
The sight of a shark heightens the men’s dreadful tension. Crane does not
mention the shark by name, but the reader can almost hear the shark’s fin cut

616 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A ND RE AL IS M


Exposition
the water’s surface and see its phosphorescent gleaming body. Like the
survivors of “Raft of the Medusa,” whose harrowing episode is famous
in French maritime history, the men in the dinghy do not know there is a
lifesaving station twenty miles away.
Organization
When the ordeal is over, the men, safely on land, look back at the water:
Order your analysis in a
“white waves paced to and fro in the moonlight, and the wind brought the logical, effective way, such
sound of the great sea’s voice to the men on shore, and they felt that they as by chronological order.

could then be interpreters.” The narrator’s voice withdraws, as it were, from


the chaotic drama, introducing a sense of spatial and temporal distance. Explanation of Evidence

Comfortable on land, the narrator can indulge in the luxury of waxing poetic Draw your own conclu-
sions about your evi-
and thus transform subjective emotions into a work of art. dence, making sure to
Its poetry and rhythmic schemes make “The Open Boat” the match of connect it to your thesis.

Melville’s “White Jacket” and the best of Jack London and Joseph Conrad.
This tale’s unusually punctuated sentences of contrasting length simulate the
Conclusion
heart beat of a man under extreme stress, producing an incantatory quality.
Summarize your thesis
Crane’s sensual images of man struggling against the sea remain vivid long and major points, and
after the reading of “The Open Boat.” The salt spray and deafening roar of leave your reader with
something to think about.
the waves pounding against the dinghy can almost be tasted and heard.

Reading-Writing Connection Think about the writing techniques that you


just encountered and try them out in your own expository literary analysis.

Prewriting
Choose a Story to Analyze First decide which story in the unit to analyze.
It need not be the story you liked best or the one you understood the best. In
fact, the best essays often analyze challenging stories that initially leave the
reader with mixed feelings or unanswered questions. Choose a story that left
you with a strong impression and will give you enough to talk about in your
analysis.

Explore Your Story Once you select your story, review it to gain a com-
prehensive understanding of the text. Remember that analyzing a text means
looking at its separate parts individually and then determining how the parts
work together as a whole. Focus on a literary element—such as character,
setting, plot, theme, point of view, or style—to examine significant ideas
apparent throughout the text. For example, think about how a character
changes or how the setting or point of view influences the meaning of the
story. As you explore your story, look for patterns and recurring themes that
contribute to its overall meaning.

WRIT ING WO RKSHOP 617


Brand X Pictures
Test Prep
The Duchess: Her Mother Shipton:
Usually you cannot refer selflessness and Her compassion and
to notes or texts during concern for Piney sacrifice for others
essay tests. To prepare are revealed. are revealed.
for a literary analysis
essay test, make sure
that you are familiar Uncle Billy: He Piney Woods: She
with the details of the
remains a thief. remains innocent,
plot, the themes, and
optimistic, and obedient.
the characters in the Mr. Oakhurst: His
story. Although you ability to lead, Tom Simson: He
will not be expected to honor, and respect remains innocent,
quote from the text, try others, as well as a cheerful, and
to memorize one or two possible cowardice, obedient.
short, significant quota- are revealed.
tions to bolster your
argument. Analysis: The devastating storm reveals
the true nature of each character.

Clarify Your Thesis In a literary analysis essay, your thesis should be a concise
judgment that interprets, analyzes, and evaluates a specific element throughout
Multiple Interpretations the entire story. Your one- to two-sentence thesis statement should include the
element you will analyze and the conclusion you reached about the story.
Keep in mind that great
stories usually have
Gather Evidence As you develop your major points, remember to support your
many valid interpreta-
ideas and viewpoints with evidence—accurate, detailed references to the story.
tions. In your literary
The story will be your primary source, but you can use secondary sources such
analysis, briefly address
as dictionaries and literary criticism to reinforce your claims. A strong argument
other interpretations
depends on the ability to make clear to the reader connections between such
or counterarguments
evidence and the thesis. After giving evidence, explain its significance to your
but keep your analysis
argument, noting other possible interpretations.
focused. Use words
such as suggests in your
Organize Your Major Points In the body of your essay, organize your major
analysis to acknowledge
points in an effective, logical order. If you are analyzing a change that occurs in
that there may be other
the story, use chronological order. In other analyses, you may prefer to use order
valid interpretations.
of importance. Adjust the order to maximize the impact of your points.

Drafting
Present and Expand Your Points Present your major points in a straightforward,
logical way and back them up with direct evidence from the story. Maintain the pres-
ent tense throughout your literary analysis. Use direct quotations where appropriate,
especially to emphasize a point. As you discuss more complex interpretations and
connections, explain the significance of your evidence to the reader and clarify how
it supports your thesis. Using your thesis as a guide, revise your writing as necessary.

618 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A ND RE AL IS M


Exposition

Analyzing a Workshop Model


Here is a final draft of a literary analysis essay. Read the essay and answer the
questions in the margin. Use the answers to these questions to guide you as
you write your own essay.

In Search of Character: Defying


Reputation in “The Outcasts of Poker Flat”
In many works of literature, an outside event affects the lives of char-
acters and the community in which they live. Often this outside event
functions as a turning point, after which characters reveal their true
natures and behave accordingly. Ultimately, their actions change not
only the way others think, but also the course of events. In Bret Harte’s Author and Title
story “The Outcasts of Poker Flat,” a group of “improper persons” is Why is this information
necessary?
banished from Poker Flat and becomes trapped in a mountain cabin
during a snowstorm. The behavior resulting from the storm and sub- Element to Analyze
sequent entrapment reveals the true character of these outcasts, often How does stating this
belying or complicating their earlier reputations. information strengthen
the analysis?
The outcasts include Mr. Oakhurst, a gambler; Mother Shipton, a vul-
Thesis
gar, malevolent woman; the Duchess, a self-absorbed, wanton woman; What is the author’s con-
and Uncle Billy, a thief—all of whom have questionable backgrounds clusion about the story?

and reputations. Had the outcasts left Poker Flat and crossed over the Background

mountains, they would most likely have reached Sand Bar and continued Why is this information
important to the analysis?
to live as they had previously in Poker Flat. However, Mother Shipton,
the Duchess, and Billy become intoxicated along the way, and the group
is forced to stop for the night.
While the other members of the group act as might be expected of out-
Major Point
casts, Mr. Oakhurst shows signs of good judgment and concern for others.
How does this point help
He does not drink, and he remains cool and impassive during the journey.
develop the analysis?
While the others are forced to rest because of their drunken stupor, Mr.
Oakhurst contemplates “the loneliness begotten of his pariah trade, his habits
of life, his very vices,” and for the first time in his life, his behavior bothers Primary Source
him (508). Although he yearns for excitement, he does not desert “his weaker How do these quotations
contribute to the analysis?
and more pitiable companions” (508). The diction suggests that Mr. Oakhurst
sympathizes with the group, even as their irresponsibility puts his own life at
risk. Later, the narrator suggests that the gambler has “cachéd” his cards, and

WRIT ING WO RKSHOP 619


Mother Shipton notes that he “didn’t say ‘cards’ once” (512). Despite his own
yearnings, Mr. Oakhurst focuses on others instead of himself.
With the arrival of Tom Simson and Piney Wood, a young couple eloping
to Poker Flat, the group’s fate is sealed. The snowstorm that traps them in
the cabin reveals their true characters. At the first sign of snow, Uncle Billy
reveals his cowardice and selfishness. During the night, he runs away with
the group’s mules, suggesting that in his case, his reputation is accurate.
Billy is the same selfish thief on the inside that everyone saw on the outside.
Conversely, Mr. Oakhurst takes charge of the group and establishes a tone
that the others adopt. Unable to “bring himself to disclose Uncle Billy’s ras-
cality,” Mr. Oakhurst implies that Billy left to get provisions for the group,
and that letting the animals escape was accidental (511). Mr. Oakhurst’s
concerns are mostly for Piney, and he tries not to let anyone frighten her. He
warns the older women, “They’ll find out the truth about us all when they
find out anything . . . and there’s no good frightening them now” (511). The
two older women follow his understated yet commanding lead, and eventu-
ally their concern for Piney overshadows their concern for themselves.
Tom, nicknamed “The Innocent,” encourages an atmosphere of gaiety
Sentence Variety and Style during the snowstorm. Singing and laughing, he and Piney remain unaware
Improvement
of the impending danger. Mr. Oakhurst does nothing to diminish their enjoy-
How does the author
make this paragraph ment, even as he fears what may lie ahead, and Mother Shipton and the
fluid and interesting? Duchess follow his example.
Organization
The characters most fully reveal their true selves as the gravity of the situa-
How is the analysis
tion becomes apparent. The storm stops, but it is still too cold for the group to
organized, and why is
this organization logical? risk leaving the cabin. The music and storytelling can no longer substitute for
physical necessities, as food and fuel supplies run dangerously low by the end
of the week. Despite the gravity of the situation, the Duchess is “more cheer-
ful than she had been” and assumes the care of Piney (513). Mother Shipton,
once the strongest of the group, grows noticeably ill. Her true character is
revealed when she shows Mr. Oakhurst the reason for her failing health: she
has been setting aside her food rations for Piney instead of eating them herself.
She asks Mr. Oakhurst not to “say anything about it. Don’t waken the kids”
(513). Beneath her hard exterior is compassion that induces Mother Shipton,
without fanfare, to sacrifice her life for another. After Mr. Oakhurst sends Tom
to Poker Flat for supplies, Mr. Oakhurst decides to leave the cabin as well.
Gradually the Duchess realizes that he will not make it back. She shields Piney
from the sad news, and continues to protect Piney as best as she can. When the

620 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A ND RE AL IS M


Digital Vision/PunchStock
Exposition
two die together peacefully in each other’s arms, the Duchess’s nobility in
the final days of her life becomes apparent. The narrator notes the towns-
people’s reaction to the women’s embrace: “you could scarcely have told
from the equal peace that dwelt upon them which was she that had sinned”
(514). This suggests that in the eyes of the now “pitying” townspeople, the Explanation of Evidence
Duchess’s reputation has been restored. They leave the women’s bodies How does this sentence
strengthen the analysis?
untouched.
Although the character of Mr. Oakhurst changes during the event, his is
the most ambiguous characterization of the group. Although Uncle Billy,
Piney, and Tom remain unchanged throughout the event, and Mother Shipton
and the Duchess reveal a strength of character diametrically opposed to
Explanation of Ambiguity
what is expected, Mr. Oakhurst is “at once the strongest and yet the weakest
What does identifying and
of the outcasts” (514). Some may interpret his suicide as cowardice, as he explaining ambiguities
chooses to kill himself, ending his own suffering and shielding himself from add to the analysis?

the agony of others’ suffering. This final unspoken sacrifice, however, has
much in common with Mother Shipton’s sacrifice. Mr. Oakhurst leaves extra Counterargument
Why might the author
fuel for the others and spares the women from perceiving the grim reality
include a point that under-
of his mission. Assuming death to be inevitable, he confronts it calmly and mines his or her thesis?
directly, on his own terms. The tone of Mr. Oakhurst’s suicide note reflects
the attitude he adheres to before and throughout the snowstorm—namely,
that he is “too much of a gambler not to accept fate. With him life was at best
an uncertain game, and he recognized the usual percentage in favor of the
dealer” (507). The fact that Mr. Oakhurst recognized his “streak of bad luck”
and was able to accept his fate and “[hand] in his checks” suggests that sui-
cide, for him, was the most honest and honorable option (514).
Thus, the snowstorm and its aftermath, in “The Outcasts of Poker Restatement of Thesis
Flat,” reveal the true depth and complexity of the characters. The fatal Why might the author
restate the thesis in the
event shows that Billy’s weak character confirms his bad reputation,
conclusion of the analysis?
whereas the stronger characters of Mother Shipton and the Duchess belie
their reputations. Although he gives up playing cards and shows concern
for others over himself, Mr. Oakhurst retains the discretion, calm, and
Final Insight
acceptance of a gambler until his death. His reputation as a gambler is
How can adding a final
not so much contradicted as it is redefined. insight make an analysis
more compelling?

WRIT ING WO RKSHOP 621


Revising
Peer Review After you complete your literary analysis, exchange drafts with a
partner to help you identify areas of your essay that can be improved. Check to
Traits of Strong Writing confirm that the organization is logical and that the ideas are clear and support
Ideas message or the thesis. Remember to refer to the traits of strong writing.
theme and the details
that develop it
Use the rubric below to evaluate your writing.

Organization arrange- Rubric: Writing an Effective Literary Analysis


ment of main ideas and
✓ Do you examine important aspects of the text separately to determine how they
supporting details
contribute to the story’s meaning as a whole?
Voice writer’s unique ✓ Do you state your conclusions about the story in a concise thesis in your intro-
way of using tone and duction?
style
✓ Do you use direct evidence from the story to support and develop your analysis?
Word Choice vocabulary
a writer uses to convey
✓ Do you identify and explain complexities, ambiguities, and nuances?
meaning ✓ Do you organize your main points in a logical, effective order?
Sentence Fluency
rhythm and flow of º Focus Lesson
sentences

Conventions correct
Improving Sentence Variety and Style
spelling, grammar, As you revise, note the style and variety of your sentences. Do your sentences
usage, and mechanics flow smoothly from one idea to the next, or do they sound choppy? Combine
sentences and vary sentence structure to achieve more fluid, rhythmic sentences.
Presentation the way
words and design ele- Draft:
ments look on a page

For more information Billy is the same selfish thief that everyone thought he was. Mr. Oakhurst
on using the Traits of
is different. He takes charge of the group. He sets a tone that the others
Strong Writing, see
pages R33-R34 of the follow. He does not even “disclose Uncle Billy’s rascality” (511). Mr.
Writing Handbook. Oakhurst implies that Billy left to get provisions for the group. Letting the
animals escape was accidental.

Revision:

Billy is the same selfish thief on the inside that everyone saw on the
outside.1 Conversely,2 Mr. Oakhurst takes charge of the group and sets a
tone that the others adopt. Unable to “bring himself to disclose Uncle Billy’s
rascality,” Mr. Oakhurst implies that Billy left to get provisions for the group
and that letting the animals escape was accidental (511).3
1: Use parallelism to emphasize the relationship between ideas.
2: Use sentence openers on occasion to add stylistic interest.
3: Vary the length and structure of sentences by combining related sentences.

622 UNIT 4 REG I O N A L I S M A ND RE AL IS M


Exposition

Editing and Proofreading


Get It Right When you have completed the final draft of your essay, proofread
for errors in grammar, usage, mechanics, and spelling. Refer to the Language
Handbook, pages R53–R60, as a guide.

º Focus Lesson

Subject-Verb Agreement E-mail Exchange

The form of a verb must agree in person and number with its subject. It can Create an electronic
be difficult to identify the subject, however, when the subject is a collective word document of your
noun (a noun that names a group as a whole). A collective noun is usually essay and e-mail it to
considered singular. Note the examples. a peer reviewer. Ask
him or her to edit and
proofread the essay and
Problem: Incorrect identification of a collective noun as subject return the corrected
version to you.
While some of the group acts as might be expected of outcasts, Mr.
Oakhurst shows signs of good judgment and concern for others.

Solution: The plural indefinite pronoun some, not the singular collective
noun group, is the subject here and therefore requires a plural verb.

While some of the group act as might be expected of outcasts, Mr.


Oakhurst shows signs of good judgment and concern for others.

Problem: Incorrect identification of a collective noun as plural


However, Mother Shipton, the Duchess, and Billy become intoxicated
along the way, and the group are forced to stop for the night.

Solution: When a collective noun refers to a group as a whole, it is


considered singular and therefore requires a singular verb.

However, Mother Shipton, the Duchess, and Billy become intoxicated


along the way, and the group is forced to stop for the night.

Presenting
Writer’s Portfolio
The Right Look Before you turn in your paper, make sure that it is neat and
presentable. Papers should be typed (double-spaced) and should have appropriate Place a copy of your
margins. Be sure to include an interesting title that catches your reader’s attention literary analysis in
from the start. Check with your teacher for additional presentation guidelines. your portfolio to
review later.

WRIT ING WO RKSHOP 623


Speaking, Listening,
and Viewing Workshop
Delivering an Oral Response to
Literature

Connecting to Literature After reading thought-provoking literature such as


“To Build a Fire,” readers often enjoy expressing their opinions and interpretations.
Participating in group discussion is a useful way for people to express their
responses to literature and enhance their understanding of a piece of writing.
Discussion helps people solve problems, explore ideas, and exchange information.

Assignment

Working in groups, discuss and respond to the major


themes in “To Build a Fire” or another literary work.

Setting Time Limits Organizing a Discussion Group


Set time limits for your
group to ensure that When you wrote your expository literary analysis, you were addressing an
enough time is allowed for audience of readers. When you participate in a group discussion, each member
discussion of each idea or contributes ideas. Assign roles, such as facilitator and recorder, to members of
topic. your group. Each group member is to be equally responsible for discussion.

This chart will help you understand these roles.

Facilitator
✓ Introduces the discussion topic ✓ Keeps track of the time
✓ Invites each participant to speak ✓ Helps participants arrive at a
✓ Keeps the discussion focused consensus
and interactive
Group Participants (All)
✓ Form ideas and questions about ✓ Support any opinions with facts
the literature before discussion ✓ Listen carefully to other group
✓ Contribute throughout the members
discussion ✓ Evaluate and respect the
✓ Avoid repeating what has been opinions of others
said earlier
Recorder
✓ Helps the group leader form ✓ Keeps track of the most
conclusions based on the important points
discussion ✓ Helps summarize the discussion

624 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
Thinking About Your Topic
Let your mind play with the images of the story. What impressions do the images
spark in you? Begin with one particular event or image and let your responses branch
out from it. Use these responses to help you brainstorm about ideas for discussion. Show Respect
Group members will probably
Making a web diagram can be helpful in preparing your oral response to have different opinions about
literature. Below is the beginning of a web diagram for a scene from Jack elements of a text. However, it
London’s “To Build a Fire.” is important to let each person
have a turn to speak and to
1,000 feeling respect his or her views.
miles to go of isolation

Behind the man Ask Questions


are only snow and a
distant trail line. Respond to your classmates;
don’t just listen. Ask group
members to elaborate on
their ideas or to clarify their
comments. Group discussion
should be interactive.
Preparing for Discussion
Think about some ideas and responses you would like to share with your group.
Use the following questions to guide you as you prepare and deliver your oral
response to the literature:

• Have I thought about questions and ideas for discussion?


• Am I prepared to contribute throughout the entire discussion?
• Am I clearly stating my views when responding?
• Am I supporting my views with text evidence and background information?
• Are my ideas presented in a logical order?

Rubric: Techniques for Delivering an Oral Response to Literature


✓ Pacing Allow each group ✓ Listening Remain quiet until it
member time to voice his or is your turn to speak.
her opinion.
✓ Discussion Ask open-ended ✓ Focus Direct your attention on
questions to promote the group member who is
discussion. speaking. O B J ECTIV ES

✓ Delivery Encourage more ✓ Poise Use nonverbal communi-


• Orally express and explain
ideas about literature.
reserved group members to cation to show you understand • Encourage group members
to contribute ideas and
voice their opinions. what the speaker is saying.
express their points of view.
✓ Evaluation Set aside some ✓ Gestures Avoid nervous habits
time after discussion to and other movements that may
evaluate the group’s ability to distract the speaker.
work together.

SPEAKING, LISTENING, AND VIEWING WO RKSHOP 6 25


L ITER ATU R E OF TH E TI M E

For Independent Reading


T
HE LATE 1800S AND EARLY 1900S SAW GREAT DEVELOPMENTS IN
technology, industry, and science. As the world changed, novelists found inspira-
tion in various places. Some, like Henry James, turned inward. These writers
used insights from the developing field of psychology and focused on the thoughts and
perceptions of their characters. Other writers, like Frank Norris, were struck by the tur-
moil of rapid industrialization and portrayed the vast, impersonal economic forces that
were overwhelming individuals. Still others, such as Mark Twain, focused on reflecting
the regional lifestyles in the United States, using humor and satire to portray greater
truths about human nature and U.S. culture.

The Octopus
Frank Norris (1901)
Frank Norris was the first notable Naturalist
writer in the United States. The Octopus was
the opening novel in an unfinished trilogy—he
died before the final book was written—that
examines the social forces that drive agriculture
and industry. In The Octopus, Norris describes
the struggle between the railroad companies and
California wheat farmers, exposing the dangers
of concentrated economic power. The railroads
have become a multi-tentacled monster,
dominating every aspect of life, from the state
legislature to the very land the farmers work.
Farmers fight back, only to learn that the
railroads have become the masters of those
The Ambassadors they were intended to serve.

Henry James (1903)


In The Ambassadors, James explores the
collision of American and European culture
through the story of Louis Lambert Strether, a
middle-aged American sent to Paris to coerce
a young American, Chadwick Newsome, to
return home. However, the task proves harder
than expected for Strether, especially as he
finds himself becoming increasingly enamored
with Europe. Notably, James considered this
novel to be his best work.

626 UNIT 4 R EG I O N A L I S M A N D RE AL IS M
CRITICS’ CORNER

“The Concord, Mass. Public Library committee has decided to exclude


Mark Twain’s latest book from the library. One member of the committee
says that, while he does not wish to call it immoral, he thinks [it] contains
but little humor, and that of a very coarse type. He regards it as the veriest
trash. The librarian and the other members of the committee entertain
similar views, characterizing it as rough, coarse and inelegant, dealing with
a series of experiences not elevating, the whole book being more suited to
the slums than to intelligent, respectable people.”
—The Boston Transcript, March 17, 1885

From the Glencoe Literature Library

The Red Badge


of Courage
Stephen Crane
A young Civil War recruit
contemplates the meaning
of courage as he faces battle.

The Jungle
Upton Sinclair
This shocking story of
The Adventures of an immigrant family
Huckleberry Finn working in Chicago’s
meatpacking industry led
Mark Twain (1885) to the establishment of
In his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry the Food and Drug
Finn, Mark Twain describes the travels of the Administration.
runaway orphan Huck and his new friend Jim,
an African American fleeing slavery and the
South. Huck’s reflections on various aspects Heart of Darkness
of life in the prewar South are delivered in a Joseph Conrad
slangy, colloquial voice that will serve as a
model for later writers. The episodic story In this symbolic tale, a
moves between satire, slapstick, and touching man describes a dark and
portrayals of the relationship between Huck dangerous trip he took to
and Jim. investigate a Belgian trader
in the Congo.

LITERATUR E OF T HE TIME 627


Test Preparation and Practice
English Language Arts

Reading: Fiction, Nonfiction, and Image


Carefully read the following two passages. Use context clues to help you define any words with
which you are unfamiliar. In each selection, pay close attention to the author’s purpose, main
idea, and use of literary or rhetorical devices. Then, on a separate sheet of paper, answer the
questions on pages 631–633.

from The Jungle by Upton Sinclair


line
When he opened his eyes again it was to the
clanging of the bell of an ambulance. He was lying in
it, covered by a blanket, and it was threading its way
slowly through the holiday-shopping crowds. They took
5 him to the county hospital, where a young surgeon set
his arm; then he was washed and laid upon a bed in
a ward with a score or two more of maimed and
mangled men.
Jurgis spent his Christmas in this hospital,
10 and it was the pleasantest Christmas he had had
in America. Every year there were scandals and
investigations in this institution, the newspapers
charging that doctors were allowed to try fantastic
experiments upon the patients; but Jurgis knew
15 nothing of this—his only complaint was that they
used to feed him upon tinned meat, which no man
who had ever worked in Packingtown would feed
to his dog. Jurgis had often wondered just who ate
the canned corned beef and “roast beef” of the
20 stockyards; now he began to understand—that it was
what you might call “graft meat,” put up to be sold to
public officials and contractors, and eaten by soldiers
and sailors, prisoners and inmates of institutions,
“shantymen” and gangs of railroad laborers.
25 Jurgis was ready to leave the hospital at the
end of two weeks. This did not mean that his arm
was strong and that he was able to go back to work,
but simply that he could get along without further

628 UNIT 4 REGIONALISM AND REALISM


attention, and that his place was needed for some
30 one worse off than he. That he was utterly helpless,
and had no means of keeping himself alive in the
meantime, was something which did not concern
the hospital authorities, nor any one else in the city.
As it chanced, he had been hurt on a
35 Monday, and had just paid for his last week’s board
and his room rent, and spent nearly all the balance
of his Saturday’s pay. He had less than seventy-five
cents in his pockets, and a dollar and a half due him
for the day’s work he had done before he was hurt.
40 He might possibly have sued the company, and got
some damages for his injuries, but he did not know
this, and it was not the company’s business to tell
him. He went and got his pay and his tools, which
he left in a pawnshop for fifty cents. Then he went
45 to his landlady, who had rented his place and had no
other for him; and then to his boardinghouse keeper,
who looked him over and questioned him. As he
must certainly be helpless for a couple of months,
and had boarded there only six weeks, she decided
50 very quickly that it would not be worth the risk to
keep him on trust.
So Jurgis went out into the streets, in a most
dreadful plight. It was bitterly cold, and a heavy
snow was falling, beating into his face. He had no
55 overcoat, and no place to go, and two dollars and
sixty-five cents in his pocket, with the certainty that
he could not earn another cent for months.

from How the Other Half Lives by Jacob Riis


line
The twenty-five cent lodging-house keeps
up the pretence of a bedroom, though the head-high
partition enclosing a space just large enough to hold
a cot and a chair and allow the man room to pull off
5 his clothes is the shallowest of all pretences. The
fifteen-cent bed stands boldly forth without screen
in a room full of bunks with sheets as yellow and
blankets as foul. At the ten-cent level the locker for
the sleeper’s clothes disappears. There is no longer
10 need of it. The tramp limit is reached, and there is
nothing to lock up save, on general principles, the
lodger. Usually the ten- and seven-cent lodgings are

TE S T P RE PA RATIO N A N D P RACTICE 6 29
different grades of the same abomination. Some sort
of an apology for a bed, with mattress and blanket,
15 represents the aristocratic purchase of the tramp
who, by a lucky stroke of beggary, has exchanged
the chance of an empty box or ash-barrel for shelter
on the quality floor of one of these “hotels.” A strip
of canvas, strung between rough timbers, without
20 covering of any kind, does for the couch of the seven-
cent lodger who prefers the questionable comfort of a
red-hot stove close to his elbow. . . . On cold winter
nights, when every bunk had its tenant, I have stood in
such a lodging-room more than once, and listening to
25 the snoring of the sleepers like the regular strokes of
an engine, and the slow creaking of the beams under
their restless weight, imagined myself on shipboard
and experienced the very real nausea of sea-sickness.
The one thing that did not favor the deception was
30 the air; its character could not be mistaken.
The proprietor of one of these seven-cent
houses was known to me as a man of reputed wealth
and respectability. He “ran” three such establishments
and made, it was said, $8,000 a year clear profit on
35 his investment. He lived in a handsome house quite
near to the stylish precincts of Murray Hill, where the
nature of his occupation was not suspected. A notice
that was posted on the wall of the lodgers’ room
suggested at least an effort to maintain his up-town
40 standing in the slums. It read: “No swearing or loud
talking after nine o’clock.” Before nine no exceptions
were taken to the natural vulgarity of the place; but
that was the limit.
There are no licensed lodging-houses known to
45 me which charge less than seven cents for even such
a bed as this canvas strip, though there are unlicensed
ones enough where one may sleep on the floor for
five cents a spot, or squat in a sheltered hallway for
three. The police station lodging-house, where the soft
50 side of a plank is the regulation couch, is next in order.
The manner in which this police bed is “made up” is
interesting in its simplicity. The loose planks that make
the platform are simply turned over, and the job is done,
with an occasional coat of whitewash thrown in to
55 sweeten things.

630 UNIT 4 REGIONALISM AND REALISM


Bettmann/CORBIS
Use the passage from The Jungle (pages 628–629) to 7. What is the central conflict presented in this
help you answer questions 1–10. passage?
1. In the context of line 3, what does the word A. man versus nature
threading mean? B. man versus man
A. sewing C. man versus fate
B. winding D. man versus society
C. whirling
D. racing 8. In this passage, how does Sinclair reveal the
personality of Jurgis?
2. What can you infer about Jurgis from the sentence A. direct characterization
that begins the second paragraph? B. indirect characterization
A. He does not enjoy Christmas. C. metaphor
B. He is a new arrival to the United States. D. symbol
C. He has never celebrated Christmas.
D. He is surprised to learn that Christmas is 9. From what point of view is this passage written?
celebrated in the United States. A. first person
B. second person
3. In the context of line 13, what does the word C. third-person omniscient
fantastic mean? D. third-person limited
A. wonderful
B. amazing 10. What is the overall tone of this passage?
C. zealous A. reportorial
D. strange B. comic
C. ironic
4. What is Jurgis’s only complaint about the hospital? D. angry
A. The quality of the tinned meat is poor.
B. The doctors perform experiments. Use the passage from How the Other Half Lives
C. Scandals are reported. (pages 629–630) to help you answer questions 11–20.
D. The young doctor is a poor surgeon.
11. According to Riis, why does the locker disappear
at the ten-cent level?
5. Why does Jurgis leave the hospital after two A. There is no room for it.
weeks? B. There is no desire for it.
A. He is completely healed. C. There is no need for it.
B. He is eager to return to his work. D. It is what the proprietor wants.
C. He can get along without further attention.
D. He needs to speak with the boardinghouse
12. From the context, what do you conclude that
keeper.
the word save in line 11 means?
A. rescue
6. Which of the following is an effect of Jurgis’s B. protect
injury? C. collect
A. He loses his ability to work. D. except
B. He is released too soon from the hospital.
C. He sues the company.
13. Where does Riis say the seven-cent lodger
D. He spends all his Saturday pay.
sleeps?
A. in an empty box
B. on a strip of canvas
C. on a mattress
D. behind a partition

TE S T P RE PA RATIO N A N D P RACTICE 6 31
14. What literary device is Riis using when he 20. In this passage, which of the following do you
compares the snoring to the “strokes of an think best describes the main idea of How the
engine” in lines 25–26? Other Half Lives?
A. simile A. The slums are a terrible place, and the poor
B. metaphor are often mistreated.
C. allusion B. People choose to live in the slums, because
D. personification the slums offer a carefree lifestyle.
C. Although poverty is terrible, there is little
15. In the context of line 30, what does the word that anyone can do to prevent it.
character mean? D. The evils of poverty are often exaggerated.
A. personality
B. person Use the passages from The Jungle and How the Other
C. quality Half Lives to help you answer questions 21 and 22.
D. reputation
21. What do the passages from The Jungle and How
the Other Half Lives most strongly suggest?
16. What can you infer about Riis’s feelings toward A. Industrialization had overwhelmingly positive
the wealthy proprietor? results.
A. He finds him humorous. B. If the slums were destroyed, poverty would be
B. He thinks that the proprietor is a swindler. reduced.
C. He respects his position of authority. C. Poverty is entirely the fault of the poor.
D. He is envious of his wealth. D. The city is often brutal and unforgiving.

17. What is the tone of the sentence Before nine no 22. According to these passages, what did both Riis
exceptions were taken to the natural vulgarity of the and Sinclair hope to accomplish with How the
place; but that was the limit in lines 41–43? Other Half Lives and The Jungle?
A. reportorial A. to improve the living conditions of the poor
B. comic B. to increase the number of people migrating
C. ironic to the cities
D. angry C. to change people’s attitudes about the
meatpacking industry
18. What is the overall tone of this passage? D. to decrease the number of working people
A. reportorial
B. comic Use the visual representation (on page 630) to help
C. ironic you answer questions 23–25.
D. angry
23. Which of the following best describes Riis’s
purpose for taking this photograph?
19. In this passage, which of the following do you A. to illustrate the conditions of the poor
think best describes the author’s purpose in How B. to anger the wealthy
the Other Half Lives? C. to rouse public sentiment to help the poor
A. to entertain D. to educate the public about the dangers of
B. to persuade the city
C. to describe
D. to explain
24. What can you infer about the man in this
photograph?
A. He is happy with his surroundings.
B. He has injured himself and cannot work.
C. He is employed by the meatpacking industry.
D. He can afford only the worst type of lodging.

632 UNIT 4 REGIONALISM AND REALISM


25. What does this photograph suggest about the
poor in the 1800s?
A. They were often degraded and unhappy.
B. They rarely put forward any effort to
find work.
C. They were taken care of by charitable
agencies.
D. Their lives could be bad but were mostly
tolerable.

26. In this passage from The Jungle, how does the


setting influence the characters and the plot?
Support your answer with evidence from the
selection. Write your answer on your paper and
use no more than five lines.

27. In this passage from How the Other Half Lives, in


what ways does Riis use figurative and
connotative language to support his argument?
Do you find his argument convincing? Explain.
Write your answer on your paper and use no
more than five lines.

28. In what ways do these two passages from The


Jungle and How the Other Half Lives share
common themes and purposes? How do they
differ? Be sure to present evidence from both
selections to support your argument. Write your
answer on your paper and use no more than
eight lines.

Essay
Write an essay explaining what it means to struggle against injustice. As you write, keep in
mind that your essay will be checked for ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence
fluency, conventions, and presentation.

Unit Assessment To prepare for


the unit test, go to www.glencoe.com.
TEST PREPARATION AND PRACTICE 633
The Great White Way, Times Square, c. 1925. Howard A. Thain. Oil on canvas, New York Historical Society.

634
Howard A. Thain/New York Historical Society, New York/Bridgeman Art Library
U N IT F IVE

BEGINNINGS
OF THE
MODERN AGE
1910–1930s
Looking Ahead
Modern American literature developed in a turbulent era characterized by
extremes—both despair and exuberance. The violence of World War I
caused many people to lose faith in traditional values. Following the war,
an economic boom ushered in an age of prosperity and confidence.
Writers of the time created new literary works that mirrored this period of
rapid change and clashing values.

Keep the following questions in mind as you read:


How did World War I change Americans’ view of the world?
How was Modernism a departure from the American literary tradition?
What social and cultural forces shaped the Harlem Renaissance?

O B J EC TI V ES
In learning about the beginnings of the modern age, you will focus on the following:

• analyzing the characteristics of a literary period and how the issues of this period influenced its writers
• clarifying and understanding informational texts
• evaluating the influences of the historical period that shaped literary characters, plots, settings, and themes
• connecting literature to historical contexts, current events, and your own experiences

6 35
TIMELINE Hemingway

1910 –1930s passport

AM E R I C AN L I T E R AT U R E

1910 1920
1910 1914 1919 1920
Twenty Years at Hull-House Tender Buttons Winesburg, Ohio by The Age of Innocence by
by Jane Addams by Gertrude Stein Sherwood Anderson Edith Wharton
1912 1916 1920
Harriet Monroe founds Chicago Poems Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
Poetry: A Magazine of Verse by Carl Sandburg
1921
1913 American Indian Stories
A Boy’s Will poetry by Zitkala-Sa
collection by Robert Frost

U N I T E D STAT E S E V E N TS

1910 1920
1910 1913 1920
W. E. B. Du Bois founds Henry Ford introduces Prohibition Amendment
the Crisis magazine assembly-line productivity 1916 outlaws the sale of alcohol
1911 1913 Great Migration begins 1920
National Urban League formed U.S. mint issues first “buffalo,” 1917 Nineteenth Amendment
to assist African Americans or “Indian head,” nickel United States declares war gives women the right
moving into cities on Germany to vote
1914
1911 Marcus Garvey founds 1919 1920
The Nestor Company builds Universal Negro Improvement Black Sox Scandal rocks The nation’s first commercial
the first Hollywood film studio Association American baseball radio station, KDKA, begins
broadcasting in Pittsburgh

WO R L D E VE N TS

1910 1920
1910 1912 1920
Mexican Revolution begins Titanic sinks after striking an First meeting of the League
iceberg near Newfoundland of Nations in Geneva,
1910
Switzerland
Japan takes over Korea 1913 1914 ▲
The Rite of Spring by Russian Panama Canal opens 1921
1911
composer Igor Stravinsky Diego Rivera begins work on
Manchu Dynasty 1914
marks the beginning of his first mural in Mexico
overthrown in China World War I begins
Modernism in music
1921
1912 1918
1913 Mongolia gains
Native American Jim Thorpe Armistice signed November
Marcel Proust publishes the independence from China
stars at the Olympic Games 11 in France, ending World
first volume of Remembrance
of Things Past War I

636 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


(t)National Archives/John F. Kennedy Library, (c)Fotosearch/Comstock Royalty Free, (b)Imageworks
Langston Hughes

1930
1921 1923 1926 1930
All–African American Edna St. Vincent Millay The Weary Blues by Langston Flowering Judas by Katherine
musical Shuffle Along opens wins Pulitzer Prize in poetry Hughes ▲ Anne Porter
on Broadway
1925 1926 1936
1922 The New Yorker magazine The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Eugene O’Neill wins Nobel
The Waste Land by established Hemingway Prize in Literature
T. S. Eliot
1925 1928
1922 The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Home to Harlem by Claude
The Enormous Room Fitzgerald McKay
by E. E. Cummings

1930
1924 1927 1927 1931
Immigration Act bars nearly Conclusion of Sacco- First feature-length “talkie,” “The Star-Spangled Banner”
all Asians Vanzetti murder trial draws or talking motion picture, becomes national anthem
world attention The Jazz Singer, is released
1925 1935
Schoolteacher John Scopes 1927 ▲ 1929 George H. Gallup begins the
goes on trial for teaching Charles Lindbergh flies the League of United Latin Gallup Poll
evolution in Tennessee first nonstop solo flight American Citizens founded
1938
across the Atlantic Ocean
1926 1929 Minimum wage is
Jelly Roll Morton and his 1927 The stock market crashes; established in the Fair Labor
Red Hot Peppers begin a Babe Ruth hits 60 home Great Depression begins Standards Act
series of jazz recordings runs, a record until 1961

1930
1922 1928 1930
Irish writer James Joyce Fifteen countries sign the Mohandas K. Gandhi leads
publishes Ulysses Kellogg-Briand Pact, protest against British salt
condemning war monopoly in India
1926
Economic turmoil leads to a 1928
general strike in Britain Joseph Stalin starts
eliminating private ▲ Mohandas K. Gandhi
businesses in Soviet Union

Reading Check
Analyzing Graphic Information How many changes
Timeline Visit www.glencoe.com for of government throughout the world are shown on
an interactive timeline. this timeline?

INT ROD UCTION 637


(t)National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution/Art Resource, NY, (c)David J. & Janice L. Frent Collection/CORBIS, (b)Austrian Archives/CORBIS
BY THE NUMBERS
COST OF A MODEL T, 1908–1924 WORLD WAR I MILITARY DEATHS

$1,000
$900
$800
$700
$600
Cost

$500
$400
$300
$200
Germany 1,773,000 Romania 335,700
$100
Russia 1,700,000 Ottoman Empire 325,000
0 France 1,385,000 United States 107,000
Austria-Hungary 1,200,000 Bulgaria 87,500
1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 British Empire 908,400 Others 74,200
Source American Vision
Year Italy 650,000

HERO’S WELCOME IMMIGRATION

Back in My Day Charles Lindbergh thrilled people • More than 17 million immi-
in the United States and abroad grants entered the United
The value of a dollar and the cost of in 1927 with his nonstop, 33½- States in the first quarter of
goods changed dramatically during hour flight from New York to the twentieth century.
the course of the twentieth century. Paris. Upon returning he received:
Here are some economic numbers • In 1921 Congress passed the
from 1915:
• ticker-tape parade in New Emergency Quota Act, restrict-
York City that used 1,800 ing newcomers from Europe
Average Yearly Income pounds of shredded paper to 3 percent of a nationality’s
• 7,000 job offers U.S. population in the 1910
• Workers in finance, insurance,
census. In 1924 this was cut
and real estate $1,040 • 3.5 million letters down to 2 percent and was
• Industrial workers $687 changed to reflect the 1890
• Retail trade workers $510 census population numbers to
• Farm laborers $355 GREAT MIGRATION further limit immigration.
• Domestic servants $342 • In 1910, 75 percent of African
• Public school teachers $328 Americans lived on farms, and THE SHORTENING SKIRT
90 percent lived in the South.
Price of Goods • In 1919, the average distance of
• In the late 1910s and the a skirt hem above the ground
• Bicycle $11.95 1920s, 1.5 million Southern in proportion to a woman’s
• Baseball $1.15 blacks moved to cities—a height was 10 percent.
• Hotel room $1.00 movement called the “Great
Migration.”
• In 1924, it was 15 percent.
• Dozen eggs .39
• In 1925, it was 20 percent.
• Glass of cola .50 • During this period, Chicago’s
• Large roll of toilet paper .70
black population increased by • In 1927, it surpassed 25 per-
148%, Cleveland’s by 307%, cent, reaching the knee.
and Detroit’s by 611%.

638 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


A
A 1910s farmhouse in rural New
England, similar to the one in
BEING THERE
Derry, New Hampshire, in which At the beginnings of the modern era there was war,
Robert Frost lived and wrote. economic boom and collapse, and the rise of an
international culture. These images show the East
Coast of the United States, an area strongly affected
by these developments.

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B Women Walking with Girls in Harlem,
ca. 1920. Underwood & Underwood.

�� Black and white photograph.
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C Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street in New
York City, photograph 1924. In 1920,
for the first time in the country’s
history, a majority of people lived in
cities instead of in rural areas.

Reading Check
Analyzing Graphic Information 3. What can you infer about the literature in this unit
1. Which nation had the greatest number of military from the images of Harlem and a rural farmhouse in
deaths during World War I? New Hampshire?
2. How much less did a Model T cost in 1920 than Maps in Motion Visit
in 1910? www.glencoe.com for an interactive map.

INT ROD UCTION 639


(tl)Bettmann/CORBIS, (tr)Underwood & Underwood/CORBIS, (b)Bettmann/CORBIS
BEGINNINGS OF THE
MODERN AGE
1910 –1930s
Historical, Social, and Cultural Forces
World War I set enforcement guidelines for alcohol with the
National Prohibition Act of 1919. The law did little to
Europe exploded into war following the assassination
limit drinking. Instead, it contributed to the rise of
of Austria-Hungary’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand in
gangsters such as Al Capone, who secretly trans-
1914. Complex military alliances and national rival-
ported liquor and ran “speakeasies,” nightclubs where
ries quickly divided European countries into two
people could drink illegally.
opposing forces. They became known as the Allies
(Britain, France, Russia, and Italy) and the Central
Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Turkish Women’s Rights
Ottoman Empire). Before the onset of war, Colonel E. The push for women’s right to vote, or suffrage, grew
M. House, chief adviser to President Woodrow stronger in the early twentieth century. The work of
Wilson, said, “The situation is extraordinary. It is mil- reformer Carrie Chapman Catt led to some states in
itarism run stark mad. . . . There is too much hatred, the Midwest and West granting women the right to
too many jealousies.” For three years, massive armies vote. However, the move toward a nationwide amend-
fought each other all over Europe. The United States ment to the Constitution stalled. In 1917, suffragist
joined the war in 1917, in part because a German sub- leaders such as Alice Paul picketed the White House
marine had sunk an unarmed British ship, the and went on hunger strikes when they were jailed for
Lusitania, in the Atlantic in 1915. Of the 1,198 people their protests. Women finally got the vote when
lost in the Lusitania incident, 128 were U.S. citizens. the Nineteenth Amendment became law in 1920.
On November 11, 1918, the Allies emerged victorious. Women also gained a greater place in the workforce
Ten million soldiers died in the war; more lives were and legally enlisted in the military for the first time
lost in World War I than in all wars during the cen- during this period.
tury preceding it. The staggering rate of casualties is
attributed to the introduction of tanks, warplanes,
machine guns, and poison gas. The Great Migration
African Americans left the rural South for northern
cities in huge numbers during the 1910s and 1920s.
The Roaring Twenties A labor shortage caused by men’s leaving to fight in
As the world emerged from war, and U.S. soldiers, World War I and new limits on immigration from
known as doughboys, returned home, people in the Europe opened up many well-paying jobs for African
United States longed for a good time. The result was Americans in cities and industrial areas. Brutal south-
the decade called the Roaring Twenties. The Twenties ern segregation policies and widespread crop failure
were marked by a booming economy, jazz, and late- also drove blacks north. With its affordable housing
night parties where people danced the Charleston. and thriving cultural life, New York City’s Harlem was
Young women, nicknamed flappers, wore short skirts, an especially good place to relocate. This largely
short hair, and lipstick. Some even drove automobiles. African American neighborhood was the center of an
Many authorities were unsettled by what they saw as explosion of creativity in the 1920s, which became a
society’s loosening morals. Congress had attempted to cultural movement known as the Harlem Renaissance.

640 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F THE MODE RN AGE


1920s, radios became a fixture in U.S. homes, allow-
ing people from across the country to tune in to soap
operas, comedy shows, sports, and music. People in
the United States became fascinated with the exploits
of popular heroes such as baseball star Babe Ruth,
tennis champion Bill Tilden, and aviator Charles
Lindbergh—who electrified the nation in 1927 by fly-
ing the first solo, nonstop transatlantic flight from
New York to Paris. Even before the release of the first
feature-length “talking” picture in 1927, movies were
already an essential part of U.S. life. Attendance con-
tinued to rise throughout the 1930s, as movies pro-
vided a temporary escape from the hard times of the
Depression.

The Great Depression


The stock market crash on October 29, 1929, known
as “Black Tuesday,” ended the prosperity of the
Suzette Dewey, daughter of Charles Dewey, posed beside Roaring Twenties. Market conditions were ripe for a
roadster, c. 1926. Herbert E. French. Photographic print, collapse, as investors bought stock on credit, and
Library of Congress. banks did not have enough money in reserve to cover
all their customers’ deposits. In 1929, investors became
worried that their stocks were overvalued and began
Popular Culture selling at a frantic pace. Disastrously, no one was buy-
In the 1920s, U.S. popular culture was transformed by ing. By 1933, about a quarter of the population was
the automobile, radio, movies, advertising, and other unemployed, and many families became homeless,
innovations. Henry Ford’s introduction of the assem- depending on soup kitchens and migrant camps for
bly line in 1913 enabled factories to produce cars at food and shelter.
prices the average person could afford. During the

PREVIEW Big Ideas of the Modern Age

The Harlem
1 New Poetics 2 Modern Fiction 3 Renaissance

In the first part of the twenti- World War I created a genera- African Americans who
eth century, American poetry tion of writers who ques- flocked to New York City’s
pushed the boundaries of tioned traditional values. As a Harlem turned it into a center
subject matter, form, and result, many of them focused of creativity. Out of this cul-
style. Poets in this era found on social problems, a loss of tural whirlwind came litera-
inspiration in a wide range of belief in the old truths, and ture that both celebrated
sources and created new human despair. African American culture and
ways to capture individual See pages 644–645. emphasized the struggle
experience. against racial prejudice.
See pages 642–643. See pages 646–647.

INT ROD UCTION 641


Library of Congress
Big Idea 1
New Poetics

H
ave you ever had a feeling that is both The Imagists
unusually strong and remarkably inex-
The Imagist movement (see pages 650–651), largely
pressible? Shortly before the turn of
founded by Ezra Pound, flourished after 1910. Imagist
the twentieth century, many U.S. poets
poets believed that traditional poetry wasted energy
tried new ways to express their feelings
by describing, generalizing, and rhyming. To reform
and observations. Their new, experimental ways of
poetry, they insisted on direct presentation of images.
writing became known as Modernism. Some people
“An ‘Image’ is that which presents an intellectual
thought the new poetics, or methods for writing
and emotional complex in an instant of time,”
poetry, were an assault on literature. To others, mod-
Pound wrote. He and other Imagist poets, such as
ern poetry spoke eloquently about the mind and the
Amy Lowell and H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), also wrote
heart of the individual, doing so in new ways linked
manifestos, statements explaining their artistic
to the groundbreaking work of earlier poets Walt
philosophy. Imagism strongly influenced William
Whitman and Emily Dickinson (see pages 394–440).
Carlos Williams (see pages 666–670), among others,
to expand the subject matter of poetry to include
New Directions visual impressions that capture the mysterious power
Writers in this period believed that American poetry of ordinary experience.
had become stagnant. As Ezra Pound (see pages 652–
655) said, the modern poets sought to “Make it new!” Eliot’s Perspective
Modern poets found inspiration in a wide range of
Modernism took a different form in the poetry of
sources beyond the traditional lyric and Romantic
T. S. Eliot (see pages 656–665). Wide-ranging allu-
poetry of England. The French Symbolist poets,
sions—references to history, art, and literature—are a
avant-garde, or experimental, painters such as Pablo
fundamental part of his poetic method. Eliot said:
Picasso, traditional Chinese and Japanese poetry, and
“The poet must become more and more comprehen-
everyday life all influenced the new poets.
sive, more allusive, more indirect, in order to force, to
dislocate if necessary, language into its meaning.”
Eliot believed that the effects of war and industry had
“A classic is classic not because it shattered the human spirit. His 1922 poem The Waste
Land, which takes a pessimistic view of civilization, is
conforms to certain structural rules, or considered the most influential poem of this period.
fits certain definitions (of which its
author had quite probably never heard). Breaking the Rules
It is classic because of a certain external E. E. Cummings (see pages 694–698) didn’t care for
the literary conventions that govern the arrangement
and irrepressible freshness. of words, punctuation, and capitalization—or the
—Ezra Pound increasing conformity of individuals in U.S. society
from ABC of Reading either. He insisted on an irregular use of capital and
lowercase letters, creating poems that looked ungram-
matical, and celebrating the individual—especially
the artist. Also a painter, Cummings drew inspiration
from the visual arts, using typography and layout in
new ways—both playful and serious.

642 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F THE MODE RN AGE


from I: Six Nonlectures
by E. E. Cummings
Poetry is being, not doing. If you wish to
follow, even at a distance, the poet’s call-
ing (and here, as always, I speak from my
own totally biased and entirely personal
point of view) you’ve got to come out of
the measurable doing universe into the
immeasurable house of being. I am quite
aware that, wherever our socalled civiliza-
tion has slithered, there’s every reward
and no punishment for unbeing. But if
poetry is your goal, you’ve got to forget all
about punishments and all about rewards
and all about selfstyled obligations and
duties and responsibilities etcetera ad infi-
nitum and remember one thing only: that
it’s you—nobody else—who determine
your destiny and decide your fate.
Nobody else can be alive for you; nor can
you be alive for anybody else. Toms can
Telegraph Poles with Buildings, 1917. Joseph Stella. Oil on be Dicks and Dicks can be Harrys, but
canvas, 361/4 x 301/4 in. Daniel J. Terra Collection, Terra none of them can ever be you. There’s
Foundation for American Art, Chicago.
the artist’s responsibility; and the most
awful responsibility on earth. If you can
Frost’s New England take it, take it—and be.

One major poet of this period, Robert Frost (see


pages 704–724), did not follow Modernist poetics.
He held firm to traditional New England settings for
inspiration, and his lyric poetry is often traditional
in form as well. Frost relied largely on rhyme and
regular meter, and his language is frequently collo-
quial. Several of his poems are written as dialogue
between two people. Frost often wrote of the loneli-
ness and isolation of the individual, a typical theme
in modern poetry.
Reading Check
Summarizing How were the goals of the Modernist poets
different from those of more traditional American poetry?

INT ROD UCTION 643


Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago/Art Resource, NY
Big Idea 2
Modern Fiction

W
hat is the best way to tell a story? The Jazz Age
How many ways are there to tell
F. Scott Fitzgerald (pages 742–761) gave the label “the
the same story? Modernist fiction
Jazz Age” to the period between the end of World
writers broke from tradition, as
War I and the beginning of the Great Depression. To
they omitted standard beginnings,
him, this time was both exuberant and mournful. In
transitions, and endings in order to tell stories that
his short life, Fitzgerald embodied the frantic pace and
reproduced the complex ways in which people think.
social ambitions typical of the Jazz Age. Yet, beneath
the surface, he believed that the United States was
The Shadow of War fundamentally in disarray. He said there was a new
War often leads to dramatic developments in art and “generation grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars
literature. World War I prompted many writers to fought, all faiths in man shaken.” In the United
question cultural traditions and the meaning of life, States, desire for consumer goods soared after the war,
turning quite a few youthful optimists into premature and symbols of success, such as cars, were everywhere.
cynics. One of them, John F. Carter, wrote in an issue But many writers were disgusted by what they viewed
of the Atlantic Monthly, “The older generation had as shallow materialism. In his novel The Great Gatsby,
certainly pretty well ruined this world before passing Fitzgerald memorably created glamorous and wealthy
it on to us. They give us this thing, knocked to characters who dash from one party to the next, yet
pieces, leaky, red-hot, threatening to blow up; and cannot find happiness.
then they are surprised that we don’t accept it with
the same attitude of pretty, decorous enthusiasm with
which they received it.” With this shattered world in “It seemed only a question of a few
view, modern fiction writers probed the complex
inner workings of the mind and the breakdown of tra- years before the older people would
ditional values in the modern age. step aside and let the world be run by
those who saw things as they were.”
The Lost Generation
Many writers left the United States during this
—F. Scott Fitzgerald
period and established new lives in Europe. This led from Echoes of the Jazz Age
to a more international perspective that contrasted
with the regionalism that had dominated American
literature after the Civil War. American poet Gertrude
Stein, a longtime resident of Paris, remarked to a new
Hemingway’s Prose
American expatriate, the writer Ernest Hemingway Ernest Hemingway wrote in a concise style influenced
(see pages 732–740), that the young people of the by his background as a newspaper reporter. His spare
time were a “lost generation.” This description became style was markedly different from the elaborate prose
a famous label for those who had lost faith in U.S. that short-story writers and novelists had often used
society and were unsure where to turn. The protago- in the 1800s. Through understatement and irony,
nist, or main character, in Hemingway’s novel The Sun Hemingway’s fiction suggests connections that the
Also Rises comments on this dilemma when he says, reader is left to infer. “I always try to write on the
“You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one principle of the iceberg,” he said. “There is seven-
place to another. There’s nothing to that.” In modern eighths of it underwater for every part that shows.”
fiction, themes of change, indecision, and broken Hemingway’s first novel, The Sun Also Rises, is about
attachments often replace those of stability, heroism, members of the lost generation. It is told by Jake
and love. Barnes, an American newspaperman who has been
wounded in World War I.

644 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F THE MODE RN AGE


New York, 1911. George Bellows. Oil on canvas, 42 x 60 in. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon.

from The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

You paid some way for everything that was any good. I Perhaps that wasn’t true, though. Perhaps as you went
paid my way into enough things that I liked, so that I had along you did learn something. I did not care what it was
a good time. Either you paid by learning about them, or by all about. All I wanted to know was how to live in it.
experience, or by taking chances, or by money. Enjoying Maybe if you found out how to live in it you learned
living was learning to get your money’s worth and knowing from that what it was all about.
when you had it. You could get your money’s worth. The
world was a good place to buy in. It seemed like a fine
philosophy. In five years, I thought, it will seem just as silly
as all the other fine philosophies I’ve had.

Reading Check
Analyzing Cause and Effect How did World War I
affect fiction writing?

INT ROD UCTION 645


National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon.
Big Idea 3
The Harlem Renaissance

M
usic inspires many of today’s writers The Neighborhood
and artists, just as it did during the
Harlem Renaissance. Artists fed off Harlem became a main destination during the Great
the energy of jazz and their commu- Migration. Word about the vibrant community life
nity and changed American art. and affordable rents in this New York neighborhood
As Countee Cullen stated in his poem “I Have a quickly spread, attracting writers, artists, and musi-
Rendezvous With Life,” it was time to “face the road, cians. It was a haven where African Americans could
the wind and rain, / To heed the calling deep.” The escape the restrictions they faced in the rest of society.
Harlem Renaissance represented the coming-of-age In 1929, when the whole country felt the economic
of African American culture and the flowering of the shock of the stock market crash, there was less money
community’s creative impulses, especially for southern available to spend on the arts—and as a result, the
blacks, who had been exploited for generations in Harlem Renaissance was over. However, writers in the
the United States. 1930s and 1940s such as Richard Wright (see pages
900–908) and Ralph Ellison continued the artistic
coming-of-age that this movement had begun.

Good morning, daddy!


The Deferred Dream
Ain’t you heard W. E. B. Du Bois’s magazine of the NAACP, the
The boogie-woogie rumble Crisis, brought racial issues to the forefront of U.S.
culture. He wrote that the “problem of the twentieth
Of a dream deferred? century is the problem of the color-line.” Racial
—Langston Hughes segregation was widespread, and Du Bois said this
from Montage of a Dream Deferred created a veil of perception that forced African
Americans to see themselves through the eyes of
whites. The African American “simply wishes to
make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and
Blues to Jazz an American, . . . without having the doors of
Out of the African American tradition of spirituals Opportunity closed roughly in his face,” Du Bois said.
and work songs came blues music. Influenced by Racial identity became a pivotal issue for writers in
blues, jazz developed later in New Orleans as a type of this period. For example, Countee Cullen (see pages
music that combined West African rhythms, ragtime, 830–833) believed that race was a huge issue, but
and some European instruments, such as the string that a poet’s race should not determine how he or she
bass. Jazz was largely improvisational, or spontaneous, writes or how readers and critics understand him
within a rhythmic framework. Langston Hughes (see or her. Other writers, such as Arna Bontemps (see
pages 809–821) transposed themes and rhythms from pages 826–829), believed that a writer’s work could
blues and jazz into poems that celebrated the every- not be separated from his or her racial identity.
day life of African Americans and their strength in
the face of oppression. Hughes said, “I tried to write
poems like the songs they sang on Seventh Street …
[these songs] had the pulse beat of the people who “The thing to do is to grab the broom
keep on going.” Jazz inspired an energetic social life of anger and drive off the beast
and filled clubs. Hughes reported that at one Harlem
party thrown by black socialite A’Lelia Walker, it was
of fear.”
so crowded that even a Scandinavian prince couldn’t —Zora Neale Hurston
get in; he could only have a beverage delivered to his
car idling outside the apartment building.

646 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F THE MODE RN AGE


from “The Negro Artist and the Racial
Mountain” by Langston Hughes
Most of my own poems are racial in theme and
treatment, derived from the life I know. In many
of them I try to grasp and hold some of the
meanings and rhythms of jazz. I am as sincere
as I know how to be in these poems and yet
after every reading I answer questions like these
from my own people: Do you think Negroes
should always write about Negroes? I wish you
wouldn’t read some of your poems to white
folks. How do you find anything interesting in a
place like a cabaret? Why do you write about
black people? You aren’t black. What makes you
do so many jazz poems?
But jazz to me is one of the inherent expres-
sions of Negro life in America; the eternal tom-
tom beating in the Negro soul—the tom-tom of
revolt against weariness in a white world, a world
The Janitor Who Paints, ca. 1937. Palmer Hayden. Oil on canvas,
391/8 x 327/8 in. Smithsonian American Art Museum,
of subway trains, and work, work, work; the tom-
Washington, DC. tom of joy and laughter, and pain swallowed in
a smile. . . .
We younger Negro artists who create now
intend to express our individual dark-skinned
Hurston’s Folklore selves without fear or shame. If white people are
Zora Neale Hurston (see pages 790–798) explored the pleased we are glad. If they are not, it doesn’t
folklore of African Americans, and the building of matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too.
community in the South during Reconstruction. A The tom-tom cries and the tom-tom laughs. If
student of anthropology, she applied her training to colored people are pleased we are glad. If they
record her own experiences growing up in southern
are not, their displeasure doesn’t matter either.
African American communities in works such as Dust
We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we
Tracks on a Road. Hurston first went to Harlem at six-
know how, and we stand on top of the moun-
teen when she was traveling as a member of a theater
group. Although her work became associated with the tain, free within ourselves.
Harlem Renaissance, she resisted being classified by
any artistic movement. “All clumps of people turn
out to be individuals on close inspection,” she said.
Reading Check
Analyzing Cause and Effect How did the Harlem
Renaissance contribute to the beginnings of the mod-
ern age in literature?

INT ROD UCTION 647


Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC/Art Resource, NY
WRAP–UP
Why It Matters Cultural Links
The writers who created Modernism challenged the The “little magazines” such as Poetry that
traditional values of society and forms of literature. sprouted up during the period championed
They believed their innovations brought literature modern Imagism and other Modernist experi-
closer to capturing human experience. Today, writers mentation. Poetry’s founder, Harriet Monroe,
such as Dave Eggers, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Sherman wrote, “The Open Door will be the policy of
Alexie take on the challenge of portraying reality in this magazine—may the great poet we are look-
the twenty-first century. ing for never find it shut, or half-shut, against
his ample genius!” Today, Poetry receives about
Modern poets’ use of imagery and everyday speech
90,000 submissions per year.
further convinced people that a poem could be about
any subject. The poetry and manifestos of the William Carlos Williams influenced the Beat
Imagist movement provided inspiration for many Generation writers of the 1950s with his accessi-
groundbreaking poems of the 1950s and 1960s, such ble language and experimentation with form.
as those of Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath (see pages
The Harlem Renaissance has influenced modern
1220–1225).
African American poets and hip-hop artists who
The Harlem Renaissance was an influential time strive to be leaders for the black community.
in African American and United States history. You might try using this study organizer to keep track of the big
The leading figures in the movement blazed a trail ideas in this unit.
for later African American writers, such as James
Baldwin and Ralph Ellison, and helped to push THREE-TAB BOOK
forward the battle for civil rights in the 1960s.
a a a
Ide Ide Ide
g g g
Big Ideas Link to Web resources to
further explore the Big Ideas at www.glencoe.com.
Bi 1 Bi 2 Bi 3

Connect to Today Use what you have learned about the


period to do one of these activities.

Speaking/Listening Working with several other students, create a brief presentation for your class
about how Modernism’s portrayals of life differ from traditional portrayals of the past. You can use
examples from literature, fine art, music, movies, or other kinds of expression.

Visual Literacy Create an illustrated graphic organizer that shows the various influences of World
War I on American literature and culture. You might show how writers responded to the effects of
war, as well as to the postwar economic boom.

Writing Review the political, social, cultural, and economic aspects of the modern period. How
many of these aspects are still a part of United States culture and literature today? Write a brief essay
exploring this question.

O B J EC TIVES
• Evaluate how a historical event shaped the literature of its time. Study Central Visit
• Read to associate literary experiences with contemporary issues. www.glencoe.com and click on Study Central
• Communicate a specific message by using a variety of media forms. to review the Beginnings of the Modern Age.
• Make informed, insightful, and effective presentations about a literary topic.

648 U N IT 5 BEGINNINGS OF THE MODERN AGE


PART 1
MODERN POETRY

American Landscape, c. 1930. Charles Sheeler. Oil on canvas, 24 x 31 in. The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

“Poetry is the opening and closing of a door,


leaving those who look through to guess about
what is seen during a moment.”
—Carl Sandburg, “Poetry Considered”

649
The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA/Art Resource, NY
LITER ARY H I STORY

Symbolist and Imagist Poetry

P
HOTOGRAPHERS CAPTURE MOMENTS
in time. Painters depict visual ideas through
arrangements of colors and shapes. What methods
allow writers to use words as someone else might use a
camera or a paintbrush? In the beginning of the modern
age, a group of poets called the Imagists developed new,
influential techniques for presenting visual impressions.
Much of their inspiration came from the Symbolists,
across the Atlantic Ocean, in France.

The Symbolist Foundation


The avant-garde, or experimental, Symbolist move-
ment in Paris dominated French poetry and art in the
late 1800s and inspired the Imagists. Symbolist poets
such as Charles Baudelaire, Stéphane Mallarmé,
Arthur Rimbaud, and Paul Verlaine reacted against
Realism by focusing their attention inward on moods
and sensations. These poets believed that direct
explanation could not capture emotion. They sought
access to the inner workings of the mind through sug-
gestion, metaphor, and symbols. The Symbolists took
inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe, whose work is rich
in symbolism. The Flatiron Building, Evening, from Camera Work, April, 1906.
Edward Steichen.

Imagist method is similar to photography. Beyond


“No good poetry is ever written in a that, however, Imagist poetry explores the effect of
manner twenty years old, for to the image on an observer at a precise moment.
write in such a manner shows “In a Station of the Metro” by Ezra Pound (see page
654) is a classic example of an Imagist poem. Pound
conclusively that the writer thinks responded to the sight of faces in a train station.
from books, convention and cliché, Pound deleted words to condense a first draft of thirty
and not from life.” lines into two lines of fourteen words and two striking
—Ezra Pound images. He believed that the poet should “use no
“A Retrospect” superfluous word, no adjective which does not reveal
something.” He found a model for this intense com-
pression in Asian poetry, such as in this haiku (three
lines, seventeen syllables, in the original) by Japanese
The American Imagists poet Matsuo Basho:
Contrasting with the Symbolists’ abstract, atmo-
spheric poetry, the Imagists presented a concrete, On a dead limb
tangible image that appeared frozen in time. squats a crow–
“Essentially, it is a moment of revealed truth,” wrote Autumn night.
critic William Pratt on Imagism. In that sense, the (Lucien Stryk translation)

650 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


RÈunion des MusÈes Nationaux/Art Resource, NY
Whirl up, sea—
Whirl your pointed pines,
Splash your great pines
On our rocks.
Hurl your green over us—
Cover us with your pools of fir.

H.D. and Amy Lowell were central figures in the


Imagist movement. At a poetry reading, Lowell
reportedly said to her audience, “Well, clap or hiss, I
don’t care which, but . . . do something!” Such bold
statements energized American poetry, which often
displays the Imagist method of compressing an emo-
tion or idea into a sharply observed image.

Imagist Principles
The Imagists issued manifestos, or public declarations
on their poetic principles. The following are sample
manifestos in the style of those issued:
• The image is the essence, the raw material, of
poetry.
Sudden Rain Shower on Ohashi Bridge, from One Hundred • Poetry should be expressed in brief, clear,
Views of Famous Places in Edo, 1850. Ando Hiroshige. concrete language that forms precise images.
Woodblock print. Musée des Arts Asiatiques-Guimet, Paris.
Viewing the Art: This wood-block print recalls the style of
• These images should instantly convey to the
reader the poem’s meaning and emotion.
Japanese haiku masters such as Basho. What does this
print have in common with Imagism? • The language of these poetic images should
sound like simple speech—not be made up of
In 1912 Pound submitted three poems by H.D. (Hilda predictable rhythms and rhymes but of freer,
Doolittle) to Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. One of the more-modern verse forms.
published poems was “Oread” (following). In Greek • Topics for poems need not be high-minded or
mythology, the Oreads were nymphs, minor female “poetic.” No topic is unsuitable for a poem.
divinities of nature, from the mountains. Notice the
irregular, jagged look of the lines and how the line
breaks are determined by the poet’s sense of imagery.

R ES P O N D I N G AN D TH I N K I N G C R ITI CALLY
1. Why did the Symbolist poets refrain from directly 3. What type of images does H.D. create in “Oread”?
explaining their themes? What impressions and associations do they evoke?
2. What did the Imagists want to eliminate from 4. Compare and contrast the ways in which the poems
poetry? Why? on these two pages reflect the themes of Imagist
poets. Which do you find most interesting?

O B J EC TI VES
• Compare and contrast authors’ messages.
• Analyze historical context. Literary History For more about
• Evaluate argument. Symbolist and Imagist poetry, go to www.glencoe.com.

LITERARY HISTO RY 6 51
Ando Hiroshige/Art Resource, NY
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

In a Station of the Metro


and A Pact
M E ET E ZR A P O U N D

T
hough Ezra Pound’s literary accomplish-
ments were immense, many hated him. As
his friend and protégé William Carlos
Williams wrote, “Pound is a fine fellow, but not
one person in a thousand likes him, and a great
many people detest him.” Nevertheless, T. S.
Eliot claimed that Pound was “more responsible
for the twentieth-century revolution in poetry
than [was] any other individual.”

Imagism Pound was born in a small town in A Complex Writer Though Pound declared that
writers should “Make it new!” he did not believe in
Idaho, but two years later his family moved east.
newness for its own sake and relied heavily on the
When he was still young, he determined that “at
literature of the past. In The Cantos, his longest
thirty [he] would know more about poetry than
and best-known work, Pound combined materials
any living man.” Pound entered the University of
from different cultures and languages, historical
Pennsylvania at age fifteen but completed his
texts, and newspaper articles. The Cantos is an
undergraduate education at Hamilton College. As
extremely complex work, notorious for its diffi-
a student, he immersed himself in the Latin,
culty and uneven quality.
Greek, and French classics.
Politics, Prison, and Exile During World War
II, Pound supported Fascist Italian dictator Benito
“I have weathered the storm, Mussolini and made radio broadcasts openly criti-
cizing the United States and the efforts of the
I have beaten out my exile.” Allies in the war. After Italy fell, Pound spent six
months as a prisoner of war near Pisa. Here he
—Ezra Pound, “The Rest” wrote The Pisan Cantos, generally considered the
greatest section of his long work.
After receiving his master’s degree in 1906, Pound After being declared mentally unfit to stand trial for
briefly taught languages at a small Presbyterian treason, Pound was sent to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital
college in Indiana. His eccentric manner did not for the criminally insane in Washington, D.C. He
fit well with the school’s character, and, at the age spent the next twelve years at the hospital, after
of 23, Pound left for Europe. He settled first in which the charges against him were dropped. Pound
London, then Paris, and finally in Italy. There he then left the United States, returning to Italy, where
wrote poetry and criticism and translated verse he stayed until his death in Venice in 1972.
from nine languages. He also served as an overseas
editor for Poetry magazine—a position he used to Ezra Pound was born in 1885 and died in 1972.
nurture the careers of Robert Frost and T. S. Eliot,
among others. In 1912, Pound helped establish
Imagism’s manifesto. It called for “direct treatment
of the ‘thing’” and the use of “the language of Author Search For more about
common speech, but . . . always the exact word.” Ezra Pound, go to www.glencoe.com.

652 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


David Lees/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Poems Reading Strategy Questioning


Have you ever experienced a moment in which an Questioning is asking yourself regularly whether
image, a sound, or an idea grabbed your attention and you’ve understood what you have read. In an Imagist
changed how you saw the world? This is what the poem such as “In a Station of the Metro,” it is impor-
speaker in each of the following poems experiences. tant to use questioning to slow down your reading in
Think about the following questions: order to fully understand the poet’s meaning.

• Have you ever looked at something that you see Reading Tip: Taking Notes As you read “In a Station
every day as if for the first time? Explain.
of the Metro” and “A Pact,” note in a double-entry jour-
• How can striking images change the way we think nal any questions that occur to you.
about mundane aspects of the world?

Questions Answers
Building Background How does Pound
“In a Station of the Metro” and “A Pact” were originally feel about Walt
published together in Poetry in 1916. Pound was Whitman?
impressed with the brief but evocative Japanese haiku
form (see Literary Terms Handbook, p. R1). After
experiencing the moment that inspired “In a Station of
the Metro,” Pound composed a thirty-line poem. He Vocabulary
destroyed this first attempt, calling it a work “of second
intensity.” After two other tries, he created a short, haiku- apparition (ap´ ə rish ən) n. a ghostlike or
like poem with a single powerful image. nearly invisible appearance; p. 654 Those who
saw the shadowy apparition in the cemetery
believed it was a ghost.
Setting Purposes for Reading
bough (bou) n. tree branch; p. 654 The baby
Big Idea New Poetics bird clung to the bough as it waited for food.
As you read, notice how Pound employs free verse detest (di test ) v. to greatly dislike or loathe;
and the rules of Imagism in his work. p. 654 I have detested television ever since my
favorite show was canceled.
Literary Element Imagery sap (sap) n. a watery source of nutrients that
Imagery is the “word pictures” that writers create to flows through a plant’s circulatory system;
make their subject more vivid or to evoke an emotional p. 654 I decided never to park under a tree again
response in the reader. In creating effective images, writ- after finding my car covered in sap.
ers use sensory details, or descriptions that appeal to
commerce (kom ərs) n. exchange of ideas and
one or more of the five sense: sight, hearing, touch,
opinions; p. 654 Through lively debate and com-
taste, and smell. As you read the poems, examine how
merce, the two opposing political sides were able to
Pound uses imagery to heighten the effect of his words.
reach an agreement.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R9. Vocabulary Tip: Context Clues When you look at
the words and sentences surrounding a new or
unfamiliar word to define it, you are using context
Interactive Literary Elements clues.
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • monitoring comprehension with questioning
• analyzing literary periods • analyzing imagery

EZRA POUND 6 53
S11-219-01C-635423 Ezra Pound
Kingsbury CnBkSG David Reed

I make a pact with you, Walt Whitman—


I have detested you long enough.
I come to you as a grown child
Who has had a pig-headed father;
5 I am old enough now to make friends.
It was you that broke the new wood,
Now is a time for carving.
We have one sap and one root—
Let there be commerce between us.

Vocabulary

detest (di test) v. to greatly dislike or loathe


sap (sap) n. a watery source of nutrients that flows
through a plant’s circulatory system
commerce (kom ərs) n. exchange of ideas and
opinions

Big Idea New Poetics What does line 6 suggest


about Pound’s understanding of Walt Whitman’s rela-
tionship to modern poetry?

Ezra Pound

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;


Petals on a wet, black bough.

1 The Metro refers to the Paris subway.


S11-112-01C-635423
Kingsbury CnBkSG David Reed
Vocabulary
apparition (ap´ə rish ən) n. a ghostlike or nearly invis-
ible appearance
bough (bou) n. tree branch

654 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ES P O N D I N G A N D T H I N K I N G C R I T I C A LLY
Respond 5. (a)What is the extended metaphor used in the
last four lines of “A Pact”? (b)What idea do you
1. Which of these poems do you think reveals more
think the speaker expresses in these lines?
about the poet? Explain.

Recall and Interpret Analyze and Evaluate


6. Pound once wrote, “The image is the poet’s
2. (a)In the first line of “In a Station of the Metro,”
pigment.” How is “In a Station of the Metro” like a
what word does the speaker use to describe how
painting? Explain.
the faces look to him? (b)What might that word
suggest about the faces? 7. (a)Briefly describe the most important differences
in tone, form, and content of these two poems.
3. (a)In the second line, to what image does the
(b)Which poem seems more compelling? Explain.
speaker compare the faces? (b)From this image,
what can you infer about the speaker’s feelings? Connect
4. (a)In “A Pact,” to whom is the poem addressed? In
8. Big Idea New Poetics How do these poems
what way have the speaker’s feelings changed
embody the values and stylistic goals of
about that person? (b)What might be the reason?
Modernism and Imagism?

LITE R ARY ANALYS I S R EAD I N G AN D VO CAB U L ARY

Literary Element Imagery Reading Strategy Questioning


While most of the imagery in literature appeals to the Questioning can help you determine an author’s pur-
sense of sight, imagery can appeal to all five senses. pose and the parts of a selection that are the most
Sometimes the same image will involve more than a important. As you read a text, be sure to continually
single sense. For example, Edgar Allan Poe’s “The ask yourself whether you understand the ideas the
Raven” (page 244) includes the following line: “And author is trying to convey.
the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple cur-
1. What do you think was Pound’s purpose for writing
tain.” In this line, Poe appeals to the senses of touch,
“A Pact”?
hearing, and sight.
2. Write and answer two questions you might ask
1. Which senses does Pound appeal to in “In a
about the poem that could help you determine
Station of the Metro”?
Pound’s purpose. Give evidence for your answers.
2. Identify one image from “A Pact” that appeals to
the sense of sight.
Vocabulary Practice
Writing About Literature Practice with Context Clues For each blank
identify the appropriate vocabulary word.
Compare and Contrast Tone Write a brief essay in
which you compare and contrast the tones of “In a 1. Anger never solved anything; we need healthy
Station of the Metro” and “A Pact.” Consider how word dialogue and ____ to solve the problem.
choice and imagery work together to create a specific 2. I highly doubt that some ghostly ____ stole
tone for each poem. You might want to organize your your homework.
ideas in a Venn diagram before you begin. 3. The heavy storm caused the ____ of a tree to
fall and crash into my windshield.
4. I have never enjoyed travel in an airplane; in
fact, I have always ____ it.
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

EZR A POUND 655


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock


M E E T T. S . E LI OT

T
. S. Eliot revolutionized poetry more than worked for Lloyds Bank. He also continued to write
any other twentieth-century writer. His poetry and literary essays. His best-known work, The
experiments in language and form and his Waste Land, was published in 1922; in it he
introduction of the scenes and concerns of every- expresses the disillusionment that many people felt
day life into poetry changed literary tastes and after World War I and decries the inability to find
influenced future poets. meaning and purpose in life. The work brought him
Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri, into a international acclaim, but not happiness. Eliot was
distinguished family that provided him with the facing great strain in his marriage and in his job.
best education available. In 1906 he matriculated at
Harvard, where he steeped himself in literature and
published his first poems. At Harvard, he studied “Genuine poetry can communicate
under Irving Babbitt, the New Humanist critic of
Romanticism, who helped Eliot develop his taste for before it is understood.”
classicism in literature. Eliot then studied —T. S. Eliot
philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris, at Harvard,
and at Oxford. He eventually settled in England.
Finding a Purpose Eventually, Eliot began a
The First Modernist Poet In his youth, Eliot was new, more satisfying career as a book editor and
influenced by the French Symbolist poets. In England, joined the Church of England. In Christianity he
Eliot met the Imagist poet Ezra Pound, another found a purpose in life, and in his poems, such as
American expatriate. Pound had an even stronger “The Hollow Men,” “Ash Wednesday,” and Four
influence on Eliot. He championed Eliot’s writing Quartets, he described the importance and diffi-
and served as his editor. In 1915 Pound per- culty of belief in a spiritually impoverished world.
suaded Poetry magazine to publish “The
Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” Often In his later years, Eliot wrote several plays,
called the first Modernist poem, attempting to adapt verse drama to the modern
“Prufrock” captures the emptiness and stage. Murder in the Cathedral (1935), about the
alienation many people experienced martyrdom of Saint Thomas à Becket, was a great
while living in impersonal modern cities. success in both England and the United States. He
The poem baffled and angered many also wrote literary criticism. In recognition of his
readers. They found its subject mat- achievements, he received the Nobel Prize in
ter “unpoetic,” its fragmented struc- Literature in 1948. Eliot’s poetry has been praised
ture off-putting, and its allusions, for the power of its symbolism, its precise, often
difficult to understand. ironic language, and its mastery of form. At the
time of his death in 1965, Eliot was considered by
The outbreak of World War I many to be the most important and influential
prevented Eliot’s return to poet and critic writing in the English language.
Harvard for his final doctoral
examinations. He remained T. S. Eliot was born in 1888 and died in 1965.
in England, where he mar-
ried Vivien Haigh-
Wood, taught Author Search For more about
school, and Author Name,
T. S. Eliot, go togowww.glencoe.com.
to www.literature.glencoe.com.

656 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Bettmann/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Poem Reading Strategy Connecting to Cultural


In Eliot’s poem, the speaker asks himself, “Do I dare?” Context
about several things. As you read, think about the fol- A piece of writing is more meaningful to you when you
lowing questions: place it in its cultural context. Think about the society in
• What makes the speaker afraid to dare? which the writer lived, the technologies that surrounded
• Do you find the questions that the speaker asks the writer, and the historical forces that influenced the
writer’s choice of subject matter, point of view, and
himself to be important or trivial? What would you
choose to do if you were in the speaker’s situation? tone. “Prufrock,” like much of Eliot’s work, is set in the
cultural context of England’s upper-middle-class society
Building Background in London before, during, and after World War I.
When Eliot wrote “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,”
cities were growing at a rapid rate. In many countries,
Vocabulary
city dwellers outnumbered those inhabiting rural areas.
Factories overran residential neighborhoods, and people insidious (in si dē əs) adj. slyly dangerous;
crowded into huge tenement buildings. Factory owners deceitful; p. 658 The insidious criminal gained the
amassed great wealth at the expense of workers who confidence of his victims.
toiled under miserable conditions. In his poems, Eliot
presume (pri z¯¯¯
oom ) v. to expect something
expressed the feelings of loneliness, alienation, and
without justification; to take for granted;
frustration that came with these changes.
p. 660; The employee presumed she would be
Setting Purposes for Reading promoted because her boss liked her.
digress (d¯ res ) v. to depart from the main
Big Idea New Poetics
subject; to ramble; p. 660 The history teacher
As you read, notice how Eliot deliberately rejects some liked to digress by telling the class amusing personal
of the conventions of traditional poetry. anecdotes.
malinger (mə lin ər) v. to pretend incapacity
Literary Element Allusion or illness to avoid work; p. 660 In order to avoid
An allusion is an indirect reference to a character, the big math test, John decided to malinger and
a place, or a situation from history, art, music, or stayed home.
literature. For example, “The Love Song of J. Alfred
deferential (def´ə ren shəl) adj. yielding to
Prufrock” can be seen as an extended allusion to
someone else’s opinions or wishes; p. 662 The
Dante’s Inferno. By quoting Dante in the epigraph,
devoted son was always deferential toward his father.
Eliot suggests that Prufrock’s journey with a companion
through the streets of London to “the room” is similar
Vocabulary Tip: Antonyms Antonyms are words
to the journey that Dante and Virgil make through the
that have opposite or nearly opposite meanings.
underworld to the center of hell.
Antonyms are always the same part of speech.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R1.

Interactive Literary Elements


Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following:
• interpreting literary allusions • understanding dramatic monologue
• analyzing visual images • writing a character analysis

T. S . ELIOT 6 57
Winter Night, 1928. Stefan Hirsch. Oil on panel, 221/2 x 19 3/4 in.
T. S. Eliot Collection of the Newark Museum.

S11-114-01C-635423
CG Greeting Momotone U5 T7

S’io credessi che mia resposta fosse


a persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
questa fiamma staria senza più scosse.
Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo
non tornò vivo alcun, s’i’odo il vero,
senza tema d’infamia ti respondo.1 1. The epigraph is from Dante’s Inferno,
Canto XXVII, in which a condemned
spirit in hell confesses his sins. He
Let us go then, you and I,
says, “If I thought that I was speaking
When the evening is spread out against the sky / to someone who would go back to
Like a patient etherised2 upon a table; the world, / this flame would shake
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets, no more. / But since nobody has
ever / gone back alive from this
5 The muttering retreats
place, if what I hear is true, / I
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels answer you without fear of infamy.”
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells: 2. Etherised (etherized) (ē thə r̄zd´)
Streets that follow like a tedious3 argument means “anesthetized with ether, as
Of insidious intent before an operation”; in other
words, “made insensitive to pain.”
10 To lead you to an overwhelming question . . . 3. Tedious means “tiresome because
Oh, do not ask, ‘What is it?’ of length” or “boring.”
Let us go and make our visit.

Big Idea New Poetics How is this simile an example of


Modernism in poetry?

Vocabulary
insidious (in sidē əs) adj. slyly dangerous; deceitful

658 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Collection of the Newark Museum. Anonymous gift, 1929. (cat. No. 55)/Art Resource, NY
In the room the women come and go 4. Michelangelo Buonarroti (m̄´ kəl
an jə lō bwo na ro tē) (1475–
Talking of Michelangelo.4
1564) was a gifted Italian sculptor
and painter.
15 The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes,
The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes,
Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening,
Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains,
Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys,
20 Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap,
And seeing that it was a soft October night,
Curled once about the house, and fell asleep.
And indeed there will be time
For the yellow smoke that slides along the street
25 Rubbing its back upon the window-panes;
There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;
There will be time to murder and create,
And time for all the works and days of hands
30 That lift and drop a question on your plate;
Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast and tea.

35 In the room the women come and go


Talking of Michelangelo.

And indeed there will be time


To wonder, ‘Do I dare?’ and, ‘Do I dare?’
Time to turn back and descend the stair,
40 With a bald spot in the middle of my hair—
(They will say: ‘How his hair is growing thin!’)
My morning coat,5 my collar mounting firmly to the chin, 5. A morning coat is a man’s jacket
My necktie rich and modest, but asserted6 by a simple pin— that slopes away from a front button
at the waist to tails at the back. It
(They will say: ‘But how his arms and legs are thin!’)
was worn for formal daytime dress.
45 Do I dare 6. Here, asserted means “made more
Disturb the universe? bold” or “enhanced.”
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.

For I have known them all already, known them all—


50 Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,

Reading Strategy Connecting to Cultural Context What is the cultural dif-


ference between this room and the streets through which Prufrock has traveled?

Big Idea New Poetics How does Eliot disregard traditional poetic elements in
these lines? What traditional element does he keep?

T. S. ELIOT 659
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;
I know the voices dying with a dying fall
Beneath the music from a farther room.
So how should I presume?

55 And I have known the eyes already, known them all—


The eyes that fix you in a formulated7 phrase, 7. Formulated means “reduced to or
And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin, expressed as a formula,” thereby
losing individuality.
When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall,
Then how should I begin
60 To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways?
And how should I presume?
And I have known the arms already, known them all—
Arms that are braceleted and white and bare
(But in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!)?
65 Is it perfume from a dress
That makes me so digress?
Arms that lie along a table, or wrap about a shawl.
And should I then presume?
And how should I begin?
70 Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets
And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes
Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows? . . .
I should have been a pair of ragged claws
Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.
75 And the afternoon, the evening, sleeps so peacefully! 8. [head . . . platter] This biblical
Smoothed by long fingers, reference is to the beheading of the
Asleep . . . tired . . . or it malingers, prophet John the Baptist (Matthew
14:1–11). King Herod was so
Stretched on the floor, here beside you and me.
pleased with the dancing of
Should I, after tea and cakes and ices, Salome, his stepdaughter, that he
80 Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis? promised her anything she desired.
But though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed, Prompted by her mother, Salome
Though I have seen my head (grown slightly bald) brought in asked for the head of John on a
platter. Herod granted her request.
upon a platter8 9. A prophet is a person who predicts
I am no prophet9—and here’s no great matter; the future or who speaks by divine
I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker, inspiration.

Reading Strategy Connecting to Cultural Context What does this metaphor


tell the reader about the society that Prufrock inhabits?

Literary Element Allusion Although he claims not to be a prophet, Prufrock


compares himself to John the Baptist. In what sense does Prufrock envision his
head “brought in upon a platter”?

Vocabulary
presume (pri zō¯ōm) v. to expect something without justification; to take for
granted
digress (d̄ res) v. to depart from the main subject; to ramble
malinger (mə linər) v. to pretend incapacity or illness to avoid work

660 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F THE MODE RN AGE


San Diego Museum of Art. Gift of Anne R. and Amy Putnam.

Rainy Night, 1930. Charles Burchfield. Watercolor, 30 x 42 in. San Diego Museum of Art.

85 And I have seen the eternal Footman10 hold my coat, and 10. The eternal Footman is Death.
snicker,
And in short, I was afraid.

And would it have been worth it, after all,


After the cups, the marmalade, the tea,
Among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me,
90 Would it have been worth while,
To have bitten off the matter with a smile,
To have squeezed the universe into a ball

To roll it towards some overwhelming question,


To say: ‘I am Lazarus, come from the dead,11 11. [I am Lazarus . . . dead] This
95 Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all’— biblical reference is to John
11:1– 44 in which Jesus restores
If one, settling a pillow by her head, his friend Lazarus to life after he
Should say: ‘That is not what I meant at all. has been dead for four days.
That is not it, at all.’
And would it have been worth it, after all,
100 Would it have been worth while,

Reading Strategy Connecting to Cultural Context How does this


symbol characterize the cultural context of the poem?

Literary Element Allusion How is Prufrock’s allusion to Lazarus ironic?

T. S. ELIOT 661
After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets,
After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail
along the floor—
And this, and so much more?—
It is impossible to say just what I mean!

105 But as if a magic lantern12 threw the nerves in patterns on a


screen: 12. The magic lantern, a forerunner of
Would it have been worth while the modern slide projector, was a
If one, settling a pillow or throwing off a shawl, device for projecting enlarged
images.
And turning toward the window, should say:
‘That is not it at all,
110 That is not what I meant, at all.’

No! I am not Prince Hamlet,13 nor was meant to be;


Am an attendant lord, one that will do 13. Prince Hamlet is the Prince of
To swell a progress,14 start a scene or two, Denmark, the tragic hero of
Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool, Shakespeare’s play Hamlet.
14. To swell a progress is to partici-
115 Deferential, glad to be of use,
pate in, and thereby increase
Politic,15 cautious, and meticulous; (swell) the number of people in a
Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;16 royal procession or a play.
At times, indeed, almost ridiculous— 15. Politic (po lə tik) means
Almost, at times, the Fool. “characterized by prudence or
shrewdness in managing, dealing,
or promoting a policy.”
120 I grow old . . . I grow old . . . 16. High sentence is fancy, pompous
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. speech full of advice, like that of
the old counselor Polonius in
Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach? Hamlet. Obtuse (əb t¯¯¯oos) means
“slow in understanding” or “dull.”
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.

125 I do not think that they will sing to me.

I have seen them riding seaward on the waves


Combing the white hair of the waves blown back
When the wind blows the water white and black.

We have lingered in the chambers of the sea


130 By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown.

Literary Element Allusion What does this allusion tell the reader about how
Prufrock sees himself?

Big Idea New Poetics How is this line an example of the new poetics of Modernism?

Vocabulary
deferential (def´ə renshəl) adj. yielding to someone else’s opinions or wishes

662 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F THE MODE RN AGE


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. What image does the name J. Alfred Prufrock con- 5. (a)What are being compared in the extended
jure up for you? How does Prufrock, as his charac- metaphor in lines 15–22? (b)How does this
ter and personality are expressed throughout the metaphor contribute to the meaning of the poem?
poem, illustrate this image?
6. (a)In lines 26–27, Prufrock says that there will be
Recall and Interpret time “To prepare a face to meet the faces that you
meet.” For what occasions does one “prepare a
2. (a)In lines 1–9, what do the images that Prufrock
face”? Explain. (b)What is the difference between
uses to describe the evening and the places he
meeting a “face” and meeting a person?
will travel through evoke? (b)What do these
descriptions suggest about his state of mind? 7. (a)What, in your opinion, is Prufrock’s
“overwhelming question” (lines 10 and 93)?
3. (a)What kinds of activities does Prufrock say he will
(b)Why does Prufrock never ask the question?
have time for in lines 26–48? (b)What does he
mean by “Do I dare/Disturb the universe”? 8. (a)What does the allusion to mermaids (lines
124–130) suggest about Prufrock’s state of
4. (a)How does Prufrock describe himself and his
mind? (b)What is the function of the final line of
life in lines 49–74? (b)What does Prufrock’s
the poem?
description of his life suggest about his personal
self-assessment? Connect
9. Big Idea New Poetics (a)How does this “love
song” differ from traditional love poetry?
(b)How is the title of the poem ironic?

V I S UA L L I T E R AC Y: Fine Art

Study the painting Rainy Night below. The painter, representative of the second phase of the artist’s
Charles Burchfield (1893–1967), is known for his career, when he painted scenes depicting the
watercolors. This work was painted in 1930 and is bleakness of city life.

1. What is your overall


impression of the painting?
Cite details in the painting
that contribute to your
impression.
2. Which images or lines from
“The Love Song of J. Alfred
Prufrock” might you use to
describe this painting?
Explain.

Rainy Night, 1930. Charles Burchfield.


Watercolor, 30 x 42 in. San Diego
Museum of Art.

T. S. ELIOT 663
San Diego Museum of Art. Gift of Anne R. and Amy Putnam.
L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R EAD I N G AN D VO CAB U L ARY

Literary Element Allusion Reading Strategy Connecting to Cultural


When an author uses an allusion, he or she appeals Context
to the reader to appreciate and enjoy a shared artistic You can use what you know about the cultural context
experience. An allusion can add richness and depth to of the poem to enhance its meaning. For example, the
a work of literature through its association of ideas. For allusion “In the room the women come and go /
example, lines 92–93 contain an allusion to Andrew Talking of Michelangelo” (lines 13–14, 35–36) refers
Marvell’s poem “To His Coy Mistress,” in which the to the great Italian Renaissance painter.
speaker says, “Let us roll all our strength and all / Our
sweetness into one ball, / And tear our pleasures with 1. What sort of room do you imagine the women are
rough strife / Through the iron gates of life.” This allu- in? Describe it.
sion is ironic because Prufrock, after squeezing “the 2. What can you infer about these women?
universe into a ball,” is unable to “roll it towards some
3. Why do you think that the lines are repeated? What
overwhelming question.”
can you infer from this repetition about the nature
1. In the allusion to Shakespeare in lines 111–119, of the women’s conversations?
why does Prufrock claim he is not Prince Hamlet?
2. In the poem, Prufrock makes allusions to John the
Baptist, Lazarus, and Hamlet. What do these char-
Vocabulary Practice
acters have in common? How do they relate to Practice with Antonyms Find the antonym for
Prufrock? each vocabulary word from “The Love Song of J.
Alfred Prufrock” listed in the first column. Use a
3. In your opinion, what is the overall effect of Eliot’s
dictionary if you need help.
use of allusions in this poem?
1. insidious a. candid b. honest

Review: Dramatic Monologue 2. presume a. demur b. defer

As you learned on page 500, a dramatic monologue 3. digress a. stray b. focus


is an extended speech by a literary character to a 4. malinger a. persevere b. pretend
silent listener. When that silent listener is the reader,
the speech takes the form of an interior monologue, 5. deferential a. rude b. arrogant
also known as stream of consciousness, a term first
used by the psychologist William James to describe
the spontaneous flow of a person’s random thoughts Academic Vocabulary
and feelings. Some readers have interpreted
“Prufrock” as a stream-of-consciousness monologue in Here are two words from the vocabulary list on
which Prufrock addresses his alter ego, or the opposite page R86. These words will help you think,
side of his personality. write, and talk about the selection.
Partner Activity Meet with a classmate and talk
about the function of the dramatic monologue in “The comment (ko ment) v. to make an observation
Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” Address these ques- or criticism; to express an opinion
tions during your discussion: seek (sēk) v. to go in search of; to look for
1. Who is the “you” in line 1?
Practice and Apply
2. What is the relationship between the “you” in the 1. Comment on how successful you think Eliot was
poem and the “you” in the epigraph from Dante’s in finding new forms and new poetics to express
Inferno? his ideas in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.”
3. Does Prufrock maintain the same tone throughout 2. What does the speaker seem to seek through-
the poem? Explain. out the poem? Does he find it?

664 UNIT 5 BEGINNINGS OF TH E MODE RN AGE


W R I T I N G A N D E X TE N D I N G G R A M M A R A N D ST Y L E

Writing About Literature Eliot’s Language and Style


Analyze Character Is Prufrock a tragic character—is Using Infinitives An infinitive is a verb form that is
the reader supposed to feel sorrow and pity about his usually preceded by the word to and is used as a
situation? Or is he a comic character—is the reader sup- noun, an adjective, or an adverb. In “The Love Song of
posed to laugh at him or think he is foolish? Write a J. Alfred Prufrock,” Eliot uses infinitives to achieve
brief essay in which you express and support your opin- emphasis through repetition and grammatical
ion. Begin by formulating a main idea in which you state parallelism. Consider the following stanzas:
that Prufrock is essentially tragic or comic—or a combi-
“And would it have been worth it, after all,
nation of both. Then review the poem to find lines and
After the cups, the marmalade, the tea,
images that support your position. Organize your
Among the porcelain, among some talk of you
thoughts in a graphic organizer, such as the one below.
and me,
Would it have been worth while,
Main Idea
To have bitten off the matter with a smile,
Supporting Detail To have squeezed the universe into a ball

Supporting Detail To roll it towards some overwhelming question,


To say: ‘I am Lazarus, come from the dead,
Supporting Detail Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all’—
If one, settling a pillow by her head,
Conclusion
Should say: ‘That is not what I meant at all.
That is not it, at all.’ ”
Then write a draft, making sure to include all your sup-
Notice the grammatical parallelism in this stanza. All
porting details. Make smooth transitions between your
but one infinitive serve as appositives to “it.”
ideas.
After you complete your draft, meet with a peer Infinitive Part of Function
reviewer. Evaluate each other’s work and suggest revi-
Speech
sions. Then proofread and edit your draft for errors in
spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Submit the final To have bitten noun appositive
copy to your teacher. To have squeezed noun appositive
To roll noun appositive
To say noun appositive
Performing
To tell adverb modifies
Put Yourself in Prufrock’s Shoes Choose a section
“come back”
(at least 15–20 lines) of “Prufrock” to perform. In
planning your performance, you can create a costume
or use props if you wish, but it is more important to
choose a physical posture and vocal quality appropri- Activity Create a chart similar to the one above in
ate to the character. Plan your facial expressions, ges- which you list other infinitives in the poem, their parts
tures, and movements. Also, practice speaking the of speech, and their functions.
lines aloud to determine the appropriate volume, into-
nation, and timing—and to determine which words and
phrases you should emphasize. Finally, perform your Revising Check
piece for the class.
Using Infinitives With a partner, go through the
character analysis essay you wrote earlier. Look for
places where you could improve clarity by using
Web Activities For eFlashcards, infinitives. Revise your essay accordingly.
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

T. S. ELIOT 665
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

The Red Wheelbarrow and


This Is Just to Say
M E E T W I LLI A M C A RLOS
W I LLI A MS

W
illiam Carlos Williams led a double life established himself as a
as a doctor and an award-winning poet. major voice in modern
Often he would write between seeing poetry. However,
patients, sometimes even jotting down poems on Williams soon began to drift away from Pound and
prescription pads. Despite the fact that his atten- mainstream Imagism. He felt that Pound’s ideas
tion was divided, Williams managed to write some were too rooted in the cultural values of Europe,
of the most memorable poems of the Imagist and not those of the United States, which
movement. In his poetry, he captured America’s Williams so adored.
colloquial speech and presented everyday events in
During the 1920s and 1930s, Williams published
powerful, compact lines.
several books, including two collections of poetry,
Kora in Hell and Spring and All; a book of essays, In
the American Grain; and a novel, White Mule,
“Eyes stand first in the poet’s which was the first in a trilogy telling the story of
an American family. From 1946 through 1958,
equipment.” Williams worked on his masterpiece, Paterson.
—William Carlos Williams This epic poem, which spans five volumes,
mythologizes the world of northern New Jersey. In
1963 Williams was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer
Prize for his collection Pictures from Brueghel and
Doctor and Poet Williams was born in Other Poems.
Rutherford, New Jersey, and came from a diverse
background: his mother was born in Puerto Rico, Visionary and Legacy Believing that poetry
and his father was British. Williams began writing should be grounded in everyday things and scenes,
poetry in high school and soon settled on the goal Williams was famous for saying, “No ideas but in
of becoming both a doctor and a writer. things.” He explored the world around him, writ-
While attending the University of Pennsylvania ing of New Jersey’s gritty, industrial landscape and
Medical School, Williams wrote many of the of his patients and neighbors, many of whom were
poems that would appear in his first book, Poems, impoverished immigrants struggling to succeed in
published in 1909. At school he also met and the United States. Williams left an impressive leg-
befriended the poet Ezra Pound. Pound would acy of work that had an enormous influence on the
become a great influence on the young Williams, writers of the 1950s and 1960s and continues to be
even arranging for the publication of his second very important to poets today. Somehow, while
collection, The Tempers, in 1913. accomplishing so much as a writer, he also man-
aged to deliver more than two thousand babies.
After completing his internship in New York and
further study in advanced pediatrics in Leipzig, William Carlos Williams was born in 1883 and died in
Germany, Williams returned to Rutherford, where 1963.
he began his medical practice and continued to
write. In his next book, Al Que Quiere! (To Him
Who Wants It!), published in 1917, Williams drew Author Search For more about
upon his Spanish and Puerto Rican heritage and William Carlos Williams, go to www.glencoe.com.

666 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F THE MODE RN AGE


Lisa Larsen/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Poems Reading Strategy Recognizing Author’s


How do the things we see, hear, feel, smell, and taste Purpose
affect how we interact with the world? In Williams’s An author’s purpose is the author’s intent in writing a
poems, the speaker expresses awe and delight with piece of literature. Authors typically write in order to
ordinary aspects of the physical world. Think about the persuade, inform, explain, entertain, or describe. While
following questions: reading these poems, try to determine Williams’s pur-
• Have you ever found beauty in an ordinary thing or pose for writing them.
sound?
• How does beauty reveal itself in everyday life? Reading Tip: Taking Notes Make a list of questions
to ask yourself as you read “The Red Wheelbarrow”
Building Background and “This Is Just to Say.” As you think about your
Imagism’s influence is obvious in “The Red answers, decide what the author’s purpose might be.
Wheelbarrow” and “This Is Just to Say.” Of the experi-
ence that inspired “The Red Wheelbarrow,” Williams Question Answer Evidence
wrote, “The sight impressed me somehow as about
the most important, the most integral that it had ever What did I learn I learned that The poem is
been my pleasure to gaze upon.” About writing in this that I didn’t simple things can about a simple
style, Williams wrote: “Cut and cut again whatever you already know? leave a lasting red wheelbarrow
write—while you leave by your art no trace of your cut- impression. sitting in the rain.
ting—and the final utterance will remain packed with
what you have to say.”

Big Idea New Poetics


As you read, notice how Williams’s spare style exempli-
fies Imagism and evokes the American landscape.
Vocabulary
Literary Element Form
depend (di pend ) v. to rely on; p. 668 In foot-
Form is the structure of a poem. Many contemporary ball, the whole team depends on the quarterback to
writers use loosely structured poetic forms instead of get the ball to the end zone.
following stricter, more traditional patterns. These
poets vary the length of the lines and stanzas, relying
glazed ( lāzd) adj. covered with a smooth,
on emphasis, rhythm, and the placement of words
glossy coating; p. 668 The cinnamon rolls were
and phrases to convey meaning. As you read these
glazed with icing.
poems, examine how Williams uses and breaks with delicious (di lish əs) adj. having a very pleas-
traditional forms as a means of adding depth and ing taste; p. 669 I love all kinds of ice cream fla-
complexity to his poems. vors but I find chocolate to be the most delicious.

• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R7. Vocabulary Tip: Antonyms When two words have
opposite or nearly opposite meanings, they are
called antonyms. Note that antonyms are always
the same part of speech.

Interactive Literary Elements


Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • analyzing form
• analyzing literary periods • recognizing an author’s purpose

WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS 6 67


Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC/Art Resource, NY
Wheelbarrow, 1934.
Morris Graves.
Oil on canvas, 311/8 x 351/8 in.
Smithsonian American Art
Museum, Washington, DC.

William Carlos Williams


so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

5 glazed with rain


water

beside the white


chickens.

Literary Element Form What effect does the break


between the words wheel and barrow have?

Vocabulary
depend (di pend ) v. to rely on
glazed ( lāzd) adj. covered with a smooth, glossy coating

668 U N IT 5 BEGINNINGS OF THE MODERN AGE


The Barnes Foundation, Merion Station, Pennsylvania/CORBIS

Plums and Pears. Paul Cezanne. Oil on canvas, 7¾ x 14 in.


The Barnes Foundation Collection, Merion Station, PA.

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

5 and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
10 they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

Reading Strategy Recognizing Author’s


Purpose What does line 9 suggest about the
author’s purpose?

William Carlos Williams


S11-231-01C-635423 Kent
Vocabulary
Agenda Thin Ultra/Condensed U5 T7
delicious (di lish əs) adj. having a very
pleasing taste

WILLIAM CAR LOS WILLIAMS 669


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond 5. (a)What does the speaker want from the person
being addressed? (b)What is described in the final
1. What feelings do the images, tones, and word
lines of the poem? Why do you think these things
choice in these poems evoke?
are described?
Recall and Interpret
Analyze and Evaluate
2. What do the first two lines of “The Red
6. (a)Williams carefully arranges his words, including
Wheelbarrow” suggest about the speaker’s
breaking up the words rainwater and wheelbarrow.
response to the scene?
How, in your opinion, does the breaking of these
3. (a)What does Williams describe in stanzas 3 and 4? words across lines affect their meaning? (b)What
(b)What do you think Williams is saying by intro- do you think of this technique? Explain.
ducing these elements into his poem?
7. (a)What is the tone of “This Is Just to Say”? (b)Why
4. (a)In “This Is Just to Say,” what does the speaker is this tone appropriate?
admit to in the first two lines of the poem?
(b)What does this admission suggest about the Connect
speaker’s relationship with the person being
8. Big Idea New Poetics How are these poems
addressed?
innovative in their subject matter and style?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Form Reading Strategy Recognizing Author’s


No poem is ever entirely without form. Even free- Purpose
verse poems contain some formal elements. Because Writers of fiction or nonfiction generally have purposes
poetic forms vary greatly from period to period, and that can be easily identified. This is not always true of
from poet to poet, it can occasionally be difficult to poets. In Williams’s “This Is Just to Say,” the purpose
identify the forms being used. For example, Williams’s at first seems to be to apologize to an unnamed lis-
poems appear, at first glance, to be written in free tener, but it goes beyond that.
verse—lacking any formal structure. However, these
poems have consistent stanza and line lengths, and 1. What do you think is the author’s purpose in “The
though not technically metered, they have strong Red Wheelbarrow”? What evidence do you find for
rhythmic qualities. this purpose in the poem?

1. Briefly describe the forms used in “The Red 2. What do you think is the author’s purpose in “This
Wheelbarrow” and “This Is Just to Say.” Is Just to Say”? What evidence do you find for this
purpose in the poem?
2. Why do you think Williams used these forms?

Writing About Literature


Compare and Contrast Form Write a brief essay in
which you compare and contrast the form in “The
Red Wheelbarrow” with that of another poem you
have previously read. Make sure to include in your
essay a discussion of how form affects the meaning Web Activities For eFlashcards,
in each poem. Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

670 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Vocabulary Workshop
Word Meanings

Defining Compound Words


so much depends º Vocabulary Tip
upon A compound word is
made of two separate
a red wheel words that each have a
barrow different meaning standing
—William Carlos Williams, from “The Red Wheelbarrow” alone.

Connecting to Literature Wheelbarrow is a compound word; that is, a word


made up of two words that together have a meaning different from each word’s º Test-Taking Tip
meaning. Compound words may be spelled open (magic lantern), closed (sawdust),
If a compound word does
or hyphenated (half-deserted). You can check a dictionary to find out whether a
not appear in a dictionary,
compound word is closed, open, or hyphenated. Notice that Williams turns
it is most likely spelled
wheelbarrow, which is normally closed, into an open compound word and puts
barrow on a new line for poetic effect. open.

Examples
º Reading Handbook
The meanings of many compound words are obvious from the parts
For more about compound
that make up the word. For example:
words, see Reading
• What is sawdust? Handbook, p. R20.
It is the dust created by sawing wood.
• What is a look-alike?
It’s someone or something that looks just like someone or something else.
• What is a natural resource?
It is a naturally occurring material that is useful to humans, such as mineral
deposits, forests, or water.
The meanings of other compound words, however, may be less obvious. To learn
the meaning of less familiar compound words, you should consult a dictionary.

eFlashcards For eFlashcards


Exercise and other vocabulary activities, go
to www.glencoe.com.
A. Use your understanding of the following compound words to match
each word with its definition.
1. elbow room a. underwater plant
2. seaweed b. metal screen or grating
3. grillwork c. mistreated OB J ECTI VES
4. swaybacked d. adequate space • Analyze compound words.
• Use research tools such as
5. ill-used e. having a sagging spine a dictionary.

B. Define the following compound words based on their word parts. Discuss
your definitions with a partner. Then check your definitions.
1. ivory tower 3. icebox
2. dark horse 4. green revolution

671
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Summer Rain and Fireworks


M E E T A MY LOW E LL (page 704) and D. H. Lawrence. In 1915 she helped
launch Frost’s career with a favorable review of his

A
collection North of Boston in the New Republic.
my Lowell was a brash, controversial,
uncompromising woman, and one of the
Poetic Influence Lowell’s growing influence
most important poets of the Imagist within the Imagist movement caused Pound to
movement. Her promotion of Imagism in the remove himself from it. He would later sarcastically
United States, along with her irreverent person- refer to the group as “Amygism” after it had fully
ality, turned Lowell into one of the most well- come under Lowell’s influence. Over the next sev-
known poets of her generation. eral years, she edited three volumes of the annual
Amy Lowell was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. anthology Some Imagist Poets. Before 1920 she pub-
Her family was wealthy and socially prominent: lished many more books of poetry and prose,
Lowell was related to Fireside poet James Russell including Can Grande’s Castle, Tendencies in Modern
Lowell (see pages 200–201), her brother Abbott American Poetry, and Men, Women, and Ghosts.
served as the president of Harvard University from
1909 to 1933, and her brother Percival was a famed
astronomer. Lowell spent her first twenty-eight “Why should one read Poetry? That
years like most women in her social set. She trav-
eled, was educated in private schools in Boston, and seems to me a good deal like asking:
considered prospects for marriage. However, in Why should one eat?”
1902, Lowell chose a new path and dedicated her
life to poetry. —Amy Lowell

An Imagist Poet In 1913 Lowell read several


poems by Imagist poet H.D. (Hilda Doolittle) in Inspired by a lecture she gave about John Keats in
Poetry magazine. Lowell connected immediately to 1921 and by a lifelong fascination with the English
the Imagist style. She traveled to England that Romantic poet, Lowell published a biography of
same year, met Ezra Keats. This, unfortunately, would be her last publi-
Pound (page 652), and cation during her life. In 1925 Lowell died of a
joined his Imagist cir- cerebral hemorrhage. One volume of her poetry,
cle. The first anthology What’s O’Clock, appeared after her death and was
of Imagist poetry, Des awarded the Pulitzer Prize.
Imagistes, edited by
Pound, appeared the Lowell is important not just for her literary contri-
next year and included butions, but also for her promotion of the poetic
a poem by Lowell. innovation of Imagism. Fellow Modernist T. S.
Also in 1914, Lowell Eliot called her “the demon saleswoman of poetry.”
published her book Through her tenacity, her brilliant mind, and her
Sword Blades and Poppy poems, Lowell helped to define the texture of
Seed. twentieth-century verse.

Lowell also began to Amy Lowell was born in 1874 and died in 1925.
make friends with
many literary figures, Author Search For more about
including Robert Frost Amy Lowell, go to www.glencoe.com.

672
Bettmann/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Poems Reading Strategy Interpreting Imagery


Can you ever “see” your feelings? Do your feelings Imagery is the “word pictures” authors use to evoke
ever seem to have weight, shape, or color? In an emotional response in the reader. Poets may use
“Summer Rain” and “Fireworks,” Lowell describes emo- figures of speech, including metaphors, similes, and
tions that are so powerful that they take on vibrant col- personification, to create images. Often it is possible to
ors and swift action. As you read the poems, think explicitly determine the meaning of imagery. Other
about the following questions: times different readers will have different interpreta-
tions of the same image.
• How do your feelings about others change your
reaction to your environment?
Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart like the one
• What do you think hate looks like? What might love below to record your interpretations of Lowell’s imagery.
look like?

Building Background Imagery Interpretation


Both “Summer Rain” and “Fireworks” appeared in
p. 675 The speaker is filled
Lowell’s collection Pictures of the Floating World. This
“It spits and sparkles with intense emotion
book contains nearly 200 Imagistic free-verse poems
and is broken into multiple parts. The poems from the in stars and balls, upon seeing this
first section, “Lacquer Prints,” are based on a set of Buds into roses—and hated person.
Japanese prints and very closely resemble haiku, a flares, and falls.”
Japanese poetic form. The section from which
“Summer Rain” and “Fireworks” are drawn is titled
“Planes of Personality.” This section lyrically celebrates
intense emotions such as love, hate, and longing. Vocabulary

Setting Purposes for Reading pepper (pe pər) v. to shower with small objects;
p. 675 The crowd was peppered with candy from
Big Idea Modern Poetry the passing parade floats.
As you read, notice how Lowell uses imagery to con-
crimson (krim zən) adj. a bright purplish red;
vey emotions and ideas.
p. 675 The girl’s crimson coat caught the eye of
many people.
Literary Element Enjambment
azure (ā zhər) adj. a light purplish blue; p. 675
Enjambment is the continuation of a sentence across a The azure sky was a beautiful sight.
line break without a punctuated pause between lines. A
poet may choose to use enjambment for a number of mount (mount) v. to ascend or to soar; p. 675
reasons: to maintain a rhyme scheme or a rhythm, to As the rocket mounted, the crowd began to cheer.
increase readability, or to create exciting juxtapositions of
language or ideas. As you read, pay attention to Lowell’s Vocabulary Tip: Synonyms
use of enjambment and how it affects the poems. When two words have nearly the same meaning,
they are called synonyms. Note that synonyms
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R5. always have the same part of speech.

Interactive Literary Elements


Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • interpreting imagery
• analyzing literary periods • expanding vocabulary
• understanding enjambment

AMY LOWELL 673


akg-images
Amy Lowell

A ll night our room was outer-walled with rain.


Drops fell and flattened on the tin roof,
And rang like little disks of metal.
Ping!—Ping!—and there was not a pinpoint of silence between them.
5 The rain rattled and clashed,
And the slats of the shutters danced and glittered.
But to me the darkness was red-gold and crocus-coloured
With your brightness,
And the words you whispered to me
10 Sprang up and flamed—orange torches against the rain.
Torches against the wall of cool, silver rain!

Literary Element Enjambment Why do you think Lowell chose to use enjambment
in lines 9–10?

674 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Amy Lowell You hate me and I hate you,
And we are so polite, we two!

But whenever I see you, I burst apart


And scatter the sky with my blazing heart.
5 It spits and sparkles in stars and balls,
Buds into roses—and flares, and falls.

Scarlet buttons, and pale green disks,


Silver spirals and asterisks,
Shoot and tremble in a mist
10 Peppered with mauve and amethyst.

I shine in the windows and light up the trees,


And all because I hate you, if you please.

And when you meet me, you rend asunder1


And go up in a flaming wonder
15 Of saffron2 cubes, and crimson moons,
And wheels all amaranths3 and maroons.

Golden lozenges and spades,


Arrows of malachites4 and jades,
Patens5 of copper, azure sheaves.
20 As you mount, you flash in the glossy leaves.

Such fireworks as we make, we two!


Because you hate me and I hate you.

1. Rend asunder means “to tear apart.”


2. Here, saffron refers to an orange-yellow color.
3. Here, amaranth refers to a reddish purple color.
4. Malachite is a deep green stone.
5. Patens are small metal plates.

Reading Strategy Interpreting Imagery What do you


think the imagery in these lines means?

Vocabulary
pepper (pepər) v. to shower with small objects
crimson (krimzən) adj. a bright purplish red
azure (āzhər) adj. a light purplish blue
mount (mount) v. to ascend or to soar

AMY LOWELL 675


Images.com/CORBIS
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond 5. (a)What does the speaker claim to do in the win-
dow and to the trees? (b)In your opinion, how
1. In your opinion, which poem expresses the
does this image affect the following line?
speaker’s emotion most effectively? Explain.

Recall and Interpret Analyze and Evaluate


6. (a)How does the rhyme scheme in “Fireworks” dif-
2. (a)In “Summer Rain,” in what ways does the
fer from that in “Summer Rain”? (b)Which poem’s
speaker describe the sound of the rain? (b)What
rhyme scheme do you prefer? Explain.
do these descriptions suggest about the speaker’s
feelings for the rain? 7. (a)In what way does the content of the couplets
in “Fireworks” differ from that in the quatrains?
3. (a)How does the speaker see “the darkness”?
(b)Is the variation in stanza length effective?
(b)What does this suggest about the speaker’s feel-
ings for the person addressed? Connect
4. (a)In the first couplet of “Fireworks,” besides hate,
8. Big Idea New Poetics In your opinion, how are
how does the speaker characterize the relationship
the ideals of Modernism reflected in these poems?
described in the poem? (b)What does this descrip-
How are the more classical ideas and techniques
tion suggest about the poem’s “fireworks”?
reflected?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Enjambment Reading Strategy Interpreting Imagery


Enjambed lines contrast with end-stopped lines, in The imagery in a poem can contribute to its tone. Use
which both meaning and grammatical structure come the imagery chart you created on page 673 to determine
to an end or a definitive pause. In both “Fireworks” the tone of each poem based on the imagery. How
and “Summer Rain,” enjambment serves to empha- would you describe the tone of each of these poems?
size certain words or to expand their meanings by Support your opinion with examples from the poems.
placing them in different contexts. This technique also
serves to express the flow of the speaker’s thoughts
and to establish rhythm. Vocabulary Practice
Partner Activity Meet with a classmate to discuss Practice with Synonyms Read the following sen-
the effect Lowell creates with each example of tences. Choose the best synonym for the underlined
enjambment in “Fireworks.” word. Use a dictionary if you need help.
1. Mark Twain’s literature was often peppered with
regional dialect.
Writing About Literature
a. dotted b. flashed c. pestered
Compare and Contrast Form In what ways are the 2. All that remained of the sunset was a splash of
structures of “Summer Rain” and “Fireworks” different? crimson fading into the horizon.
How are they the same? Write a brief essay in which a. violet b. scarlet c. black
you compare and contrast the forms and structures of
3. The morning sky was a beautiful azure color
these poems.
until the black storm clouds rolled in.
a. blue b. pastel c. dark
4. The movie ended when the cowboy mounted
Web Activities For eFlashcards, his horse and rode off into the sunset.
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to a. brushed b. galloped c. ascended
www.glencoe.com.

676 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Comparing Literature Across Time and Place

Connecting to the Reading Selections


How does one distinguish between what is ordinary and what is exhilarating? In asking such ques-
tions, poets trace the development of their work from an initial feeling or idea to a condensed
and captivating piece of writing. The four writers compared here—Archibald MacLeish, Rainer
Maria Rilke, Mark Strand, and Ishmael Reed—explore their enthusiasms for both reading and writ-
ing poetry in the following selections.

Archibald MacLeish
Ars Poetica ............................................................................ poem .................. 680
Defining poetry
United States, 1920s

Rainer Maria Rilke


from Letters to a Young Poet .................................... letter .................. 682
Looking within
Czechoslovakia, 1929

Mark Strand
Eating Poetry ....................................................................... poem .................. 684
A hunger for words
United States, 1968

Ishmael Reed
beware: do not read this poem ................................ poem .................. 686
Poetry—a warning
United States, 1972

COM PAR I NG TH E Big Idea New Poetics


During the twentieth century, the boundaries of subject matter, form, and style were extended.
Poets from the United States and elsewhere—such as MacLeish, Rilke, Strand, and Reed—sought
to capture individual experience by bending the traditional rules and conventions of poetic form.

COM PAR I NG Imagist Poetry


Modernist poets let content dictate form. In the early 1900s, the Imagists employed clear, con-
crete language to convey precise images. In abandoning traditional language, the Imagists’
poetry and their principles are reflected in the poetry of the later twentieth century.

COM PAR I NG Literary Trends


Like other aspects of culture, literature has trends. However, sometimes a literary trend is not
identified until years after it has passed. Distinct styles become apparent when one compares
literary movements, such as local-color writing and Modernism.

COMPARING LIT ER ATURE 677


(t)V. Brockhaus/zefa/CORBIS, (tc)Royalty-Free/CORBIS, (bc)Images.com/CORBIS, (b)Images.com/CORBIS
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Ars Poetica
M E E T A RC H I BA LD M AC LE ISH two small children to Paris. MacLeish pursued his
writing there and published four poetry collections

A
in five years. In 1928 MacLeish returned with his
rchibald MacLeish was a poet with a pur-
family to the United States, where he continued
pose. He believed that, through love and
writing poetry. In 1933 he won his first Pulitzer Prize
awareness, U.S. citizens could achieve the
for Conquistador, an epic poem about the conquest of
goals of freedom and equality set down in the
Mexico by the Spanish.
Declaration of Independence. MacLeish’s idealism is
evident both in his poetry and in his public life. Public Interests Concerned about the nation’s
social problems, MacLeish also wrote journalistic
articles and supported President Franklin D.
“But what, then, is the business of Roosevelt’s New Deal economic reforms and anti-
poetry? Precisely to make sense of the Hitler stance. Critic David Luytens called MacLeish
“the poet laureate of the New Deal.” In the 1940s,
chaos of our lives.” MacLeish served as director of a wartime office of
propaganda, as assistant secretary of state, and as a
—Archibald MacLeish
librarian of Congress. He was also chairman of the
U.S. delegation for the founding conference of
Creative Echoes Born in the late 1800s in UNESCO (the United Nations Educational,
Glencoe, Illinois, MacLeish was keenly aware of Scientific, and Cultural Organization) in 1945.
both the traditional world and the constantly evolv- Through all these diplomatic commitments,
ing cultural landscape of the early twentieth century. MacLeish continued to write poetry as well as
After attending Yale University, where he played drama. His first play to be produced—Panic: A Play
football, MacLeish entered Harvard Law School at in Verse—was based on the biblical story of Cain but
the age of twenty-three. Being at Harvard further was set in the Great Depression. MacLeish, who was
enlivened his interest in, as MacLeish put it, “the also on the editorial board of the business magazine
vision of mental time, of the interminable journey of Fortune, lamented the economic hardship and grow-
the human mind, the ing despair brought on by the Depression.
great tradition of the In the 1950s, MacLeish won two more Pulitzer
intellectual past which Prizes: one for poetry and one for drama. Between
knows the bearings of 1944 and 1954—during what has been called his
the future.” Within the “second renaissance” as a poet—he published more
next two years, he mar- than eighty poems. MacLeish’s later works continued
ried singer Ada to explore both the poetic expression of the myster-
Hitchcock and enlisted in ies and feelings of the poet’s inner world, and of the
the army. After World core meaning of U.S. citizenship as passed down
War I, he through the founders of the nation. Critic Hayden
became a suc- Carruth said, “MacLeish wrote not as a personal cru-
cessful lawyer, sader, never as a political crank or lonely visionary,
but he soon but instead as the spokesman of the people.”
quit his job
to move Archibald MacLeish was born in 1892 and died
with his in 1982.
wife and
Author Search For more about
Archibald MacLeish, go to www.glencoe.com.

678 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Oscar White/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Poem Reading Strategy Analyzing Style


How do you judge an experience or a piece of art? Are Combining knowledge about the separate parts of
there clear criteria that help you form an evaluation, or something to form an overall judgment of it is
do more subjective factors inform your response, tran- analyzing. Writers’ style includes the expressive
scending mere positive or negative impressions? In qualities that distinguish their work, such as word
“Ars Poetica,” MacLeish expresses what he believes a choice, the length and arrangement of sentences, and
poem should be. As you read this poem, think about the use of figurative language and imagery. As you
the following questions: read “Ars Poetica,” analyze MacLeish’s style. Consider
why he chose to break the lines the way he did and
• How do you judge a poem? how the imagery and word choice contribute to the
• What qualities should a good poem have? overall effect of the poem.
Building Background
Reading Tip: Taking Notes Record the effects of
Ars poetica, a Latin phrase meaning “the art of poetry,”
MacLeish’s style in a chart like the one below.
is the title of a work written around 13 B.C. by the
Roman poet Horace. In this text, Horace laid down his
own rules for writing poetry. In 1926 MacLeish pub- Author’s Style Overall Effect
lished his poem “Ars Poetica” in a collection titled
Streets in the Moon. When he wrote it, MacLeish was Irregular line length Helps emphasize
living in Paris and was part of a circle of innovative certain words
writers—among them Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott
Fitzgerald, and E. E. Cummings—who were working to
perfect their own creative skills.
Vocabulary
Setting Purposes for Reading
palpable (pal pə bəl) adj. tangible; able to be
Big Idea New Poetics
touched or felt; p. 680 The tension was palpable
Although the concept for this poem has deep historical in the team’s locker room before the big game.
roots, MacLeish’s style is innovative and modern. As
you read, note how the unique pattern of lines and mute (mūt) adj. silent; p. 680 James hit the mute
creative, startling imagery add to his purpose. button on the television and decided to focus on his
homework.
Literary Element Theme entangled (en tan əld) adj. twisted together;
caught p. 680 The fish was entangled in the
A theme is a central idea presented in a literary work. In
fisherman’s net.
some works the theme is stated directly, but in most
works the theme is implied and revealed gradually. A lit-
Vocabulary Tip: Analogies An analogy is a type of
erary work may have more than one theme. As you
comparison that is based on the relationships
read “Ars Poetica,” look for events, dialogue, and
between things or ideas. To solve an analogy ques-
description that help develop the theme of the poem.
tion, identify the relationship in the first pair of
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R18. words. These five types of relationships are a good
place to start:

• Association or Usage • Part/Whole


Interactive Literary Elements • Example/Class • Synonym or Antonym
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.
• Object/Characteristic

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • analyzing theme
• relating literature to historical periods • analyzing style

ARCHIBALD MACLEISH 679


Archibald MacLeish

A poem should be palpable and mute


As a globed fruit
S11-119-01C-635423 Bellevue Chris
Dumb 1
1. Dumb: here, unable
As old medallions to the thumb to speak.

5 Silent as the sleeve-worn stone


Of casement2 ledges where the moss has grown— 2. casement: a
window that opens
A poem should be wordless on hinges.
As the flight of birds

A poem should be motionless in time


10 As the moon climbs

Leaving, as the moon releases


Twig by twig the night-entangled trees,

Leaving, as the moon behind the winter leaves,


Memory by memory the mind—

15 A poem should be motionless in time


As the moon climbs

A poem should be equal to:


Not true

For all the history of grief


20 An empty doorway and a maple leaf

For love
The leaning grasses and two lights above the sea—

A poem should not mean


But be

Literary Element Theme How does MacLeish develop the idea


that a poem can be “wordless”?

Vocabulary
palpable (palpə bəl) adj. tangible; able to be touched or felt
mute (mūt) adj. silent
entangled (en tanəld) adj. twisted together; caught

680 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F THE MODE RN AGE


A F TE R YOU R E AD

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Which image in the poem could you see, feel, or 5. In your opinion, how effective are the images in
hear most vividly in your imagination? Why? this poem in appealing to the senses? Explain.

Recall and Interpret 6. How does the repetition in lines 9–10 and lines
15–16 contribute to the poem?
2. (a)What five adjectives in lines 1–8 describe what
a poem should be? (b)What is ironic about the 7. In your opinion, do lines 20 and 22 adequately cap-
use of these words to describe a poem? ture the emotions of grief and love? Why or why not?

3. (a)To what does the speaker compare poetry in 8. A simile is a figure of speech in which things are
lines 9–16? (b)What does this image suggest compared through the use of words such as like or
about the function of poetry? as. How do the similes in “Ars Poetica” contribute
to the effectiveness of the poem?
4. (a)How does the speaker suggest that grief and
love should be represented in poetry? (b)What can Connect
you infer from this suggestion about the way
poems should express emotions? 9. Big Idea New Poetics MacLeish was a believer
in both tradition and innovation. What traits of
Modernism do you see in “Ars Poetica”?

LITE R ARY AN ALYS I S R EAD I N G AN D VO C AB U L A RY

Literary Element Theme Reading Strategy Analyzing Style


The themes of a literary work are different from its Style is made up of the expressive qualities that dis-
topics. In MacLeish’s poem, the topic is poetry itself, tinguish an author’s work. It can reveal an author’s
but the theme is a statement about poetry that sug- personality as well as his or her purpose in writing.
gests its relation to life in general.
Group Activity Meet with a group of classmates to
1. What themes do you find in the poem? discuss how each of the following elements
contributes to MacLeish’s poem as a whole.
2. Are the themes stated directly or implied? Explain.
• figurative language • sentence length
Writing About Literature • diction and structure

Analyze Genre Elements Where do you draw the


line between poetry and prose? Many writers of the Vocabulary Practice
modern era wrote works that blur the traditional
Practice with Analogies Choose the pair of
distinctions between the two. Although MacLeish’s
words below that best completes each analogy.
poem is written in rhymed couplets, the lines in the
poem are of irregular length and meter. How do you 1. palpable : real ::
think MacLeish decided where to break the lines? a. durable : strong
Write a brief essay in which you analyze the features b. malleable : heat
that make this selection poetry rather than prose. Be 2. mute : noisy ::
sure to show how these features contribute to the a. smart : curiously
author’s purpose. b. slowly : quickly

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

A R C H I B AL D M AC L E I S H 6 81
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Building Background
Rainer Maria Rilke was born in 1875 in Prague, which Rilke wrote to Franz Xaver Kappus, an aspiring poet.
was then part of Austria-Hungary and is now the The letters were written during a five-year period that
capital of the Czech Republic. He spoke and usually started in 1903, when Rilke was in Paris. In these
wrote in German. In 1902 Rilke went to Paris to write letters, Rilke passed on to Kappus the bravado and
a book about Auguste Rodin, the great French sculptor. confidence that he had learned from Rodin. Rilke said,
Rodin quickly became Rilke’s friend and mentor, “Love consists in this, that two solitudes protect and
sharing with the young poet a creative methodology touch and greet each other.” Rilke died in Switzerland
based on an ethic of hard work and dedication to in 1926, but his letters and poetry continue to
minute detail. Rodin’s theories about the creative influence many writers here and abroad.
process ran counter to the popular idea that art is an
Rainer Maria Rilke was born in 1875 and died in 1926.
inspiration that comes from a muse, or an outside
force or spirit long depicted in female form.
Author Search For more about
The following selection is from a collection of letters Rainer Maria Rilke, go to www.glencoe.com.

Rainer Maria Rilke The Heart Called “Rancho Pastel”, Jim Dine. Private collection.

You ask whether your poems are good. You send the deepest place of your heart? Can you avow2
them to publishers; you compare them with that you would die if you were forbidden to
other poems; you are disturbed when certain write? Above all, in the most silent hour of your
publishers reject your attempts. Well now, since night, ask yourself this: Must I write? Dig deep
you have given me permission to advise you, I into yourself for a true answer. And if it should
suggest that you give all that up. You are looking ring its assent, if you can confidently meet this
outward and, above all else, that you must not do serious question with a simple, “I must,” then
now. No one can advise and help you, no one. build your life upon it. It has become your neces-
There is only one way: Go within. Search for sity. Your life, in even the most mundane and
the cause, find the impetus1 that bids you write. least significant hour, must become a sign, a tes-
Put it to this test: Does it stretch out its roots in timony to this urge.

1. An impetus is a something that encourages or stimulates 2. To avow is to declare openly.


activity.

682 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F THE MODE RN AGE


Christie’s Images/CORBIS
Then draw near to nature. Pretend you are the Therefore, my dear friend, I know of no other
very first man and then write what you see and advice than this: Go within and scale the depths
experience, what you love and lose. Do not write of your being from which your very life springs
love poems, at least at first; they present the forth. At its source you will find the answer to the
greatest challenge. It requires great, fully ripened question, whether you must write. Accept it, how-
power to produce something personal, something ever it sounds to you, without analyzing. Perhaps
unique, when there are so many good and some- it will become apparent to you that you are indeed
times even brilliant renditions3 in great numbers. called to be a writer. Then accept that fate; bear
Beware of general themes. Cling to those that its burden, and its grandeur, without asking for the
your everyday life offers you. Write about your reward, which might possibly come from without.
sorrows, your wishes, your passing thoughts, your For the creative artist must be a world of his own
belief in anything beautiful. Describe all that and must find everything within himself and in
with fervent,4 quiet, and humble sincerity. In nature, to which he has betrothed5 himself.
order to express yourself, use things in your sur- It is possible that, even after your descent into
roundings, the scenes of your dreams, and the your inner self and into your secret place of soli-
subjects of your memory. tude, you might find that you must give up
If your everyday life appears to be unworthy becoming a poet. As I have said, to feel that one
subject matter, do not complain to life. Complain could live without writing is enough indication
to yourself. Lament that you are not poet enough that, in fact, one should not. Even then this pro-
to call up its wealth. For the creative artist there cess of turning inward, upon which I beg you to
is no poverty—nothing is insignificant or unim- embark, will not have been in vain. Your life will
portant. Even if you were in a prison whose walls no doubt from then on find its own paths. That
would shut out from your senses the sounds of they will be good ones and rich and expansive—
the outer world, would you not then still have that I wish for you more than I can say.
your childhood, this precious wealth, this trea- What else shall I tell you? It seems to me every-
sure house of memories? Direct your attention to thing has been said, with just the right emphasis. I
that. Attempt to resurrect these sunken sensa- wanted only to advise you to progress quietly and
tions of a distant past. You will gain assuredness. seriously in your evolvement.6 You could greatly
Your aloneness will expand and will become your interfere with that process if you look outward and
home, greeting you like the quiet dawn. Outer expect to obtain answers from the outside—
tumult will pass it by from afar. answers which only your innermost feeling in your
If, as a result of this turning inward, of this quietest hour can perhaps give you.
sinking into your own world, poetry should
emerge, you will not think to ask someone
whether it is good poetry. And you will not try
5. Betrothed means “engaged.”
to interest publishers of magazines in these 6. Evolvement is growth.
works. For you will hear in them your own voice;
you will see in them a piece of your life, a natu- Discussion Starter
ral possession of yours. A piece of art is good if it In this letter, Rilke insists that the individual finds the
is born of necessity. This, its source, is its crite- most powerful means of expression by looking
rion; there is no other. inward. He also says that a writer must write in
order to express himself or herself, just as one must
breathe in order to live. In what ways does Rilke’s
advice to the young poet apply to other aspirations
3. Renditions are versions.
people have in life?
4. Fervent means “with intense feeling.”

R A I N E R M AR I A R I L K E 683
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Building Background
Mark Strand developed as a writer during the 1960s—a exploration of the power of presence and absence
period when, he later noted, “Poets were underground in life. Critic Jane Candia Coleman commented that
pop stars.” Strand was born on Canada’s Prince Edward although Strand’s poetry can be abstract and difficult,
Island in 1934 and grew up in various cities in the “the reader who delves, who meets the poet halfway,
United States. Strand is a noted poet, public reader, and will be rewarded by glimpses of a different world,
translator who has taught at numerous universities— that changeable one of dreams and the elusive
including Harvard, the University of Utah, and the beauty that haunts us all.”
University of Iowa (where he also received a master’s
Mark Strand was born in 1934.
degree in creative writing). He was named U.S. Poet
Laureate in 1990 and won a Pulitzer Prize for his
collection of poetry Blizzard of One in 1999.
Influenced by the work of Archibald MacLeish, Author Search For more about
Strand’s poetry is noted for its surreal imagery and Mark Strand, go to www.glencoe.com.

Mark Strand

House on Fire with People Inside. John Ritter

684 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F THE MODE RN AGE


Images.com/CORBIS
Small Ferocious Dog. John Ritter.

Ink runs from the corners of my mouth.


There is no happiness like mine.
I have been eating poetry.

The librarian does not believe what she sees.


5 Her eyes are sad
and she walks with her hands in her dress.

The poems are gone.


The light is dim.
The dogs are on the basement stairs and coming up.

10 Their eyeballs roll,


their blond legs burn like brush.
The poor librarian begins to stamp her feet and weep.

She does not understand.


When I get on my knees and lick her hand,
15 she screams.

I am a new man.
I snarl at her and bark.
I romp with joy in the bookish dark.

Quickwrite
Strand has said, “A poem may be the residue of an inner urgency, one through which
the self wishes to register itself, write itself into being, and, finally, to charm another
self, the reader, into belief.” Strand’s description of the speaker in “Eating Poetry” is
purposefully ambiguous. Write a paragraph in which you interpret the character of the
speaker in this poem. Identify the poet’s purpose and cite evidence from the text to
support your view.

M A RK S T RA ND 685
Images.com/CORBIS
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Building Background
Ishmael Reed has described his eclectic writing style as In his poems, Reed’s innovative approach is obvious.
“Neoamerican hoodooism,” an expression that implies a He purposely omits vowels, uses ampersands instead
melding of the magic healing in African folk culture and of the word and, and inserts punctuation at
many other U.S. cultural elements. Reed was born in unexpected places. One effect of his techniques is to
1938 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, but he grew up in quicken and vary the pace of his poetry. The following
Buffalo, New York, where he studied at the University of selection is included in Reed’s second book of poetry,
Buffalo. He later moved to New York City. Throughout Conjure. The book, published in 1972, was nominated
his career, Reed has shown a razor-edged satirical wit, for a National Book Award.
often addressing the failures he sees in the cultural and
Ishmael Reed was born in 1938.
political institutions of his country. Reed’s style blends
European and African traditions and showcases his
broad-ranging cultural and historical knowledge. Author Search For more about
Ishmael Reed, go to www.glencoe.com.

Ishmael Reed

tonite , thriller1 was


abt an ol woman ,so vain she
surrounded herself w/
many mirrors

5 it got so bad that finally she


locked herself indoors & her
whole life became the
mirrors

one day the villagers broke


10 into her house , but she was too
swift for them . she disappeared
into a mirror

Hallway, 1995. Mary Iverson.

1. Thriller was a television show hosted by horror-film actor


Boris Karloff that ran from 1960 to 1962. The hour-long
episodes were divided between mystery and horror genres.

686 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F THE MODE RN AGE


Mary Iverson/CORBIS
each tenant who bought the house
after that , lost a loved one to
15 the ol woman in the mirror :
first a little girl
then a young woman
then the young woman/s husband

the hunger of this poem is legendary


20 it has taken in many victims
back off from this poem
it has drawn in yr feet
back off from this poem
it has drawn in yr legs

25 back off from this poem


it is a greedy mirror
you are into this poem . from
the waist down
nobody can hear you can they ?
30 this poem has had you up to here
belch
this poem aint got no manners
you cant call out frm this poem
relax now & go w/ this poem
35 move & roll on to this poem
do not resist this poem
this poem has yr eyes
this poem has his head
this poem has his arms
40 this poem has his fingers
this poem has his fingertips
this poem is the reader & the
reader this poem

statistic : the us bureau of missing persons reports


45 that in 1968 over 100,000 people disappeared
leaving no solid clues
nor trace only
a space in the lives of their friends

Quickwrite
The title of this selection naturally attracts the reader’s
interest. Despite the fact that the title warns the
reader not to continue reading, the poem focuses on
the relationship that exists in poetry between the
reader and the writer. Write a paragraph in which you
discuss how this selection develops the idea that
“this poem is the reader & the / reader this poem.”

I SH M A EL R EED 687
Wrap-up: Comparing Literature Across Time and Place

• Ars Poetica • from Letters to • Eating Poetry • beware: do not


Archibald MacLeish a Young Poet Mark Strand read this poem
Rainer Maria Rilke Ishmael Reed

COM PAR I NG TH E Big Idea New Poetics


Group Activity Each of the writers compared here explains what he believes poetry should be.
Read the four quotations below from the selections and discuss the following questions with a
group of classmates.

1. Which writer’s statement about what poetry should be appeals to you most? Explain why.
2. In what ways does each selection break the traditional rules of poetry?
3. How does each writer demonstrate what the experience of poetry should be for both reader
and writer, and how does each provide criteria for evaluating poetry?

“A poem should not mean Full Moon at Takanawa, from Celebrated places in the Eastern
But be” Capital of Edo, 1832. Ando or Utagawa Hiroshige. Woodblock color
—MacLeish, “Ars Poetica” print, 10 x 15 in. Brooklyn Museum of Art, NY.

“Put it to this test: Does it stretch out its roots in the


deepest place of your heart?”
—Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

“There is no happiness like mine.


I have been eating poetry.”
—Strand, “Eating Poetry”

“do not resist this poem “A poem should be wordless


this poem has yr eyes” As the flight of birds”
—Reed, “beware: do not read this poem” —MacLeish, “Ars Poetica”

COM PAR I NG Imagist Poetry


Visual Display What images struck you most as you read the poems by MacLeish, Strand, and
Reed, and the letter by Rilke? Create a visual display that represents the imagery you saw in your
mind as you read these selections.

COM PAR I NG Literary Trends


Writing Research the literary trends associated with MacLeish, Rilke, Strand, and Reed. Write a
short essay in which you discuss how each writer is a part of a literary trend.

O B J EC TIVES
• Compare and contrast authors’ messages. • Compare works from different eras that address
• Analyze historical context. similar themes.
• Compare literary trends.

688 UNIT 5 BEGINNINGS OF THE MODERN AGE


Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York, USA, Frank L. Babbott Fund/Bridgeman Art Library
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Study of Two Pears and from


The Man with the Blue Guitar
M E E T WA LL AC E ST E V E NS

F
or a poet with such a powerful imagination, recognizable and
Wallace Stevens led an outwardly quiet and important work.
uneventful life. His entire professional It shows the
career was spent as an employee of an insurance influence of both
company. In his journals he expressed embarrass- the French
ment about writing poems: “Keep all this a great Symbolists and
secret. There is something absurd about all this the English
writing of verses; but the truth is, it elates and Romantics, particularly Wordsworth and
satisfies me to do it.” Coleridge. The volume was reissued in 1931 and
then again in 1947. In this book, Stevens illus-
trates his belief that “the imagination is man’s
power over nature.”
“How full of trifles everything is! It is
only one’s thoughts that fill a room Maturity and Acceptance During the 1930s,
Stevens published three more books, Ideas and
with something more than furniture.” Order, Owl’s Clover, and The Man with the Blue
—Wallace Stevens Guitar, which reveal the progressive development
of his poetic style. By the 1940s, Stevens had
entered the most creatively fertile time in his life.
He gradually abandoned the intricate forms and
Youth Stevens was born in Reading, Pennsylvania. lavish imagery of his early work in favor of a more
His father was a country lawyer, and his mother was concise, abstract style. In 1954 Stevens’s Collected
a teacher. Stevens enrolled at Harvard College in Poems appeared. With this publication, shortly
1897, where he became friends with the philoso- before his death, Stevens attracted widespread
pher George Santayana, who encouraged Stevens attention for the first time. The Collected Poems
to publish his early poems in the Harvard Advocate. was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1955.
Stevens left school abruptly after only three years,
failing to complete his degree. He moved to New Poet of the Imagination Central to all of
York City and worked briefly as a reporter for the Stevens’s poetry is the primacy of the creative
Herald Tribune. Then, after enrolling at the New imagination. According to Stevens, the role of the
York Law School, he acquired his degree and was poet is to use the imagination to “become the light
admitted to the bar in 1904. For the next several in the minds of others” by helping people to dis-
years, Stevens worked for various law firms cover new ways of viewing reality and to experi-
throughout the city before moving to Connecticut ence a sense of order in a chaotic world devoid of
where he worked for the Hartford Accident and a clear spiritual definition. His best work explored
Indemnity Company until his death. the complex relationship between the shaping
power of the imagination and the physical world.
In 1914 Poetry magazine published four of
Stevens’s poems. These poems were eventually Wallace Stevens was born in 1879 and died in 1955.
included in his first book, Harmonium, which
appeared in 1923. It was well received by critics
but sold only one hundred copies. However, Author Search For more about
Harmonium contains some of Stevens’s most Wallace Stevens, go to www.glencoe.com.

WALLAC E STEVENS 689


Bettmann/Corbis
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W READI NG PREVI EW

Connecting to the Poems Reading Strategy Recognizing Author’s


How do artists approach the natural world? What is Purpose
the best way for artists to represent the things they An author’s purpose is the author’s intent in writing a
observe in a way that is true to reality, creative, and piece of literature. Authors typically write to accomplish
meaningful? As you read the poems, think about the one or more of the following goals: to persuade, to
following questions: inform, to explain, to explore, to entertain, or to
• When you view a physical object, how can you dis- describe. While reading these poems, try to determine
Stevens’s purpose for writing.
tinguish its appearance from its reality?
• How might a writer imaginatively transform his or Reading Tip: Double-Entry Journal Use a double-
her perceptions of the physical world?
entry journal to determine an author’s purpose. Ask
Building Background yourself questions like the ones below.
This excerpt from “The Man with the Blue Guitar” is the
first stanza of a much longer poem that appeared in Questions to Ask Answers
1937. Although it is tempting to connect the title of this
poem to Pablo Picasso’s famous painting The Old What is the tone? Serious, instructive,
Guitarist, a product of Picasso’s so-called “blue period,” and musical
Stevens asserted that he had no particular painting of What kinds of
Picasso’s in mind when he wrote the poem. Stevens details are there?
was deeply affected by the artistic experiments of Cubist
painters, like the later Picasso, who were attempting to
subvert painters’ traditional use of perspective. Stevens’s What are some
poetry, like Cubist painting, often mixes multiple points descriptive words?
of view that culminate in interesting variations on the
perspectives of observed objects.

Setting Purposes For Reading Vocabulary


Big Idea New Poetics
bulge (bulj) v. to swell or curve outward; p. 691
As you read, notice how Stevens’s poems lead the reader The shoplifter’s shirt was bulging with the goods he
to explore the way in which imagination can transform had taken.
and deepen our perceptions of everyday experience.
taper (tā pər) v. to become progressively thin-
ner or smaller; p. 691 The river slowly tapered
Literary Element Motif out as it entered the dry gorge.
A motif is a significant image, description, idea, or
glisten ( li sən) v. to shine or to reflect light;
other element repeated throughout a literary work to
p. 691 All morning the dew was glistening on the
help convey its theme. As you read Stevens’s poems,
grass.
try to identify the motifs that he uses.

• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R11. Vocabulary Tip: Synonyms Synonyms are words
that have the same or similar meanings. Synonyms
are always the same part of speech.
Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

OB J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • analyzing motif
• analyzing literary periods • recognizing author’s purpose

690 U N IT 5 BEGINNINGS OF THE MODERN AGE


Wallace Stevens

Opusculum paedagogum.1
The pears are not viols,2
Nudes or bottles.
They resemble nothing else.

The are yellow forms


Composed of curves
Bulging toward the base.
They are touched red.

They are not flat surfaces


Having curved outlines.
They are round
Tapering toward the top.

In the way they are modelled


There are bits of blue.
A hard dry leaf hangs
Two Pears from the Jardinage, 2003. Simon Fletcher. From the stem.
Watercolor on paper. Private collection.

The yellow glistens.


It glistens with various yellows,
Citrons,3 oranges and greens
Flowering over the skin.

The shadows of the pears


Are blobs on the green cloth.
The pears are not seen
As the observer wills.

1. Opusculum paedagogum is Latin for “a small instructional text.”


2. A viol is a bowed stringed instrument used chiefly in music of the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
3. Citron is a shade of yellowish green.
Vocabulary
Big Idea New Poetics What is the speaker saying in this stanza
bulge (bulj) v. to swell or curve outward
about the difference between art and physical reality?
taper (tā pər) v. to become progressively
thinner or smaller
Reading Strategy Recognizing Author’s Purpose What do these
glisten (lis ən) v. to shine or to reflect light
lines suggest about Stevens’s purpose for composing this poem?

WALLAC E STEVENS 691


Simon Fletcher/Private Collection/Bridgeman Art Library
Wallace Stevens

The man bent over his guitar,


A shearsman1 of sorts. The day was green.

They said, “You have a blue guitar,


You do not play things as they are.”

The man replied, “Things as they are


Are changed upon the blue guitar.”

And they said then, “But play, you must,


A tune beyond us, yet ourselves,

A tune upon the blue guitar


Of things exactly as they are.”

1. Shearsman refers to the posture of the guitarist,


squatting like a tailor working on cloth.
The Old Guitarist, 1903–04. Pablo Picasso. Oil on panel,
Literary Element Motif How does the motif (483/4 x 321/2). The Art Institute of Chicago.
“things as they are” help to convey the theme of Viewing the Art: How does the guitarist in the painting
the poem? compare with your picture of the one described in the poem?

692 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F THE MODE RN AGE


Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/Art Institute of Chicago
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Which of these poems do you prefer? Explain. 5. (a)Why do you think Stevens chose to divide “Study
of Two Pears” into multiple sections? How does this
Recall and Interpret structure affect the poem’s meaning? (b)Do you
2. (a)In the final stanza of “Study of Two Pears,” what think that dividing the poem into sections strength-
does the speaker mean by saying that the pears ens or weakens the poem? Explain.
are not seen as the observer wills? (b)How does
6. (a)How does Stevens use rhyme in “The Man with
this statement relate to the speaker’s assertion in
the Blue Guitar”? Why do you think that Stevens
the first stanza?
chose to employ this rhyme scheme? (b)Do you
3. (a)In “The Man with the Blue Guitar,” what do the find the rhyme scheme effective? Explain.
listeners accuse the guitarist of doing? How does
7. (a)In “The Man with the Blue Guitar,” the listeners
the guitarist respond? (b)What does this exchange
demand that the guitarist play “a tune beyond us,
tell you about the guitar and the guitarist?
yet ourselves.” What do you think this demand
4. (a)What do the listeners tell the guitarist to do in means? (b)In your opinion, what kinds of art may
the last two stanzas? (b)The guitarist does not reply. fulfill this dual function?
If he did reply, what do you think he would say?
Connect
8. Big Idea New Poetics How do these two
poems illustrate various aspects of Modernism?

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Motif Reading Strategy Recognizing Author’s


A motif is the repetition of an image, description, Purpose
idea, or other element that helps to convey the An author’s purpose and the theme of a literary work
theme. In the poems of a Modernist like Stevens, the are often interrelated.
motifs are often symbols or image clusters.
1. (a)What is the poem’s theme? (b)What was
1. Identify a motif in “Study of Two Pears.” Explain Stevens’s purpose in writing a “Study of Two Pears”?
how this motif relates to the poem’s theme.
2. What do you think was Stevens’s purpose in writing
2. Identify the main motifs in “The Man with the Blue “The Man with the Blue Guitar”?
Guitar.” How do they convey the poem’s theme?

Vocabulary Practice
Reading Further
Practice with Synonyms Find the synonym for
Look for these works by or about Wallace Stevens:
each vocabulary word from “Study of Two Pears.”
Poetry Collections Wallace Stevens: Collected Poetry
1. bulge a. shrink b. protrude
and Prose, published by the Library of America.
2. taper a. narrow b. race
Biographies Souvenirs and Prophecies: The Young
Wallace Stevens by Holly Bright Stevens (1977) 3. glisten a. shine b. disappear

Wallace Stevens by Joan Richardson (1986)

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

WALLAC E STEVENS 693


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Bettmann/CORBIS
somewhere i have never
travelled,gladly beyond and
anyone lived in a pretty how town
M E E T E . E . C U M M I N GS

E
dward Estlin Cummings coined the term
“mostpeople” to describe conformists.
Throughout his life, Cummings rebelled
against the authoritarian forces that tend to sup-
press uniqueness. Challenging the social norms of Art and Poetry After the war, Cummings settled
the day, he married three times and only briefly in New York City’s Greenwich Village, studied art
held a regular job. Friends and family came to his in Paris, and published his first book of poetry,
rescue when he needed money. “I’m living so far Tulips and Chimneys (1923). In New York City, he
beyond my income,” he once wrote, “that we may continued his experiments with free verse and
almost be said to be living apart.” His rebellion painted in the Cubist style, exhibiting his work
against authority took radical form in his poetry. regularly. He traveled in Europe in the 1920s and
People often view language as a fixed system. divided his time between New York City and a
Cummings did not see it that way; he saw language farm in New Hampshire owned by his family. In
as a flexible tool. In his poems, he combined 1925, two more volumes of his verse were pub-
words, playing with punctuation and syntax to lished, and Cummings received a $2,000 award
create unique forms of poetic expression. from Dial magazine. In 1928 the Provincetown
Playhouse produced a Cummings play called Him,
which ran for 27 performances. Most critics hated
it, but audience response was more favorable.
“To be nobody-but-myself—in a world
which is doing its best, night and day, to Applause at Last Cummings continued to pub-
lish his poetry throughout the 1930s and 1940s. His
make me everybody else—means to Collected Poems (1938) received generally good
fight the hardest battle which any human reviews but sold poorly. He had won a Guggenheim
Fellowship in 1933, but it was not until the 1950s
being can fight and never stop fighting.” that he received more recognition, winning the
—E. E. Cummings Harriet Monroe Prize in 1950, another Guggen-
heim Fellowship in 1951, and the Bollingen Prize
in Poetry in 1958. He also began to read his poetry
to enthusiastic audiences, and in 1952–1953 he
Cummings was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, lectured at Harvard. Biographer Richard S. Kennedy
the son of a Unitarian minister and a mother who summed up Cummings’s work by writing “What he
encouraged him to write and keep a journal. A year produced will long amuse, titillate, thrill, provoke,
after receiving a master’s degree from Harvard or enthrall his readers.”
University in 1916, Cummings volunteered to
Edward Estlin Cummings was born in 1894 and died
serve as an ambulance driver in World War I. He
in 1962.
and a friend were wrongly arrested and imprisoned
in France on charges of spying. A few months later,
they were released, and Cummings wrote about his Author Search For more about
experiences there in The Enormous Room (1922). E. E. Cummings, go to www.glencoe.com.

694 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F THE MODE RN AGE


L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Poems Reading Strategy Analyzing Style


Despite differences in fashion, lifestyle, and technology, Style refers to the expressive qualities that distinguish
are people pretty much the same? In these poems, an author’s work. Such things as word choice, figura-
Cummings attempts to convey the feelings of someone tive language, and imagery all help determine an
tentatively exploring a love relationship and to portray author’s style. Cummings’s style is in part determined
the experience of the average life of “anyone.” As you by his arrangement of words on a page. His sentence
read the poems, think about the following questions: patterns, use of parentheses, division of words, and
capitalization or lack of capitalization all contribute to
• Do you think it is possible to convey emotions accu- his instantly recognizable style.
rately through language?
• Is there some common experience that binds us Reading Tip: Asking Questions In your first encoun-
together as human beings?
ter with a Cummings poem, you will probably have
Building Background some questions about his style. Write them down in
your notebook. You can discuss them later in class.
The first thing that readers often notice about
Cummings’s poems is the unusual arrangement of
words, the varied use of punctuation, and the uncom- 1. In the first poem, who is being addressed?
mon use of capitalization. These experiments in lan- 2.
guage and grammar, what former poet laureate 3.
Billy Collins called “typographical high jinks,” were 4.
Cummings’s way of expressing his individuality and 5.
encouraging readers to look at the world in a new way.
Although Cummings’s poems are innovative in style,
they often explore traditional poetic subjects—such as
love, death, and the natural world.
Vocabulary
Setting Purposes for Reading
render (ren dər) v. to reproduce or depict in
Big Idea New Poetics verbal or artistic form; p. 696 The painting was
Cummings was influenced by Imagist ideas, but he the artist’s attempt to render her emotional response
soon developed his own unique style, which to a great to the tragedy.
extent depended on visual images.
reap (rēp) v. to gather, as in harvesting a crop;
p. 697 Tim hoped he would reap the results of his
Literary Element Rhythm hard work with a good grade on the test.
Rhythm is the arrangement of stressed and
apt (apt) adj. likely; having a tendency; p. 697
unstressed syllables. Regular rhythm has a predictable
Peoples’ minds are apt to wander from doing home-
pattern, whereas irregular rhythm has no definite pat-
work on sunny days.
tern. Although both of these Cummings poems have
irregular rhythm, the particular arrangement of stressed Vocabulary Tip: Analogies An analogy is a com-
and unstressed syllables in the second poem plays an parison to show similarities between things that are
especially important role. otherwise dissimilar. Writers often use an analogy
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R15. to explain something unfamiliar by comparing it to
something familiar.
Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying these selections, you will focus on the following: • understanding rhythm
• relating literature to the historical period • understanding style

E. E. CUMMINGS 695
Open Door on the Beach. Konstantine Rodko.
Private collection, New York.

somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond


any experience, your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,

somewhere 5
or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look easily will unclose me

i have though i have closed myself as fingers,


you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully,mysteriously) her first rose

never 10
or if your wish be to close me,i and
my life will shut very beautifully,suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines

travelled, the snow carefully everywhere descending;

nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals

gladly
the power of your intense fragility:whose texture
15 compels me with the colour of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing

beyond (i do not know what it is about you that closes


and opens;only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
20 nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands
E. E. Cummings
Reading Strategy Analyzing Style Cummings purposefully plays with
sentence structure. How would you untangle the syntax in these lines?

Big Idea New Poetics What images recur in this poem? How are
these images connected?

Vocabulary
render (ren dər) v. to reproduce or depict in verbal or artistic form

696 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F THE MODE RN AGE


Konstantine Rodko/Private Collection, New York/Bridgeman Art Library
E. E. Cummings
S11-120-01C-635423 Parade Chris
anyone lived in a pretty how town
(with up so floating many bells down)
spring summer autumn winter
he sang his didn’t he danced his did. Jealousy, 1892. Tihamer Margitay. National Gallery Budapest, Hungary.

5 Women and men(both little and small) how children are apt to forget to remember
cared for anyone not at all with up so floating many bells down)
they sowed their isn’t they reaped their same
sun moon stars rain 25 one day anyone died i guess
(and noone stooped to kiss his face)
children guessed(but only a few busy folk buried them side by side
10 and down they forgot as up they grew little by little and was by was
autumn winter spring summer)
that noone loved him more by more all by all and deep by deep
30 and more by more they dream their sleep
when by now and tree by leaf noone and anyone earth by april
she laughed his joy she cried his grief wish by spirit and if by yes.
15 bird by snow and stir by still
anyone’s any was all to her Women and men(both dong and ding)
summer autumn winter spring
someones married their everyones 35 reaped their sowing and went their came
laughed their cryings and did their dance sun moon stars rain
(sleep wake hope and then)they
20 said their nevers they slept their dream
stars rain sun moon Reading Strategy Analyzing Style Cummings uses famil-
(and only the snow can begin to explain iar words in unfamiliar ways. What effect does this stylistic
element have on your understanding of the poem?
Reading Strategy Analyzing Style What features of
Cummings’s poetry stand out from the other poetry you Literary Element Rhythm What effect does the rhythm
have read? have on the overall tone of the poem?

Vocabulary Vocabulary

reap (rēp) v. to gather, as in harvesting a crop apt (apt) adj. likely; having a tendency

E. E. C UMMINGS 697
Archivo Iconografico, S.A./CORBIS
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond 6. (a)What happens to children as they grow up?
(b)What is Cummings suggesting about the differ-
1. What was your first reaction to the strange syntax and
ence between children and adults?
the other unusual features in Cummings’s poems?

Recall and Interpret Analyze and Evaluate


7. In “somewhere i have never travelled,gladly
2. In the first two stanzas of “somewhere i have never
beyond,” Cummings frequently appeals to two
travelled,gladly beyond,” how would you character-
senses at the same time. Explain how eyes can
ize the loved one’s effect on the speaker?
be silent or have a voice.
3. (a)What metaphors are used throughout the poem,
8. (a)In “anyone lived in a pretty how town,” what
and what are they comparing? (b)Are the images
happens to the two main characters at the end of
presented in these metaphors typical for a love
the poem, and how would you characterize the
poem? Why or why not?
townspeople’s reaction? (b)Do you think that this
4. (a)In “anyone lived in a pretty how town,” what is the is an appropriate ending? Why or why not?
name of the main character, and what is the name of
his wife? (b)What do their names suggest to you? Connect
5. (a)According to the speaker in lines 5–6, what do 9. Big Idea New Poetics Painters known as
“women and men” do? (b)What seems to be the Cubists painted objects that looked fragmented.
speaker’s attitude toward these people? How might these Cubist ideas in painting have
influenced Cummings’s ideas about poetry?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Rhythm Reading Strategy Analyzing Style


The rhythm, or the particular arrangement of stressed Some words in “anyone lived in a pretty how town”
and unstressed syllables, plays an important role in can have more than one meaning. With a partner,
“anyone lived in a pretty how town.” examine the possible meanings and discuss how they
Women and men (both little and small) affect your reading of the poem.
cared for anyone not at all
Vocabulary Practice
1. Which lines in the poem have the same or nearly
the same rhythm as the lines presented above? Practice with Analogies For each question, decide
Which lines have a different rhythm? what the relationship is between the first pair of
words. Then apply that relationship to the second pair.
2. What do you think the differences in rhythm
emphasize? 1. artist : render :: forecaster :
a. guess c. weather
Internet Connection b. tells d. predict
E. E. Cummings on the Web Look for Web sites 2. reap : farmer :: run :
devoted to Cummings. Print out or copy down two a. marathon c. athlete
more of his poems. Compare your reactions to these b. jog d. coach
poems with those you had to the poems in your text-
book. Share your thoughts with a partner.
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

698 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F THE MODE RN AGE


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Chicago and Grass


M E E T C A RL SA N DBU RG

A
lthough influenced by Ezra Pound and the
Imagists, Carl Sandburg broke away from
them. He sought to reach a wider audience—
and he did. From the 1916 publication of Chicago
Poems until his death in 1967, Sandburg was one of
America’s most popular and successful poets.
Carl Sandburg collected material for his poetry
Sandburg’s poems, and with the publication of
from his broad and varied life experience. Besides
Chicago Poems two years later, Sandburg emerged
being a poet and biographer, he worked as a milk-
as one of Chicago’s literary giants. Dubbed “the
truck driver, bricklayer, and traveling salesman.
Bard of the Midwest,” he soon wrote three more
volumes of poetry that established his national rep-
utation as a poet: Cornhuskers (1918), Smoke and
“Time is the coin of your life. It is the Steel (1920), and Slabs of the Sunburnt West (1922).
only coin you have, and only you can Critics, however, were divided over Sandburg’s poetic
merits. Supporters praised his original subject matter
determine how it will be spent. Be and voice, while detractors criticized his free-verse
careful lest you let other people spend technique and focus on social issues. In response,
Sandburg wrote that his goal in writing poetry was
it for you.”
simply “to sing, blab, chortle, yodel, like people.”
—Carl Sandburg
The People’s Poet A great admirer of Walt
Whitman, Sandburg might be considered Whitman’s
Sandburg grew up in Galesburg, Illinois, the son of successor in his enthusiasm for the common people.
Swedish immigrants. He quit school after eighth Sandburg’s poems, like Whitman’s, are noted for
grade and took odd jobs to help support his family. their use of the rhythms of everyday speech and for
When he was nineteen, he set out to explore the their democratic subjects and themes. They also
United States, joining the many hoboes of the include colorful use of sayings and anecdotes.
period who hitched rides on freight trains. Later
An extremely popular performer, Sandburg fre-
he fought in the Spanish-American War, attended
quently traveled throughout the United States,
college, and then moved to Chicago. There he
lecturing on the lives of Whitman and Abraham
became a journalist, learning to write clearly and
Lincoln, reading his poems aloud, and singing folk
protesting social and racial injustices. He also
songs while playing the guitar. Sandburg won the
began to contribute poems to Poetry magazine.
Pulitzer Prize for his biography of Lincoln in 1940
and for his Complete Poems in 1951. He continued
Literary Giant In the early twentieth century,
to write throughout his final years.
Chicago was a vibrant place for a poet to live. It
was home not only to the influential Poetry maga- Carl Sandburg was born in 1878 and died in 1967.
zine, founded in 1912 by Harriet Monroe, but also
to notable writers such as Sherwood Anderson,
Theodore Dreiser, Vachel Lindsay, and Edgar Lee Author Search For more about
Masters. In 1914 Poetry magazine published six of Carl Sandburg, go to www.glencoe.com.

CAR L SANDBURG 699


Yousuf Karsh/Woodfin Camp & Associates
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W READI NG PREVI EW

Connecting to the Poems Reading Strategy Making Inferences About


In “Chicago,” Sandburg responds to criticisms leveled Theme
against his adopted city. As you read the poem, think The theme is the central message of a work of litera-
about the following questions: ture that readers can apply to life. The theme of a
• How do you feel when someone criticizes the city poem is often implied rather than stated directly. You
can infer the theme by analyzing elements such as dic-
or community in which you live?
• What is the best way to respond to such criticism? tion, imagery, and figurative language. As you read, look
for evidence in the poem that suggests the theme.
Building Background
In the late nineteenth century, Chicago was an eco- Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a diagram to record
nomic lifeline of the United States. Sandburg was direct statements, images, and examples of figurative
excited and deeply impressed when, at age eighteen, language that support a theme in these poems.
he first saw the bustling city. In 1896 Chicago’s water-
ways and web of railroads united the nation, linking Direct Statements Images Figurative Language
the wealth of the East with the agriculture of the West,
Midwest, and South. From Chicago, meat and grain
flowed out to feed the nation.
The city had grown exponentially, from a small trading
Theme
post in 1830 to an expanding metropolis at the turn of
the century. Beginning in the 1840s, waves of immi-
grants from many different countries settled in
Chicago. By the 1880s, the city was half a million
strong; three-quarters were immigrants from northern
Vocabulary
and eastern Europe and their children. The city’s rapid
industrial growth brought many labor disputes, includ- husky (hus kē) adj. strong; burly; p. 701
ing riots and a strike by railroad workers. During his He has a short, husky build.
years as a Chicago journalist, Sandburg observed first-
wanton (wont ən) adj. resulting from extreme
hand the struggles and triumphs of the growing city.
cruelty or neglect; p. 701 The house is in a state
Setting Purposes for Reading of wanton disrepair.
sneer (snēr) v. to smile or laugh scornfully or
Big Idea New Poetics
critically; p. 701 The bully did nothing but sneer
In the first part of the twentieth century, American at the other children.
poetry pushed the boundaries of subject matter, form,
and style. As you read, consider how Sandburg breaks Vocabulary Tip: Synonyms Synonyms are words
new ground in these poems. that have the same or similar meanings. Note that
synonyms are always the same part of speech.
Literary Element Apostrophe
Apostrophe is a figure of speech in which a writer
directly addresses an inanimate object, an idea, or an
absent person. For example, in “Chicago,” the speaker
says to the city, “they tell me you are crooked.” As you
read, look for other examples of this technique. Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,

• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R2. go to www.glencoe.com.

OB J EC TIVES
In studying these selections, you will focus on the following: • understanding apostrophe
• analyzing literary periods • making inferences about theme

70 0 U N IT 5 BEGINNINGS OF THE MODERN AGE


Carl Sandburg
S11-124-01C-635423 U5 T8
metronome gothic a n n
Hog Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation’s Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
5 City of the Big Shoulders:
They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I have seen your painted
women under the gas lamps luring the farm boys.
And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it is true I have seen the
gunman kill and go free to kill again.
And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the faces of women and
children I have seen the marks of wanton hunger.
And having answered so I turn once more to those who sneer at this my city,
and I give them back the sneer and say to them:
10 Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive
and coarse and strong and cunning.
Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on job, here is a tall bold
slugger set vivid against the little soft cities;
Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning as a savage pitted
against the wilderness,
Bareheaded,
Shoveling,
15 Wrecking,
Planning,
Building, breaking, rebuilding,
Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with white teeth,
Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young man laughs,
20 Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has never lost a battle,
Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse, and under his ribs the
heart of the people,
Laughing!
Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of Youth, half-naked, sweating,
proud to be Hog Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player
with Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation.
Reading Strategy Making Inferences About Theme What does this phrase suggest about Chicago?

Vocabulary

husky (huskē) adj. strong; burly


wanton (wontən) adj. resulting from extreme cruelty or neglect
sneer (snēr) v. to smile or laugh scornfully or critically

CAR L SANDBURG 701


Bettmann/CORBIS
Carl Sandburg

The Sky Is Blue, the Grass Is Green, 1972. Joan Mitchell.


Oil on canvas. Musee National d’Art Moderne, Centre
P ile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo.1
Shovel them under and let me work—
Georges Pompidou, Paris, France. I am the grass; I cover all.

And pile them high at Gettysburg2


5 And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun.3

Shovel them under and let me work.


Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor:
What place is this?
Where are we now?

10 I am the grass.
Let me work.

1. Austerlitz and Waterloo refer to battle sites in Moravia (the present-


day Czech Republic) and Belgium during the Napoleonic Wars in
the early 1800s.
2. Gettysburg refers to a battlefield in southern Pennsylvania where
Union and Confederate forces fought a horrific battle in 1863 during
the Civil War.
3. Ypres and Verdun refer to battle sites in Belgium and northern
France where well over a million soldiers were slain in World War I.

Big Idea New Poetics How would you describe the speaker’s
attitude toward the dead?

702 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


CNAC/MNAM/Dist. RÈunion des MusÈes Nationaux/Art Resource, NY
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Grass
1. Which images in these poems impress you the Recall and Interpret
most? Explain. 5. (a)Who is the speaker in this poem? (b)What does
the speaker want to do?
Chicago
6. (a)Why does the speaker mention famous battle
Recall and Interpret sites from different wars? (b)What battle sites
2. (a)What names does the speaker give Chicago in would you add to the speaker’s list?
the first five lines? (b)What do these names reveal?
Analyze and Evaluate
3. (a)List some of the positive adjectives the speaker
7. (a)Why does the speaker describe passengers on a
uses to describe Chicago. (b)What do these words
train in lines 7–9? (b)How well does this image
reveal about the city’s inhabitants and the speaker’s
support the view of war presented in the poem?
attitude toward them?
Connect
Analyze and Evaluate
4. How well does Sandburg’s diction, or word choice, 8. Big Idea New Poetics Ezra Pound stated that
help create a vivid image of the city? Explain. modern poets should “Make it new!” What do you
find new about Sandburg’s poems?

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Apostrophe Reading Strategy Making Inferences About


Poets often use apostrophe either to achieve a Theme
formal tone or to convey a sense of emotional 1. On the basis of the evidence you listed in your
immediacy. diagram on page 700, how would you state the
1. In which lines does the speaker address the city as theme of “Chicago”?
“you” in “Chicago”? 2. Notice two similes, or comparisons using the word
2. What effects do you think Sandburg’s overall use of like or as, that Sandburg uses in lines 19–20 of
apostrophe creates? Explain. “Chicago.” How effective are these similes in sug-
gesting the theme?

Writing About Literature


Vocabulary Practice
Explore Author’s Purpose Does the speaker in
“Chicago” exhibit pride for the city or defend its poor Practice with Synonyms Choose the best
public image? Write a few paragraphs to explain and synonym for each vocabulary word from “Chicago.”
support your opinion. 1. husky
a. frail b. stocky c. huge
2. wanton
a. cautious b. sincere c. inhumane
3. sneer
a. scoff b. grin c. weep
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

C AR L SANDBURG 703
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Robert Frost’s Poetry


M E E T RO BE R T F ROST

R
obert Frost—a poet of dignity, simplicity, fellow New Englanders. In 1912, unable to get his
and ambiguity—was one of the most poems published in the United States, he sold his
honored poets of the twentieth century. farm and moved his family to England.
A four-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for
Poetry, Frost received special recognition from Success and Enduring Acclaim In London
Congress in 1960. The following January, at age Frost became acquainted with Ezra Pound and
eighty-six, he had the honor of reciting his other Modernist poets. He was able to publish
poem “The Gift Outright” at President John F. his first volume of poetry, A Boy’s Will, in 1913,
Kennedy’s inauguration. and North of Boston soon after. Praised by poet
Amy Lowell in a review, North of Boston was
Although closely associated with New England, soon published in the United States and sold
Frost spent his first eleven years in San Francisco. well. By the time Frost returned to New England
After his father died in 1885, his mother moved in 1915, at the start of the First World War, he
Frost and his sister to the gritty industrial city of was well on the road to fame. Prominent
Lawrence, Massachusetts. She taught school and publishers backed his work, and prestigious
wrote poetry, introducing Frost to the work of the universities sought him to teach.
English Romantic writers, the New England
Transcendentalists, and the poets of her native
Scotland. Frost graduated from high school and
went off to Dartmouth College, but he left the “[A poem] begins in delight and ends
school after less than a year.
in wisdom . . . in a clarification of
Farming and Teaching Frost married Elinor life—not necessarily a great
White in 1895. (They had been co-valedictorians of clarification, . . . but in a momentary
their high school class.) They had six children, two
of whom died young. stay against confusion.”
Frost supported his
—Robert Frost
growing family by
farming and teaching
school. At age
twenty-six, Frost Frost’s later years were filled with accolades. He
moved his family to a received more awards than any other twentieth-
farm near Derry, New century poet and was chosen as poetry consultant
Hampshire, where he to the Library of Congress. By the time of his
got to know the rug- death, his poetry had deeply embedded itself in the
ged landscape and American imagination, and it continues to live
inhabitants of rural there today.
New England. There,
between farm chores, Robert Frost was born in 1874 and died in 1963.
Frost wrote poems
describing the
region’s often harsh
conditions and the Author Search For more about
experiences of his Robert Frost, go to www.glencoe.com.

704 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Bettmann/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Poems Reading Strategy Comparing and


Robert Frost’s poems have a strong sense of place. Often Contrasting Speakers
set in the New England countryside, they describe the The speaker is the voice of a poem, similar to the
landscape and the people, capturing their speech pat- narrator in a work of prose. Sometimes the speaker’s
terns in a quiet, reflective voice. Think about the people voice is that of the poet, and sometimes it is that of a
who live near you and consider the following questions: fictional person or even a thing. The speaker’s words
• What activities, if any, bring you and your neighbors communicate a particular tone, or attitude, toward the
subject of a poem. By comparing and contrasting the
together?
• What things keep you apart? speakers of these poems, you can identify the qualities
that distinguish each one.
Building Background
From 1900 to 1909, Frost tried to earn a living on a small Reading Tip: Using a Venn Diagram As you read,
family farm he had bought in Derry, New Hampshire. consider how the speakers of “Mending Wall”
Farming in New England was difficult because of the and “Birches” are similar and different. Use a Venn
rocky soil, short growing season, and harsh climate. diagram to record your information.

Although Frost loved the outdoors, he was unsuited for


farm life. He found working around livestock awkward, Vocabulary
disliked regular chores and early rising, feared darkness enamel (i nam əl) n. a cosmetic or paint that
and storms, and had a somewhat frail build. Three years gives a smooth, glossy appearance; p. 708 The
before leaving for England, Frost abandoned farming pot was covered in an enamel to make it water-
and resumed his teaching career. Despite his lack of proof.
success as a farmer, Frost drew inspiration for many
poems from his memories of New England farm life. bracken (bra kən) n. a type of fern that grows
in humid, temperate areas; p. 708 Bracken cov-
Setting Purposes for Reading ered the forest floor in summer.
Big Idea New Poetics poise (poiz ) n. a state of balance; p. 709 Her
Though Frost uses traditional forms for his poems, he grace and poise made us think she must be a dancer.
often explores typical themes of modern poetry such coax (kōks ) v. to persuade gently; p. 716 I tried
as loneliness and isolation. As you read, notice how to coax the cat out of the tree with a catnip toy.
“Mending Wall” and “Birches” reflect these themes.
kin (kin) n. relatives, or a group of people with
common ancestry; p. 720 Sara had kin from four
Literary Element Blank Verse countries present at her wedding ceremony.
Blank verse is poetry written in unrhymed iambic pen-
tameter. Each line has a basic pattern of five pairs of Vocabulary Tip: Synonyms Synonyms are words
syllables, with each pair made up of an unstressed syl- that have the same or similar meanings. Note that
lable followed by a stressed syllable. As you read, lis- synonyms are always the same part of speech.
ten to the rhythms Frost creates by using blank verse.

• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R3.


Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying these selections, you will focus on the following: • comparing and contrasting speakers
• relating literature to the historical period • analyzing dramatic poetry
• understanding blank verse • evaluating characterization

ROBERT F ROST 70 5
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT. Gift
The Last Stone Walls, Dogtown, 1936–37. Marsden Hartley. Oil on canvas, 171/2 x 231/2 in. Yale University Art
Gallery, New Haven, CT. Gift of Walter Bareiss, B.A. 1940.
Viewing the Art: In what ways might this wall be like the one in “Mending Wall”? In what ways might it
be different?

Robert Frost
S11-125-01C-635423 Kent

S
Koch Antiqua U5 T8

omething there is that doesn’t love a wall,


That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
5 The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,

706 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


10 No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbour know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
15 We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
‘Stay where you are until our backs are turned!’
20 We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of out-door game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
25 My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, ‘Good fences make good neighbours.’
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
30 ‘Why do they make good neighbours? Isn’t it
Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I’d ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.
35 Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That wants it down.’ I could say ‘Elves’ to him,
But it’s not elves exactly, and I’d rather
He said it for himself. I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
40 In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
He moves in darkness as it seems to me,
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind his father’s saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
45 He says again, ‘Good fences make good neighbours.’

Big Idea New Poetics What do these lines tell you about the
relationship between the two neighbors?

Reading Strategy Comparing and Contrasting Speakers What


do these lines reveal about the speaker?

Literary Element Blank Verse How does the rhythm of these lines
help create a conversational tone?

R OBERT F ROST 707


Robert Frost

When I see birches bend to left and right


Across the lines of straighter darker trees,
I like to think some boy’s been swinging them.
But swinging doesn’t bend them down to stay
5 As ice-storms do. Often you must have seen them
Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning
After a rain. They click upon themselves
As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored
As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel.
10 Soon the sun’s warmth makes them shed crystal shells
Shattering and avalanching on the snow-crust—
Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away
You’d think the inner dome of heaven had fallen.
They are dragged to the withered bracken by the load,
15 And they seem not to break; though once they are bowed
So low for long, they never right themselves:

Vocabulary
Literary Element Blank Verse Which syllables are
stressed in this sentence? enamel (i naməl) n. a cosmetic or paint that gives a
smooth, glossy appearance
bracken (brakən) n. a type of fern that grows in
humid, temperate areas

708 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Age Fotostock America Inc.
You may see their trunks arching in the woods
Years afterwards, trailing their leaves on the ground
Like girls on hands and knees that throw their hair
20 Before them over their heads to dry in the sun.
But I was going to say when Truth broke in
With all her matter-of-fact about the ice-storm
I should prefer to have some boy bend them
As he went out and in to fetch the cows—
25 Some boy too far from town to learn baseball,
Whose only play was what he found himself,
Summer or winter, and could play alone.
One by one he subdued1 his father’s trees
By riding them down over and over again
30 Until he took the stiffness out of them,
And not one but hung limp, not one was left
For him to conquer. He learned all there was
To learn about not launching out too soon
And so not carrying the tree away
35 Clear to the ground. He always kept his poise
To the top branches, climbing carefully
With the same pains you use to fill a cup
Up to the brim, and even above the brim.
Then he flung outward, feet first, with a swish,
40 Kicking his way down through the air to the ground.
So was I once myself a swinger of birches.
And so I dream of going back to be.
It’s when I’m weary of considerations,
And life is too much like a pathless wood
45 Where your face burns and tickles with the cobwebs
Broken across it, and one eye is weeping
From a twig’s having lashed across it open.
I’d like to get away from earth awhile
And then come back to it and begin over.
50 May no fate willfully misunderstand me
And half grant what I wish and snatch me away
Not to return. Earth’s the right place for love:
I don’t know where it’s likely to go better.
I’d like to go by climbing a birch tree,
55 And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk
Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more,
But dipped its top and set me down again.
That would be good both going and coming back.
One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.

1. Subdued means “brought under control” or “conquered.” Reading Strategy Comparing and Contrasting Speakers
What does the speaker admire about the boy who swings on
Big Idea New Poetics Why does the poet include these
birches?
details about the boy?

Vocabulary
poise (poiz) n. a state of balance

R OBERT F ROST 709


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Birches
1. Which images from the poems do you find the Recall and Interpret
most powerful? Explain. 6. (a)What does the speaker want to think has caused
the birches to bend? What has really caused them
Mending Wall to bend? (b)Why might the speaker want to
believe in the imaginary cause?
Recall and Interpret
2. (a)According to the speaker, what causes a wall to 7. (a)To what does the speaker compare the ice that
fall apart? (b)To what might the “something” that falls from birches? To what does he compare their
“doesn’t love a wall” refer? trunks and leaves? (b)What can you infer about
the speaker’s feelings regarding the birches?
3. (a)Describe how the speaker and the neighbor fix
the wall. (b)How do their opinions differ? Analyze and Evaluate
8. (a)In describing the boy who lives “too far from
Analyze and Evaluate town to learn baseball,” whom is the speaker really
4. (a)What does the speaker suggest by describing describing? (b)What kinds of activities might swing-
the neighbor as “an old-stone savage”? (b)How ing on birches represent?
does dialogue help emphasize the differences
between the speaker and the neighbor? 9. Big Idea New Poetics In “Birches,” Frost com-
pares life to a pathless wood. Do you think this is an
5. (a)Why does the speaker refer to this spring ritual as
appropriate simile? Why or why not?
“another kind of out-door game” (line 21)? (b)What
might walls and fences symbolize in this poem?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Blank Verse Reading Strategy Comparing and


Both “Mending Wall” and “Birches” are written in Contrasting Speakers
blank verse, or unrhymed iambic pentameter. To Refer to the Venn diagram you created on page 705
determine the rhythm of any line, mark or scan its to answer the following questions:
stressed and unstressed syllables. For example, the
first line of “Birches” scans as follows: 1. How are the speakers of the poems similar and
different?
˘  ˘  ˘  ˘  ˘ 
When I see birches bend to left and right 2. How would you contrast the tone of each poem?
Because Frost uses blank verse to imitate spoken
English, every line in these poems is not perfectly
regular.
Vocabulary Practice
Practice with Synonyms Synonyms are words
1. Practice scanning several lines from each poem.
that have the same or similar meanings. Choose
What is unusual about the first line of
the synonym for each vocabulary word listed from
“Mending Wall”?
Frost’s poems.
2. Why are the rhythms of natural speech suitable for
1. enamel
the subjects of these poems?
a. glaze b. rough c. coat d. pottery
2. kin
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
a. children b. strangers c. relatives d. oven
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

710 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Gerrit Greve/CORBIS

Winter Forest, 1991. Gerrit Greve.

Whose woods these are I think I know.


His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer


5
To stop without a farmhouse near
S11-007-01C-635423 Kent
Between the woods and frozen lake
Koch Antiqua U5 T7
The darkest evening of the year.
S11-007-01C-635423 Kent
Koch Antiqua He
U5gives
T7 his harness bells a shake
10 To ask if there is some mistake.
S11-007-01C-635423 Kent
S11-007-01C-635423 Kent The only other sound’s the sweep
Koch Antiqua U5 T7
Koch Antiqua U5 T7 Of easy wind and downy flake.

Robert Frost The woods are lovely, dark and deep.


S11-007-01C-635423 Kent But I have promises to keep,
Koch Antiqua U5 T7 15 And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Reading Strategy Comparing and Contrasting


Speakers What might “sleep” mean to the speaker?

R OBERT F ROST 711


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Which lines from the poem did you find most 5. (a)How does the setting of the poem contribute to
powerful or meaningful? Explain. its meaning? (b)What might the woods symbolize?

Recall and Interpret 6. (a)Why does the speaker not embrace the peace-
ful escape offered by the woods? (b)How does the
2. (a)Where does the owner of the woods live, and
repetition in the final lines affect their meaning?
what will he not see? (b)Why might the speaker
care that the owner will not see this? Connect
3. (a)According to the speaker, what must the horse 7. Big Idea New Poetics What themes of modern
think? (b)How might the horse’s instincts differ poetry does “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy
from those of the speaker? Evening” reflect?
4. (a)What adjectives describe the woods in line 13?
(b)What mood do these words create?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Rhyme Scheme Reading Strategy Comparing and


“Mending Wall” and “Birches” are written in blank Contrasting Speakers
verse, or unrhymed iambic pentameter. “Stopping by Unlike the speaker in “Mending Wall,” the speaker in
Woods on a Snowy Evening,” on the other hand, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is serious, not
contains end rhymes. A rhyme scheme, as you playful or mischievous. Even while pausing to absorb the
learned in Unit Four, is the pattern of end rhymes in a beauty and tranquility of a winter scene, he never forgets
poem. For example, the rhyme scheme in the first his responsibilities, the promises he must keep.
stanza of the poem is aaba. Because the “b” sound is
1. How does the owner of the woods differ from the
repeated in the second stanza, the rhyme scheme for
speaker?
that stanza is bbcb.
2. How is the speaker similar to most people
1. Determine the rhyme schemes for the final two
journeying through life?
stanzas.
2. What is the effect of repeating a sound from each
stanza in the one that follows it? Academic Vocabulary
3. How does the rhyme scheme in the last stanza Here is a word from the vocabulary list on
reinforce the meaning of the poem? page R86.

design (di z̄n) n. the arrangement of elements


Writing About Literature or details in a product or work of art
Compare and Contrast Form In a brief essay, com-
pare and contrast a Frost poem written in blank verse Practice and Apply
(such as “Mending Wall” or “Birches”) with one that 1. How does the design of “Stopping by Woods on
contains end rhyme (such as “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” add to the poem’s overall
a Snowy Evening”). While writing, consider the follow- meaning?
ing questions: How does rhyme affect the meaning in
each poem? Which style do you prefer?
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

712 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Robert Frost

I have been one acquainted with the night.


I have walked out in rain—and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.


5 I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet


When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,

10 But not to call me back or say good-bye;


And further still at an unearthly height,
One luminary1 clock against the sky

Proclaimed2 the time was neither wrong nor right.


I have been one acquainted with the night.

Park Row, Leeds, England, 1882. John Atkinson Grimshaw. Oil on canvas. 1. Luminary means “giving light.”
Private Collection. 2. Proclaimed means “declared publicly.”

Reading Strategy Comparing and Contrasting Speakers


What does this line tell you about the speaker’s mood?

ROBERT F ROST 713


Fine Art Photographic Library/CORBIS
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Which image from this poem is most memorable? 5. (a)What is the night in this poem like? (b)What do
you think “the night” symbolizes?
Recall and Interpret
6. Why does Frost repeat line 1 in line 14?
2. (a)When and where has the speaker walked in
lines 1–3? What has he seen in line 4? (b)Why 7. How does Frost create a mood of loneliness or
might the speaker be out walking alone at night? isolation in this poem?
3. (a)What does the speaker do when passing the watch- Connect
man? (b)Why does the speaker choose to do this?
8. Big Idea New Poetics What Modernist themes
4. (a)What does the clock proclaim? (b)Why does the does Frost explore in this poem?
speaker not reveal the exact time?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Rhyme Scheme Reading Strategy Comparing and


As in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” Contrasting Speakers
rhyme supports the meaning in “Acquainted with the In important ways, this poem is different from
Night.” In this poem Frost uses a traditional form, “Mending Wall,” “Birches,” and “Stopping by Woods on
derived from Italian poetry, known as terza rima. It a Snowy Evening.” For one thing, it is set in an urban
consists of three-line stanzas, or tercets, in which the area, not in the New England countryside. The speaker,
first and third lines rhyme. moreover, is unlike those in the other three poems.
1. Identify the rhyme scheme of this poem. 1. How would you characterize the speaker in this
2. How is one tercet connected to the next? poem?

3. What effects does Frost create in the final stanza? 2. What sets this speaker apart from the other speak-
ers created by Frost?

Performing
Academic Vocabulary
Choose a Robert Frost poem, or a section of a poem,
that you like or feel particularly strongly about to read Here are two words from the vocabulary list
in front of your class or a small group. To prepare for on page R86.
your reading, identify the sound devices the poem
uses, such as its rhyme scheme. Practice your reading feature (fēchər) n. a quality or attribute of
in front of a mirror beforehand, paying attention to something
your pronunciation, speed, and gestures.
perceive (pər sēv) v. to become aware of some-
thing by way of the senses, or in one’s mind

Practice and Apply


1. Describe one feature of “Acquainted with the
Night” that you felt added to the poem’s mood.
2. How does the speaker perceive the city in the
Web Activities For eFlashcards, poem?
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

714 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Robert Frost
S11-130-01C-635423 Kent
Koch Antiqua U5 T7
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Literary Element Dramatic Poetry Reading Strategy Evaluating


A dramatic poem reveals the personalities of one or Characterization
more characters by using dialogue and monologue as Characterization refers to the methods a writer uses
well as description. While dramatic poetry may include to reveal the personality of a character. In direct
narrative, the focus is on the characters, not the characterization, the writer makes explicit statements
events. As you read “The Death of the Hired Man,” about a character. In indirect characterization, the
consider what the dialogue reveals about the charac- writer reveals a character through the character’s words
ters’ personalities. and actions and through what other characters think

• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R5. and say about that character. As you read, notice the
details Frost uses to reveal the hired man’s personality
and consider how well they work.

Mary sat musing1 on the lamp-flame at the table


Waiting for Warren. When she heard his step,
She ran on tip-toe down the darkened passage
To meet him in the doorway with the news
5 And put him on his guard. “Silas is back.”
She pushed him outward with her through the door
And shut it after her. “Be kind,” she said.
She took the market things from Warren’s arms
And set them on the porch, then drew him down
10 To sit beside her on the wooden steps.

1. Musing means “meditating” or “pondering.”

Literary Element Dramatic Poetry What does this line of


dialogue suggest about Mary’s values?

R OBERT F ROST 715


Meade Family (detail), 1941.

Corbis
Jack Delano. Silver gelatin print.

“When was I ever anything but kind to him?


But I’ll not have the fellow back,” he said.
“I told him so last haying, didn’t I?
If he left then, I said, that ended it.
15 What good is he? Who else will harbor2 him
At his age for the little he can do?
What help he is there’s no depending on.
Off he goes always when I need him most.
He thinks he ought to earn a little pay,
20 Enough at least to buy tobacco with,
So he won’t have to beg and be beholden.3
‘All right,’ I say, ‘I can’t afford to pay
Any fixed wages, though I wish I could.’
‘Someone else can.’ ‘Then someone else will have to.’
25 I shouldn’t mind his bettering himself
If that was what it was. You can be certain,
When he begins like that, there’s someone at him
Trying to coax him off with pocket-money,—
In haying time, when any help is scarce.
30 In winter he comes back to us. I’m done.”

2. Harbor means “to give shelter or protection to.”


3. Beholden means “obligated” or “indebted.”

Reading Strategy Evaluating Characterization What are Warren’s


reasons for not wanting Silas back?

Vocabulary
coax (kōks) v. to persuade gently

716 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


“Sh! not so loud: he’ll hear you,” Mary said.

“I want him to: he’ll have to soon or late.”

“He’s worn out. He’s asleep beside the stove.


When I came up from Rowe’s I found him here,
35 Huddled against the barn-door fast asleep,
A miserable sight, and frightening, too—
You needn’t smile—I didn’t recognize him—
I wasn’t looking for him—and he’s changed.
Wait till you see.”

40 “Where did you say he’d been?”

“He didn’t say. I dragged him to the house,


And gave him tea and tried to make him smoke.
I tried to make him talk about his travels.
Nothing would do: he just kept nodding off.”
45 “What did he say? Did he say anything?”

“But little.”

“Anything? Mary, confess


He said he’d come to ditch4 the meadow for me.”

“Warren!”

50 “But did he? I just want to know.”

“Of course he did. What would you have him say?


Surely you wouldn’t grudge the poor old man
Some humble way to save his self-respect.
He added, if you really care to know,
55 He meant to clear the upper pasture, too.
That sounds like something you have heard before?
Warren, I wish you could have heard the way
He jumbled everything. I stopped to look
Two or three times—he made me feel so queer5—
60 To see if he was talking in his sleep.
He ran on6 Harold Wilson—you remember—

4. Here, ditch means “to dig long, narrow channels.” These channels, or
ditches, are often used for drainage or irrigation.
5. Queer means “odd” or “strange.”
6. Ran on means “talked continuously about.”

Reading Strategy Evaluating Characterization What is happen-


ing to Silas?

R OBERT F ROST 717


The boy you had in haying four years since.
He’s finished school, and teaching in his college.
Silas declares you’ll have to get him back.
65 He says they two will make a team for work:
Between them they will lay this farm as smooth!
The way he mixed that in with other things.
He thinks young Wilson a likely lad, though daft7
On education—you know how they fought
70 All through July under the blazing sun,
Silas up on the cart to build the load,
Harold along beside to pitch it on.”

“Yes, I took care to keep well out of earshot.”

“Well, those days trouble Silas like a dream.


75 You wouldn’t think they would. How some things linger!8
Harold’s young college boy’s assurance piqued9 him.
After so many years he still keeps finding
Good arguments he sees he might have used.
I sympathize.10 I know just how it feels
80 To think of the right thing to say too late.
Harold’s associated in his mind with Latin.
He asked me what I thought of Harold’s saying
He studied Latin like the violin
Because he liked it—that an argument!
85 He said he couldn’t make the boy believe
He could find water with a hazel prong11—
Which showed how much good school had ever done him.
He wanted to go over that. But most of all
He thinks if he could have another chance
90 To teach him how to build a load of hay—”

“I know, that’s Silas’ one accomplishment.


He bundles every forkful in its place,
And tags and numbers it for future reference,
So he can find and easily dislodge12 it
95 In the unloading. Silas does that well.
He takes it out in bunches like big birds’ nests.
You never see him standing on the hay
He’s trying to lift, straining to lift himself.”

7. Daft means “foolish.”


8. Linger means “to continue to exist” or “to endure.”
9. Piqued means “aroused a feeling of anger or resentment in.”
10. Sympathize means “to share in or to agree with the feelings or ideas of
another.”
11. A hazel prong is a stick believed to indicate the presence of underground
water.
12. Dislodge means “to move or to force from a position.”

718 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


“He thinks if he could teach him that, he’d be
100 Some good perhaps to someone in the world.
He hates to see a boy the fool of books.
Poor Silas, so concerned for other folk,
And nothing to look backward to with pride,
And nothing to look forward to with hope,
105 So now and never any different.”

Part of a moon was falling down the west,


Dragging the whole sky with it to the hills.
Its light poured softly in her lap. She saw it
And spread her apron to it. She put out her hand
110 Among the harp-like morning-glory13 strings,
Taut14 with the dew from garden bed to eaves,
As if she played unheard some tenderness
That wrought15 on him beside her in the night.
“Warren,” she said, “he has come home to die:
115 You needn’t be afraid he’ll leave you this time.”

“Home,” he mocked gently.

“Yes, what else but home?


It all depends on what you mean by home.
Of course he’s nothing to us, any more
120 Than was the hound that came a stranger to us
Out of the woods, worn out upon the trail.”

“Home is the place where, when you have to go there,


They have to take you in.”

“I should have called it


125 Something you somehow haven’t to deserve.”

13. A morning glory is a vine that produces trumpet-shaped flowers.


Gardeners often position a lattice or strings for a vine to grow along.
14. Taut means “stretched tight.”
15. Wrought means “worked.”

Big Idea New Poetics How is Silas depicted in these lines?

Literary Element Dramatic Poetry What does the description in


these lines reveal about Mary?

Literary Element Dramatic Poetry What is the difference between


Mary’s view of a person’s home and Warren’s?

R OBERT F ROST 719


Collection of Harrison Young, Peking, China. Reproduced in “Spirit of Place” by John Arthur
Moonlight in Vermont. 1982. Daniel Lang. Oil on canvas, 48 x 72 in. Collection of Harrison Young,
Beijing, China. Reproduced in Spirit of Place by John Arthur.
Viewing the Art: How does the mood of this painting compare with Mary’s in lines 170–171?

Warren leaned out and took a step or two,


Picked up a little stick, and brought it back
And broke it in his hand and tossed it by.
“Silas has better claim on us you think
130 Than on his brother? Thirteen little miles
As the road winds would bring him to his door.
Silas has walked that far no doubt to-day.
Why didn’t he go there? His brother’s rich,
A somebody—director in the bank.”

135 “He never told us that.”

“We know it though.”

“I think his brother ought to help, of course.


I’ll see to that if there is need. He ought of right
To take him in, and might be willing to—
140 He may be better than appearances.
But have some pity on Silas. Do you think
If he had any pride in claiming kin

Vocabulary
kin (kin) n. relatives, or a group of people with common
ancestry

720 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Or anything he looked for from his brother,
He’d keep so still about him all this time?”

145 “I wonder what’s between them.”

“I can tell you.


Silas is what he is—we wouldn’t mind him—
But just the kind that kinsfolk can’t abide.16
He never did a thing so very bad.
150 He don’t know why he isn’t quite as good
As anybody. Worthless though he is,
He won’t be made ashamed to please his brother.”

“I can’t think Si ever hurt anyone.”

“No, but he hurt my heart the way he lay


155 And rolled his old head on that sharp-edged chair-back.
He wouldn’t let me put him on the lounge.
You must go in and see what you can do.
I made the bed up for him there to-night.
You’ll be surprised at him—how much he’s broken.
160 His working days are done; I’m sure of it.”

“I’d not be in a hurry to say that.”

“I haven’t been. Go, look, see for yourself.


But, Warren, please remember how it is:
He’s come to help you ditch the meadow.
165 He has a plan. You mustn’t laugh at him.
He may not speak of it, and then he may.
I’ll sit and see if that small sailing cloud
Will hit or miss the moon.”

It hit the moon.


170 Then there were three there, making a dim row,
The moon, the little silver cloud, and she.

Warren returned—too soon, it seemed to her,


Slipped to her side, caught up her hand and waited.

“Warren?” she questioned.

175 “Dead,” was all he answered.

16. Abide means “to put up with” or “to tolerate.”

Reading Strategy Evaluating Characterization Is Mary a good judge of


Silas’s character? Explain.

R OBERT F ROST 721


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond you describe the differences between Mary and
Warren? (b)Why does Frost associate Mary with
1. How do you feel about the characters in this poem?
moonlight in lines 108–109 and lines 170–171?
Recall and Interpret 7. In this poem Frost presents two different definitions
2. (a)Describe what Mary does and says upon of home. Which definition do you prefer, and why?
Warren’s return in lines 1–10. (b)Why does she
8. (a)What does the end of the poem suggest about
feel the need to put Warren “on his guard”?
Warren’s feelings toward Silas? (b)Could Frost have
3. (a)How does Silas look when Mary first sees chosen a better ending for the poem? Support your
him? (b)Why does Warren refuse to believe that evaluation.
Silas will tackle the chores he says he will?
9. How does Frost’s use of dialogue affect the tone of
4. (a)Who is Harold Wilson, and what does Silas the poem?
dislike about him? (b)What do Silas’s thoughts and
emotions regarding Harold reveal about Silas’s Connect
personality? 10. Big Idea New Poetics “The Death of the Hired
5. (a)According to Mary, why has Silas come to the Man,” contends scholar C. M. Bowra, “is about the
house? (b)Why does Silas avoid asking his brother pathos of men who have no roots and no ties
for help? and no firm grip on life.” Which of the themes of
modern poetry does Bowra’s reading illustrate? Do
Analyze and Evaluate you agree with Bowra’s comment? Explain why or
6. (a)From your reading of lines 1–30, how would why not.

DA I LY L I F E A N D C U LT U R E

Rural Life in the Early 1900S


“The Death of the Hired Man” is set on a farm in stores. When they were not in school, girls helped
the early years of the twentieth century. At that with household chores such as cooking, sewing, and
time, life was vastly different from the way it is today, making cheese or butter. Men and women usually
especially in rural areas. In the year 1900, when Rob- married in their twenties. Most babies were born at
ert Frost was twenty-six, most people had neither home, and infant mortality rates were high.
electricity nor indoor plumbing. They heated their
homes with a stove, often set up in the living room. Although a few people owned automobiles, horses
were the usual method of transportation. They
Those fortunate enough to own a telephone shared a pulled wagons, carriages, and even fire engines and
“party line” with several others. To make a call, a per- hearses. Of course, no one in 1900 had ever flown
son first had to dial the operator and indicate the in an airplane, listened to a radio, played a video
number he or she wished to reach. If there was some- game, or visited a shopping mall.
one else already on the line, the caller had to wait for
that conversation to finish before placing the call. Group Activity Discuss the following questions with
your classmates.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, boys
1. How has life changed since 1900, and why?
and girls in rural areas combined schooling with
chores at home. After leaving school at about age 2. Is today’s society a better place to live compared
fourteen, boys often worked as farm laborers. Some with the early 1900s? Support your opinion.
became apprentices and learned trades or worked in

722 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Dramatic Poetry Reading Strategy Evaluating


In “The Death of the Hired Man,” Frost reveals the Characterization
personalities of Silas, Mary, and Warren through In “The Death of the Hired Man,” Frost uses indirect
dialogue. He also includes purely narrative or characterization. Simply put, he shows rather than
descriptive passages. tells, letting the reader draw his or her own inferences
1. How is this poem similar to a play? about the characters from the details provided in the
poem. Remarkably, though Silas remains offstage, the
2. Do you think this poem would have been as reader learns much about this hired man. Seeing him
powerful if Frost had revealed Silas’s personality through Warren’s and Mary’s eyes, the reader learns
through description only instead of dialogue and about Silas’s physical condition, his work habits, his
description together? Explain. interaction with Harold Wilson, his estrangement from
3. How does the language used in the dialogue his brother, and his motivation for his final return to
between Mary and Warren differ from that used the farm. Through his choice of details, Frost attempts
in the descriptive passages? to bring Silas to life in the reader’s imagination.
1. Is Silas a realistic, well-developed character?
Support your answer.
Review: Blank Verse
As you learned when studying the poems “Mending 2. What does Frost accomplish by keeping Silas offstage?
Wall” and “Birches,” blank verse is unrhymed poetry
that is written in a rhythmic pattern called iambic
Vocabulary Practice
pentameter. In iambic pentameter, each line has five
feet, or basic units of measurement of a line of metri- Practice with Synonyms Choose the synonym
cal poetry; each foot contains an unstressed syllable for each vocabulary word listed from Frost’s poems.
followed by a stressed syllable. Pauses do not always Use a dictionary or thesaurus if you need help.
come at the ends of lines but wherever they make 1. poise
sense. a. elegant c. dancer
Partner Activity With two classmates, read aloud the b. balance d. clumsy
first fifty lines of “The Death of the Hired Man.” One 2. coax
person should read the narrative or descriptive a. scam c. prevent
passages; the other two should read the lines of Mary b. persuade d. ask
and Warren. After your reading, discuss how iambic 3. bracken
pentameter captures the cadences and rhythms of a. bramble c. broken
ordinary speech. b. wire d. fern

Academic Vocabulary
Here are two words from the vocabulary list on
page R86.

task (task) n. an assigned piece of work


partner (part nər) n. associate or colleague

Practice and Apply


1. What task did Silas do best on the farm?
2. What two skills did Silas want to teach Harold
Wilson, his former working partner?

R OBERT F ROST 723


A. Corton/Visuals Unlimited
W R I T I N G A N D E X TE N D I N G G R A M M A R A N D ST Y L E

Writing About Literature Frost’s Language and Style


Compare and Contrast Characters How would you Using Prepositional Phrases A prepositional phrase
compare and contrast Silas and Harold Wilson? Write a consists of a preposition, its object, and any modifiers
brief essay to explore this question, using evidence of the object. A prepositional phrase can function as
from the poem to support your ideas. To help you get an adjective, modifying a noun or a pronoun. (Mary
started, jot down notes about the characters using a noticed the light from the moon.) A prepositional
Venn diagram. phrase may also function as an adverb when it modi-
fies a verb, an adverb, or an adjective. (Silas rolled his
Silas Harold
head on the chair-back.)
Both • Set off two or more introductory prepositional
phrases or a single long one with a comma.

During the busiest part of the summer,


Silas deserted the farm.
In their conversation about Silas in the
evening, Mary and Warren disagreed.
As you draft, introduce your topic in the first paragraph
and develop the notes listed on your diagram in the
middle paragraph(s). Conclude your essay with a part-
ing thought about Silas and Harold as foil characters in
the poem. • Do not use a comma if the introductory preposi-
tional phrase is immediately followed by a verb.
Exchange your draft with a peer reviewer; then revise
if necessary. Proofread your paper for errors in usage In the heat of July worked Silas and
and spelling. Harold Wilson.

Reading Further
If you are interested in reading more by or about
Activity In “The Death of the Hired Man,” Frost often
Robert Frost, look for the following:
uses prepositional phrases, sometimes to describe
Poetry Collections: Robert Frost: Collected Poems, actions or reinforce the somber mood:
Prose and Plays, edited by Richard Poirier and Mark
“She ran on tip-toe down the darkened passage”
Richardson, is a comprehensive collection of Frost’s
work published by The Library of America. “Its light poured softly in her lap”
Poems by Robert Frost: A Boy’s Will and North of Identify other examples of prepositional phrases in the
Boston (2001), introduction by William H. Pritchard, is poem and indicate whether each phrase functions as
a one-volume collection of Frost’s early works. an adjective or an adverb. Read your list to the class.
Biographies: Frost: A Literary Life Reconsidered
(1993), by William H. Pritchard, is a narrative exploring Revising Check
the interaction between Frost’s life and work.
Punctuation Work with a partner to review and
Robert Frost: A Life (1999), by Jay Parini, provides an revise the punctuation of commas after introductory
analysis of Frost’s poetry and a balanced look at his life. prepositional phrases in your essay for “The Death of
the Hired Man.”

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

724 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


P O LI T I C AL P ER SP ECTIVE on Robert Frost
Bob Krist/CORBIS Informational Text

President John F. Kennedy

Pulitzer Prize Winner

Building Background Mr. McCloy, President Plimpton, Mr. MacLeish,1


In October 1963, President John F. Kennedy pre- distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:
sented the following remarks at Amherst College, in I am very honored to be here with you on this
Amherst, Massachusetts. The speech was given in occasion which means so much to this college
honor of the groundbreaking of the Robert Frost and also means so much to art and the progress
Library, which was completed two years later. This of the United States. This college is part of the
would be one of Kennedy’s last public appearances United States. It belongs to it. So did Mr. Frost,
before his assassination less than a month later. in a large sense. And, therefore, I was privileged
Robert Frost, who died earlier in the year, had long to accept the invitation somewhat rendered to
been associated with Amherst College, having taught
me in the same way that Franklin Roosevelt ren-
English there periodically throughout his career.
dered his invitation to Mr. MacLeish, the invita-
Setting Purposes for Reading tion which I received from Mr. McCloy.2 The
powers of the Presidency are often described. Its
Read to discover the historical and social impacts of
limitations should occasionally be remembered.
Robert Frost’s poetry.
And therefore when the Chairman of our
Reading Strategy Disarmament Advisory Committee, who has
Analyzing Philosophical Assumptions
Analyzing philosophical assumptions involves gath-
1. John Jay McCloy (1895–1989), a diplomat and lawyer,
ering information to determine an author’s implicit and served as an adviser to every president from Franklin Delano
explicit philosophical assumptions and beliefs about a Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan. Calvin Hastings Plimpton was
subject. As you read, take notes about the assump- the president of Amherst College from 1960 to 1971.
tions you discover in President Kennedy’s speech. Archibald MacLeish (1892–1982) was a famed poet and
playwright. MacLeish also served as a librarian of Congress
and briefly as an assistant secretary of state.
2. Kennedy is referring to President Franklin Roosevelt’s
invitation to MacLeish to become a librarian of Congress.

R OB E RT F R O S T 725
Informational Text
Many years ago, Woodrow Wilson said, what
good is a political party unless it is serving a
great national purpose? And what good is a pri-
vate college or university unless it is serving a
great national purpose? The Library being con-
structed today, this college, itself—all of this, of
course, was not done merely to give this school’s
graduates an advantage, an economic advantage,
in the life struggle. It does do that. But in return
for that, in return for the great opportunity
which society gives the graduates of this and
related schools, it seems to me incumbent4 upon
this and other schools’ graduates to recognize
their responsibility to the public interest.
Privilege is here, and with privilege goes
responsibility. And I think, as your president
said, that it must be a source of satisfaction to
you that this school’s graduates have recognized
it. I hope that the students who are here now
will also recognize it in the future. Although
Amherst has been in the forefront of extending
aid to needy and talented students, private col-
leges, taken as a whole, draw 50 percent of their
students from the wealthiest 10 percent of our
President John F. Kennedy delivers a speech in 1962.
Nation. And even State universities and other
public institutions derive 25 percent of their stu-
labored so long and hard, Governor Stevenson’s3 dents from this group. In March 1962, persons of
assistant during the very difficult days at the 18 years or older who had not completed high
United Nations during the Cuban crisis, a public school made up 46 percent of the total labor
servant for so many years, asks or invites the force, and such persons comprised 64 percent of
President of the United States, there is only one those who were unemployed. And in 1958, the
response. So I am glad to be here. lowest fifth of the families in the United States
Amherst has had many soldiers of the king had 4 1/2 percent of the total personal income,
since its first one, and some of them are here the highest fifth, 44 1/2 percent. There is inher-
today: Mr. McCloy, who has long been a public ited wealth in this country and also inherited
servant; Jim Reed who is the Assistant Secretary poverty. And unless the graduates of this college
of the Treasury; President Cole, who is now and other colleges like it who are given a run-
our Ambassador to Chile; Mr. Ramey, who ning start in life—unless they are willing to put
is a Commissioner of the Atomic Energy back into our society, those talents, the broad
Commission; Dick Reuter, who is head of the sympathy, the understanding, the compassion—
Food for Peace. These and scores of others down unless they are willing to put those qualities back
through the years have recognized the obliga- into the service of the Great Republic, then
tions of the advantages which the graduation obviously the presuppositions upon which our
from a college such as this places upon them to democracy are based are bound to be fallible.
serve not only their private interest but the pub- The problems which this country now faces are
lic interest as well. staggering, both at home and abroad. We need
the service, in the great sense, of every educated
3. Adlai Stevenson (1900–1965) served as governor of Illinois
man or woman to find 10 million jobs in the next
from 1948 to 1952 and as the U.S. delegate to the United
Nations during the Kennedy administration. John McCloy
served as Stevenson’s assistant during the Cuban missile crisis. 4. Here, incumbent means “imposed.”

726 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Ted Streshinsky/CORBIS
Informational Text
2 1/2 years, to govern our relations—a country just as much. This was the special significance of
which lived in isolation for 150 years, and is now Robert Frost. He brought an unsparing instinct for
suddenly the leader of the free world—to govern reality to bear on the platitudes5 and pieties6 of
our relations with over 100 countries, to govern society. His sense of the human tragedy fortified
those relations with success so that the balance of him against self-deception and easy consolation.
power remains strong on the side of freedom, to “I have been” he wrote, “one acquainted with the
make it possible for Americans of all different night.” And because he knew the midnight as
races and creeds to live together in harmony, to well as the high noon, because he understood the
make it possible for a world to exist in diversity ordeal as well as the triumph of the human spirit,
and freedom. All this requires the best of all of us. he gave his age strength with which to overcome
Therefore, I am proud to come to this college, despair. At bottom, he held a deep faith in the
whose graduates have recognized this obligation spirit of man, and it is hardly an accident that
and to say to those who are now here that the need Robert Frost coupled poetry and power, for he saw
is endless, and I am confident that you will respond. poetry as the means of saving power from itself.
When power leads man towards arrogance, poetry
Robert Frost said: reminds him of his limitations. When power nar-
rows the areas of man’s concern, poetry reminds
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— him of the richness and diversity of his existence.
I took the one less traveled by, When power corrupts, poetry cleanses. For art
And that has made all the difference. establishes the basic human truth which must
serve as the touchstone of our judgment.
I hope that road will not be the less traveled by, The artist, however faithful to his personal
and I hope your commitment to the Great vision of reality, becomes the last champion of the
Republic’s interest in the years to come will be individual mind and sensibility against an intrusive
worthy of your long inheritance since your beginning. society and an officious state. The great artist is
This day devoted to the memory of Robert thus a solitary figure. He has, as Frost said, a lover’s
Frost offers an opportunity for reflection which is quarrel with the world. In pursuing his perceptions
prized by politicians as well as by others, and even of reality, he must often sail against the currents of
by poets, for Robert Frost was one of the granite his time. This is not a popular role. If Robert Frost
figures of our time in America. He was supremely was much honored in his lifetime, it was because a
two things: an artist and an American. A nation good many preferred to ignore his darker truths.
reveals itself not only by the men it produces but Yet in retrospect, we see how the artist’s fidelity
also by the men it honors, the men it remembers. has strengthened the fibre of our national life.
In America, our heroes have customarily run to If sometimes our great artists have been the
men of large accomplishments. But today this col- most critical of our society, it is because their
lege and country honors a man whose contribu- sensitivity and their concern for justice, which
tion was not to our size but to our spirit, not to must motivate any true artist, makes him aware
our political beliefs but to our insight, not to our that our Nation falls short of its highest poten-
self-esteem, but to our self-comprehension. In tial. I see little of more importance to the future
honoring Robert Frost, we therefore can pay of our country and our civilization than full rec-
honor to the deepest sources of our national ognition of the place of the artist.
strength. That strength takes many forms, and the If art is to nourish the roots of our culture,
most obvious forms are not always the most signif- society must set the artist free to follow his
icant. The men who create power make an indis- vision wherever it takes him. We must never
pensable contribution to the Nation’s greatness, forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it
but the men who question power make a contri- is a form of truth. And as Mr. MacLeish once
bution just as indispensable, especially when that remarked of poets, there is nothing worse for our
questioning is disinterested, for they determine trade than to be in style. In free society art is not
whether we use power or power uses us.
Our national strength matters, but the spirit 5. Platitudes are unoriginal statements.
which informs and controls our strength matters 6. Pieties are reverent statements.

ROBE RT F ROS T 727


Informational Text
a weapon and it does not belong to the spheres achievement in business or statecraft. I look for-
of polemic7 and ideology. Artists are not engi- ward to an America which will steadily raise the
neers of the soul. It may be different elsewhere. standards of artistic accomplishment and which
But democratic society—in it, the highest duty will steadily enlarge cultural opportunities for
of the writer, the composer, the artist is to all of our citizens. And I look forward to an
remain true to himself and to let the chips fall America which commands respect throughout
where they may. In serving his vision of the the world not only for its strength but for its civ-
truth, the artist best serves his nation. And the ilization as well. And I look forward to a world
nation which disdains the mission of art invites which will be safe not only for democracy and
the fate of Robert Frost’s hired man, the fate of diversity but also for personal distinction.
having “nothing to look backward to with pride, Robert Frost was often skeptical about projects
and nothing to look forward to with hope.” for human improvement, yet I do not think he
I look forward to a great future for America, a would disdain this hope. As he wrote during the
future in which our country will match its military uncertain days of the Second War:
strength with our moral restraint, its wealth with
Take human nature altogether since time
our wisdom, its power with our purpose. I look for-
began . . .
ward to an America which will not be afraid of
And it must be a little more in favor of
grace and beauty, which will protect the beauty of
man,
our natural environment, which will preserve the
Say a fraction of one percent at the very
great old American houses and squares and parks
least . . .
of our national past, and which will build hand-
Our hold on this planet wouldn’t have so
some and balanced cities for our future.
increased.
I look forward to an America which will
reward achievement in the arts as we reward Because of Mr. Frost’s life and work, because of
the life and work of this college, our hold on this
7. Polemic means “argumentation.” planet has increased.

R ES P O N D I N G AN D TH I N K I N G C R ITI CALLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. What is your opinion of Kennedy’s claim that “soci- 4. (a)Why do you think Kennedy claimed that “a good
ety must set the artist free to follow his vision many preferred to ignore [Frost’s] darker truths”?
wherever it takes him”? Are there limits to artistic (b)Do you agree with Kennedy that Frost’s poems
expression? Explain. often hold “darker truths”? Why or why not?
5. (a)Why do you think Kennedy began his address
Recall and Interpret by discussing economics and education? (b)What
2. (a)According to Kennedy, the artist becomes the do you think of this portion of the address?
last champion of what? (b)How might this champi-
oning help to bring about Kennedy’s vision of Connect
America in the future? 6. Briefly compare and contrast Kennedy’s arguments
3. (a)In Kennedy’s view, art is never a form of what about artists and society with the beliefs held by
type of information? (b)Why do you think he made particular literary movements of other arguments
this statement? you’ve read by literary figures.

OB J EC TIVES • Analyze the influences of historical context that shape ele-


• Read to enhance understanding of history and American ments of a literary work.
culture. • Connect a literary work, including character, plot, and setting,
to the historical context.

728 U N IT 5 BEGINNINGS OF THE MODERN AGE


PART 2
MODERN FICTION

A Doughboy’s Equipment, c. 1921. Charles A. Meurer. Oil on canvas,


68 x 40 in. Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH.

“The hardest thing to do is to write


straight honest prose on human beings.”
—Ernest Hemingway

729
Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH/Bridgeman Art Library
LITER
LIT ER ARY H I STORY
STO RY

The Modern American Short Story


S Stream of Consciousness
INCE THE ERA of Poe, Hawthorne, and
Irving, the short story has been one of the
Many modernist short story writers in the early 1900s
most popular genres among American writers.
were influenced by the new psychological theories of
The early stories of American Romanticism fea-
the time, including the writings of Sigmund Freud,
tured supernatural plots and clear moral themes
who believed in the presence of unconscious causes
adapted from well-known European myths and
for people’s behavior. This flurry of interest in the
tales. As literary styles and themes shifted in the
human mind spawned a new literary technique called
1800s during the movements of Realism and
stream of consciousness. American psychologist
Naturalism, however, short story writers in the
William James, the brother of writer Henry James,
United States began to portray plots and characters
coined the phrase in 1890. He believed people have a
that mirrored real life. Modernist writers continued
constant stream of thoughts that flow through their
this progression by experimenting with new ways of
minds without clear logic or order.
capturing the rich complexity of human life and by
responding to a world that was just beginning to James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, William Faulkner, and
rise from the ashes of World War I. Katherine Anne Porter (see page 774) are some of the
notable practitioners of this method of narration. In
stories that employ stream of consciousness, certain
memories trigger seemingly random thoughts. Stream
“There are no plot stories in life.” of consciousness stories include the following elements:
—Sherwood Anderson
• first-person point of view
• a lack of conventional sentence structure or
grammar
Literary Mavericks
• “free associations” that flow through a charac-
Writers such as Sherwood Anderson, Ernest ter’s mind and link distinctly separate events
Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, and
Katherine Anne Porter energized the short story in
• interior monologues
the early 1900s by peering into the private world of
human thought. “The task of finding concrete ways
to communicate emotional states becomes the central
problem for most short story writers in the twentieth
century,” wrote critic Charles E. May. A representa-
tive example was Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg,
Ohio, published in 1919. This groundbreaking collec-
tion of short stories explored the minds of characters
that Anderson called “grotesque.” Some of the sto-
ries, including “Hands,” had previously appeared in a
variety of journals that provided a forum for innova-
tive stories. The characters in these stories are trou-
bled by their difficult circumstances, yet endearing.
Anderson’s goal in portraying them was “to at last go
out of myself, truly into others, the others I met con-
stantly in the streets of the city, in the office where I
then worked, and still others remembered out of my
childhood in an American small town.”
Room in New York, 1932. Edward Hopper. Oil on Canvas,
281/2 x 351/2 in. F.M. Hall Collection.

730 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Edward Hopper/AKG
The Interior World Hemingway (see page 732), who was influenced by
Chekhov’s style, was also a master of understatement.
Modernist writers reacted against formulaic, plot-
Hemingway’s terse, suggestive language, a staple of
driven stories that dominated the early 1900s,
the modern short story, was frequently imitated.
including the surprise endings that made the fiction
Hemingway used the metaphor of an iceberg to
of O. Henry famous. Irish short-story writer Frank
explain his view of the short story. “There is seven-
O’Connor explained that Modernists instead strove
eighths of it underwater for every part that shows.”
for the “artful approach to the significant moment.”
Another Irish writer, James Joyce, brought this idea
of the moment charged with meaning to full effect in Features of the Modern Short Story
his 1914 short story collection Dubliners, in which he
Note the following features of modern short stories to
introduced the epiphany, or moment of revelation,
help enrich your understanding of these works.
and used it to redefine the short story.
Many writers of the period cited Russian writer • understatement
Anton Chekhov (see page 552) as a key influence. • irony
Translations of his work into English between 1916 • stream of consciousness
and 1923 brought his method of storytelling to the • antiheroes
United States. Chekhov was a master at employing
realistic detail and understatement—a de-emphasis
• unspectacular, or everyday, settings
on the importance of something or someone. He pre- • themes of instability and loss
ferred to use “slice of life” anecdotes in his stories • plots without a clear climax or resolution
rather than traditional plots. Chekhov’s stories, such
as “Gooseberries,” lack obvious external conflicts,
action-packed events, and clear climaxes. Instead, the
drama rages inside characters’ minds. The protago-
nists in modern short stories, notably by Hemingway
and Fitzgerald, are often antiheroes, or conflicted
characters engulfed by indecision.
The language in modern short stories is often subtle
and poetic, and requires the reader to infer what
is left unsaid. British short-story writer and critic
H. E. Bates said, “It is no longer necessary to
describe; it is enough to suggest. The full-length
portrait, in full dress, with scenic background, has
become superfluous; now it is enough that we should
know a woman by the shape of her hands.”

R ES P O N D I N G AN D TH I N K I N G C R ITI CALLY
1. What factors inspired writers in the modern period to 3. Look back at one of the short stories in Unit Two:
revamp the short story? American Romanticism. How is it similar to and
different from one of the modern short stories in
2. (a)What is stream of consciousness?
Unit Five?
(b)What influenced its emergence in modern fiction?

Literary History For more about


O B J EC TIVES the modern short story, go to www.glencoe.com.
• Analyze literary periods and genres.
• Connect to the historical context of literature.

L I TER A RY HI ST O RY 731
University of South Carolina
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

In Another Country
M E E T E RN EST H E M I NGWAY and artists who, disillusioned by the war but reluc-
tant to leave the continent where they had fought

B
it, chose to live as expatriates. Many expatriates
ig-game hunters, deep-sea fishermen,
often gathered at the Paris home of American
soldiers, boxers, bullfighters—these are
author Gertrude Stein, who coined the term lost
the types of characters found in Ernest
generation to describe the alienated writers and art-
Hemingway’s fiction. Yet the Hemingway hero is
ists of the post–World War I era.
not the typical action-adventure daredevil. Strong
but sensitive, brainy as well as brawny, he is usually
A Celebrity Author In 1925, encouraged by
someone who has been wounded by life, though he
Stein and others, Hemingway published In Our
keeps his suffering to himself. Inextricably linked
Time, a story collection that established his pres-
to Hemingway’s own adventurous life and person-
ence as an important new writer. He followed with
ality, the Hemingway hero captured the public’s
The Sun Also Rises (1926), a novel of the lost gen-
imagination and granted the author celebrity status
eration in 1920s Paris and Spain, and A Farewell to
that extended beyond the world of literature. His
Arms (1929), a tragic World War I love story.
style and depiction of characters has been widely
imitated by generations of writers. Hemingway drew on his per-
sonal adventures as he wrote
Coming of Age Born in the Chicago suburb of his fiction and won fame for
Oak Park, Illinois, Ernest Hemingway spent large his lifestyle as much as for his
chunks of his childhood camping, hunting, and writing style. He wrote his
fishing with his father. He began writing in high bullfighting novel, Death in
school and upon graduating landed a job as a cub the Afternoon (1932), after
reporter for the Kansas City Star. Soon after, attending bullfights in Spain,
when the United States entered World War I, and his story “The Snows of
Hemingway was determined to be part of the Kilimanjaro” (1936) came
action. Rejected by the U.S. military because of an after he went on safari in
eye defect, he volunteered to serve as a Red Cross Africa. In 1952 Hemingway
ambulance driver near the battlefront in Italy, and published The Old Man and
was seriously wounded less than a month before the Sea, a short novel that
his nineteenth birthday. The injury, said critic drew on his own experiences
Alfred Kazin, “was a shock that went straight into as a deep-sea fisherman off
Hemingway’s early stories and fables of the war.” the coast of Cuba. In 1954
Hemingway won the Nobel
Prize for Literature “for his
mastery of the art of narra-
“A man can be destroyed but not tive, most recently demonstrated in The Old Man
defeated.” and the Sea, and for the influence that he has exerted
—Ernest Hemingway on contemporary style.” He is one of fewer than ten
from The Old Man and the Sea U.S. writers to be presented with a Nobel Prize.
Ernest Hemingway was born in 1899 and died in 1961.
After medical treatment in Italy and recuperation
back home, Hemingway accepted a job as foreign
correspondent for the Toronto Star. Settling in Author Search For more about
Paris, he joined the colony of American writers Ernest Hemingway, go to www.glencoe.com.

732 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


John Springer Collection/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Recognizing Author’s


Hemingway once defined “guts,” or courage, as the Purpose
ability to display “grace under pressure.” In “In Another Writers have different purposes, or reasons, for writing.
Country,” several of the characters have been awarded For some, the main purpose is to entertain. Others
medals for behaving courageously. As you read the want to present stories with as much realism as possi-
story, think about the following questions: ble. Some writers may also want to teach a lesson or
• What are some different forms of courage? present a set of values or an approach toward life. As
• Can a person be courageous in a situation even you read Hemingway’s story, think about what his pur-
pose may have been.
after he or she becomes disillusioned by it?

Building Background Reading Tip: Tracking Ideas Use a chart to note


“In Another Country” takes place in the northern Italian your ideas about the author’s purposes.
city of Milan during World War I. The war, fought from
1914 to 1918, pitted the Allied Powers, which Detail Purpose
included England and France, against the Central
Powers, which included Germany and Austria-Hungary.
p. 735: “It was cold in the to portray the
The United States joined the Allied Powers only a year fall in Milan. . . . Beyond setting
before the war ended, but Italy joined the Allied the old hospital were the realistically
Powers in 1915. The war exacted a high toll of casual- new brick pavilions.”
ties; in fact, of the 65 million people who fought in
World War I, over 10 million were killed, and more
than 20 million more were wounded.
Vocabulary
Setting Purposes for Reading lurch (lurch) v. to move suddenly and
Big Idea Modern Fiction unevenly; p. 735 When I shoved the refrigerator,
As you read, notice how Hemingway’s story differs it lurched a few inches to the right.
from earlier fiction you have read in terms of both withered (wi thərd) adj. shriveled; p. 735
subject matter and style. Fresh water did not revive the withered flowers.
detached (di tacht ) adj. not involved emotion-
Literary Element Style ally; aloof; indifferent; p. 737 Others tried to
Style is the writer’s characteristic way of writing. It befriend him, but he remained detached.
includes elements such as word choice, sentence
jostle (jo səl) v. to bump, push, or shove while
structure, and tone. Hemingway, who was strongly
moving, as in a crowd; p. 737 Did the crowd jos-
influenced by his training as a journalist, pioneered a
tle you, or did you just trip and fall on your own?
simple, unadorned style that has been frequently imi-
tated. As you read the story, look for examples of resign (ri z¯n ) v. to make oneself accept some-
Hemingway’s simple, journalistic style. thing; p. 738 I will have to resign myself to the sit-
uation, since I cannot change it.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R18.
Vocabulary Tip: Antonyms Words that have
opposite or nearly opposite meanings are called
Interactive Literary Elements antonyms. Note that antonyms are always the
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements, same part of speech.
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • analyzing the author’s style
• analyzing literary time periods • identifying the author’s purpose

ERNEST HEMINGWAY 733


Ernest Hemingway
The Invincible Soldier. B.V. Cerbakov. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.

734 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Scala/Art Resource, NY
n the fall the war1 was always there, but and the machine was to bend the knee and make
we did not go to it any more. It was cold in the it move as in riding a tricycle. But it did not bend
fall in Milan2 and the dark came very early. yet, and instead the machine lurched when it
Then the electric lights came on, and it was came to the bending part. The doctor said: “That
pleasant along the streets looking in the win- will all pass. You are a fortunate young man. You
dows. There was much game3 hanging outside will play football again like a champion.”
the shops, and the snow powdered in the fur of In the next machine was a major who had a
the foxes and the wind blew their tails. The little hand like a baby’s. He winked at me when
deer hung stiff and heavy S11-133-01C-635423
and empty, and smallU5 T7 the doctor examined his hand, which was
birds blew in the wind and the Cantoria
wind Bd It custom between two leather straps that bounced up and
turned
their feathers. It waspantoneS18-1
a cold fall andkptsimplebev.
the wind : ) Mike
down and flapped the stiff fingers, and said:
came down from the mountains. “And will I too play football, captain-doctor?”
We were all at the hospital every afternoon, He had been a very great fencer, and before the
and there were different ways of walking across war the greatest fencer in Italy.
the town through the dusk to the hospital. Two The doctor went to his office in the back
of the ways were alongside canals, but they were room and brought a photograph which showed
long. Always, though, you crossed a bridge a hand that had been withered almost as small
across a canal to enter the hospital. There was a as the major’s, before it had taken a machine
choice of three bridges. On one of them a course, and after was a little larger. The major
woman sold roasted chestnuts. It was warm, held the photograph with his good hand and
standing in front of her charcoal fire, and the looked at it very carefully. “A wound?” he asked.
chestnuts were warm afterward in your pocket. “An industrial accident,” the doctor said.
The hospital was very old and very beautiful, “Very interesting, very interesting,” the major
and you entered through a gate and walked said, and handed it back to the doctor.
across a courtyard and out a gate on the other “You have confidence?”
side. There were usually funerals starting from “No,” said the major.
the courtyard. Beyond the old hospital were the There were three boys who came each day
new brick pavilions, and there we met every who were about the same age I was. They were
afternoon and were all very polite and inter- all three from Milan, and one of them was to
ested in what was the matter, and sat in the be a lawyer, and one was to be a painter, and
machines that were to make so much difference. one had intended to be a soldier, and after we
The doctor came up to the machine where I were finished with the machines, sometimes
was sitting and said: “What did you like best to we walked back together to the Café Cova,
do before the war? Did you practice a sport?” which was next door to the Scala.4 We walked
I said: “Yes, football.” the short way through the communist quarter
“Good,” he said. “You will be able to play because we were four together. The people
football again better than ever.” hated us because we were officers, and from a
My knee did not bend and the leg dropped wine-shop some one would call out, “A basso
straight from the knee to the ankle without a calf,
4. The Scala (ska lə) is Milan’s world-famous opera house.
1. The war is World War I (1914–1918). The United States, Italy,
and other countries fought Germany and its allies. Literary Element Style How would you describe the style
2. Milan is a city in northern Italy. of the dialogue? What effect does it have on your sense of
3. Here, game refers to wild animals that have been hunted the characters?
and killed for food.
Vocabulary
Reading Strategy Recognizing Author’s Purpose What
might be Hemingway’s purpose in providing such a detailed lurch (lurch) v. to move suddenly and unevenly
description of the setting at the start of his story? withered (wi thərd) adj. shriveled

ERNEST HEMINGWAY 735


S11_133_02P TK

Piazza Corvetto in Genoa in 1918. Alessandro Milesi. Oil on canvas.


Galleria d’Arte Moderna di Nervi, Genoa, Italy.
Viewing the Art: In what ways does this painting reflect the sense
of detachment that the characters feel in “In Another Country”?

gli ufficiali!”5 as we passed. Another boy who went to South America and worked in a bank.
walked with us sometimes and made us five But this was a long time ago, and then we did
wore a black silk handkerchief across his face not any of us know how it was going to be
because he had no nose then and his face was afterward. We only knew then that there was
to be rebuilt. He had gone out to the front6 always the war, but that we were not going to
from the military academy and been wounded it any more.
within an hour after he had gone into the We all had the same medals, except the boy
front line for the first time. They rebuilt his with the black silk bandage across his face,
face, but he came from a very old family and and he had not been at the front long enough
they could never get the nose exactly right. He to get any medals. The tall boy with a very
pale face who was to be a lawyer had been a
5. In Italian, A basso gli ufficiali! (a ba sō lyē oo
¯¯¯ fē cha lē)
lieutenant of Arditi7 and had three medals of
means “Down with officers!” the sort we each had only one of. He had lived
6. The front is the line or area of conflict between opposing a very long time with death and was a little
armies.

Literary Element Style How would you describe the tone 7. The Arditi (ar dē tē) was a corps of soldiers specially
in which this gruesome information is relayed?
selected for dangerous operations.

736 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Scala/Art Resource, NY
detached. We were all a little detached, and sometimes, after the cocktail hour, I would imag-
there was nothing that held us together except ine myself having done all the things they had
that we met every afternoon at the hospital. done to get their medals; but walking home at
Although, as we walked to the Cova through night through the empty streets with the cold
the tough part of town, walking in the dark, wind and all the shops closed, trying to keep
with light and singing coming out of the wine- near the street lights, I knew that I would never
shops, and sometimes having to walk into the have done such things, and I was very much
street when the men and women would crowd afraid to die, and often lay in bed at night by
together on the sidewalk so that we would myself, afraid to die and wondering how I would
have had to jostle them to get by, we felt held be when I went back to the front again.
together by there being something that had The three with the medals were like hunting-
happened that they, the people who disliked hawks; and I was not a hawk, although I might
us, did not understand. seem a hawk to those who had never hunted;
We ourselves all understood the Cova, where they, the three, knew better and so we drifted
it was rich and warm and not too brightly apart. But I stayed good friends with the boy who
lighted, and noisy and smoky at certain hours, had been wounded his first day at the front,
and there were always girls at the tables and the because he would never know now how he
illustrated papers on a rack on the wall. The girls would have turned out; so he could never be
at the Cova were very patriotic, and I found that accepted either, and I liked him because I
the most patriotic people in Italy were the café thought perhaps he would not have turned out
girls—and I believe they are still patriotic. to be a hawk either.
The boys at first were very polite about my The major, who had been the great fencer, did
medals and asked me what I had done to get not believe in bravery, and spent much time while
them. I showed them the papers, which were we sat in the machines correcting my grammar.
written in very beautiful language and full of fra- He had complimented me on how I spoke Italian,
tellanza and abnegazione,8 but which really said, and we talked together very easily. One day I had
with the adjectives removed, that I had been said that Italian seemed such an easy language to
given the medals because I was an American. me that I could not take a great interest in it;
After that their manner changed a little toward everything was so easy to say. “Ah, yes,” the
me, although I was their friend against outsiders. major said. “Why, then, do you not take up the
I was a friend, but I was never really one of them use of grammar?” So we took up the use of gram-
after they had read the citations,9 because it had mar, and soon Italian was such a difficult lan-
been different with them and they had done very guage that I was afraid to talk to him until I had
different things to get their medals. I had been the grammar straight in my mind.
wounded, it was true; but we all knew that being The major came very regularly to the hospital.
wounded, after all, was really an accident. I was I do not think he ever missed a day, although I
never ashamed of the ribbons, though, and am sure he did not believe in the machines.
There was a time when none of us believed in
the machines, and one day the major said it was
8. Fratellanza (fra tāl a n za) and abnegazione (ab nā a
all nonsense. The machines were new then and it
tzyo nā) are Italian for “brotherhood” and “self-denial.”
9. Citations are specific references to military achievements was we who were to prove them. It was an idiotic
worthy of reward or praise. idea, he said, “a theory, like another.” I had not
learned my grammar, and he said I was a stupid
Big Idea Modern Fiction How is the portrayal of these
characters different from portrayals of war heroes in litera-
impossible disgrace, and he was a fool to have
ture from earlier periods? bothered with me. He was a small man and he sat
straight up in his chair with his right hand thrust
Vocabulary
detached (di tacht) adj. not involved emotionally;
aloof; indifferent Big Idea Modern Fiction How does the close proximity
jostle (jo səl) v. to bump, push, or shove while mov- of these three unrelated statements reflect new ideas of
ing, as in a crowd Modernism?

ERNEST HEMINGWAY 737


into the machine and looked straight ahead at “Oh—” I said, feeling sick for him. “I am so
the wall while the straps thumped up and down sorry.”
with his fingers in them. He stood there biting his lower lip. “It is very
“What will you do when the war is over if it is difficult,” he said. “I cannot resign myself.”
over?” he asked me. “Speak grammatically!” He looked straight past me and out through
“I will go to the States.” the window. Then he began to cry. “I am
“Are you married?” utterly unable to resign myself,” he said and
“No, but I hope to be.” choked. And then crying, his head up looking
“The more of a fool you are,” he said. He at nothing, carrying himself straight and sol-
seemed very angry. “A man must not marry.” dierly, with tears on both his cheeks and biting
“Why, Signor Maggiore?” 10
his lips, he walked past the machines and out
“Don’t call me ‘Signor Maggiore.’” the door.
“Why must not a man marry?” The doctor told me that the major’s wife,
“He cannot marry. He cannot marry,” he said who was very young and whom he had not
angrily. “If he is to lose every- married until he was definitely
thing, he should not place him- invalided11 out of the war, had
self in a position to lose that. died of pneumonia. She had
He should not place himself in nd then crying, been sick only a few days. No
a position to lose. He should his head up one expected her to die. The
find things he cannot lose.” looking at nothing, major did not come to the hos-
He spoke very angrily and carrying himself pital for three days. Then he
bitterly, and looked straight came at the usual hour, wear-
straight and
ahead while he talked. ing a black band on the sleeve
“But why should he necessar-
soldierly, with of his uniform. When he came
ily lose it?” tears on both his back, there were large framed
“He’ll lose it,” the major cheeks and biting photographs around the wall,
said. He was looking at the his lips, he walked of all sorts of wounds before
wall. Then he looked down at past the machines and after they had been cured
the machine and jerked his lit- and out the door. by the machines. In front of
tle hand out from between the the machine the major used
straps and slapped it hard were three photographs of
against his thigh. “He’ll lose it,” hands like his that were com-
he almost shouted. “Don’t argue with me!” Then pletely restored. I do not know where the doc-
he called to the attendant who ran the tor got them. I always understood we were the
machines. “Come and turn this thing off.” first to use the machines. The photographs did
He went back into the other room for the not make much difference to the major because
light treatment and the massage. Then I heard he only looked out of the window. 
him ask the doctor if he might use his telephone
and he shut the door. When he came back into
the room, I was sitting in another machine. He 11. Invalided means “removed from active duty because of
was wearing his cape and had his cap on, and he sickness or disability.”

came directly toward my machine and put his Reading Strategy Recognizing Author’s Purpose What
arm on my shoulder. might the unexpected death of the major’s wife reveal about
“I am so sorry,” he said, and patted me on the author’s purpose?
the shoulder with his good hand. “I would not
be rude. My wife has just died. You must for- Big Idea Modern Fiction How is Hemingway’s omission

give me.” of facts about the machines, the photos, and the fate of the
major characteristic of the Modernist approach to fiction?

10. Signor Maggiore (sē nyor ma jō rā) means “Mr. Major.” Vocabulary
In Italy, one said Signor before an officer’s rank as a sign of resign (ri z̄n) v. to make oneself accept something
respect.

738 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. How did you react to the end of the story? Explain. 5. (a)To what type of bird does the narrator compare
the three young Italian men with medals? (b)How
Recall and Interpret does this comparison affect your view of the three
2. (a)Why do the narrator and the others go to the young men, and how does it stress the difference
hospital every afternoon? (b)What might the between them and the narrator?
machines represent?
6. (a)What is ironic about the bad news that the
3. (a)What is the effect of the narrator’s grammar major receives? (b)How realistic do you find his
lessons? (b)Based on this effect, what generaliza- reaction to this news?
tion can you make about the narrator’s views on
7. (a)Besides their physical injuries, how might the
the world?
narrator and the other soldiers be wounded?
4. (a)What makes the narrator suspicious of the (b)How effectively does the story convey their
machines? (b)What do his suspicions show about attitudes?
his attitude toward authority and the likelihood of
his recovery? Connect
8. Big Idea Modern Fiction How is the portrayal
of war in this story different from heroic depictions
in times past?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S

Literary Element Style Review: Setting


When he began working for the Kansas City Star,
As you learned on page 594, setting is the time and
Hemingway received a style sheet that instructed
place in which the events of a literary work occur.
reporters to “avoid the use of adjectives, especially
such extravagant ones as splendid, gorgeous, grand, Partner Activity Meet with another classmate to dis-
magnificent, etc.” Short sentences, brief opening para- cuss the setting of “In Another Country.” Consider the
graphs, and “vigorous English” were also required. relevance of the story’s title and how it highlights the
Hemingway later called these “the best rules I ever situation of the narrator or the other characters. Also
learned for the business of writing.” consider how the setting helps determine the story’s
plot events and themes. You might gather your ideas
1. What repeated words, images, and sentence
in a diagram like the one below.
rhythms appear in the opening paragraph? What
effect do these elements have on the story’s mood
or tone? Setting: Italy in World War I

2. How does Hemingway’s style underscore the


story’s themes?
3. Do you think that Hemingway’s journalistic tone, Characters Plot Events Themes
with its emphasis on reporting facts without emo-
tion, robs the story of the emotion it otherwise
would have? Why or why not? Support your opin-
ion with examples.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY 739


R EAD I N G AN D VO CAB U L ARY W R IT I N G A N D E X T E N D I N G

Reading Strategy Recognizing Author’s Writing About Literature


Purpose Respond to Theme The major says, “A man must
In traditional fiction, the author’s purpose is often to not marry” (page 738). He goes on to explain that a
entertain readers with an exciting story that builds to a man should not put himself in a position to lose
climax and ends with a satisfying resolution. Most something dear to him but should instead “find things
Modernist writers do not follow that formula. Instead he cannot lose.” Do you agree or disagree with this
their stories are more fragmentary, with seemingly theme—that people should distance themselves from
unrelated events that may not build to a climax and others to avoid loss? Write a brief essay explaining your
often leave readers hanging at the end. personal response.

1. How do Hemingway’s fragmentary presentation Before you begin drafting, prewrite by jotting down
and lack of a clear resolution help convey his your reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with the
themes about modern life and modern warfare? major’s views. Then, to support your reasons, list
examples from personal experience and analogies, or
2. Would you say that the story is without a climax? comparisons that clarify the main quality of one thing
Explain. by comparing it to another.

Model Analogy
Vocabulary Practice
Not marrying because you fear loss of a loved one
Practice with Antonyms Find the antonym for
each vocabulary word from “In Another Country” is like
listed in the first column below. Use a dictionary or
a thesaurus if you need help. Not using a new mug because you fear you might break it

1. lurched a. twisted b. glided


2. withered a. shrunk b. thickened After you complete prewriting, use the details you’ve
collected to draft your response. Meet with a peer
3. detached a. concerned b. separated
reviewer to evaluate each other’s work and suggest
4. jostle a. restrain b. injure ways to improve it. Finally, proofread your draft for
errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
5. resign a. refuse b. accept

Literary Criticism
Academic Vocabulary Group Activity “I always try to write on the principle
of the iceberg,” Hemingway once noted. “There is
Here are two words from the vocabulary list on seven-eighths of it underwater for every part that
page R86. These words will help you think, shows.” Meet with classmates and discuss how “In
write, and talk about the selection. Another Country” illustrates Hemingway’s iceberg prin-
ciple. In your discussion, consider at least five details in
despite (di sp¯t ) prep. in spite of; regardless the story and discuss the underlying meaning of
each one.
resolve (ri zolv ) v. to solve, settle, or answer

Practice and Apply


1. Why is the major skeptical of the machines’
effectiveness despite the doctor’s assurances?
2. How does the narrator resolve his feelings of Web Activities For eFlashcards,
boredom while in the hospital? Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

740 UNIT 5 BEGINNINGS OF TH E MODE R N AGE


Grammar Workshop
Sentence Structure

Using Coordinating Conjunctions º Commas and Coordinate


Conjunctions
“In the fall the war was always there, but we did not go to it any more.”
Use a comma before con-
—Ernest Hemingway, “In Another Country”
junctions when they join
clauses that could stand
Connecting to Literature Before handing in written work, check to see that you on their own as complete
have used coordinating conjunctions correctly. A conjunction is a word, like but in sentences.
the quotation above, that joins single words or groups of words in a sentence. A
coordinating conjunction joins words or groups of words that are of equal gram- • He had complimented
matical importance in a sentence. me on how I spoke
Italian, and we talked
Coordinating Conjunctions together very easily.

and but or nor for yet so A comma is generally


used between clauses
Use coordinating conjunctions to join the parts of a sentence or to link short, connected by the
choppy sentences. conjunction for to
avoid confusion.
He looked straight past me and out through the window.
• We stopped the car, for
we were lost.
Hemingway was rejected by the military, so he became an ambulance driver.
º Test-Taking Tip
Try to use appropriate coordinating conjunctions. For example, use but and yet Before handing in a writ-
only when there is a contrast between the clauses in a sentence. ten test, check to see that
you have used appropriate
In the fall the war was always there, but we did not go to it any more. coordinating conjunctions.

º Language Handbook
For more on coordinating
Exercise conjunctions, see
Language Handbook,
Inserting Conjunctions Rewrite the following sentences, combining the
p. R47.
sentence parts by using one of the coordinating conjunctions in parentheses.
1. A woman sold chestnuts, (and, but) we didn’t buy them often.
2. The doctor told the men to exercise (or, and) face the consequences. eWorkbooks To link to
3. The hospital was old, (so, and) it was beautiful. the Grammar and Language
eWorkbook, go to
4. The major had neither confidence (or, nor) the ability to fence again. www.glencoe.com.
5. We were glad to be safe in the city, (so, for) there was still fighting
elsewhere.
OB J ECTI V ES
6. The people hated us, (yet, so) they were not violent. • Use coordinating conjunc-
tions correctly.
7. I could speak Italian, (but, and) the major tried to correct my grammar.
• Demonstrate control of
8. The major’s wife had died, (for, so) he cried and looked out the window. grammar and sentence
structure.

GRAMMAR WO RKSHOP 741


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Winter Dreams
M E E T F. SCOT T F I T ZG E R A LD

F.
Scott Fitzgerald once wrote that “all the sto- revised his most successful novel, The Great Gatsby
ries that came into my head had a touch of (1925). He and Zelda lived lavishly, both in the
disaster in them . . . I was pretty sure living United States and abroad, and spent most of the
wasn’t the reckless, careless business these people money Fitzgerald earned from his writing. They reg-
thought.” Many of Fitzgerald’s stories and novels ularly moved from Paris to various cities on the
describe the reckless lifestyles of young, wealthy French Riviera and then back to Paris. But when the
Americans in the 1920s. frantic decade ended with the stock market crash in
1929, Fitzgerald’s private life and prosperous career
also crashed. His lucrative writing career began to
“Show me a hero and I will write you dry up with the onset of the Depression. In 1930
Zelda suffered a series of nervous breakdowns and
a tragedy.” was hospitalized in Europe and the United States.
—F. Scott Fitzgerald, from Notebooks
Later Years Though Fitzgerald struggled in the
1930s with alcoholism and with his marriage, he
continued to write stories and novels. Tender Is
Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. He
the Night was published in 1934, and under con-
attended Princeton University, where he wrote for
tract with MGM, Fitzgerald worked on several
the newspaper and participated in the drama club.
screenplays in Hollywood. He was working on
Fitzgerald joined the army before graduating, and
his fifth novel, The Last Tycoon, when he died in
while stationed in the South in 1918, he met
Hollywood of a heart attack at the age of 44. Zelda
Zelda Sayre at a country club dance. He fell in
died in a hospital fire in North Carolina in 1948.
love, but Zelda was at first reluctant to marry him.
That same summer, a New York publisher rejected Fitzgerald’s works, and his life with Zelda, have
the manuscript of his novel The Romantic Egotist. inspired more than
twenty films of varying
Literary Success Following his stint in the army, success. There have
Fitzgerald settled in New York City, where he been three film versions
worked for an advertising agency, but he eventu- of The Great Gatsby
ally returned home to St. Paul to begin revising his alone. Reviews were
novel. The publisher accepted the revision of his mixed of all of the movie
book, retitled This Side of Paradise, and Fitzgerald versions of the novel.
was ecstatic. He and Zelda were married in 1920, There are few dissenters
and in 1921 they made their first trip to Europe, about the book itself,
returning to St. Paul for the birth of their only however. Tobias Wolff
child, daughter Frances Scott (Scottie). says that Fitzgerald “saw
our American world . . .
Fitzgerald’s second novel, The Beautiful and the with clearer eyes than any
Damned, and “Winter Dreams” were published in of his contemporaries.”
1922. While in France and Italy, he wrote and
F. Scott Fitzgerald was
Author Search For more about born in 1896 and
F. Scott Fitzgerald, go to www.glencoe.com. died in 1940.

742 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Bettmann/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Evaluating Sensory


Do you think most people have an unfulfilled dream? Details
Have most people been misled by a dream? As you Sensory details are details that appeal to one or more
read, think about the following questions: of the five senses. Writers use these details to help the
• Do you think it is possible to love someone your reader imagine or experience more deeply the content
of their work. As you read Fitzgerald’s story, evaluate
entire life even though you are not with that person?
• Can money provide true happiness? the effectiveness of these details.

Building Background Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart like the one
Many of Fitzgerald’s stories, including “Winter Dreams,” below to record the sensory details you find as you read.
are somewhat autobiographical. In 1915 he met
Ginevra King at a party in St. Paul. She lived in Lake
Detail Sense It Appeals To
Forest, Illinois, north of Chicago, and was attending
school in Connecticut. She was sixteen and he was “desolate sand- sight
eighteen and in his sophomore year at Princeton. The boxes knee-deep
attraction was instant. Fitzgerald and Ginevra corre- in crusted ice”
sponded regularly, and Ginevra kept a diary in which
she recorded that she was “madly in love with him.”
Ginevra had other boyfriends, however, and Fitzgerald
was jealous. The romance was doomed. Ginevra
ended up marrying a wealthy Lake Forest stockbroker,
Vocabulary
and shortly after, Scott married Zelda. Critics see
aspects of Ginevra in most of Fitzgerald’s heroines, grimace ( rim is) n. facial expression showing
however, including Judy Jones in “Winter Dreams.” contempt, disgust, or pain; p. 745 The doctor’s
needle made the child grimace.
Setting Purposes for Reading
ominous (om ə nəs) adj. threatening; p. 746
Big Idea Modern Fiction Black clouds in the west looked ominous.
As you read “Winter Dreams,” notice what it reveals perturbation (pur´tər bā shən) n. state of being
about romantic feelings and relationships during the perturbed, anxious, or uneasy; p. 746 The clerk
Jazz Age. showed perturbation when the police appeared.
ingenuous (in jen ū əs) adj. lacking in sophisti-
Literary Element Motivation
cation; naïve; p. 747 Her argument with the
Motivation refers to the stated or implied reason or judge was ingenuous, to say the least.
cause for a character’s actions. It is often revealed
through a combination of the character’s desires and
mundane (mun dān ) adj. ordinary; p. 751
morals and the circumstances in which the character
The mundane details disappointed them.
finds himself or herself. As you read “Winter Dreams,”
Vocabulary Tip: Word Parts If a word has a suffix,
think about what motivates the two main characters.
you can usually tell what part of speech that word
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R11. is. For example, the suffix -ous forms adjectives
(ambitious) and -ly forms adverbs (merrily). The
suffixes -ion or -ian form nouns (musician). The
Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
suffix -er forms nouns (driver).
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • understanding motivation
• relating literature to the historical period • evaluating sensory details

F. SCOTT FITZGERALD 74 3
F. Scott Fitzgerald

S ome of the caddies were poor as sin and


lived in one-room houses with a neuras-
thenic1 cow in the front yard, but Dexter
Green’s father owned the second best grocery-
sun was out he tramped with his eyes squinted up
against the hard dimensionless glare.
In April the winter ceased abruptly. The snow
ran down into Black Bear Lake scarcely tarrying
store in Black Bear—the best one was “The for the early golfers to brave the season with red
Hub,” patronized by the wealthy people from and black balls. Without elation, without an
Sherry Island—and Dexter caddied only for interval of moist glory, the cold was gone.
pocket-money. Dexter knew that there was something dismal
In the fall when the days became crisp and gray, about this Northern spring, just as he knew there
and the long Minnesota winter shut down like the was something gorgeous about the fall. Fall made
white lid of a box, Dexter’s skis moved over the him clinch his hands and tremble and repeat idi-
snow that hid the fairways of the golf course. At otic sentences to himself, and make brisk abrupt
these times the country gave him a feeling of pro- gestures of command to imaginary audiences and
found melancholy—it offended him that the links armies. October filled him with hope which
should be in enforced fallowness, haunted by November raised to a sort of ecstatic triumph, and
ragged sparrows for the long season. It was dreary, in this mood the fleeting brilliant impressions of
too, that on the tees where the gay colors fluttered the summer at Sherry Island were ready grist to
in summer there were now only the desolate sand- his mill. He became a golf champion and defeated
boxes knee-deep in crusted ice. When he crossed Mr. T. A. Hedrick in a marvellous match played a
the hills the wind blew cold as misery, and if the hundred times over the fairways of his imagina-
tion, a match each detail of which he changed
1. A neurasthenic cow is one that is thin and weak.

Reading Strategy Evaluating Sensory Details What Literary Element Motivation Why do you think Dexter
details in this paragraph help you visualize the gloomy setting? has these particular daydreams?

744 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Kirsten Soderlind/CORBIS
about untiringly—sometimes he won with almost conversation graced by startling and irrelevant
laughable ease, sometimes he came up magnifi- grimaces from herself.
cently from behind. Again, stepping from a “Well, it’s certainly a nice day, Hilda,”
Pierce-Arrow automobile, like Mr. Mortimer Dexter heard her say. She drew down the
Jones, he strolled frigidly into the lounge of the corners of her mouth, smiled, and glanced
Sherry Island Golf Club—or perhaps, surrounded furtively around, her eyes in transit falling for
by an admiring crowd, he gave an exhibition of an instant on Dexter.
fancy diving from the spring-board of the club Then to the nurse:
raft. . . . Among those who watched him in open- “Well, I guess there aren’t very many people
mouthed wonder was Mr. Mortimer Jones. out here this morning, are there?”
And one day it came to pass that Mr. Jones— The smile again—radiant, blatantly artificial—
himself and not his ghost—came up to Dexter convincing.
with tears in his eyes and said that Dexter was “I don’t know what we’re supposed to do now,”
the — — best caddy in the club, and wouldn’t said the nurse, looking nowhere in particular.
he decide not to quit if Mr. Jones made it worth “Oh, that’s all right. I’ll fix it up.”
his while, because every other — — caddy in the Dexter stood perfectly still, his mouth
club lost one ball a hole for him—regularly— slightly ajar. He knew that if he moved forward
“No, sir,” said Dexter decisively, “I don’t want a step his state would be in her line of vision—
to caddy any more.” Then, after a pause: “I’m if he moved backward he would lose his full
too old.” view of her face. For a moment he had not real-
“You’re not more than fourteen. Why the ized how young she was. Now he remembered
devil did you decide just this morning that you having seen her several times the year before—
wanted to quit? You promised that next week in bloomers.2
you’d go over to the State tournament with me.” Suddenly, involuntarily, he laughed, a short
“I decided I was too old.” abrupt laugh—then, startled by himself, he
Dexter handed in his “A Class” badge, col- turned and began to walk quickly away.
lected what money was due him from the caddy “Boy!”
master, and walked home to Black Bear Village. Dexter stopped.
“The best — — caddy I ever saw,” shouted “Boy—”
Mr. Mortimer Jones over a drink that afternoon. Beyond question he was addressed. Not
“Never lost a ball! Willing! Intelligent! Quiet! only that, but he was treated to that absurd
Honest! Grateful!” smile, that preposterous smile—the memory
The little girl who had done this was of which at least a dozen men were to carry
eleven—beautifully ugly as little girls are apt to into middle age.
be who are destined after a few years to be inex- “Boy, do you know where the golf teacher is?”
pressibly lovely and bring no end of misery to a “He’s giving a lesson.”
great number of men. The spark, however, was “Well, do you know where the caddy-master is?”
perceptible. There was a general ungodliness in “He isn’t here yet this morning.”
the way her lips twisted down at the corners “Oh.” For a moment this baffled her. She
when she smiled, and in the—Heaven help stood alternately on her right and left foot.
us!—in the almost passionate quality of her “We’d like to get a caddy,” said the nurse. “Mr.
eyes. Vitality is born in such women. It was Mortimer Jones sent us out to play golf, and we
utterly in evidence now, shining through her don’t know how without we get a caddy.”
thin frame in a sort of glow.
She had come eagerly out on to the course at
nine o’clock with a white linen nurse and five
2. Bloomers are baggy trousers gathered at the knee and once
small new golf-clubs in a white canvas bag which worn by girls and women as an athletic costume.
the nurse was carrying. When Dexter first saw
her she was standing by the caddy houses, rather Vocabulary

ill at ease and trying to conceal the fact by grimace (rimis) n. facial expression showing contempt,
engaging her nurse in an obviously unnatural disgust, or pain

F. SCOT T FIT ZGERALD 745


“You damn little mean old thing!” cried Miss

Maude Martin Ellis, /Private Collection/†Bridgeman Art Library


Jones wildly.
Another argument ensued. Realizing that the
elements of comedy were implied in the scene,
Dexter several times began to laugh, but each time
restrained the laugh before it reached audibility.
He could not resist the monstrous conviction that
the little girl was justified in beating the nurse.
The situation was resolved by the fortuitous
appearance of the caddy-master, who was
appealed to immediately by the nurse.
“Miss Jones is to have a little caddy, and this
one says he can’t go.”
“Mr. McKenna said I was to wait here till you
came,” said Dexter quickly.
“Well, he’s here now.” Miss Jones smiled
cheerfully at the caddy-master. Then she dropped
her bag and set off at a haughty mince4 toward
the first tee.
“Well?” The caddy-master turned to Dexter.
“What you standing there like a dummy for? Go
pick up the young lady’s clubs.”
Portrait of a Woman Golfer, 1922. Maude Martin Ellis. “I don’t think I’ll go out to-day,” said Dexter.
Private Collection. “You don’t—”
Viewing the Art: How does the woman in this
image compare with your picture of Miss Jones?
“I think I’ll quit.”
The enormity of his decision frightened him.
He was a favorite caddy, and the thirty dollars a
Here she was stopped by an ominous glance month he earned through the summer were not
from Miss Jones, followed immediately by the to be made elsewhere around the lake. But he
smile. had received a strong emotional shock, and his
“There aren’t any caddies here except me,” perturbation required a violent and immediate
said Dexter to the nurse, “and I got to stay here outlet.
in charge until the caddy-master gets here.” It was not so simple as that, either. As so fre-
“Oh.” quently would be the case in the future, Dexter
Miss Jones and her retinue3 now withdrew, was unconsciously dictated to by his winter
and at a proper distance from Dexter became dreams.
involved in a heated conversation, which was
concluded by Miss Jones taking one of the clubs II
and hitting it on the ground with violence. For
further emphasis she raised it again and was Now, of course, the quality and the seasonabil-
about to bring it down smartly upon the nurse’s ity of these winter dreams varied, but the stuff of
bosom, when the nurse seized the club and them remained. They persuaded Dexter several
twisted it from her hands.
4. A mince is a proper, affected walk.
3. A retinue is an attendant or a helper.
Big Idea Modern Fiction What is the “emotional shock”
Literary Element Motivation Do you think Miss Jones’s that has made Dexter quit caddying?
anger is justified? Why or why not?
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
perturbation (pur´tər bāshən) n. state of being per-
ominous (omə nəs) adj. threatening turbed, anxious, or uneasy

746 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


years later to pass up a business course at the that concerns us goes back to the days when
State university—his father, prospering now, he was making his first big success.
would have paid his way—for the precarious When he was twenty-three Mr. Hart—one
advantage of attending an older and more of the gray-haired men who liked to say “Now
famous university in the East, where he was there’s a boy”—gave him a guest card to the
bothered by his scanty funds. But do not get the Sherry Island Golf Club for a week-end. So he
impression, because his winter dreams happened signed his name one day on the register, and that
to be concerned at first with musings on the afternoon played golf in a foursome with Mr.
rich, that there was anything merely snobbish in Hart and Mr. Sandwood and Mr. T. A. Hedrick.
the boy. He wanted not association with glitter- He did not consider it necessary to remark that
ing things and glittering people—he wanted the he had once carried Mr. Hart’s bag over this
glittering things themselves. Often he reached same links, and that he knew every trap and
out for the best without knowing why he wanted gully with his eyes shut—but he found himself
it—and sometimes he ran up against the mysteri- glancing at the four caddies who trailed them,
ous denials and prohibitions in which life trying to catch a gleam or gesture that would
indulges. It is with one of those denials and not remind him of himself, that would lessen the gap
with his career as a whole that this story deals. which lay between his present and his past.
He made money. It was rather amazing. After It was a curious day, slashed abruptly with
college he went to the city from which Black fleeting, familiar impressions. One minute he
Bear Lake draws its wealthy patrons. When he had the sense of being a trespasser—in the next
was only twenty-three and had been there not he was impressed by the tremendous superiority
quite two years, there were already people who he felt toward Mr. T. A. Hedrick, who was a bore
liked to say: “Now there’s a boy—” All about him and not even a good golfer any more.
rich men’s sons were peddling bonds precariously, Then, because of a ball Mr. Hart lost near the
or investing patrimonies5 precariously, or plod- fifteenth green, an enormous thing happened.
ding through the two dozen volumes of the While they were searching the stiff grasses of the
“George Washington Commercial Course,” but rough there was a clear call of “Fore!” from
Dexter borrowed a thousand dollars on his col- behind a hill in their rear. And as they all turned
lege degree and his confident mouth, and bought abruptly from their search a bright new ball
a partnership in a laundry. sliced abruptly over the hill and caught Mr. T. A.
It was a small laundry when he went into it, Hedrick in the abdomen.
but Dexter made a specialty of learning how “By Gad!” cried Mr. T. A. Hedrick, “they
the English washed fine woolen golf-stockings ought to put some of these crazy women off the
without shrinking them, and within a year he course. It’s getting to be outrageous.”
was catering to the trade that wore knicker- A head and a voice came up together over
bockers.6 Men were insisting that their the hill:
Shetland hose and sweaters go to his laundry, “Do you mind if we go through?”
just as they had insisted on a caddy who could “You hit me in the stomach!” declared Mr.
find golf-balls. A little later he was doing Hedrick wildly.
their wives’ lingerie as well—and running “Did I?” The girl approached the group of
five branches in different parts of the city. men. “I’m sorry. I yelled ‘Fore!’”
Before he was twenty-seven he owned the Her glance fell casually on each of the men—
largest string of laundries in his section of then scanned the fairway for her ball.
the country. It was then that he sold out and “Did I bounce into the rough?”
went to New York. But the part of his story It was impossible to determine whether this
question was ingenuous or malicious. In a moment,
5. A patrimony is an inheritance from a father.
6. Knickerbockers are full pants gathered just below the knee. Vocabulary

Literary Element Motivation What is Dexter’s motivation ingenuous (in jenū əs) adj. lacking in sophistication;
for seeking “the glittering things”? naïve

F. SC OT T FIT ZGERALD 747


however, she left no doubt, for as her partner Later in the afternoon the sun went down with
came up over the hill she called cheerfully: a riotous swirl of gold and varying blues and scar-
“Here I am! I’d have gone on the green except lets, and left the dry, rustling night of Western
that I hit something.” summer. Dexter watched from the veranda of the
As she took her stance for a short mashie7 Golf Club, watched the even overlap of the
shot, Dexter looked at her closely. She wore a waters in the little wind, silver molasses under the
blue gingham dress, rimmed at throat and shoul- harvest-moon. Then the moon held a finger to
ders with a white edging that accentuated her her lips and the lake became a clear pool, pale
tan. The quality of exaggeration, of thinness, and quiet. Dexter put on his bathing-suit and
which had made her passionate eyes and down- swam out to the farthest raft, where he stretched
turning mouth absurd at eleven, was gone now. dripping on the wet canvas of the springboard.
She was arrestingly beautiful. The color in her There was a fish jumping and a star shining
cheeks was centered like the color in a picture— and the lights around the lake were gleaming.
it was not a “high” color, but a sort of fluctuating Over on a dark peninsula a piano was playing
and feverish warmth, so shaded that it seemed at the songs of last summer and of summers before
any moment it would recede and disappear. This that—songs from “Chin-Chin” and “The Count
color and the mobility of her mouth gave a con- of Luxemburg” and “The Chocolate Soldier”8—
tinual impression of flux, of intense life, of pas- and because the sound of a piano over a stretch
sionate vitality—balanced only partially by the of water had always seemed beautiful to Dexter
sad luxury of her eyes. he lay perfectly quiet and listened.
She swung her mashie impatiently and with- The tune the piano was playing at that
out interest, pitching the ball into a sand-pit on moment had been gay and new five years before
the other side of the green. With a quick, when Dexter was a sophomore at college. They
insincere smile and a careless “Thank you!” she had played it at a prom once when he could not
went on after it. afford the luxury of proms, and he had stood
“That Judy Jones!” remarked Mr. Hedrick on outside the gymnasium and listened. The sound
the next tee, as they waited—some moments— of the tune precipitated in him a sort of ecstasy
for her to play on ahead. “All she needs is to be and it was with that ecstasy he viewed what
turned up and spanked for six months and then happened to him now. It was a mood of intense
to be married off to an old-fashioned cavalry cap- appreciation, a sense that, for once, he was
tain.” magnificently attuned to life and that every-
“My God, she’s good-looking!” said Mr. thing about him was radiating a brightness and
Sandwood, who was just over thirty. a glamour he might never know again.
“Good-looking!” cried Mr. Hedrick contemp- A low, pale oblong detached itself suddenly
tuously. “She always looks as if she wanted to be from the darkness of the Island, spitting forth
kissed! Turning those big cow-eyes on every calf the reverberated sound of a racing motor-boat.
in town!” Two white streamers of cleft water rolled
It was doubtful if Mr. Hedrick intended a ref- themselves out behind it and almost immedi-
erence to the maternal instinct. ately the boat was beside him, drowning out
“She’d play pretty good golf if she’d try,” said the hot tinkle of the piano in the drone of its
Mr. Sandwood. spray. Dexter raising himself on his arms was
“She has no form,” said Mr. Hedrick solemnly. aware of a figure standing at the wheel, of two
“She has a nice figure,” said Mr. Sandwood. dark eyes regarding him over the lengthening
“Better thank the Lord she doesn’t drive a space of water—then the boat had gone by
swifter ball,” said Mr. Hart, winking at Dexter.

8. “Chin-Chin,” “The Count of Luxemburg,” and “The Chocolate


7. A mashie is a five iron used in playing golf. Soldier” are all musicals or light operas popular at the time
of the story.
Reading Strategy Evaluating Sensory Details Why is
this a pleasing description of the girl’s cheeks? To what sense Reading Strategy Evaluating Sensory Details How
does the description appeal? does this description reflect Dexter’s feelings for Judy?

748 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Visual Arts Library/Art Resource, NY
in a house over there on the Island, and in that
house there is a man waiting for me. When he
drove up at the door I drove out of the dock
because he says I’m his ideal.”
There was a fish jumping and a star shining
and the lights around the lake were gleaming.
Dexter sat beside Judy Jones and she explained
how her boat was driven. Then she was in the
water, swimming to the floating surf-board with a
sinuous crawl. Watching her was without effort
to the eye, watching a branch waving or a sea-
gull flying. Her arms, burned to butternut, moved
sinuously among the dull platinum ripples, elbow
appearing first, casting the forearm back with a
cadence of falling water, then reaching out and
down, stabbing a path ahead.
They moved out into the lake; turning, Dexter
saw that she was kneeling on the low rear of the
now uptilted surf-board.
“Go faster,” she called, “fast as it’ll go.”
Obediently he jammed the lever forward and
The Music Pavilion. Henri Le Sidaner. Oil on canvas,
the white spray mounted at the bow. When he
73 x 60.5 cm. Private collection. looked around again the girl was standing up on
the rushing board, her arms spread wide, her eyes
and was sweeping in an immense and purpose- lifted toward the moon.
less circle of spray round and round in the “It’s awful cold,” she shouted. “What’s your
middle of the lake. With equal eccentricity name?”
one of the circles flattened out and headed He told her.
back toward the raft. “Well, why don’t you come to dinner to-morrow
“Who’s that?” she called, shutting off her night?”
motor. She was so near now that Dexter could His heart turned over like the fly-wheel of the
see her bathing-suit, which consisted apparently boat, and, for the second time, her casual whim
of pink rompers.9 gave a new direction to his life.
The nose of the boat bumped the raft, and as
the latter tilted rakishly he was precipitated III
toward her. With different degrees of interest
they recognized each other. Next evening while he waited for her to come
“Aren’t you one of those men we played down-stairs, Dexter peopled the soft deep summer
through this afternoon?” she demanded. room and the sun-porch that opened from it with
the men who had already loved Judy Jones. He
He was.
knew the sort of men they were—the men who
“Well, do you know how to drive a motor-
when he first went to college had entered from
boat? Because if you do I wish you’d drive this
one so I can ride on the surf-board behind. My
name is Judy Jones”—she favored him with an
absurd smirk—rather, what tried to be a smirk, Reading Strategy Evaluating Sensory Details Does this
for, twist her mouth as she might, it was not description appeal more to the sense of sight or the sense of
grotesque, it was merely beautiful—“and I live touch? Explain.

Big Idea Modern Fiction What does “His heart turned


over” imply? What was the first “casual whim” that affected
9. Rompers are a one-piece outfit that includes loose pants
Dexter?
gathered at the knee.

F. SCOT T FIT ZGERALD 749


his children. His mother’s name
had been Krimplich. She was a
Bohemian10 of the peasant class
and she had talked broken English
to the end of her days. Her son
must keep to the set patterns.
At a little after seven Judy
Jones came down-stairs. She wore
a blue silk afternoon dress, and he
was disappointed at first that she
had not put on something more
elaborate. This feeling was accen-
tuated when, after a brief greeting,
she went to the door of a butler’s
pantry and pushing it open called:
“You can serve dinner, Martha.”
He had rather expected that a
butler would announce dinner,
that there would be a cocktail.
Then he put these thoughts
behind him as they sat down side
by side on a lounge and looked at
each other.
“Father and mother won’t be
here,” she said thoughtfully.
He remembered the last time
he had seen her father, and he was
glad the parents were not to be
here to-night—they might wonder
who he was. He had been born in
Victorian Ball. Vincent McIndoe. Keeble, a Minnesota village fifty
Viewing the Art: What elements of high society depicted in this
painting might Dexter find attractive?
miles farther north, and he always gave Keeble as
his home instead of Black Bear Village. Country
towns were well enough to come from if they
the great prep schools with graceful clothes and weren’t inconveniently in sight and used as foot-
the deep tan of healthy summers. He had seen stools by fashionable lakes.
that, in one sense, he was better than these men. They talked of his university, which she had
He was newer and stronger. Yet in acknowledging visited frequently during the past two years, and of
to himself that he wished his children to be like the near-by city which supplied Sherry Island with
them he was admitting that he was but the rough, its patrons, and whither Dexter would return next
strong stuff from which they eternally sprang. day to his prospering laundries.
When the time had come for him to wear good During dinner she slipped into a moody depres-
clothes, he had known who were the best tailors sion which gave Dexter a feeling of uneasiness.
in America, and the best tailors in America had Whatever petulance11 she uttered in her throaty
made him the suit he wore this evening. He had voice worried him. Whatever she smiled at—at
acquired that particular reserve peculiar to his
university, that set it off from other universities. 10. A Bohemian is a native of Bohemia, now part of the Czech
Republic.
He recognized the value to him of such a manner- 11. Petulance is irritability or impatience.
ism and he had adopted it; he knew that to be
careless in dress and manner required more confi- Literary Element Motivation What does Dexter’s reason
dence than to be careful. But carelessness was for for giving Keeble as his home tell you about him?

750 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


him, at a chicken liver, at nothing—it disturbed would form mysteriously from the elements of
him that her smile could have no root in mirth, or their lips. Then he saw—she communicated her
even in amusement. When the scarlet corners of excitement to him, lavishly, deeply, with kisses
her lips curved down, it was less a smile than an that were not a promise but a fulfilment. They
invitation to a kiss. aroused in him not hunger demanding renewal
Then, after dinner, she led him out on the dark but surfeit that would demand more surfeit . . .
sun-porch and deliberately changed the atmo- kisses that were like charity, creating want by
sphere. holding back nothing at all.
“Do you mind if I weep a little?” she said. It did not take him many hours to decide that
“I’m afraid I’m boring you,” he responded he had wanted Judy Jones ever since he was a
quickly. proud, desirous little boy.
“You’re not. I like you. But I’ve just had a ter-
rible afternoon. There was a man I cared about, IV
and this afternoon he told me out of a clear sky It began like that—and continued, with vary-
that he was poor as a church-mouse. He’d never ing shades of intensity, on such a note right up to
even hinted it before. Does this sound horribly the dénouement. Dexter surrendered a part of
mundane?” himself to the most direct and unprincipled per-
“Perhaps he was afraid to tell you.” sonality with which he had ever come in contact.
“Suppose he was,” she answered. “He didn’t Whatever Judy wanted, she went after with the
start right. You see, if I’d thought of him as poor— full pressure of her charm. There was no diver-
well, I’ve been mad about loads of poor men, and gence of method, no jockeying for position or
fully intended to marry them all. But in this case, premeditation of effects—there was a very little
I hadn’t thought of him that way, and my interest mental side to any of her affairs. She simply made
in him wasn’t strong enough to survive the shock. men conscious to the highest degree of her physi-
As if a girl calmly informed her fiancé that she cal loveliness. Dexter had no desire to change
was a widow. He might not object to widows, her. Her deficiencies were knit up with a passion-
but— ate energy that transcended and justified them.
“Let’s start right,” she interrupted herself sud- When, as Judy’s head lay against his shoulder
denly. “Who are you, anyhow?” that first night, she whispered, “I don’t know
For a moment Dexter hesitated. Then: what’s the matter with me. Last night I thought I
“I’m nobody,” he announced. “My career is was in love with a man and to-night I think I’m
largely a matter of futures.” in love with you—” —it seemed to him a beau-
“Are you poor?” tiful and romantic thing to say. It was the exqui-
“No,” he said frankly, “I’m probably making site excitability that for the moment he
more money than any man my age in the controlled and owned. But a week later he was
Northwest. I know that’s an obnoxious remark, compelled to view this same quality in a different
but you advised me to start right.” light. She took him in her roadster to a picnic
There was a pause. Then she smiled and the supper, and after supper she disappeared, likewise
corners of her mouth drooped and an almost in her roadster, with another man. Dexter
imperceptible sway brought her closer to him, became enormously upset and was scarcely able
looking up into his eyes. A lump rose in Dexter’s to be decently civil to the other people present.
throat, and he waited breathless for the experi- When she assured him that she had not kissed
ment, facing the unpredictable compound that the other man, he knew she was lying—yet he
was glad that she had taken the trouble to lie to
Literary Element Motivation What prompts Judy to smile him.
and look into Dexter’s eyes, when she has been moodily
depressed up until this point?
He was, as he found before the summer ended,
one of a varying dozen who circulated about her.
Each of them had at one time been favored
Vocabulary Big Idea Modern Fiction What does Dexter’s discovery
mundane (mun dān ) adj. ordinary foreshadow about his relationship with Judy?

F. SCOTT FITZGERALD 751


above all others—about half of them still afternoon, in shadowy alcoves or behind the
basked in the solace of occasional sentimental protecting trellises of the garden arbors, of
revivals. Whenever one showed signs of drop- mornings when she was fresh as a dream and
ping out through long neglect, she granted him almost shy at meeting him in the clarity of
a brief honeyed hour, which encouraged him to the rising day. There was all the ecstasy of
tag along for a year or so longer. Judy made an engagement about it, sharpened by his
these forays upon the helpless and defeated realization that there was no engagement. It
without malice, indeed half unconscious that was during those three days that, for the first
there was anything mischievous in what she time, he had asked her to marry him. She said
did. “maybe some day,” she said “kiss me,” she said
When a new man came to town every one “I’d like to marry you,” she said “I love you”—
dropped out—dates were automatically can- she said—nothing.
celled. The three days were interrupted by the
The helpless part of trying to do anything arrival of a New York man who visited at her
about it was that she did it all herself. She was house for half September. To Dexter’s agony,
not a girl who could be “won” in the kinetic rumor engaged them. The man was the son of
sense—she was proof against cleverness, she the president of a great trust company. But at
was proof against charm; if any of these assailed the end of a month it was reported that Judy
her too strongly she would immediately resolve was yawning. At a dance one night she sat all
the affair to a physical basis, and under the evening in a motor-boat with a local beau,
magic of her physical splendor the strong as while the New Yorker searched the club for
well as the brilliant played her game and not her frantically. She told the local beau that
their own. She was entertained only by the she was bored with her visitor, and two days
gratification of her desires and by the direct later he left. She was seen with him at the
exercise of her own charm. Perhaps from so station, and it was reported that he looked
much youthful love, so many youthful lovers, very mournful indeed.
she had come, in self-defense, to nourish her- On this note the summer ended. Dexter was
self wholly from within. twenty-four, and he found himself increasingly
Succeeding Dexter’s first exhilaration came in a position to do as he wished. He joined two
restlessness and dissatisfaction. The helpless clubs in the city and lived at one of them.
ecstasy of losing himself in her was opiate Though he was by no means an integral part of
rather than tonic.12 It was fortunate for his the stag-lines13 at these clubs, he managed to be
work during the winter that those moments of on hand at dances where Judy Jones was likely
ecstasy came infrequently. Early in their to appear. He could have gone out socially as
acquaintance it had seemed for a while that much as he liked—he was an eligible young
there was a deep and spontaneous mutual man, now, and popular with down-town fathers.
attraction—that first August, for example— His confessed devotion to Judy Jones had rather
three days of long evenings on her dusky solidified his position. But he had no social
veranda, of strange wan kisses through the late aspirations and rather despised the dancing men
who were always on tap for the Thursday or
Saturday parties and who filled in at dinners
with the younger married set. Already he was
12. Opiate rather than tonic means that Dexter’s helpless playing with the idea of going East to New
ecstasy is numbing rather than stimulating. York. He wanted to take Judy Jones with him.
No disillusion as to the world in which
Literary Element Motivation Why do Dexter and the
other men tolerate Judy’s behavior?

Reading Strategy Evaluating Sensory Details What do


the words dusky, shadowy, and protecting trellises imply 13. Stag-lines are lines of single men waiting for dance
about the nature of Dexter and Judy’s relationship? partners at the clubs.

752 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Images.com/CORBIS
Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY
having ever cared for him at
all. She had beckoned him
and yawned at him and beck-
oned him again and he had
responded often with bitter-
ness and narrowed eyes. She
had brought him ecstatic
happiness and intolerable
agony of spirit. She had
caused him untold inconve-
nience and not a little trou-
ble. She had insulted him,
and she had ridden over him,
and she had played his inter-
est in her against his interest
in his work—for fun. She had
done everything to him
except to criticise him—this
she had not done—it seemed
to him only because it might
Le cercle - The Club, 1911. Jean Beraud. Oil on canvas,
have sullied the utter indif-
61 x 73.5 cm. Musee d’Orsay, Paris, France.
Viewing the Art: What might Judy’s suitors have in ference she manifested and sincerely felt
common with the two men in this painting? toward him.
When autumn had come and gone again it
occurred to him that he could not have Judy
she had grown up could cure his illusion as to Jones. He had to beat this into his mind but he
her desirability. convinced himself at last. He lay awake at night
Remember that—for only in the light of it can for a while and argued it over. He told himself
what he did for her be understood. the trouble and the pain she had caused him, he
Eighteen months after he first met Judy Jones enumerated her glaring deficiencies as a wife.
he became engaged to another girl. Her name Then he said to himself that he loved her, and
was Irene Scheerer, and her father was one of the after a while he fell asleep. For a week, lest he
men who had always believed in Dexter. Irene imagined her husky voice over the telephone or
was light-haired and sweet and honorable, and a her eyes opposite him at lunch, he worked hard
little stout, and she had two suitors whom she and late, and at night he went to his office and
pleasantly relinquished when Dexter formally plotted out his years.
asked her to marry him. At the end of a week he went to a dance and
Summer, fall, winter, spring, another sum- cut in on her once. For almost the first time
mer, another fall—so much he had given of his since they had met he did not ask her to sit out
active life to the incorrigible lips of Judy Jones. with him or tell her that she was lovely. It hurt
She had treated him with interest, with him that she did not miss these things—that was
encouragement, with malice, with indiffer- all. He was not jealous when he saw that there
ence, with contempt. She had inflicted on him was a new man to-night. He had been hardened
the innumerable little slights and indignities against jealousy long before.
possible in such a case—as if in revenge for He stayed late at the dance. He sat for an hour
with Irene Scheerer and talked about books and
about music. He knew very little about either.
Big Idea Modern Fiction Why do you think this is the But he was beginning to be master of his own
only description of Irene, despite the fact that Dexter time now, and he had a rather priggish notion
becomes engaged to her?
that he—the young and already fabulously

F. SCOT T FIT ZGERALD 753


successful Dexter Green—should know more solidity to go with her—she was so sturdily popu-
about such things. lar, so intensely “great.”
That was in October, when he was twenty-five. He mounted the steps of the brownstone
In January, Dexter and Irene became engaged. It house and stepped inside.
was to be announced in June, and they were to be “Irene,” he called.
married three months later. Mrs. Scheerer came out of the living-room to
The Minnesota winter prolonged itself inter- meet him.
minably, and it was almost May when the winds “Dexter,” she said, “Irene’s gone up-stairs with
came soft and the snow ran down into Black Bear a splitting head-ache. She wanted to go with you
Lake at last. For the first time in over a year but I made her go to bed.”
Dexter was enjoying a certain tranquillity of “Nothing serious, I—”
spirit. Judy Jones had been in Florida, and after- “Oh, no. She’s going to play golf with you in
ward in Hot Springs, and somewhere she had the morning. You can spare her for just one
been engaged, and somewhere she had broken it night, can’t you, Dexter?”
off. At first, when Dexter had definitely given her Her smile was kind. She and Dexter liked
up, it had made him sad that people still linked each other. In the living-room he talked for a
them together and asked for news of her, but moment before he said good-night.
when he began to be placed at dinner next to Returning to the University Club, where he
Irene Scheerer people didn’t ask him about her had rooms, he stood in the doorway for a moment
any more—they told him about her. He ceased to and watched the dancers. He leaned against the
be an authority on her. door-post, nodded at a man or two—yawned.
May at last. Dexter walked the streets at night “Hello, darling.”
when the darkness was damp as rain, wondering The familiar voice at his elbow startled him.
that so soon, with so little done, so much of Judy Jones had left a man and crossed the room
ecstasy had gone from him. May one year back to him—Judy Jones, a slender enamelled doll in
had been marked by Judy’s poignant, unforgiv- cloth of gold: gold in a band at her head, gold in
able, yet forgiven turbulence—it had been one of two slipper points at her dress’s hem. The fragile
those rare times when he fancied she had grown glow of her face seemed to blossom as she smiled
to care for him. That old penny’s worth of happi- at him. A breeze of warmth and light blew
ness he had spent for this bushel of content. He through the room. His hands in the pockets of
knew that Irene would be no more than a curtain his dinner-jacket tightened spasmodically. He
spread behind him, a hand moving among gleam- was filled with a sudden excitement.
ing tea-cups, a voice calling to children . . . fire “When did you get back?” he asked casually.
and loveliness were gone, the magic of nights and “Come here and I’ll tell you about it.”
the wonder of the varying hours and seasons . . . She turned and he followed her. She had been
slender lips, down-turning, dropping to his lips away—he could have wept at the wonder of her
and bearing him up into a heaven of eyes. . . . return. She had passed through enchanted
The thing was deep in him. He was too strong streets, doing things that were like provocative
and alive for it to die lightly. music. All mysterious happenings, all fresh and
In the middle of May when the weather bal- quickening hopes, had gone away with her, come
anced for a few days on the thin bridge that led back with her now.
to deep summer he turned in one night at Irene’s She turned in the doorway.
house. Their engagement was to be announced in “Have you a car here? If you haven’t, I have.”
a week now—no one could be surprised at it. “I have a coupé.”14
And to-night they would sit to-gether on the In then, with a rustle of golden cloth.
lounge at the University Club and look on for He slammed the door. Into so many cars she
an hour at the dancers. It gave him a sense of
14. A coupé is a small two-door car.

Reading Strategy Evaluating Sensory Details What do Reading Strategy Evaluating Sensory Details What
these two images tell you about Dexter’s attitude toward Irene? does this emphasis on gold seem to symbolize?

754 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


had stepped—like this—like that—her back She was watching him closely and the silence
against the leather, so—her elbow resting was embarrassing, yet in this crisis he could find
on the door—waiting. She would have been soiled no casual word with which to profane the hour.
long since had there been anything At a convenient turning he began to zigzag back
to soil her—except herself—but this was her own toward the University Club.
self outpouring. “Have you missed me?” she asked suddenly.
With an effort he forced himself to start the car “Everybody missed you.”
and back into the street. This was nothing, he He wondered if she knew of Irene Scheerer. She
must remember. She had done this before, and he had been back only a day—her absence had been
had put her behind him, as he would have crossed almost contemporaneous with his engagement.
a bad account from his books. “What a remark!” Judy laughed sadly—without
He drove slowly down-town and, affecting sadness. She looked at him searchingly. He
abstraction, traversed the deserted streets of the became absorbed in the dashboard.
business section, people here and there where a “You’re handsomer than you used to be,” she
movie was giving out its crowd or where consump- said thoughtfully. “Dexter, you have the most
tive or pugilistic15 youth lounged in front of pool rememberable eyes.”
halls. The clink of glasses and the slap of hands on He could have laughed at this, but he did not
the bars issued from saloons, cloisters of glazed laugh. It was the sort of thing that was said to
glass and dirty yellow light. sophomores. Yet it stabbed at him.
Leon Dabo/Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, Connecticut, Gift of the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection & Insurance Co./Bridgeman Art Library

Winter Evening. Leon Dabo. Oil on canvas, 53.3 x 71.1 cm.


Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, Connecticut.
15. Consumptive means “wasteful,” and pugilistic means Viewing the Art: Do you think this painting might be a
“eager to fight.” good representation of Dexter’s winter dreams? Explain.

F. SCOT T FIT ZGERALD 755


“I’m awfully tired of everything, darling.” out the contrast with the young beauty beside
She called every one darling, endowing the him. It was sturdy to accentuate her slight-
endearment with careless, individual camarade- ness—as if to show what a breeze could be
rie. “I wish you’d marry me.” generated by a butterfly’s wing.
The directness of this confused him. He should He sat perfectly quiet, his nerves in wild
have told her now that he was going to marry clamor, afraid that if he moved he would find her
another girl, but he could not tell her. He could as irresistibly in his arms. Two tears had rolled down
easily have sworn that he had never loved her. her wet face and trembled on her upper lip.
“I think we’d get along,” she continued, on “I’m more beautiful than anybody else,” she
the same note, “unless probably you’ve forgotten said brokenly, “why can’t I be happy?” Her
me and fallen in love with another girl.” moist eyes tore at his stability—her mouth
Her confidence was obviously enormous. turned slowly downward with an exquisite sad-
She had said, in effect, that she found such ness: “I’d like to marry you if you’ll have me,
a thing impossible to believe, that if it were Dexter. I suppose you think I’m not worth hav-
true he had merely committed a childish indis- ing, but I’ll be so beautiful for you, Dexter.”
cretion—and probably to show off. She would A million phrases of anger, pride, passion,
forgive him, because it was not a matter of hatred, tenderness fought on his lips. Then a per-
any moment but rather something to be fect wave of emotion washed over him, carrying
brushed aside lightly. off with it a sediment of wisdom, of convention,
“Of course you could never love anybody but of doubt, of honor. This was his girl who was
me,” she continued, “I like the way you love me. speaking, his own, his beautiful, his pride.
Oh, Dexter, have you forgotten last year?” “Won’t you come in?” He heard her draw in
“No, I haven’t forgotten.” her breath sharply.
“Neither have I!” Waiting.
Was she sincerely moved—or was she carried “All right,” his voice was trembling.
along by the wave of her own acting? “I’ll come in.”
“I wish we could be like that again,” she said,
and he forced himself to answer: V
“I don’t think we can.”
“I suppose not. . . . I hear you’re giving Irene It was strange that neither when it was over
Scheerer a violent rush.” nor a long time afterward did he regret that
There was not the faintest emphasis on the night. Looking at it from the perspective of ten
name, yet Dexter was suddenly ashamed. years, the fact that Judy’s flare for him endured
“Oh, take me home,” cried Judy suddenly; “I just one month seemed of little importance. Nor
don’t want to go back to that idiotic dance— did it matter that by his yielding he subjected
with those children.” himself to a deeper agony in the end and gave
Then, as he turned up the street that led to serious hurt to Irene Scheerer and to Irene’s par-
the residence district, Judy began to cry quietly ents, who had befriended him. There was noth-
to herself. He had never seen her cry before. ing sufficiently pictorial about Irene’s grief to
The dark street lightened, the dwellings of stamp itself on his mind.
the rich loomed up around them, he stopped Dexter was at bottom hard-minded. The atti-
his coupé in front of the great white bulk of tude of the city on his action was of no impor-
the Mortimer Joneses’ house, somnolent, gor- tance to him, not because he was going to leave
geous, drenched with the splendor of the damp the city, but because any outside attitude on the
moonlight. Its solidity startled him. The strong situation seemed superficial. He was completely
walls, the steel of the girders, the breadth and indifferent to popular opinion. Nor, when he had
beam and pomp of it were there only to bring seen that it was no use, that he did not possess in

Literary Element Motivation Why do you think Dexter Literary Element Motivation Why does Dexter agree to
decides not to tell Judy that he is engaged? go in after his earlier doubts?

756 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


himself the power to move fundamentally or to the war, he had not been West in seven years.
hold Judy Jones, did he bear any malice toward A man named Devlin from Detroit came into
her. He loved her, and he would love her until his office to see him in a business way, and then
the day he was too old for loving—but he could and there this incident occurred, and closed
not have her. So he tasted the deep pain that is out, so to speak, this particular side of his life.
reserved only for the strong, just as he had tasted “So you’re from the Middle West,” said the
for a little while the deep happiness. man Devlin with careless curiosity. “That’s
Even the ultimate falsity of the grounds upon funny—I thought men like you were probably
which Judy terminated the engagement that she born and raised on Wall Street. You know—wife
did not want to “take him away” from Irene— of one of my best friends in Detroit came from
Judy, who had wanted nothing else—did not your city. I was an usher at the wedding.”
revolt him. He was beyond any revulsion or any Dexter waited with no apprehension of what
amusement. was coming.
He went East in “Judy Simms,” said

E
February with the Devlin with no partic-
intention of selling
ven the ultimate falsity of ular interest; “Judy
out his laundries and the grounds upon which Jones she was once.”
settling in New “Yes, I knew her.”
York—but the war 16 Judy terminated the engagement A dull impatience
came to America in spread over him. He
March and changed
that she did not want to “take him had heard, of course,
his plans. He returned away” from Irene—Judy, who that she was mar-
to the West, handed ried—perhaps deliber-
over the management had wanted nothing else—did not ately he had heard no
of the business to his
partner, and went
revolt him. He was beyond any more.
“Awfully nice girl,”
into the first officers’ revulsion or any amusement. brooded Devlin mean-
training-camp in late inglessly, “I’m sort of
April. He was one of sorry for her.”
those young thousands who greeted the war with “Why?” Something in Dexter was alert, recep-
a certain amount of relief, welcoming the libera- tive, at once.
tion from webs of tangled emotion. “Oh, Lud Simms has gone to pieces in a way.
I don’t mean he ill-uses her, but he drinks and
VI runs around—”
“Doesn’t she run around?”
This story is not his biography, although things “No. Stays at home with her kids.”
creep into it which have nothing to do with “Oh.”
those dreams he had when he was young. We are “She’s a little too old for him,” said Devlin.
almost done with them and with him now. There “Too old!” cried Dexter. “Why, man, she’s only
is only one more incident to be related here, and twenty-seven.”
it happens seven years farther on. He was possessed with a wild notion of rush-
It took place in New York, where he had ing out into the streets and taking a train to
done well—so well that there were no barriers Detroit. He rose to his feet spasmodically.
too high for him. He was thirty-two years old, “I guess you’re busy,” Devlin apologized
and, except for one flying trip immediately after quickly. “I didn’t realize—”
“No, I’m not busy,” said Dexter, steadying his
16. The war refers to World War I, which the United States
voice. “I’m not busy at all. Not busy at all. Did
entered in 1917. you say she was—twenty-seven? No, I said she
was twenty-seven.”
Big Idea Modern Fiction Do you think Dexter really
“Yes, you did,” agreed Devlin dryly.
feels this way, or is he fooling himself?
“Go on, then, Go on.”

F. SC OT T FIT ZGERALD 757


“What do you mean?” the sun was sinking in dull lovely shades of
“About Judy Jones.” pink and gold.
Devlin looked at him helplessly. He had thought that having nothing else to
“Well, that’s—I told you all there is to it. He lose he was invulnerable at last—but he knew
treats her like the devil. Oh, they’re not going to that he had just lost something more, as surely as
get divorced or anything. When he’s particularly if he had married Judy Jones and seen her fade
outrageous she forgives him. In fact, I’m inclined away before his eyes.
to think she loves him. She was a pretty girl The dream was gone. Something had been
when she first came to Detroit.” taken from him. In a sort of panic he pushed the
A pretty girl! The phrase struck Dexter as palms of his hands into his eyes and tried to
ludicrous. bring up a picture of the waters lapping on
“Isn’t she—a pretty girl, any more?” Sherry Island and the moonlit veranda, and
“Oh, she’s all right.” gingham on the golf-links and the dry sun and
“Look here,” said Dexter, sitting down sud- the gold color of her neck’s soft down. And her
denly. “I don’t understand. You say she was a mouth damp to his kisses and her eyes plaintive
‘pretty girl’ and now you say she’s ‘all right.’ I with melancholy and her freshness like new fine
don’t understand what you mean—Judy Jones linen in the morning. Why, these things were no
wasn’t a pretty girl, at all. She was a great beauty. longer in the world! They had existed and they
Why, I knew her, I knew her. She was—” existed no longer.
Devlin laughed pleasantly. For the first time in years the tears were
“I’m not trying to start a row,” he said. “I streaming down his face. But they were for him-
think Judy’s a nice girl and I like her. I can’t self now. He did not care about mouth and eyes
understand how a man like Lud Simms could fall and moving hands. He wanted to care, and he
madly in love with her, but he did.” Then he could not care. For he had gone away and he
added: “Most of the women like her.” could never go back any more. The gates were
Dexter looked closely at Devlin, thinking closed, the sun was gone down, and there was no
wildly that there must be a reason for this, some beauty but the gray beauty of steel that with-
insensitivity in the man or some private malice. stands all time. Even the grief he could have
“Lots of women fade just like that,” Devlin borne was left behind in the country of illusion,
snapped his fingers. “You must have seen it hap- of youth, of the richness of life, where his winter
pen. Perhaps I’ve forgotten how pretty she was at dream had flourished.
her wedding. I’ve seen her so much since then, “Long ago,” he said, “long ago, there was
you see. She has nice eyes.” something in me, but now that thing is gone.
A sort of dullness settled down upon Now that thing is gone, that thing is gone. I can-
Dexter. For the first time in his life he felt not cry. I cannot care. That thing will come back
like getting very drunk. He knew that he was no more.” 
laughing loudly at something Devlin had said,
but he did not know what it was or why it was
funny. When, in a few minutes, Devlin went
Big Idea Modern Fiction What dream has gone, and
he lay down on his lounge and looked out the why has it gone?
window at the New York sky-line into which

758 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond simply trying to fit in? Explain. (b)Why does he tell
Judy that he is making “more money than any man
1. At the end of the story, Dexter is obviously under-
his age in the Northwest”?
going a significant life crisis. What would you tell
him if you were with him? 7. Why do you think Dexter becomes engaged to
Irene?
Recall and Interpret
8. In Part VI, after Dexter learns about Judy’s marriage,
2. (a)What are Dexter’s winter dreams? (b)What do
why is he so disturbed?
these dreams tell you about him?
9. (a)Do you think Dexter really loves Judy? Explain.
3. In giving up caddying, “Dexter was unconsciously
(b)Do you think Dexter would have been happier
dictated to by his winter dreams.” Explain how
if he had married Judy? Why or why not?
these dreams affected his decision.
4. (a)What is the point of view of this story? (b)How Connect
does this point of view affect the plot? 10. Big Idea Modern Fiction Is Judy’s reckless
disregard for the feelings of others a symptom of
Analyze and Evaluate the Jazz Age, or could her character appear in a
5. How do Dexter’s laundry business and his round of story from any period? Explain.
golf in Part II tell you that he is still under the influ-
ence of his winter dreams? 11. In what ways is this short story more modern than
traditional short stories like those in Unit Four?
6. (a)In Part III, is Dexter becoming a snob, with his
emphasis on clothes and his hometown, or is he

V I S UA L L I T E R AC Y: Graphic Organizer

THEME CHART
The theme is the central message of a work of literature Passage from the Story Relationship to Theme
that readers can apply to life. Some works directly state
1. “and sometimes he ran
the theme. More often, however, the theme is implied,
up against the mysterious
and it is up to the reader to figure it out based on denials and prohibitions
events, dialogue, or descriptions in the text. A literary in which life indulges. It is
work may have more than one theme. with one of those denials
and not with his career as
You may find it helpful to isolate key passages from the text a whole that this story
deals.” (page 747)
that can help you uncover the theme. Use a chart such as
the one at right to list significant passages from “Winter 2.
Dreams.” In the second column of the chart, identify how
each passage is related to the theme of the story. Then fill
in additional passages from the story that you find.

Group Activity
Discuss the following questions with classmates. Use your
3.
chart to support your views.
1. What do you think is the theme of “Winter Dreams”?
2. Do you think this theme is specific to the time and
place of this story, or does it apply today?

F. SC OT T FIT ZGERALD 759


L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Motivation Reading Strategy Evaluating Sensory


In literature, motivation refers to the reasons or Details
causes for a character’s actions. Lack of clear motiva- Sensory details are details that appeal to the senses.
tion for actions is considered a weakness in a story or Often, these details contribute to the meaning and
play. Sometimes motivation is subtle, however, and mood, or atmosphere, of a story.
may not be immediately apparent.
Partner Activity A passage in the last part of “Winter
1. What is the chief motivation for most of Dexter’s Dreams” reads: “the sun was sinking in dull lovely
actions? shades of pink and gold.” How does this passage
2. What do you think motivates Judy to behave as she seem to sum up Dexter’s feelings and his life? Meet
does in her relationships with Dexter and others with another classmate to discuss this question.
before she is married?
3. What is Judy’s motivation in mentioning Irene to Vocabulary Practice
Dexter after he becomes engaged?
Practice with Word Parts Suffixes can often help
4. What do you think motivated Judy to get married? you identify or change the part of speech of a word.
Add one of the following suffixes to the word parts
below to form the correct word in each sentence.
Review: Conflict
adjective suffix -ous
As you learned in Unit Four, Part 2, conflict is the
noun suffixes -ian, -ion, or -er
main struggle between two opposing forces in a story
adverb suffix -ly
or drama. An external conflict is a struggle between
a character and an outside force, such as another 1. The prisoner in the courtroom was a
character. An internal conflict is a struggle between grimac . He made faces all the time.
opposing thoughts in a character’s mind. 2. He seemed so omin that we tried not
Group Activity In a small group, discuss the nature to look at him.
of the conflict in “Winter Dreams.” Answer these 3. At first he acted quite mundane .
questions. 4. We didn’t know whether he was clever or
1. What is the conflict in “Winter Dreams”? ingenu .
5. Later, we were filled with perturbat .
2. Is this conflict internal or external?
3. How is the conflict resolved?

Academic Vocabulary
Here are two words from the vocabulary list on
page R86.

outcome n. (outkum´) something that follows


as a result; an effect; a consequence
affect v. (ə fekt) to produce an influence on;
to make a change in

Practice and Apply


1. What is the outcome of Dexter’s romance?
2. How does news of Judy’s married life affect
Dexter?

760 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


PhotoEssentials/FotoSearch
W R I T I N G A N D E X TE N D I N G G R A M M A R A N D ST Y L E

Writing About Literature Fitzgerald’s Language and Style


Analyze Conflict Write a brief essay in which you Using Active and Passive Voice A verb is in the
analyze the main conflict in “Winter Dreams.” Use evi- active voice if the subject of the sentence performs
dence from the story to support your analysis. the action. A verb is in the passive voice if the subject
of the sentence receives the verb’s action. Different
To help you organize your essay, make a flowchart
uses of a verb in a sentence allow a writer to
showing the major events from the beginning to the
emphasize what is most important and enhance a
end of the story, the conflicts that arise from these
particular style. Notice the difference in emphasis in
events, and the resolutions, if any, of these conflicts.
these two pairs of sentences that contain active and
The first part is done for you as an example.
passive voice from “Winter Dreams.”
S EQ U E NC E O F EVENTS “The nose of the boat bumped the raft.” (p. 749)
Dexter first sees Judy age 11 The raft was bumped by the nose of the boat.
“Dexter walked the streets at night . . .” (p. 754)
The streets were walked by Dexter at night.

Although you should try to use the active voice when-


emotional shock; begins yearning for a different life
ever possible because it is stronger and more direct,
sometimes the passive voice is preferred or necessary
if the doer of the action is secret, unimportant, or

unknown.
quits caddying “Their engagement was to be announced in a week
now—no one could be surprised at it.” (p. 754)
In this example, the person who will announce the

engagement is unimportant or unknown.


To form the passive voice, use a form of the auxiliary
verb be with the past participle of the main verb. The
tense of the auxiliary verb determines the tense of the

passive verb.
Activity For each sentence below, identify the voice
as passive or active.
1. A ball came bouncing onto the green.

2. Mr. Hedrick acted annoyed.


3. Mr. Hedrick was annoyed by the interruption.
4. The ball was bounced right onto the green.

After you complete your draft, meet with a peer Revising Check
reviewer to evaluate each other’s work and to suggest
Using Active and Passive Voice Work with a part-
revisions. Then proofread and edit your draft for errors
ner to review and revise passive sentences that would
in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
be more appropriate in active voice in your essay for
“Winter Dreams.”

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

F. SC OT T FIT ZGERALD 761


B I OG R A P H I C A L P ER SP EC TIVE ON WINTER DREAMS
Informational Text

James L. W. West III

Guggenheim Fellow

Building Background CHAPTER TWO


The Romance

S
F. Scott Fitzgerald met Ginevra King, a woman who
would influence him for the rest of his life, in 1915,
when he was only eighteen. King became the model
for some of Fitzgerald’s most memorable characters, cott met Ginevra in St. Paul on the eve-
including Judy Jones in “Winter Dreams,” and, most ning of Monday, January 4, 1915. She was in the
famously, Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. Her city to visit Marie (“Bug”) Hersey, a classmate at
recently discovered diary and letters to Fitzgerald shed
Westover1 who had been one of Scott’s child-
light on their previously mysterious relationship. The
hood sweethearts. Ginevra was sixteen years old;
following selection from The Perfect Hour, James L.
Scott, then eighteen, was midway through his
W. West’s discussion of their romance and its effect
second year at Princeton. The two met at an
on Fitzgerald’s fiction, describes their first meeting and
the start of their correspondence.
informal party at Marie’s house on Summit
Avenue. Scott was scheduled to take the
Setting a Purpose for Reading Pullman2 east that night; his Christmas vacation
Read to find out more about the inspiration for Judy was over, and he was due back at Princeton for
Jones in Fitzgerald’s “Winter Dreams.” classes. He was so smitten with Ginevra, how-
ever, that he decided to postpone the journey for
Reading Strategy twenty-four hours. He wanted to spend Tuesday
afternoon with her and to attend a dance being
Evaluating Historical Influences
Evaluating historical influences involves examining
how the social influences of a historical period affect
1. Westover was a boarding school founded in 1910, in
the characters, plots, and settings of a literary work. As Middlebury, Connecticut.
you read, take notes on how Ginevra King and her 2. The Pullman is a train’s sleeping car intended for overnight
relationship with Fitzgerald influenced “Winter Dreams.” travel.

76 2 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T H E M O D E RN A G E
Bettmann/CORBIS
Informational Text
given in her honor Tuesday evening by Elizabeth guests. At eleven o’clock he stood with her in
(“Lib”) McDavitt, another local girl. Ginevra the front hall of the McDavitt house. They
was flattered: “Scott perfectly darling,” she wrote squeezed hands and exchanged regretful glances;
in her diary that night. “Am dipped about.”* he promised to write, and she promised to
They spent the afternoon of January 5th answer. The next day she set down her impres-
crowded next to each other in the back seat sions of the party in her diary. “Danced and sat
of Reuben Warner’s car. (Reuben, a rival for with Scott most all evening,” she wrote. “He left
Ginevra’s affections, was taking some teen- for Princeton at 11—oh—!”
agers for an auto ride across the river to see . . . As soon as he was back at Princeton, he
Minneapolis.) They were together again that sent her a special-delivery letter. It was the cus-
evening at Lib McDavitt’s dance: this time, how- tom then that if one met a young woman and
ever, Scott had to catch his train. He had hoped meant to pursue her seriously, one sent her a
for time alone with Ginevra at the dance, but he “special-dellie” almost immediately after the first
was unable to pry her away from the other party encounter. The letter reached Ginevra on
Thursday, January 7th, while she was still visiting
in St. Paul. She made a matter-of-fact note of its
*
The diaries are original documents in Ginevra’s hand and are arrival in her diary: “Got a Special Delivery from
quoted verbatim. The letters are transcriptions by a typist:
Scott this morning.”
obvious errors have been corrected and a few marks of
punctuation added for readability.
Henri Lerolle/Musee des Beaux-Arts, Pau, France, Giraudon/†Bridgeman Art Library

JAMES L. W. WEST III 763


Informational Text

Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY


Train in the Snow, 1875. Claude Monet. Oil on canvas, 59 x 78 cm.
Musée Marmottan-Claude Monet, Paris, France.

As a popular girl, pursued by many boys, popularity was measured in part by which boys
Ginevra might have expected to receive Scott’s wrote to her and how many letters she received.
special delivery as a matter of course, but she There was much banter3 about who was writing
surely did not anticipate the deluge of mail that to whom and how often the letters were arriving.
would follow. Letters began to arrive from her Many weekday evenings were taken up with let-
Princeton admirer frequently and in bulk, and ter-writing; popular girls learned to complain
her diary entries became more intense with each about how many boys they had to correspond
letter. She received “a sweet one from Scott” on with. Girls would wander in and out of one
January 14th. Another arrived on the fifteenth: another’s rooms during letter-writing sessions.
“Wonderful letter from Scott again to-day!” she One girl might look over another’s shoulder as
notes in surprise. On January 23rd: “Wonderful she wrote and, if she knew the boy, might pick
one from Scott (he is so darling).” And on January up a pen and (with permission) add marginalia4
28th: “Long wonderful letter from Scott this morn.” or a postscript.
On February 6th there arrived a “marvelous won- Girls would give readings to their friends
derful heavenly letter from Scott—24 pages— from letters they had received; often the girl
cheered me up immensely.” And on February would supply running commentary on the boy
12th, “24 pages from Scott. Thrills.” Her affec- who had written the letter. Certain parts of
tions, she wrote him on February 7th, were
“thriving under the stimulus of so much mail.”
The dynamics of letter-writing for teenagers of 3. Banter means “quick-witted conversation.”
Scott and Ginevra’s time were elaborate. A girl’s 4. Marginalia are notes written in the margins of printed pages.

764 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Informational Text
Images.com/CORBIS

Victorian Writing Desk. Vincent McIndoe.

the letters (the affectionate or intimate bits) Ginevra does not seem to have worried
would be omitted, although if the boy had overly much about this sort of thing. Once
been fresh or the girl had a perverse streak, she was sure of Scott’s interest, she came to
these passages might be read aloud and giggled enjoy writing to him. “You know, it’s queer,
over. The boys who wrote the letters were but I’ve always been able to write reams to
aware that this might happen, and they knew you and never get bored or tired,” she told
to be careful about what they put in their him on October 13th. He might have said the
letters. Girls knew it too: boys would show same thing. So lengthy were his epistles to her
letters to their friends as trophies or would that he sometimes had to send them in two
read the sentimental passages aloud—to the envelopes, marked “Part I” and “Part II.”
accompaniment of eye-rolling and guffaws. Letter-writing provided Ginevra with an
No girl wanted to have her personal feelings escape. She was not happy about going back
exposed in this way. Thus there was wariness to Westover; she made this clear to Scott in
on both sides until a boy and a girl felt they her first letter, written on January 11th. “I
could trust each other. Only then would they dread school,” she said. “I simply cant go
begin to include confidences or confessions of back. I loathe the thought. I curse the fates
emotion in their letters. that call for my education. I rebel at another

JAM ES L. W. WEST III 765


Informational Text
8 weeks of grind.” Her days at Westover con- asked her how much the Big Four7 weighed (in
sisted mostly of classes, tests, gym period, glee toto).8 In another he sent her a list of current
club, and Bible study (which she began to skip undergraduate slang at Princeton. . . .
in order to write letters to Scott). Nights were In more serious moments he began to urge
taken up with studying, card games, and chit- Ginevra to reveal herself to him, frankly and
chat with girlfriends. Incoming letters were honestly. This was a lifelong habit with him. He
the most exciting events of the day. often questioned people about themselves and
Most of these missives5, one imagines, were prodded them into confessing things that they
pedestrian; boys in their teens typically do not might not ordinarily have admitted to. Later in
excel at the epistolary6 arts. Scott Fitzgerald, his life he irritated some of his friends, including
however, quickly proved himself to be a wonder- Sara Murphy9 and Ernest Hemingway, with these
ful correspondent. He was observant and witty, interrogations. Ginevra did not reveal much to
gossipy and funny, full of news and speculations Scott at first; self-analysis did not come naturally
and questions. In other letters of his that have to her. Scott, however, was persistent and pressed
survived from this period, he often included her to disclose her techniques. How did she
impromptu verse or humorous drawings, and charm so many boys and entice them into falling
sometimes he sent letter/collages, with cut-out for her? Ginevra seems to have been puzzled by
images of swimsuit queens or of movie stars with the question. Scott was assuming that her behav-
bobbed hair. Best of all, he could strike a note of ior, like his, was planned for effect. She could
longing when he needed to, telling a girl that he not really tell him why so many boys were drawn
was perishing to see her. He must have been a to her—only that they were, and that she liked
most satisfying young man with whom to trade the attention. Thus when he called her a vamp10
mail. Ginevra told him so: “Your last letter was a in a letter written late in January, she took
marvel—” she wrote him on January 25th. “I exception. “I want you to apologize for calling
howled over it and wept over it by turns!” me a vampire,” she admonished him on January
Scott’s letters to Ginevra seem to have been 29th. “Très11 rude I should say.”
playful at first. His opening letter to her (accord- Ginevra did reveal a little about herself in her
ing to her January 11th reply) was signed letters: “I know I am a flirt and I can’t stop it,” she
“Temporarily Devotedly Yrs.” She was amused admitted on January 20th. “A few years ago I took
and responded in kind, closing her first letter to pleasure in being called ‘fast,’ ” she confessed; “I
him, “Yours Fickely sometimes but Devotedly at didn’t care how I acted, I liked it, and so I didn’t
present. . . .” In the same letter she asked for a care for what people said.” But that attitude had
photograph of him, claiming to remember only not lasted: “About a year ago I began to see that
his “yellow hair and big blue eyes.” Photographs there was something better in life than what I had
were an important part of this game and often been doing, and I honestly tried to act properly, but
became objects of near-fetishistic devotion. At I am afraid I’ll never be able to wholly reform.” She
one point Ginevra had five photos of Scott on understood the double standard of her time: “I am
her dresser and another on her desk. pretty good on the whole, but you know how much
Scott was undoubtedly fascinated with alike we are, and in a boy it doesn’t matter, but a
Ginevra, or at least with the image of her that girl has to control her feelings, which is hard for
he was carrying about in his head. He continued me, as I am emotional.” These confidences, she
to write, and she referred to his letters in her hoped, were what he was after. “This is the kind of
replies, sometimes quoting snippets from them. letter you said you wanted,” she told him, “and so
He knew how to keep the correspondence going. this is what I wrote.”
He seems to have rationed the flattery, which
Ginevra would have been accustomed to, and to 7. The Big Four was a social group of four young, wealthy
have been irreverent instead. In one letter he socialites in Chicago, of which Ginevra was a member.
8. In toto means “in total.”
9. Sara Murphy was a wealthy American expatriate and a
friend of Fitzgerald.
5. Missives are notes or letters. 10. A vamp is a woman who seduces men.
6. Epistolary means of or relating to “letter writing.” 11. Très is French for “very.”

766 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Informational Text

Scott soon learned that his romance with . . . and we got started laughing and then of
Ginevra was causing a stir at Westover. On course lost all our strength—I was screaming—
February 6th he received a cryptic telegram tell- So Midge said—‘Well, it’s my fault, now I’ll send
ing him not to expect his usual letter from her a telegram and tell him he wont get his daily let-
the following day. “G.K.’S DAILY DELAYED. ter.’ . . . I said all right, so she went and did it.”
UNAVOIDABLE. REASON EXPLAINED LATER,” read This was heady stuff for an eighteen-year-old col-
the wire. A special delivery from Ginevra arrived lege boy. He was becoming, in absentia14, a
the next day to explain what had happened. One celebrity at Westover.
of her friends from down the hall had wandered Ginevra knew how to provoke Scott. In a
into her room while she was composing a letter January 25th letter she recalled their farewell in
to him. The girl had wanted to read the letter, St. Paul and his failure to kiss her. “I hear you had
but Ginevra had refused to show it to her. The plans for kissing me goodbye publicly,” she wrote
girl had tried to snatch it, precipitating13 a play- him. “My goodness, I’m glad you didn’t—I’d have
ful tussle. “In the scramble I shut up the letter in had to be severe as anything with you!” Though
the desk-drawer, and it went so tight that no perhaps not, to judge from her next sentence:
amount of pulling would open it,” she explained. “Ans. this— Why didn’t you? (KISS ME).”
“I only had 15 minutes to get it in the last mail

13. Precipitating means “causing.” 14. In absentia means “in absence.”

R ES P O N D I N G AN D TH I N K I N G C R ITI CALLY
Respond (b)Is West’s characterization of Fitzgerald’s
“fascination” believable? Why or why not?
1. What aspect of King and Fitzgerald’s relationship
interested you the most? Explain. 5. (a)Ginevra came from a far wealthier family than
Fitzgerald’s. How do you think this affected their
Recall and Interpret relationship? (b)How do you think it affected his
2. (a)According to West, why did young people have representation of her in his stories? (c)From what
to be careful about what they included in letters to you learned about Ginevra in this excerpt from The
members of the opposite sex? (b)What does this Perfect Hour, do you think Fitzgerald’s representation
suggest about young people’s motivation for writing of her in “Winter Dreams” is accurate? Explain.
these letters?
3. (a)How did students at Westover react to Ginevra Connect
and Fitzgerald’s relationship? What does West think 6. How does Fitzgerald’s semiautobiographical style
Fitzgerald’s reaction to this was? (b)What does relate to developments in Modernist fiction?
Fitzgerald’s response suggest about his personality?

Analyze and Evaluate


4. (a)West states that “Scott was undoubtedly
fascinated with Ginevra, or at least with the image
of her that he was carrying about in his head.” In
what ways do you think this statement is relevant to
the character of Dexter Green in “Winter Dreams”?

O B J EC TIVES
• Read to enhance understanding of an author’s influences. • Evaluate historical influences.

JAMES L. W. WEST III 767


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Hulton Archive
Soldiers of the Republic
M E E T DO ROT H Y PA R K E R

A
s a writer, editor, and critic, Dorothy
Parker was both famed and feared for her
scathing commentary. She once infa-
mously dismissed Katharine Hepburn’s acting per-
formance as running “the whole gamut of emotion
from A to B.” Withering comments such as this
one were hallmarks of Parker’s fiction, poetry, and
especially her criticism. as screenwriters on a number of lucrative projects,
including the hit 1937 film A Star Is Born.

Political Passions Parker’s celebrated wit and


“Wit has truth in it; wisecracking is famous pranks—she once hung a sign reading
simply calisthenics with words.” “MEN” on her office door to attract company—
often drew public attention away from her serious
—Dorothy Parker involvement in social issues. She became active in
left-wing politics while she was in Hollywood and
chaired an antifascist committee during the
New York and Hollywood After an unhappy Spanish Civil War of the late 1930s. In 1937 she
childhood marred by the deaths of several close traveled to Spain in support of the Popular Front
family members, Parker left school and began work- and did a radio broadcast from Madrid. Parker’s
ing in New York City. Early on, she got a job as a leftist sympathies were held against her years later
drama critic for Vanity Fair, but was soon fired during the surge of anticommunism that gripped
because of the harshness of her reviews. In 1919 Hollywood (and the nation) after World War II.
Parker cofounded the influential Algonquin Round In the mid-1950s, the House Un-American
Table, an informal group of writers named for the Activities Committee (HUAC) tried to force
New York hotel where they frequently met. Parker Parker to name people she believed to have com-
is the best-known female member of the group, munist sympathies, but Parker refused. She was
which included literary celebrities such as humorist blacklisted, and as a result she was unable to work
and drama critic Robert Benchley and playwrights in the film industry.
Robert Sherwood and George S. Kaufman. In the
mid-1920s, Parker published her first book of verse Today’s readers enjoy Parker’s work for its combina-
and became a frequent contributor to the fledgling tion of wit and substance. As one critic said of
magazine the New Yorker, writing reviews, stories, Parker’s play The Ladies of the Corridor, Parker was
and poems. Throughout the twenties, Parker’s writ- skilled not only at witty dialogue, but also at depict-
ings, and her poems in particular, expertly captured ing “the acute understanding of human loneliness,
the lenient, “anything goes” attitude of the time as cruelty, stupidity, and occasional glowing, unpre-
well as the jaded cynicism that could result from too dictable fortitude that gives the characters their
much freedom and recklessness. intermittent flashes of absolute fidelity to life.”

In 1934 Parker married actor and writer Alan Dorothy Parker was born in 1893 and died in 1967.
Campbell and the couple left New York City for Holly-
wood shortly thereafter. Despite the fact that Parker Author Search For more about
Author Search For more about
hated Hollywood, she and Campbell collaborated Dorothy Parker, go to www.glencoe.com.
Author Name, go to www.literature.glencoe.com.

768 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Visualizing


Have you ever had a complete stranger share a personal Visualizing is picturing a writer’s ideas or descriptions
story with you? What was your reaction? In “Soldiers of in your mind’s eye. As you read the story, pay atten-
the Republic,” Dorothy Parker listens to six Spanish sol- tion to how Parker describes people, places, and
diers reveal their concerns about the effect of war on things. Ask yourself questions about what these things
their families. Think about the following questions: might look like.

• Why do you think a person might tell a stranger a Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart like the one
personal story during wartime?
below to record what you visualize in each paragraph
• Why might a person hold back a personal story from of the story.
a close friend or family member during wartime?

Building Background Paragraph What I See


Parker’s short story is set during the Spanish Civil War. 1 The narrator and others
In 1936, Spanish military forces, led by General sit in a café in Spain. An
Francisco Franco, revolted against Spain’s attentive waiter brings
democratically elected left-wing government. A brutal them drinks.
and bloody civil war began, and was soon complicated
by foreign intervention. The governments of Nazi
Germany and fascist Italy aided Franco’s forces with
arms, money, and troops. The Spanish Republican Vocabulary
government was aided by forty thousand foreign
dissembling (di sem blin ) n. the act of con-
volunteers (including many from the United States)
cealing one’s true character, feelings, or inten-
and by trucks, planes, tanks, and military advisers from
tions; p. 771 The salesman’s dissembling didn’t
the Soviet Union. The Spanish Civil War came to an
convince me the used car was a good buy.
end when Franco’s forces captured Madrid in 1939,
and he established a dictatorship. contrivance (kən tr¯ vəns) n. a cleverly
designed device; p. 771 The inventor designed an
Setting Purposes for Reading interesting contrivance.
Big Idea Modern Fiction vehemently (vē ə mənt lē) adv. in a strong or
As you read “Soldiers of the Republic,” note how it passionate manner; p. 771 Eleanor yelled vehe-
reflects characteristics of modern fiction such as mently as the thief fled with her purse.
understatement and irony. whimsically (hwim zik lē) adv. in a quaintly
humorous manner; p. 772 The circus clowns
Literary Element Setting paraded whimsically into the center ring.
Setting includes not only the time and place of a literary stoically (stō ik lē) adv. calmly and
work, but also the ideas, customs, values, and beliefs of unemotionally, especially despite pain or
the people in that time and place. As you read this short suffering; p. 772 Without hope of parole, the
story, pay attention to these aspects of setting. prisoner still faced his jail sentence stoically.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R16. Vocabulary Tip: Analogies An analogy is a type of
comparison that is based on the relationships
Interactive Literary Elements between things or ideas.
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • analyzing setting
• analyzing modern fiction • visualizing a story

DO ROTHY PARKER 76 9
Dorothy Parker

hat Sunday afternoon we sat with the was of no use; there


S11-266-01C-635423 Kentwas not enough hair to
Swedish girl in the big café in Valencia. We had
1
require restraint. The bow was sheerly an adorn-
Precolater
vermouth2 in thick goblets, each with a cube of bold a calculated bit of dash.
ment,
honey-combed gray ice in it. The waiter was so “Oh, for God’s sake, stop that!” I said to
proud of that ice he could hardly bear to leave the myself. “All right, so it’s got a piece of blue rib-
glasses on the table, and thus part from it forever. bon on its hair. All right, so its mother went
He went to his duty—all over the room they were without eating so it could look pretty when its
clapping their hands and hissing to draw his father came home on leave. All right, so it’s her
attention—but he looked back over his shoulder. business, and none of yours. All right, so what
1-266-01C-635423 Kent the quick, new dark that
It was dark outside, have you got to cry about?”
leaps
ecolater bold down without dusk on the day; but, The big, dim room was crowded and lively.
because there were no lights in the streets, it That morning there had been a bombing from the
seemed as set and as old as midnight. So you air, the more horrible for broad daylight. But
wondered that all the babies were still up. There nobody in the café sat tense and strained, nobody
were babies everywhere in the café, babies seri- desperately forced forgetfulness. They drank coffee
ous without solemnity3 and interested in a toler- or bottled lemonade, in the pleasant, earned ease
ant way in their surroundings. of Sunday afternoon, chatting of small, gay mat-
At the table next ours, there was a notably ters, all talking at once, all hearing and answering.
small one; maybe six months old. Its father, a lit- There were many soldiers in the room, in
tle man in a big uniform that dragged his shoul- what appeared to be the uniforms of twenty dif-
ders down, held it carefully on his knee. It was ferent armies until you saw that the variety lay in
doing nothing whatever, yet he and his thin the differing ways the cloth had worn or faded.
young wife, whose belly was already big again Only a few of them had been wounded; here and
under her sleazy dress, sat watching it in a sort of there you saw one stepping gingerly, leaning on a
ecstasy of admiration, while their coffee cooled crutch or two canes, but so far on toward recov-
in front of them. The baby was in Sunday white; ery that his face had color. There were many
its dress was patched so delicately that you would men, too, in civilian clothes—some of them sol-
have thought the fabric whole had not the diers home on leave, some of them governmental
patches varied in their shades of whiteness. In its workers, some of them anybody’s guess. There
hair was a bow of new blue ribbon, tied with
absolute balance of loops and ends. The ribbon Reading Strategy Visualizing What does the description
of the baby in this paragraph indicate about its parents?

1. Valencia (va len sē´a) is a port city and tourist resort on


Literary Element Setting In this paragraph, what do the
the Mediterranean coast of Spain.
details of the setting indicate about people’s attitude
2. Vermouth (vər m¯¯¯ooth) is a white wine used in cocktails.
toward the war?
3. Solemnity is deep seriousness.

770 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


were plump, comfortable wives, active with she has a moment for regret, she sighs that her
paper fans, and old women as quiet as their Dutch is so rusty she can no longer speak it, only
grandchildren. There were many pretty girls and read it, and the same is true of her Rumanian.
some beauties, of whom you did not remark, They had told her, she told us, that they were
“There’s a charming Spanish type,” but said, at the end of forty-eight hours’ leave from the
“What a beautiful girl!” The women’s clothes trenches, and, for their holiday, they had all
were not new, and their material was too humble pooled their money for cigarettes, and something
ever to have warranted skillful cutting. had gone wrong, and the cigarettes had never
“It’s funny,” I said to the Swedish girl, “how come through to them. I had a pack of American
when nobody in a place is best-dressed, you don’t cigarettes—in Spain rubies are as nothing to
notice that everybody isn’t.” them—and I brought it out, and by nods and
“Please?” the Swedish girl said. smiles and a sort of breast stroke, made it under-
No one, save an occasional soldier, wore a hat. stood that I was offering it to those six men
When we had first come to Valencia, I lived in a yearning for tobacco. When they saw what I
state of puzzled pain as to why everybody on the meant, each one of them rose and shook my
streets laughed at me. It was not because “West hand. Darling of me to share my cigarettes with
End Avenue” was writ across my face as if left the men on their way back to the trenches. Little
there by a customs officer’s chalked scrawl. They Lady Bountiful. The prize sow.
like Americans in Valencia, where they have Each one lit his cigarette with a contrivance of
seen good ones—the doctors who left their prac- yellow rope that stank when afire and was also
tices and came to help, the calm young nurses, used, the Swedish girl translated, for igniting gre-
the men of the International Brigade.4 But when nades. Each one received what he had ordered, a
I walked forth, men and women courteously laid glass of coffee, and each one murmured apprecia-
their hands across their splitting faces and little tively over the tiny cornucopia7 of coarse sugar
children, too innocent for dissembling, doubled that accompanied it. Then they talked.
with glee and pointed and cried, “Olé!”5 Then, They talked through the Swedish girl, but
pretty late, I made my discovery, and left my hat they did to us that thing we all do when we
off; and there was laughter no longer. It was not speak our own language to one who has no
one of those comic hats, either; it was just a hat. knowledge of it. They looked us square in the
The café filled to overflow, and I left our table face, and spoke slowly, and pronounced their
to speak to a friend across the room. When I words with elaborate movements of their lips.
came back to the table, six soldiers were sitting Then, as their stories came, they poured them at
there. They were crowded in, and I scraped past us so vehemently, so emphatically that they were
them to my chair. They looked tired and dusty sure we must understand. They were so con-
and little, the way that the newly dead look lit- vinced we would understand that we were
tle, and the first things you saw about them were ashamed for not understanding.
the tendons in their necks. I felt like a prize sow. But the Swedish girl told us. They were all
They were all in conversation with the Swedish farmers and farmers’ sons, from a district so poor
girl. She has Spanish, French, German, anything that you try not to remember there is that kind
in Scandinavian,6 Italian, and English. When
7. Here, cornucopia means “abundance.” A cornucopia is a
4. Allied with the Republicans, the Brigade was a military force. curved horn overflowing with fruit and grain.
5. Olé! (ō lā) is a cheer used at bullfights.
Reading Strategy Visualizing This is the second time the
6. Scandinavian refers to Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish.
narrator has referred to herself as a “prize sow.” From this
Big Idea Modern Fiction From what you know of the description, how do you think the narrator sees herself in
narrator’s character and her opinions about fashion, why is it relation to the soldiers?
ironic that people laughed at her?
Vocabulary
Vocabulary contrivance (kən tr̄ vəns) n. a cleverly designed device
dissembling (di sem blin) n. the act of concealing vehemently (vē ə mənt lē) adv. in a strong or
one’s true character, feelings, or intentions passionate manner

D O R OT HY PARKER 771
of poverty. Their village was next that one where had such beautiful eyes, he said—from a brother-
the old men and the sick men and the women in-law in France. They were all alive then, he
and children had gone, on a holiday, to the bull- was told, and had a bowl of beans a day. But his
ring; and the planes had come over and dropped wife had not complained of the food, he heard.
bombs on the bullring, and the old men and the What had troubled her was that she had no
sick men and the women and the children were thread to mend the children’s ragged clothes. So
more than two hundred. that troubled him, too.
“She has no thread,” he kept telling us. “My
They had all, the six of them, been in the war for wife has no thread to mend with. No thread.”
over a year, and most of that time they had been
in the trenches. Four of them were married. One We sat there, and lis-
had one child, two had three

tened to what the Swedish
children, one had five. They girl told us they were say-
had not had word from their
families since they had left
he has no ing. Suddenly one of them
looked at the clock, and
for the front. There had
been no communication; thread,” he kept then there was excite-
ment. They jumped up, as
two of them had learned to
write from men fighting next telling us. “My a man, and there were
calls for the waiter and
them in the trench, but they
had not dared to write home. wife has no rapid talk with him, and
each of them shook the
They belonged to a union,8
and union men, of course, thread to mend hand of each of us. We
went through more swim-
are put to death if taken. S11-266-01C-635423
ming motions toKent
The village where their
families lived had been cap-
with. No thread.” Precolater
explain
bold that they were to
to them
take the rest of the ciga-
tured, and if your wife gets a rettes—fourteen cigarettes
letter from a union man, for six soldiers to take to
who knows but they’ll shoot war—and then they shook
her for the connection? our hands again. Then all of us said “Salud!”9 as
They told about how they had not heard from many times as could be for six of them and three
their families for more than a year. They did not of us, and then they filed out of the café, the six
tell it gallantly or whimsically or stoically. They of them, tired and dusty and little, as men of a
told it as if—Well, look. You have been in the mighty horde are little.
trenches, fighting, for a year. You have heard noth- Only the Swedish girl talked, after they had
ing of your wife and your children. They do not gone. The Swedish girl has been in Spain since the
know if you are dead or alive or blinded. You do not start of the war. She has nursed splintered men, and
know where they are, or if they are. You must talk she has carried stretchers into the trenches and,
to somebody. That is the way they told about it. heavier laden, back to the hospital. She has seen
One of them, some six months before, had and heard too much to be knocked into silence.
heard of his wife and his three children—they Presently it was time to go, and the Swedish
girl raised her hands above her head and clapped
8. The Republicans belonged to trade unions. them twice together to summon the waiter. He
Literary Element Setting What details of the war setting came, but he only shook his head and his hand,
in this paragraph make you feel sympathy for the soldiers? and moved away.
The soldiers had paid for our drinks. 
Vocabulary
whimsically (hwim zik lē) adv. in a quaintly humor- 9. Salud! (sa l¯¯¯
ood), meaning “Health!” is a toast, like Cheers!
ous manner
stoically (stō ik l ) adv. calmly and unemotionally, Reading Strategy Visualizing How do you imagine the
especially despite pain or suffering soldier looks as he tells the narrator about his wife?

772 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


A F TE R YO U R E A D

RESP ON DI NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond other people who face danger, or do they handle
their situation differently? Explain.
1. What surprised you most about the story? Explain.
6. (a)How does the narrator feel about herself in
Recall and Interpret relation to the people of Valencia? (b)In your
2. (a)What difficult circumstances do the people of opinion, why does she feel this way?
Valencia and the soldiers in the café face? (b)What
7. What did you find most puzzling about the narra-
attitude do they have toward these circumstances?
tor? Put your thoughts in the form of a question.
3. (a)How do the soldiers react to the gift of ciga-
rettes? (b)How do you explain their reactions? Connect
8. This story shows the basic decency, almost nobility, of
Analyze and Evaluate ordinary soldiers during wartime. How do you think
4. (a)How do you think the author wants readers to the story would change had Parker decided to focus
feel about the people of Valencia and the soldiers? on a group of high-ranking military officers instead?
(b)Do you think the author was successful in mak-
ing you feel a certain way? Use examples from the 9. Big Idea Modern Fiction Irony, the contrast

story to support your answer. between appearance and reality, is a basic charac-
teristic of modern fiction. How does this story dis-
5. In your opinion, are the soldiers in this story like play irony?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R EAD I N G AN D VO CAB U L ARY

Literary Element Setting Reading Strategy Visualizing


Setting often influences the mood, or atmosphere, of Visualizing is one of the best ways to understand and
a literary work. For example, a story set in a dark and remember information in fiction, nonfiction, and infor-
gloomy castle might have a forbidding or melancholy mational text.
mood. “Soldiers of the Republic” is set in a café in
1. What images came to mind as you visualized the
Valencia, a large city in Spain, during the Spanish
café setting?
Civil War.
2. How did you imagine that the narrator and her
1. What mood is created by the story’s setting?
companions look as compared with the soldiers?
2. How might the mood of the story be different if
there were not a war going on?
Vocabulary Practice
Practice with Analogies Choose the word pair
Writing About Literature
that best completes each analogy.
Analyze Theme From what you have read, what con-
clusions can you draw about Parker’s attitude toward 1. dissembling : concealment ::
ordinary people during wartime? Using details from the a. sympathy : compassion b. deceit : truth
story, identify the author’s position and write a few 2. vehemently : fanatic ::
paragraphs to persuade your classmates to share your a. greedily : miser b. humbly : aristocrat
point of view. 3. contrivance : clever ::
a. toad : beautiful b. infant : helpless
4. stoically : unemotionally ::
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to a. fearfully : bravely b. brashly : boldly
www.glencoe.com.

DO ROTHY PARKER 773


B E FO R E YO U R E A D

The Jilting of Granny


Weatherall
M E E T K AT H E R I N E A N N E P O R T E R

Bettmann/Corbis
K
atherine Anne Porter, who published her
first collection of short stories when she was
forty, described herself as “a late starter.”
But “a late finisher” might be more accurate.
During her long career, she tended to write and
rewrite her stories, sometimes putting them aside
for many years. Porter sought to tell each story “as
clearly and purely and simply as I can.”

Experiences of Death and Near-Death


Katherine Anne Porter was born in a small log
house on a farm in central Texas. Her mother died
before she was two, and Porter and her four sib-
lings were raised by one of their grandmothers.
The grandmother’s death when Porter was eleven
had a powerful emotional impact on the family.
Afterward, Porter’s family moved to San Antonio,
Texas, where she studied acting.

A Creative Restlessness Porter spent most of


“I knew what death was, and had her thirties living abroad. She took on a range of
almost experienced it. I had . . . the writing projects and sought out the company of
friends and circles of writers and artists who pro-
happy vision just before death. Now if vided her with the intense interpersonal experi-
you have had that, and survived it, ences that inspired her writing.

come back from it, you are no longer Porter published several collections of short stories,
starting with Flowering Judas (1929). Although it
like other people.” was her novel, Ship of Fools (1962), that became a
—Katherine Anne Porter best seller, Porter was primarily a practitioner of the
short story. Many of her stories, including “The
Jilting of Granny Weatherall,” are set in the South
Shortly after moving to Dallas, Texas, in 1915, and feature women who have profound self-
Porter became ill with tuberculosis and believed she realizations at crucial moments in their lives. At
had only a few months to live. She recovered only age seventy-six, two years after the publication of
to be hit by the World War I flu epidemic, and she twenty-seven of her stories in The Collected Stories
came so close to death that her family finalized her of Katherine Anne Porter, Porter received a Pulitzer
burial arrangements. Porter’s struggle to survive, the Prize and the National Book Award.
close friendships she formed with other young
Katherine Anne Porter was born in 1890 and died
women in a sanatorium in Texas, and the opportu-
in 1980.
nities she had to reflect on her life during this
period were to have a profound effect on her cre-
ative activities. She emerged from several years of Author Search For more about
illness with a new career goal: to be a writer. Katherine Anne Porter, go to www.glencoe.com.

774 U N IT 5 B E G I NN IN G S OF TH E M O DERN A G E
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions


Granny Weatherall was jilted on her wedding day, About the Protagonist
causing social humiliation and a painful loss of love. As To draw conclusions means to use different pieces of
you read the story, think about how people learn to information to make a general statement. A protago-
live with—or never quite accept—a social disgrace. nist is the central character in a literary work, around
Consider the following questions: whom the main conflict revolves. As Granny’s thoughts
• How would you feel if you were left waiting on your skip from one person or subject to another, and back
and forth in time, various clues about her past emerge.
wedding day?
• What might be especially painful about losing a To draw conclusions about Granny’s character, read
carefully and combine the clues in the story.
loved one in this way?

Building Background Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart to record


This story is set in the South in the early twentieth details and draw conclusions based on them.
century. Women of the time were often confined to
the traditional roles of wife, mother, and homemaker. Details Conclusion
Roman Catholicism figures prominently in Porter’s
story. Granny Weatherall’s religious beliefs and her
Granny calls the Granny thinks of the
ideas about guilt and forgiveness are important doctor a brat. doctor as a kid.
elements of the story.

Big Idea Modern Fiction


As you read “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall,” notice the Vocabulary
Modernist techniques that Porter uses. For example, she
tactful (takt fəl) adj. able to speak or act with-
rearranges the chronology of events to provide insight
out offending others; p. 777 Southern women
into the inner and outer worlds of the protagonist.
were expected to be tactful in their relations.

Literary Element Stream of Consciousness dutiful (dō¯ō ti fəl) adj. careful to fulfill obliga-
tions; p. 777 Only a dutiful person could take
Stream of consciousness is a technique that a writer care of a farm and raise several children.
uses to imitate the flow of thoughts, feelings, images,
and memories of a character in a literary work. Stream vanity (van i tē) n. excessive pride, as in one’s
of consciousness replaces traditional chronological looks; p. 779 The man’s vanity made it hard for
order with a seemingly random collection of impres- him to see why he had not received the award.
sions, forcing the reader to piece together the plot or jilt (jilt) v. to drop or reject as a sweetheart;
theme of the work. Porter uses stream of conscious- p. 779 None of her children had been jilted; they
ness to represent Granny’s thoughts and memories as had all married their first loves.
well as her overall state of mind. As you read, you
might want to create a timeline to help you under- piety (p¯ ə tē) n. religious devoutness; good-
stand when the events in the story take place. ness; p. 781 Piety was a common response to the
moral issues raised by the war.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R17.
Vocabulary Tip: Context Clues You often can
determine the meaning of an unfamiliar word by
Interactive Literary Elements looking at the words that surround it.
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • analyzing stream of consciousness
• relating literature to the historical period • drawing conclusions about the protagonist

KATHERINE ANNE PO RTER 775


The White Bed Jacket, c. 1905. Lilla Cabot Perry. Pastel on tan paper,
251/2 x 311/2 in. Hirschl & Adler Galleries Inc. New York.
S
he flicked her wrist neatly out of Doctor
Harry’s pudgy careful fingers and pulled the
sheet up to her chin. The brat ought to be
in knee-breeches. Doctoring around the country
with spectacles on his nose. “Get along now,
take your schoolbooks and go. There’s nothing
wrong with me.”
Doctor Harry spread a warm paw like a cush-
ion on her forehead where the forked green vein
danced and made her eyelids twitch. “Now, now,
be a good girl, and we’ll have you up in no time.”
“That’s no way to speak to a woman nearly
eighty years old just because she’s down. I’d have
you respect your elders, young man.”
“Well, missy, excuse me.” Doctor Harry patted
her cheek. “But I’ve got to warn you, haven’t I?
You’re a marvel,1 but you must be careful or
you’re going to be good and sorry.”
“Don’t tell me what I’m going to be. I’m on
my feet now, morally speaking. It’s Cornelia. I
had to go to bed to get rid of her.”
Katherine Anne Porter Her bones felt loose, and floated around in her

S11-136-01C-635423 Kent 1. A marvel is a wonderful or astonishing thing.


Blackadder ITC Regular U5 T7
Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About the
Protagonist “She” in this paragraph is Granny Weatherall.
What can you infer about where she is and what she is like
from this paragraph?

776 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Collection, Hirschl & Adler Galleries
skin, and Doctor Harry floated like a balloon “What’d you say, Mother?”
around the foot of the bed. He floated and pulled Granny felt her face tying up in hard knots.
down his waistcoat2 and swung his glasses on a “Can’t a body think, I’d like to know?”
cord. “Well, stay where you are, it certainly can’t “I thought you might want something.”
hurt you.” “I do. I want a lot of things. First off, go away
“Get along and doctor your sick,” said Granny and don’t whisper.”
Weatherall. “Leave a well woman alone. I’ll call She lay and drowsed, hoping in her sleep that
for you when I want you . . . Where were you the children would keep out and let her rest a
forty years ago when I pulled through milk-leg3 minute. It had been a long day. Not that she was
and double pneumonia? You weren’t even born. tired. It was always pleasant to snatch a minute
Don’t let Cornelia lead you on,” she shouted, now and then. There was always so much to be
because Doctor Harry appeared to float up to the done. Let me see: tomorrow.
ceiling and out. “I pay my own bills, and I don’t Tomorrow was far away and there was nothing
throw my money away on nonsense!” to trouble about. Things were finished somehow
She meant to wave good-bye, but it was too when the time came; thank God there was
much trouble. Her eyes closed of themselves, it always a little margin over for peace: then a per-
was like a dark curtain drawn round the bed. son could spread out the plan of life and tuck in
The pillow rose and floated under her, pleasant the edges orderly. It was good to have everything
as a hammock in a light wind. She listened to clean and folded away, with the hairbrushes and
the leaves rustling outside the window. No, tonic bottles sitting straight on the white
somebody was swishing newspapers: no, Cornelia embroidered linen; the day started without fuss
and Doctor Harry were whispering together. She and the pantry shelves laid out with rows of jelly
leaped broad awake, thinking they whispered in glasses and brown jugs and
her ear. white stone-china jars with
“She was never like this, never like this!” “Well, blue whirligigs4 and words
what can we expect?” “Yes, eighty years old . . .” painted on them: coffee, tea,
Well, and what if she was? She still had ears. sugar, ginger, cinnamon, all-
It was like Cornelia to whisper round doors. She spice; and the bronze clock
always kept things secret in such a public way. with the lion on the top nicely
She was always being tactful and kind. Cornelia dusted off. The dust that lion
Visual Vocabulary
was dutiful; that was the trouble with her. could collect in twenty-four
Allspice, a spice
Dutiful and good: “So good and dutiful,” said hours! The box in the attic thought to com-
Granny, “that I’d like to spank her.” She saw with all those letters tied up, bine the flavors
herself spanking Cornelia and making a fine job well, she’d have to go through of cloves, cinna-
of it. that tomorrow. All those let- mon, and nut-
meg, comes
ters—George’s letters and from the dried
John’s letters and her letters to berries of the
2. A waistcoat is a vest.
3. Milk-leg is a painful swelling of the leg that may occur after
them both—lying around for pimento tree.
childbirth. the children to find afterwards
made her uneasy. Yes, that
Literary Element Stream of Consciousness How does
would be tomorrow’s business. No use to let
this paragraph show that Granny’s mind travels back and
forth between the past and present? them know how silly she had been once.
While she was rummaging round she found
Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About the death in her mind and it felt clammy and unfa-
Protagonist Do Granny’s thoughts refer to the past or miliar. She had spent so much time preparing for
present? Explain.

Vocabulary 4. Whirligigs (hwur li iz´) are circular patterns, or swirls.

tactful (takt fəl) adj. able to speak or act without Literary Element Stream of Consciousness In what
offending others way is this paragraph an unpredictable flow of feelings,
dutiful (dō¯ō ti fəl) adj. careful to fulfill obligations thoughts, memories, and images?

KATHERINE ANNE PO RTER 777


ET Archive, London/SuperStock
death there was no need for bringing it up again. Cornelia, till your own children whisper
Let it take care of itself now. When she was sixty behind your back!
she had felt very old, finished, and went round In her day she had kept a better house and had
making farewell trips to see her children and got more work done. She wasn’t too old yet for
grandchildren, with a secret in her mind: This is Lydia to be driving eighty miles for advice when
the very last of your mother, children! Then she one of the children jumped the track, and Jimmy
made her will and came down with a long fever. still dropped in and talked things over: “Now,
That was all just a notion like a lot of other Mammy, you’ve a good business head, I want to
things, but it was lucky too, for she had once for know what you think of this . . . ?” Old. Cornelia
all got over the idea of dying for a long time. couldn’t change the furniture round without asking.
Now she couldn’t be worried. She hoped she had Little things, little things! They had been so sweet
better sense now. Her father had lived to be one when they were little. Granny wished the old days
hundred and two years old were back again with the
and had drunk a noggin5 children young and every-
of strong hot toddy6 on his Lighting the lamps thing to be done over. It
last birthday. He told the
reporters it was his daily
had been beautiful. The had been a hard pull, but
not too much for her.
habit, and he owed his
long life to that. He had
children huddled up to When she thought of all
the food she had cooked,
made quite a scandal and
was very pleased about it.
her and breathed like and all the clothes she had
cut and sewed, and all the
She believed she’d just little calves waiting at gardens she had made—
plague Cornelia a little. well, the children showed
“Cornelia! Cornelia!” the bars in the twilight. it. There they were, made
No footsteps, but a sudden out of her, and they
hand on her cheek. “Bless couldn’t get away from that.
you, where have you been?” Sometimes she wanted to see John again and point
“Here, mother.” to them and say, “Well, I didn’t do so badly, did I?”
“Well, Cornelia, I want a noggin of hot But that would have to wait. That was for tomor-
toddy.” row. She used to think of him as a man, but now all
“Are you cold, darling?” the children were older than their father, and he
“I’m chilly, Cornelia. Lying in bed stops the would be a child beside her if she saw him now. It
circulation. I must have told you that a thousand seemed strange and there was something wrong in
times.” the idea. Why, he couldn’t possibly recognize her.
Well, she could just hear Cornelia telling She had fenced in a hundred acres once, digging
her husband that Mother was getting a little the post holes herself and clamping the wires with
childish and they’d have to humor her. The just a Negro boy to help. That changed a woman.
thing that most annoyed her was that Cornelia John would be looking for a young woman with the
thought she was deaf, dumb, and blind. Little peaked Spanish comb in her hair and the painted
hasty glances and tiny gestures tossed around fan. Digging post holes changed a woman. Riding
her and over her head, saying, “Don’t cross country roads in the winter when women had their
her, let her have her way, she’s eighty years babies was another thing: sitting up nights with
old,” and she sitting there as if she lived in a sick horses and sick Negroes and sick children and
thin glass cage. Sometimes Granny almost hardly ever losing one. John, I hardly ever lost one
made up her mind to pack up and move back of them! John would see that in a minute; that
to her own house where nobody could remind would be something he could understand, she
her every minute that she was old. Wait, wait, wouldn’t have to explain anything!

5. A noggin is a small mug or cup. Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About the
6. A hot toddy is a drink made with liquor, hot water, sugar,
Protagonist How does Granny view herself as a mother?
and spices.

778 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


It made her feel like rolling up her sleeves and the white cake for a man and he doesn’t come?
putting the whole place to rights again. No mat- She tried to remember. No, I swear he never
ter if Cornelia was determined to be everywhere harmed me but in that. He never harmed me but
at once, there were a great many things left in that . . . and what if he did? There was the
undone on this place. She would start tomorrow day, the day, but a whirl of dark smoke rose and
and do them. It was good to be strong enough for covered it, crept up and over into the bright field
everything, even if all you made melted and where everything was planted so carefully in
changed and slipped under your hands, so that orderly rows. That was hell, she knew hell when
by the time you finished you almost forgot what she saw it. For sixty years she had prayed against
you were working for. What was it I set out to remembering him and against losing her soul in
do? she asked herself intently, but she could not the deep pit of hell, and now the two things
remember. A fog rose over the valley, she saw it were mingled in one, and the thought of him
marching across the creek swallowing the trees was a smoky cloud from hell that moved and
and moving up the hill like an army of ghosts. crept in her head when she had just got rid of
Soon it would be at the near edge of the orchard, Doctor Harry and was trying to rest a minute.
and then it was time to go in and light the Wounded vanity, Ellen, said a sharp voice in the
lamps. Come in, children, don’t stay out in the top of her mind. Don’t let your wounded vanity
night air. get the upper hand of you. Plenty of girls get
Lighting the lamps had been beautiful. The jilted. You were jilted, weren’t you? Then stand
children huddled up to her and breathed like lit- up to it. Her eyelids wavered and let in streamers
tle calves waiting at the bars in the twilight. of blue-gray light like tissue paper over her eyes.
Their eyes followed the match and watched the She must get up and pull the shades down or
flame rise and settle in a blue curve, then they she’d never sleep. She was in bed again and the
moved away from her. The lamp was lit, they shades were not down. How could that happen?
didn’t have to be scared and hang on to mother Better turn over, hide from the light; sleeping in
any more. Never, never, never more. God, for all the light gave you nightmares. “Mother, how do
my life I thank Thee. Without Thee, my God, I you feel now?” and a stinging wetness on her
could never have done it. Hail, Mary, full of forehead. But I don’t like having my face washed
grace.7 in cold water!
I want you to pick all the fruit this year and Hapsy? George? Lydia? Jimmy? No, Cornelia,
see that nothing is wasted. There’s always some- and her features were swollen and full of little pud-
one who can use it. Don’t let good things rot for dles. “They’re coming, darling, they’ll all be here
want of using. You waste life when you waste soon.” Go wash your face, child, you look funny.
good food. Don’t let things get lost. It’s bitter to Instead of obeying, Cornelia knelt down and
lose things. Now, don’t let me get to thinking, put her head on the pillow. She seemed to be
not when I am tired and taking a little nap talking but there was no sound. “Well, are you
before supper . . . tongue-tied? Whose birthday is it? Are you going
The pillow rose about her shoulders and to give a party?”
pressed against her heart and the memory was Cornelia’s mouth moved urgently in strange
being squeezed out of it: oh, push down the pil- shapes. “Don’t do that, you bother me, daughter.”
low, somebody; it would smother her if she tried “Oh, no, Mother. Oh, no . . .”
to hold it. Such a fresh breeze blowing and such Nonsense. It was strange about children. They
a green day with no threats in it. But he had not disputed your every word. “No what, Cornelia?”
come, just the same. What does a woman do
when she has put on the white veil and set out Literary Element Stream of Consciousness In writing
that uses stream of consciousness, some information is often
unclear. What is unclear here?
7. Hail, Mary, full of grace is the beginning of a Roman
Catholic prayer to the Virgin Mary. Vocabulary

Big Idea Modern Fiction How is this method of showing vanity (van i tē) n. excessive pride, as in one’s looks
Granny’s thoughts related to Modernism? jilt (jilt) v. to drop or reject as a sweetheart

KATHERINE ANNE PO RTER 779


The Seamstress, 1914. Knud Larsen. Oil on
canvas, 20 x 181/2 in. Private collection.
Viewing the Art: How might the woman in
the painting be like Cornelia at that age?

“Here’s Doctor Harry.” on Hapsy’s arm was Hapsy and himself and her-
“I won’t see that boy again. He just left five self, all at once, and there was no surprise in the
minutes ago.” meeting. Then Hapsy melted from within and
“That was this morning, Mother. It’s night turned flimsy as gray gauze and the baby was a
now. Here’s the nurse.” gauzy shadow, and Hapsy came up close and said,
“This is Doctor Harry, Mrs. Weatherall. I “I thought you’d never come,” and looked at her
never saw you look so young and happy!” very searchingly and said, “You haven’t changed
“Ah, I’ll never be young again—but I’d be a bit!” They leaned forward to kiss, when
happy if they’d let me lie in peace and get Cornelia began whispering from a long way off,
rested.” “Oh, is there anything you want to tell me? Is
She thought she spoke up loudly, but no one there anything I can do for you?”
answered. A warm weight on her forehead, a Yes, she had changed her mind after sixty
warm bracelet on her wrist and a breeze went on years and she would like to see George. I want
whispering, trying to tell her something. A shuf- you to find George. Find him and be sure to tell
fle of leaves in the everlasting hand of God, He him I forgot him. I want him to know I had my
blew on them and they danced and rattled. husband just the same, and my children and my
“Mother, don’t mind, we’re going to give you a house, like any other woman. A good house too
little hypodermic.” “Look here, daughter, how do and a good husband that I loved and fine chil-
ants get in this bed? I saw sugar ants yesterday.” dren out of him. Better than I hoped for, even.
Did you send for Hapsy too?
It was Hapsy she really wanted. She had to go
a long way back through a great many rooms to Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About the
find Hapsy standing with a baby on her arm. She Protagonist In this paragraph, is Granny thinking about the
seemed to herself to be Hapsy also, and the baby past or present? How do you know?

780 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Christie’s Images
Tell him I was given back everything he took Since the day the wedding cake was not cut, but
away, and more. Oh, no, O God, no, there was thrown out and wasted. The whole bottom
something else besides the house and the man dropped out of the world, and there she was,
and the children. Oh, surely they were not all? blind and sweating, with nothing under her feet
What was it? Something not given back . . . Her and the walls falling away. His hand had caught
breath crowded down under her ribs and grew her under the breast, she had not fallen; there
into a monstrous frightening shape with cutting was the freshly polished floor with the green rug
edges; it bored8 up into her head, and the agony on it, just as before. He had cursed like a sailor’s
was unbelievable. Yes, John, get the doctor now, parrot and said, “I’ll kill him for you.” “Don’t lay
no more talk, my time has come. a hand on him, for my sake leave something to
When this one was born it should be the last. God.” “Now, Ellen, you must believe what I tell
The last. It should have been born first, for it you . . .”
was the one she had truly wanted. Everything So there was nothing, nothing to worry about
came in good time. Nothing left out, left over. any more, except sometimes in the night one of
She was strong, in three days she would be as the children screamed in a nightmare, and they
well as ever. Better. A woman needed milk in both hustled out shaking and hunting for the
her to have her full health. matches and calling, “There, wait a minute, here
“Mother, do you hear me?” we are!” John, get the doctor now, Hapsy’s time
“I’ve been telling you—” has come. But there was Hapsy standing by the
“Mother, Father Connolly’s here.” bed in a white cap. “Cornelia, tell Hapsy to take
“I went to Holy Communion only last week. off her cap. I can’t see her plain.”
Tell him I’m not so sinful as all that.” Her eyes opened very wide and the room stood
“Father just wants to speak to you.” out like a picture she had seen somewhere. Dark
He could speak as much as he pleased. It was colors with the shadows rising towards the ceiling
like him to drop in and inquire about her soul as if in long angles. The tall black dresser gleamed
it were a teething baby, and then stay on for a cup with nothing on it but John’s picture, enlarged
of tea and a round of cards and gossip. He always from a little one, with John’s eyes very black when
had a funny story of some sort, usually about an they should have been blue. You never saw him,
Irishman who made his little mistakes and con- so how do you know how he looked? But the man
fessed them, and the point lay in some absurd insisted the copy was perfect, it was very rich and
thing he would blurt out in the confessional9 handsome. For a picture, yes, but it’s not my hus-
showing his struggles between native piety and band. The table by the bed had a linen cover and
original sin. Granny felt easy about her soul. a candle and a crucifix. The light was blue from
Cornelia, where are your manners? Give Father Cornelia’s silk lampshades. No sort of light at all,
Connolly a chair. She had her secret comfortable just frippery.11 You had to live forty years with ker-
understanding with a few favorite saints who osene lamps to appreciate honest electricity. She
cleared a straight road to God for her. All as surely felt very strong and she saw Doctor Harry with a
signed and sealed as the papers for the new Forty rosy nimbus12 around him.
Acres. For ever . . . heirs and assigns10 forever. “You look like a saint, Doctor Harry, and I
vow that’s as near as you’ll ever come to it.”
8. Here, to bore means “to make a hole, as by drilling or
“She’s saying something.”
pushing.” “I heard you, Cornelia. What’s all this
9. A confessional is a small booth in a Catholic church where carrying-on?”
a person confesses his or her sins to a priest and asks “Father Connolly’s saying—”
forgiveness from God through the priest.
10. Assigns are people to whom property is legally transferred.

Literary Element Stream of Consciousness What 11. Frippery is a showy, useless display.
causes this shift in Granny’s thoughts? 12. A nimbus is a disk or ring of light; a halo.

Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About the


Vocabulary
Protagonist Besides the jilting, what events in Granny’s life
piety (p̄ ə tē) n. religious devoutness; goodness appear to have the most importance for her?

KATHERINE ANNE PO RTER 781


Cornelia’s voice staggered and bumped like a cart But I can’t, it’s not time. Oh, I always hated
in a bad road. It rounded corners and turned back surprises. I wanted to give Cornelia the
again and arrived nowhere. Granny stepped up in amethyst15 set—Cornelia, you’re to have the
the cart very lightly and reached for the reins, but a amethyst set, but Hapsy’s to wear it when she
man sat beside her, and she knew him by his hands, wants, and, Doctor Harry, do shut up. Nobody
driving the cart. She did not look in his face, for she sent for you. Oh, my dear Lord, do wait a min-
knew without seeing, but looked instead down the ute. I meant to do something about the Forty
road where the trees leaned over and bowed to each Acres, Jimmy doesn’t need it and Lydia will later
other and a thousand birds were on, with that worthless husband of hers. I meant
singing a Mass. She felt like to finish the altar cloth and send six bottles of
singing too, but she put her wine to Sister Borgia for her dyspepsia.16 I want
hand in the bosom of her dress to send six bottles of wine to Sister Borgia,
and pulled out a rosary, and Father Connolly, now don’t let me forget.
Father Connolly murmured Cornelia’s voice made short turns and tilted
Latin in a very solemn voice over and crashed. “Oh, Mother, oh, Mother,
Did You Know?
A rosary is a
and tickled her feet.13 My God, oh, Mother . . .”
string of beads will you stop that nonsense? I’m “I’m not going, Cornelia. I’m taken by sur-
used to help a married woman. What if he prise. I can’t go.”
count specific did run away and leave me to You’ll see Hapsy again. What about her? “I
prayers as they
face the priest by myself? I found thought you’d never come.” Granny made a long
are recited.
another a whole world better. I journey outward, looking for Hapsy. What if I don’t
wouldn’t have exchanged my husband for anybody find her? What then? Her heart sank down and
except St. Michael14 himself, and you may tell him down, there was no bottom to death, she couldn’t
that for me, with a thank you into the bargain. come to the end of it. The blue light from
Light flashed on her closed eyelids, and a deep Cornelia’s lampshade drew into a tiny point in the
roaring shook her. Cornelia, is that lightning? I center of her brain, it flickered and winked like an
hear thunder. There’s going to be a storm. Close eye, quietly it fluttered and dwindled. Granny lay
all the windows. Call the children in . . . curled down within herself, amazed and watchful,
“Mother, here we are, all of us.” “Is that you, staring at the point of light that was herself; her
Hapsy?” “Oh, no, I’m Lydia. We drove as fast body was now only a deeper mass of shadow in an
as we could.” Their faces drifted above her, endless darkness and this darkness would curl round
drifted away. The rosary fell out of her hands the light and swallow it up. God, give a sign!
and Lydia put it back. Jimmy tried to help, their For the second time there was no sign. Again
hands fumbled together, and Granny closed two no bridegroom and the priest in the house. She
fingers round Jimmy’s thumb. Beads wouldn’t do, could not remember any other sorrow because
it must be something alive. She was so amazed this grief wiped them all away. Oh, no, there’s
her thoughts ran round and round. So, my dear nothing more cruel than this—I’ll never forgive
Lord, this is my death and I wasn’t even thinking it. She stretched herself with a deep breath and
about it. My children have come to see me die. blew out the light. 

13. The priest is administering the Sacrament of the Infirm, a


Catholic ritual that includes saying prayers and applying oil
to the many parts of a person’s body. 15. Amethyst (am ə thist) is purple or violet quartz and is
14. St. Michael is an archangel, usually depicted as a typically used in jewelry.
handsome knight. 16. Dyspepsia is indigestion.

Big Idea Modern Fiction How is the characterization in Literary Element Stream of Consciousness What is
this story different from traditional characterization? unclear about this moment in the story?

782 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Photodisc
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. What was your reaction to Granny Weatherall’s train 5. (a)In your opinion, did Granny live a full life?
of thought throughout the story? Support your answer with details from the story.
(b)What is symbolic about the name Weatherall?
Recall and Interpret
6. (a)How do the present and past merge when the
2. (a)At the beginning of the story, what attitudes
priest appears? (b)How does Porter use religion to
does Granny have toward Dr. Harry, Cornelia, and
add an extra layer of meaning to the story? Explain.
her own illness? (b)What do Granny’s attitudes
reveal about her state of mind? 7. Evaluate whether Porter brings this story to an
effective close. Explain your answer using details
3. (a)Who is Hapsy, and where does Granny see
from the story.
her? (b)How does this experience relate to what
occurs at the end of the story? Connect
4. (a)Which event does Granny recall with particular 8. Big Idea Modern Fiction How does the stream
anger and sadness? (b)What does her “message” of consciousness technique that Porter uses to tell
for the person involved allow you to infer about her the story clarify the role that memories, experiences,
feelings toward him? and inner and outer worlds play in one’s life?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S

Literary Element Stream of Consciousness Partner Activity Work with a classmate to review
how you learned about Cornelia as you read the story.
By using stream of consciousness, Porter takes the
Create a web diagram like the one below, adding new
reader deep into the mind of Granny Weatherall and
circles with specific information from the story.
presents a vivid picture of death. Look back at the time-
line you created as you answer the following questions:
1. What kinds of clues help the reader distinguish the descriptive Cornelia’s
details actions
past from the present?
2. Is stream of consciousness a good technique for
Cornelia
telling the story of the hours and minutes leading
up to death? Why or why not? Granny’s
Cornelia’s comments
words about her
Review: Characterization
Characterization refers to the various methods that a
writer uses to develop the personality of a character.
These include description, dialogue, the character’s
actions, and sometimes, as in this story, the character’s
thoughts.

KATHERINE ANNE PO RTER 783


R EAD I N G AN D VO CAB U L ARY W R IT I N G A N D E X T E N D I N G

Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions Writing About Literature


About the Protagonist Apply Point of View Choose any character in the
Compared with most of the women of her time and story except Granny Weatherall, and write several para-
culture, Granny Weatherall was very independent, graphs that present events from this person’s point of
both financially and personally. Review the chart you view, using stream of consciousness. Incorporate
filled in as you read to draw conclusions about her events from the story but invent the character’s
traits. response to them.

1. What are two important events in Granny’s life that List the events, feelings, and memories that you wish
illustrate her independence? to write about from your character’s point of view.
Then create a flow chart like the one below to show
2. Near the end of her life, how does Granny’s desire how you will connect them. Link the events with
to remain independent affect her attitudes toward memories and feelings.
Cornelia, Dr. Harry, and George?
SEQUENCE OF EVENTS

Vocabulary Practice
Practice with Context Clues Read each of the
following sentences and then decide which of the


choices is closest in meaning to the boldfaced word.
1. Annette was very tactful and complimented
each of her friends.
a. blunt b. polite
2. We wanted to leave a dutiful caretaker in ➧
charge of the animals so they would all remain
healthy.
a. conscientious b. quick
3. My uncle’s vanity was great enough that he felt

sure he’d win the contest.
a. enthusiasm b. conceit
4. My sister cried for three days after she was
jilted by her boyfriend.
a. praised b. rejected
5. Joseph, who always carried a rosary, was known
After you complete your draft, have a peer read it and
for his piety.
suggest revisions. Then proofread and edit your work
a. religious faith b. personal style
for errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Listening and Speaking


Imagine that George arrives in Granny’s room or calls
her on the phone. Write and present a monologue in
which Granny speaks to George. Keep Granny’s char-
acter, condition, and situation in mind. As you prepare,
ask yourself the following questions:
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to • What would Granny really want to say to George?
www.glencoe.com. • What would she actually say to him?

784 U N IT 5 BEGINNINGS OF THE MODERN AGE


PART 3
THE HARLEM
RENAISSANCE

The Bitter Nest, Part II: The Harlem Renaissance Party, c. 1988. Faith Ringgold. Acrylic on canvas with
printed, dyed, and pieced fabric, 94 x 83 in. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC.

“I, too, am America.”


—Langston Hughes, “I, Too”
785
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC/Art Resource, NY
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

My City
M E E T JA M ES W E LDO N J O H NSON

B
oth as an artist and an activist, James During the 1920s, Harlem
Weldon Johnson spent his life introducing became “the recognized
the United States to the creative voice of Negro capital,” and the
African Americans while fighting the racism and passionate innovations in
the social injustices he believed hindered their African American music,
progress. For Johnson, writing poetry and fighting art, and literature that
for equality served the same goal: winning a developed there became
respected place in society for African Americans. known as the Harlem
Renaissance. Johnson was
Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Johnson grew up in
involved in the movement not only as an author
a stable middle-class home and was raised to have
but also as a mentor of young writers, such as
an appreciation of the arts and a love of learning.
Claude McKay and Langston Hughes. He urged
Later, as a student at Atlanta University, he
artists to find their inspiration in real-life African
embraced the school’s philosophy that educated
American communities. In these artists he saw “a
African Americans should devote their lives to
group whose ideals are becoming increasingly more
public service—and he did just that.
vital than those of the traditionally artistic group,
even if its members are less picturesque.” In 1922,
Johnson published his widely acclaimed anthology,
“I believe that the richest contributions the The Book of American Negro Poetry.
Negro poet can make to the American Devoted to Public Service Though most
literature of the future will be the fusion famous for his literary contributions, Johnson’s
work outside the creative sphere was equally
into it of his own individual artistic gifts.” impressive and, in some ways, groundbreaking.
—James Weldon Johnson Johnson was the first African American lawyer to
“Preface,” The Book of American Negro Poetry be admitted to the bar in Florida, and as a leader
in the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP), he was instrumental
in helping the organization become a national
Born to be a New Yorker In 1900, he and
force capable of lobbying in Washington. He
his brother Rosamond composed the spiritual-
played an integral role in bringing attention to the
influenced song “Lift Every Voice and Sing,”
issues of social desegregation and the abolishment
which would later be referred to as “the Negro
of discrimination in housing, education, employ-
National Anthem.” Shortly after that, the brothers
ment, and voting. Johnson’s contributions as a
began writing hit songs for Broadway musicals and
Civil Rights activist, poet, and novelist continue
the stage. They quickly realized that living in
to impact modern society.
Florida was a disadvantage for that profession, and
by 1902 Johnson resigned his post as principal of James Weldon Johnson was born in 1871 and died
Stanton School and the brothers relocated to New in 1938.
York City. For Johnson, New York City proved
“an alluring world, a tempting world, a world of
greatly lessened restraints . . . but, above all, a Author Search For more about
world of tremendous artistic potentialities.” James Weldon Johnson, go to www.glencoe.com.

786 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Poem Reading Strategy Interpreting Imagery


Do you love the city or town you live in? What would Imagery is the “word pictures” that a writer creates to
you miss most if you had to leave? In Johnson’s poem, make the text more vivid or evoke an emotional
he celebrates New York City and what the city means to response. Writers often use sensory details—or descrip-
him. Think about the following questions: tions that appeal to the five senses—to create effective
images. As you read “My City,” note how Johnson’s
• What is your favorite place? Why? imagery differs in each stanza.
• How would you feel if you could never visit it again?
Building Background Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart like the one
below to understand the pattern of imagery in “My City.”
At the beginning of his literary career, Johnson often
Record the images in the poem and give your interpre-
modeled his writing after classic poets of the English
tation of how they contribute to the poem’s impact.
language—writing in a formal style and using rhymed
verse in traditional forms such as the sonnet. “My City”
is an example of a Petrarchan sonnet, named for Image Impact
Francesco Petrarca (or Francis Petrarch), the Italian poet
who developed the form in the 1300s. During the
Harlem Renaissance, Johnson began experimenting with
free verse. Inspired by the powerful rhythms of African
American preachers, he wrote a collection of poems
styled after folk sermons, called God’s Trombones.

Setting Purposes for Reading


Big Idea The Harlem Renaissance
In “My City,” Johnson celebrates Manhattan, the most
well-known borough (or administrative unit) of New
York City. Harlem is a neighborhood in Manhattan. Vocabulary
As you read, note what Johnson’s poem suggests about
subtle (sə təl) adj. faint; barely noticeable; not
the vitality of the city during the Harlem Renaissance.
obvious; p. 788 Although her smirk was subtle, I
saw it.
Literary Element Sonnet
stark (stark) adj. absolute; complete; p. 788
A sonnet is a lyric poem of fourteen lines, typically writ- Pablo’s opinion was in stark contrast to mine.
ten in iambic pentameter and usually following strict
patterns of stanza division and rhyme. “My City” is a unutterable (un ə tə rə bəl) adj. too deep or
Petrarchan (or Italian) sonnet, which has fourteen lines great to be put into words; p. 788 The appre-
divided into two stanzas, an eight-line octave and a six- hended thief experienced unutterable regret.
line sestet. The octave typically sets up a situation or
poses a question that is developed or responded to in Vocabulary Tip: Antonyms Antonyms are words
the sestet. Notice this structure as you read. that have opposite or nearly opposite meanings.
Note that antonyms are always the same part of
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R17. speech.

Interactive Literary Elements


Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • understanding and interpreting imagery
• analyzing characteristics of the Harlem Renaissance • analyzing sonnets

JAMES WELDON JOHNSON 787


Fulton and Nostrand, 1958. Jacob Lawrence. Tempera on masonite, 24 x 30 in.

James Weldon Johnson Private collection. Courtesy Terry Dintenfass Gallery, New York.

When I come down to sleep death’s endless night,


The threshold of the unknown dark to cross,
What to me then will be the keenest loss,
When this bright world blurs on my fading sight?
5 Will it be that no more I shall see the trees
Or smell the flowers or hear the singing birds
Or watch the flashing streams or patient herds?
No. I am sure it will be none of these.

But, ah! Manhattan’s sights and sounds, her smells,


10 Her crowds, her throbbing force, the thrill that comes
From being of her a part, her subtle spells,
Her shining towers, her avenues, her slums—
O God! the stark, unutterable pity,
To be dead, and never again behold my city.

Big Idea The Harlem Renaissance How do you think the speaker
feels toward Manhattan’s “shining towers” and “slums”?

Vocabulary
subtle (sə təl) adj. faint; barely noticeable; not obvious
stark (stark) adj. absolute; complete
unutterable (un ə tə rə bəl) adj. too deep or great to be put into
words

788 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


The Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Foundation/Art Resource, NY
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. How did “My City” make you feel about New York 5. (a)What, according to the speaker, is “the stark,
City as it was during the Harlem Renaissance? unutterable pity” (line 13)? (b)Why might the
speaker feel this way about the city?
Recall and Interpret
6. (a)How does the rhyme scheme connect to what
2. (a)What question does the speaker pose for
the poem says? (b)Would the poem have the same
himself at the beginning of the poem? (b)Is the
effect if it didn’t have a rhyme scheme? Explain.
speaker’s age implied in this question? If so, how?
7. (a)A caesura is a pronounced pause in the middle
3. (a)What possible answers to his question does the
of a line of poetry that is often indicated by punctu-
speaker first explore? (b)Why might he propose
ation. Where does Johnson use caesuras in the
these answers?
poem? (b)What is the effect of these pauses?
4. (a)What answer does the speaker finally provide?
(b)What reasons does he give? (c)What does this Connect
answer tell you about the speaker’s personality? 8. Big Idea The Harlem Renaissance (a)How
does Johnson’s poem reflect the general mood of
the Harlem Renaissance? (b)Why do you think he
titled the poem “My City”?

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Sonnet Reading Strategy Interpreting Imagery


Petrarchan sonnets always have two stanzas: an Johnson uses imagery in “My City” not only to evoke
octave and a sestet. The relationship between these the reader’s emotions, but also to help the reader
two stanzas can vary, however. After the octave estab- understand what the speaker is seeing and feeling.
lishes the main idea of the poem, the sestet can Look at the chart you made as you read.
either further develop that idea or offer a new, even
1. How does the imagery change from the octave to
contradictory idea.
the sestet?
1. What relationship do the octave and sestet have in
2. How does this change reinforce the meaning of the
“My City”? Explain.
poem?
2. How does the division of this poem into an octave
and a sestet contribute to its effectiveness?
Vocabulary Practice
Learning for Life Practice with Antonyms Find the antonym for
each vocabulary word from “My City” listed in the
A Brochure of Poetic Places Using a map and tourist first column. Use a dictionary or a thesaurus if you
information about Manhattan, locate places that match need help.
Johnson’s descriptions. Then create an illustrated tourism
guide for “My City.” Before you turn in your guide, share it 1. subtle a. obvious b. detailed
with another student and ask for feedback on how well it 2. stark a. incomplete b. plain
expresses Johnson’s love of Manhattan.
3. unutterable a. massive b. explainable

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

JAMES WELD ON JOHNSON 789


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

from Dust Tracks on a Road


M E E T ZO R A N E A LE H U R STON She once
remarked, “I am

I
so put together
n 1973, writer Alice Walker traveled to Fort
that I do not
Pierce, Florida, to visit Zora Neale Hurston’s
have much of a
grave. According to Walker, what she found
herd instinct. Or
looked “more like an abandoned field” than a
if I must be con-
cemetery. Walker ordered a headstone to mark
nected with the
Hurston’s grave. “I wanted to mark Zora’s grave so
flock, let me be
that one day all our daughters and sons would be
the shepherd my
able to locate the remains of a human mountain in
ownself. That is
Florida’s and America’s so frequently flat terrain,”
just the way I am
Walker explains.
made.” Her ideas
sometimes got her into trouble with her fellow
Introduction to Folklore Zora Neale Hurston
writers, some of whom felt that documenting the
grew up in Eatonville, Florida, one of the first
speech and folkways of small-town African
incorporated black towns in the United States,
Americans could expose the community to ridi-
where her father was the mayor. Only thirteen
cule. Over the years Hurston’s popularity declined.
years old when her mother died, Hurston spent the
By the time of her death in a Florida retirement
next two decades working as a waitress, a manicur-
home, she was penniless.
ist, and a maid, while trying to complete a high
school education. Finally she enrolled in Howard Today, thanks to Walker and other admirers,
University, and later Barnard College. There, she Hurston’s books are widely read. She is remembered
came to the attention of celebrated anthropologist for her ability to capture the rich traditions and
Franz Boas, who invited Hurston to become for- poetic speech of southern African American cul-
mally trained as an anthropologist and a folklorist. ture. Her book Mules and Men is recognized as the
first history of African American folklore written
After completing her studies, Hurston used her
by an African American, and her most admired
training to collect the folklore of Eatonville and
novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, has sold more
other southern African American communities.
than a million copies since its republication in 1969.
She later used this material as a source for much of
Hurston’s work is rich in human insights about
the fiction writing she pursued when not docu-
both community and the individual, and fre-
menting folklore.
quently portrays characters with complex longings
for a free and wide-ranging way of life. In her auto-
biography, Hurston recalled, “I used to climb to
“There is no agony like bearing an the top of one of the huge chinaberry trees which
guarded our front gate and look out over the
untold story inside you.” world. The most interesting thing I saw was the
—Zora Neale Hurston horizon. . . . It grew upon me that I ought to walk
out to the horizon and see what the end of the
world was like.”
Literary Success and Obscurity Although Zora Neale Hurston was born in 1891 and died in 1960.
considered an important figure in the Harlem
Renaissance, Hurston was a fierce individualist who Author Search For more about
resisted membership in any one school of thought. Author Name,
Zora Neale go to www.literature.glencoe.com.
Hurston, go to www.glencoe.com.

790 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Analyzing Language


Have you ever received a gift that changed your per- When you analyze a selection, you look at separate
ceptions of another person? As you read this excerpt, parts to see how they work together to produce an
think about the following questions: underlying meaning. As you read, examine the ways
Hurston uses precise, vivid words, dialect (local speech
• What gifts tend to be the most meaningful? patterns), and regional expressions to create a rich
• What can you learn about someone from his or her portrait of childhood in Eatonville.
reactions to a gift?

Building Background Reading Tip: Reading Slowly When you read mate-
rial that contains unfamiliar words, phrases, or con-
This excerpt takes place about 1900 in Eatonville,
cepts, slow down your reading rate to aid
Florida. Zora Neale Hurston frequently celebrated the
comprehension.
customs and speech of her hometown in her writing.
Although the autobiography Dust Tracks on a Road is
fascinating for what it reveals about Hurston and her Vocabulary
background, it conceals much about her life at the
same time. Hurston never tells when she was born, brazenness (brā zən nəs) n. defiant behavior;
never mentions her second marriage, and contradicts boldness; p. 792 We laughed at the comic’s bra-
details about her life that she wrote about in private zenness when he ridiculed the mayor.
letters to friends. exalt (i zolt ) v. to lift up; to put in high spir-
its; p. 793 I always exalt the influence of my
Setting Purposes for Reading mother.
Big Idea The Harlem Renaissance snicker (sni kər) n. a snide, partly suppressed
Although Hurston resisted being defined by any laugh, often expressing disrespect; p. 794 When
particular literary movement, she participated in New the actor forgot his lines, a man in the audience let
York musical and literary scenes and, with other out a snicker.
Harlem intellectuals, helped to create a vibrant culture.
indifferent (in dif ər ənt) adj. lacking feeling or
Her works were among the first to celebrate Southern
concern; p. 796 Jim played for the joy of it; he was
African American life. As you read, notice details of
completely indifferent to whether he won or lost.
Southern life that Hurston considered worthy of
recording and celebrating.
Vocabulary Tip: Analogies Analogies are compari-
sons that show similarities between two things that
Literary Element Voice are otherwise dissimilar. An analogy can help
The voice of a literary work is the distinctive use of explain something unfamiliar by comparing it to
language that conveys the author’s or narrator’s per- something familiar.
sonality to the reader. Voice is determined by elements
of style such as word choice and tone. As you read,
pay attention to what the narrator’s voice reveals about
her personality and background.

• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R19.


Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • recognizing an author’s voice in a literary work
• interpreting modern fiction • analyzing language

ZO RA NEALE HURSTON 791


Philadelphia Museum of Art: The Louis E. Stern Collection
Harlem Series, no. 28: The Libraries Are Appreciated, 1943. Jacob Lawrence.
Gouache on paper, 141/2 x 211/4 in. Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA.

Zora Neale Hurston


I used to take a seat on top of the gate-post and When they found out about it later, I usually got
watch the world go by. One way to Orlando ran a whipping. My grandmother worried about my
past my house, so the carriages and cars would forward ways a great deal. She had known slav-
pass before me. The movement made me glad to ery and to her my brazenness was unthinkable.
see it. Often the white travelers would hail1 me, “Git down offa dat gate-post! You li’l sow, you!
but more often I hailed them, and asked, “Don’t Git down! Setting up dere looking dem white
you want me to go a piece of the way with you?” folks right in de face! They’s gowine2 to lynch
They always did. I know now that I must have you, yet. And don’t stand in dat doorway gazing
caused a great deal of amusement among them, out at ’em neither. Youse too brazen to live long.”
but my self-assurance must have carried the
point, for I was always invited to come along. I’d 2. Gowine is dialect for “going.”
ride up the road for perhaps a half-mile, then
walk back. I did not do this with the permission Literary Element Voice What does this passage suggest
about the young Hurston’s personality?
of my parents, nor with their foreknowledge.
Vocabulary

1. Hail means “to greet.” brazenness (brā zən nəs) n. defiant behavior; boldness

792 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Nevertheless, I kept right on gazing at them, This particular afternoon, the two young ladies
and “going a piece of the way” whenever I could just popped in. Mr. Calhoun was flustered,8 but
make it. The village seemed dull to me most of he put on the best show he could. He dismissed
the time. If the village was singing a chorus, I the class that he was teaching up at the front of
must have missed the tune. the room, then called the fifth grade in reading.
Perhaps a year before the old man3 died, I That was my class.
came to know two other white people for myself. So we took our readers and went up front. We
They were women. stood up in the usual line, and opened to the les-
It came about this way. The whites who came son. It was the story of Pluto and Persephone.9 It
down from the North were often brought by their was new and hard to the class in general, and Mr.
friends to visit the village school. A Negro school Calhoun was very uncomfortable as the readers
was something strange to them, and while they stumbled along, spelling out words with their lips,
were always sympathetic and kind, curiosity must and in mumbling undertones before they exposed
have been present, also. They came and went, them experimentally to the teacher’s ears.
came and went. Always, the room was hurriedly Then it came to me. I was fifth or sixth down
put in order, and we were threatened with a the line. The story was not new to me, because I
prompt and bloody death if we cut one caper4 had read my reader through from lid to lid, the
while the visitors were present. We always sang a first week that Papa had bought it for me.
spiritual, led by Mr. Calhoun himself. Mrs. That is how it was that my eyes were not in the
Calhoun always stood in the back, with a pal- book, working out the paragraph which I knew
metto switch5 in her hand as a squelcher. We were would be mine by counting the children ahead of
all little angels for the duration, because we’d bet- me. I was observing our visitors, who held a book
ter be. She would cut her eyes6 and give us a glare between them, following the lesson. They had shiny
that meant trouble, then turn her face towards the hair, mostly brownish. One had a looping gold
visitors and beam as much as to say it was a great chain around her neck. The other one was dressed
privilege and pleasure to teach lovely children like all over in black and white with a pretty finger ring
us. They couldn’t see that palmetto hickory in her on her left hand. But the thing that held my eyes
hand behind all those benches, but we knew were their fingers. They were long and thin, and
where our angelic behavior was coming from. very white, except up near the tips. There they were
Usually, the visitors gave warning a day ahead baby pink. I had never seen such hands. It was a fas-
and we would be cautioned to put on shoes, comb cinating discovery for me. I wondered how they felt.
our heads, and see to ears and fingernails. There I would have given those hands more attention, but
was a close inspection of every one of us before we the child before me was almost through. My turn
marched in that morning. Knotty heads, dirty ears next, so I got on my mark, bringing my eyes back to
and fingernails got hauled out of line, strapped the book and made sure of my place. Some of the
and sent home to lick the calf 7 over again. stories I had re-read several times, and this Greco-
Roman myth was one of my favorites. I was exalted
by it, and that is the way I read my paragraph.
3. The old man, a white farmer who was a friend of Hurston’s
family, took Zora Neale fishing and gave her advice.
4. Cut one caper is slang for “play a trick or prank” or “behave
8. Flustered means “nervous” or “agitated.”
extravagantly or noisily.”
9. The myth of Pluto and Persephone (pər sefə n̄e) explains
5. A palmetto switch, a whip used for discipline, was made
the origin of the seasons. Pluto is god of the underworld,
from the flexible stem of a leaf from a palmetto palm.
and Persephone is his wife.
6. Cut her eyes is slang for “look at with scorn or contempt.”
7. Lick the calf is slang for “get cleaned up.” Literary Element Voice What does the use of the word
“exalted” convey about the feelings the myth stirs in the
Big Idea The Harlem Renaissance What do these young Hurston?
details reveal about the United States at the time?

Vocabulary
Reading Strategy Analyzing Language Why does the
author include phrases such as “lick the calf”? exalt (i zolt) v. to lift up; to put in high spirits

ZO RA NEALE HURSTON 793


“Yes, Jupiter10 had seen her (Persephone). He “Come here, Zora Neale,” Mr. Calhoun cooed
had seen the maiden picking flowers in the field. as I reached the desk. He put his hand on my
He had seen the chariot of the dark monarch shoulder and gave me little pats. The ladies smiled
pause by the maiden’s side. He had seen him and held out those flower-looking fingers towards
when he seized Persephone. He had seen the me. I seized the opportunity for a good look.
black horses leap down Mount Aetna’s11 fiery “Shake hands with the ladies, Zora Neale,”
throat. Persephone was now in Pluto’s dark realm Mr. Calhoun prompted and they took my hand
and he had made her his wife.” one after the other and smiled. They asked me if
The two women looked at each other and I loved school, and I lied that I did. There was
then back to me. Mr. Calhoun broke out with some truth in it, because I liked geography and
a proud smile beneath his bristly moustache, reading, and I liked to play at recess time.
and instead of the next child taking up where Whoever it was invented writing and arithmetic
I had ended, he nodded to me to go on. So got no thanks from me. Neither did I like the
I read the story to the end, where flying arrangement where the teacher could sit up there
Mercury, the messenger of the Gods, brought with a palmetto stem and lick me whenever he
Persephone back to the sunlit earth and saw fit. I hated things I couldn’t do anything
restored her to the arms of Dame Ceres, her about. But I knew better than to bring that up
mother, that the world might have springtime right there, so I said yes, I loved school.
and summer flowers, autumn and harvest. But “I can tell you do,” Brown Taffeta gleamed.
because she had bitten the pomegranate while She patted my head, and was lucky enough not
in Pluto’s kingdom, she must return to him for to get sandspurs12 in her hand. Children who roll
three months of each year, and be his queen. and tumble in the grass in Florida are apt to get
Then the world had winter, until she returned sandspurs in their hair. They shook hands with
to earth. me again and I went back to my seat.
The class was dismissed and the visitors smiled When school let out at three o’clock, Mr.
us away and went into a low-voiced conversation Calhoun told me to wait. When everybody had
with Mr. Calhoun for a few minutes. They gone, he told me I was to go to the Park House,
glanced my way once or twice and I began to that was the hotel in Maitland, the next after-
worry. Not only was I barefooted, but my feet noon to call upon Mrs. Johnstone and Miss
and legs were dusty. My hair was more uncombed Hurd. I must tell Mama to see that I was clean
than usual, and my nails were not shiny clean. and brushed from head to feet, and I must wear
Oh, I’m going to catch it now. Those ladies saw shoes and stockings. The ladies liked me, he said,
me, too. Mr. Calhoun is promising to ’tend to and I must be on my best behavior.
me. So I thought. The next day I was let out of school an hour
Then Mr. Calhoun called me. I went up early, and went home to be stood up in a tub of
thinking how awful it was to get a whipping suds and be scrubbed and have my ears dug into.
before company. Furthermore, I heard a snicker My sandy hair sported a red ribbon to match my
run over the room. Hennie Clark and Stell red and white checked gingham dress, starched
Brazzle did it out loud, so I would be sure to hear until it could stand alone. Mama saw to it that
them. The smart-aleck was going to get it. I my shoes were on the right feet, since I was care-
slipped one hand behind me and switched my less about left and right. Last thing, I was given a
dress tail at them, indicating scorn. handkerchief to carry, warned again about my
behavior, and sent off, with my big brother John
to go as far as the hotel gate with me.
10. In Roman mythology, Jupiter is king of the gods and Pluto’s
brother.
11. Mount Aetna (etnə) (also spelled Etna) is a volcano in
12. Sandspurs (also called sandburs) are spiny burs that grow
eastern Sicily, Italy.
on a grass of the same name.
Vocabulary
Big Idea The Harlem Renaissance What kinds of
snicker (sni kər) n. a snide, partly suppressed laugh, details about the old southern way of life does the author
often expressing disrespect celebrate?

794 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC/Art Resource, NY
moment was the telegram accepting
my first book. One hundred goldy-
new pennies rolled out of the cylin-
der. Their gleam lit up the world. It
was not avarice13 that moved me. It
was the beauty of the thing. I stood
on the mountain. Mama let me play
with my pennies for a while, then
put them away for me to keep.
That was only the beginning.
The next day I received an
Episcopal hymn-book bound in
white leather with a golden cross
stamped into the front cover, a copy
of The Swiss Family Robinson, and
a book of fairy tales.
I set about to commit the song
words to memory. There was no
music written there, just the words.
But there was to my consciousness
music in between them just the
same. “When I survey the
Wondrous Cross” seemed the most
beautiful to me, so I committed
that to memory first of all. Some of
them seemed dull and without life,
Gwendolyn, 1918. John Sloan. Oil on canvas, 24 x 20 in. Smithsonian American and I pretended they were not
Art Museum, Washington, DC. there. If white people liked trashy
Viewing the Art: How does the girl in the painting compare with your picture singing like that, there must be
of the girl in the story? Support your response. something funny about them that I
had not noticed before. I stuck to
First thing, the ladies gave me strange things, the pretty ones where the words
like stuffed dates and preserved ginger, and marched to a throb I could feel.
encouraged me to eat all that I wanted. Then A month or so after the two young ladies
they showed me their Japanese dolls and just returned to Minnesota, they sent me a huge
talked. I was then handed a copy of Scribner’s box packed with clothes and books. The red
Magazine, and asked to read a place that was coat with a wide circular collar and the red tam
pointed out to me. After a paragraph or two, I pleased me more than any of the other things.
was told with smiles, that that would do. My chums pretended not to like anything that
I was led out on the grounds and they took my I had, but even then I knew that they were
picture under a palm tree. They handed me what jealous. Old Smarty had gotten by them again.
was to me then a heavy cylinder done up in fancy The clothes were not new, but they were very
paper, tied with a ribbon, and they told me good- good. I shone like the morning sun.
bye, asking me not to open it until I got home.
My brother was waiting for me down by the
13. Avarice is greed, or excessive desire for wealth.
lake, and we hurried home, eager to see what was
in the thing. It was too heavy to be candy or any- Reading Strategy Analyzing Language How would you
thing like that. John insisted on toting it for me. characterize the language in this passage?
My mother made John give it back to me and
Literary Element Voice What does Hurston’s choice of
let me open it. Perhaps, I shall never experience
words suggest about her faith in her own sense of judgment?
such joy again. The nearest thing to that

ZO RA NEALE HURSTON 795


But the books gave me more pleasure than the that amounted to a hill of beans, so I didn’t
clothes. I had never been too keen on dressing up. care how soon they rolled up their big, soulful,
It called for hard scrubbings with Octagon soap blue eyes and kicked the bucket. They had no
suds getting in my eyes, and none too gentle fin- meat on their bones.
gers scrubbing my neck and gouging in my ears. But I also met Hans Andersen and Robert
In that box were Gulliver’s Travels, Grimm’s Louis Stevenson. They seemed to know what I
Fairy Tales, Dick Whittington, Greek and wanted to hear and said it in a way that tingled
Roman Myths, and best of all, Norse Tales. me. Just a little below these friends was Rudyard
Why did the Norse tales strike so deeply into Kipling in his Jungle Books. I loved his talking
my soul? I do not know, but they did. I seemed snakes as much as I did the hero.
to remember seeing Thor14 swing his mighty I came to start reading the Bible through my
short-handled hammer as he sped across the mother. She gave me a licking one afternoon for
sky in rumbling thunder, lightning flashing repeating something I had overheard a neighbor
from the tread of his steeds and the wheels of telling her. She locked me in her room after the
his chariot. The great and good Odin,15 who whipping, and the Bible was the only thing in
went down to the well of knowledge to drink, there for me to read. I happened to open to the
and was told that the price of a drink from place where David18 was doing some mighty
that fountain was an eye. Odin drank deeply, smiting,19 and I got interested. David went here
then plucked out one eye without a murmur and he went there, and no matter where he
and handed it to the grizzly keeper, and walked went, he smote ’em hip and thigh. Then he sung
away. That held majesty for me. songs to his harp awhile, and went out and smote
Of the Greeks, Hercules moved me most. I some more. Not one time did David stop and
followed him eagerly on his tasks. The story of preach about sins and things. All David wanted
the choice of Hercules as a boy when he met to know from God was who to kill and when. He
Pleasure and Duty, and put his hand in that of took care of the other details himself. Never a
Duty and followed her steep way to the blue quiet moment. I liked him a lot. So I read a great
hills of fame and glory, which she pointed out deal more in the Bible, hunting for some more
at the end, moved me profoundly. I resolved16 active people like David. Except for the beautiful
to be like him. The tricks and turns of the language of Luke and Paul,20 the New Testament
other Gods and Goddesses left me cold. There still plays a poor second to the Old Testament for
were other thin books about this and that me. The Jews had a God who laid about21 Him
sweet and gentle little girl who gave up her when they needed Him. I could see no use wait-
heart to Christ and good works. Almost always ing till Judgment Day to see a man who was just
they died from it, preaching as they passed.17 crying for a good killing, to be told to go and
I was utterly indifferent to their deaths. In the roast.22 My idea was to give him a good killing
first place I could not conceive of death, and first, and then if he got roasted later on, so much
in the next place they never had any funerals the better. 

14. In Norse mythology, Thor is the god of thunder. His 18. David was the second king of Judah and Israel. He killed
magical hammer returns to him like a boomerang after the giant Goliath.
being thrown. 19. Smiting means “striking hard, as with a hand or a weapon,
15. Odin (¯ōdin), the father of Thor, is the supreme god in so as to cause serious injury or death.”
Norse mythology and the creator of the first man and 20. Luke and Paul were authors of much of the New
woman. Odin traded an eye for a drink from the well of Testament of the Christian Bible.
wisdom, which was guarded by a giant. 21. Laid about means “hit out in all directions.”
16. Resolved means “decided.” 22. Roast is slang for “burn in hell.”
17. Passed is short for “passed on” or “passed away” and
means “died.” Reading Strategy Analyzing Language Why is the
language in this passage humorous?
Vocabulary
indifferent (in difər ənt) adj. lacking feeling or Literary Element Voice What do you infer about Hurston
concern from the language in this passage?

796 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond 6. Think back to what you were like in the fifth grade.
Do you think Hurston accurately recreates the
1. How did you react to the narrator? Cite passages to
thoughts of a fifth grader? Support your answer
support your response.
with examples.
Recall and Interpret 7. (a)When Hurston reads aloud from the story of
2. (a)What does the young Hurston do at the begin- Persephone, what does she reveal about her per-
ning of the selection? (b)What does this action tell sonality and abilities? (b)Where else in the selec-
you about her character? tion does she reveal these traits? Explain the overall
impression of Hurston that you received.
3. (a)How do the teachers and students react to the
white visitors? (b)Why do you think they behave Connect
this way?
8. Big Idea The Harlem Renaissance
4. (a)Which gifts from the white women does
The Harlem Renaissance emphasized the value of
Hurston enjoy most? (b)What do those gifts pro-
African Americans’ contributions to the country as a
vide for her that the other gifts do not?
whole. How is this emphasis reflected in the selec-
Analyze and Evaluate tion? Explain.

5. In your opinion, does Hurston do a good job of


portraying the setting (the time and place) in which
she grew up? Explain.

LI TE R ARY AN ALYS I S

Literary Element Voice Partner Activity Hurston makes an allusion to a fig-


ure in the Bible named David, a shepherd boy who
In Dust Tracks on a Road, key information about the
grows up to become the king of Israel. In one of his
author is conveyed through the narrator’s voice. For
many exploits, David kills the giant Goliath with a sin-
instance, when Hurston writes, “If the village was sing-
gle stone fired from a sling. With a partner, reread the
ing a chorus, I must have missed the tune,” the wit
final paragraph of the selection. Make a web like the
and informality of the language suggest an opinion-
one below to show the character traits young Hurston
ated girl with common sense. Hurston’s distinctive
may have felt she had in common with David.
voice also affects the work’s tone, plot, and setting.
1. How would you describe Hurston’s voice in this
selection? Explain.
Hurston
2. What tone, or attitude toward her subject matter,
did the voice allow Hurston to convey? Explain.

Review: Allusion
An allusion is a reference in a work of literature to a
character, place, or situation from history or from
music, art, or another work of literature.

Z O R A NE AL E HUR S T O N 797
R E AD I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY WRITI NG AN D EXTEN DI NG

Reading Strategy Analyzing Language Writing About Literature


Hurston specialized in using colloquial, or everyday, Analyze Cultural Context The context of a work is
language to bring to life the customs, geography, feel- the overall environment that surrounds it. In this selec-
ings, and way of speaking of the people she was writ- tion, the context is the United States in the early years
ing about. In Dust Tracks on a Road, the inclusion of of the last century, when Hurston was growing up.
colorful regional expressions and local dialect lends What do you learn about Eatonville within this larger
the narration a powerful authenticity. context? Discuss your answer in a brief essay, explain-
ing how Hurston’s language, characters, and the events
1. List examples of dialect or regional expressions that
she describes contribute to your ideas about Eatonville.
Hurston uses to evoke the people of Eatonville.
Before you draft, use a graphic like the one below to
2. What ideas about or impressions of Eatonville do
organize your analysis. Include any additional elements
you glean from these examples? Explain.
that you feel are significant. Refer to the organizer as
you draft to keep on track.
Vocabulary Practice
CHARACTERS: LANGUAGE:
Practice with Analogies Complete each analogy
below using vocabulary words from Dust Tracks on
a Road. Use a dictionary if you need help. PLOT: THEME:

1. shyness : brazenness :: calmness :


a. timidness b. serenity c. turbulence
ANALYSIS:
2. snicker : laugh :: smirk :
a. giggle b. grin c. frown
3. exalt : celebration :: weep : After you complete your draft, meet with a partner.
a. contest b. trial c. funeral Exchange drafts and suggest revisions. Then proofread
4. indifferent : fascinated :: ignorant : and edit your draft for errors in spelling, grammar, and
a. enlightened b. aggravated c. inundated punctuation.

Literature Groups
Academic Vocabulary Evaluating an Autobiography Critics have com-
plained that Hurston’s autobiography is not always fac-
Here are two words from the vocabulary list on tual. In a small group, discuss the following: Does it
page R86. These words will help you think, matter to you if Hurston’s autobiography is absolutely
write, and talk about the selection. true or not? What reasons might a writer have for dis-
torting the facts in his or her autobiography? Do you
range (rānj) n. extent to which or limits think these are valid reasons? Why or why not? Share
between which something varies your conclusions with the class.
complex (compleks) adj. difficult to under-
stand, analyze, or execute

Practice and Apply


1. In Dust Tracks on a Road, what was the range
of the narrator’s reading by the time she had
finished her first week in fifth grade?
2. What complex story did the young speaker read Web Activities For eFlashcards,
several paragraphs of aloud for the white visitors? Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

798 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Vocabulary Workshop
Word Meanings

Understanding Homonyms
“Often the white travelers would hail me, but more often I hailed them, and º Test-Taking Tip
asked, ‘Don’t you want me to go a piece of the way with you?’” To determine the meaning
Connecting to Literature Homonyms are words that sound alike but have differ- of a homonym, use con-
ent meanings and sometimes different spellings. They can also be different parts text clues. The part of
of speech. For example, the words hail and hale are homonyms. Consider Zora speech can sometimes
Neale Hurston’s use of the word hail in the quote from Dust Tracks on a Road help you understand the
above. We know from the context that here hail is a verb and means “to greet intended meaning.
someone.” The word hail as a noun means “pellets of ice.” º Reading Handbook

The English language is full of homonyms. Here is a sample list. For more about hom-
onyms, see Reading
Word Meaning Example Handbook, p. R20.

bear an animal The brown bear came dangerously close to our campsite.
bear to endure The entire team must bear the burden of defeat

bank a mound or border We stood on the river’s bank and watched the swift current.
bank a place where money is kept My bank informed me that my account was overdrawn.

break to crack, split, or smash Enslaved people endeavored to break their bonds.
brake to stop a movement The negligent driver failed to brake for the pedestrian.

hear to listen In the village, we could hear the pealing of church bells.
here in this place I am resolved to remain here until I am evicted.

piece a part of something I completed the last piece of the puzzle.


peace tranquility In the midst of war, people long for peace.

holy sacred The pilgrims consider the shrine to be holy.


wholly completely I am not wholly convinced of your arguments.
holey full of holes My holey socks are in need of repair.

eFlashcards For eFlashcards


Exercise and other vocabulary activities, go
to www.glencoe.com.
Choose the correct homonym to fit each sentence. Consult a dictionary if
you need help.
1. The angler tried to (real, reel) in the fish.
2. The lion is the (main, mane) attraction at the zoo.
3. Most graduates considered the commencement speaker to be a (boar, bore).
4. This is a perfect (sight, site, cite) for the new museum.
5. The (scent, cent, sent) of exotic spices emanated from the Indian restaurant.
6. Upon his release, the prisoner told a (tail, tale) of woe.
7. Coffee is one of the (principle, principal) exports of Colombia.
8. On a dark (knight, night), I lost my way.
9. The new student was intimidated by the hostile (stares, stairs) of the class. OB J ECTI V ES

10. The teacher could not be heard in the back of the room because he • Recognize homonyms.
• Distinguish meanings of
was a little (horse, hoarse). homonyms.

79 9
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

If We Must Die and


The Tropics in New York
M E E T C L AU DE MC K AY

S
ome critics have identified the publication of race, their class, their roots in the soil . . . I could not
“If We Must Die” in 1919 as the spark that feel the reality of them without that. So likewise I
ignited the Harlem Renaissance. Though he could not realize myself writing without conviction.”
was not an innovator in modern verse—his son- A later work, Home to Harlem, follows a protagonist,
nets were strongly influenced by British literary Jake, through Jazz-Age Harlem, as he explores its
traditions—McKay’s focus on the African seedy cabarets, poolrooms, and dining cars. With its
American experience distinguished him as a new, focus on the racial and social realities of the United
outspoken voice in American literature. The poets States, Home to Harlem reached the best seller list—
of the Harlem Renaissance, such as Langston the first novel by an African American to do so.
Hughes and Countee Cullen, hailed McKay as a
leader because of his frank approach to racial and
social issues in his work.
“All my life I have been a troubadour
McKay was born and educated in rural Jamaica.
His brother Uriah Theophilus, a schoolteacher,
wanderer, nourishing myself mainly on
and Englishman Walter Jekyll, a British scholar the poetry of existence. And all I offer
collecting Jamaican folklore, encouraged McKay’s here is the distilled poetry of my
creativity. With access to their books, McKay read
Victorian authors, as well as the medieval Italian experience.”
writer Dante and the French poet Baudelaire.
—Claude McKay
Culture Shock After winning
an award for his poetry in 1912,
McKay used the money to come Lost and Then Found McKay truly represented
to the United States. McKay was the spirit of the “New Negro.” Through his poem “If
drawn to this country, seeing it We Must Die,” he captured a universal sentiment of
as “a new land to which all peo- resistance in the face of injustice. So universal was
ple who had youth and a youth- this theme that Winston Churchill quoted the poem
ful mind turned,” and believing to rally the British people during World War II.
that “surely there would be By the time of his death, McKay had become
opportunity in this land, even virtually unknown. It was only years later that he
for a Negro.” However, when was rediscovered and fully recognized for his
McKay arrived, he was shocked achievements. In 1973 author Jean Wagner
by the blatant racism and vio- concluded that “McKay remains beyond a doubt
lence he found, and he spent the immediate forerunner and one of the leading
much of his life looking for ways forces of the Renaissance, the man without whom
to counter the “ignoble cruelty” it could never have achieved what it did.”
of racism through his poetry and
Claude McKay was born in 1890 and died in 1948.
his actions.
McKay admired poets who wrote about their own
struggles in society, and he strove to do the same in Author Search For more about
his own writing: “In their poetry I could feel their Claude McKay, go to www.glencoe.com.

800 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F THE MODE RN AGE


CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Poems Reading Strategy Analyzing Tone


Have you or has someone you know ever faced preju- Tone is an author’s attitude toward his or her subject
dice? In “If We Must Die,” Claude McKay advocates matter. Authors convey tone through word choice,
facing hatred with courage. As you read, consider the punctuation, sentence structure, and figures of speech.
following questions: The poems “If We Must Die” and “The Tropics in New
York” have extremely different tones.
• What is the best response to prejudice?
• What different purposes can heroism serve? Reading Tip: Comparing and Contrasting
Building Background Use a chart to note the elements in each poem that
contribute to the tone.
“If We Must Die” reflects the atmosphere of racial strife
in the United States just after World War I. During the
summer of 1919, McKay worked as a waiter in a rail- “If We Must Die” “The Tropics in
road dining car, and he and his coworkers feared being New York”
attacked. As McKay later wrote, “We were less light-
Elements • simile—“like •
hearted. We did not separate from one another gaily to
hogs hunted and •
spend ourselves in speakeasies or gambling joints. . . .
We stayed in our quarters all through the dreary omi- penned” •
nous nights, for we never knew what was going to hap- •
pen. It was during those days that the sonnet, ‘If We •
Must Die,’ exploded out of me. And for it the Negro Tone
people unanimously hailed me as a poet.”

Setting Purposes for Reading


Big Idea The Harlem Renaissance Vocabulary
As you read McKay’s poems, pay attention to the dif- nobly (nō blē) adv. with superior morals or
ferent ways in which the two poems address the social character; p. 802 The businessman nobly gave his
and cultural challenges faced by African Americans at fortune to the poor.
the time of the Harlem Renaissance.
constrained (kən strānd ) v. forced or limited;
p. 802 In the 1800s strict laws constrained
Literary Element Meter African Americans and women from voting.
Meter is the regular pattern of stressed ( ) and
kinsmen (kinz men) n. those who share the
unstressed ( ˘ ) syllables that gives a line of poetry a
same racial or cultural background as another;
predictable rhythm. The basic unit of meter is the foot,
p. 802 Although not brothers by birth, the two
and the length of a metrical line can be expressed in
friends were kinsmen by culture.
terms of the number of feet it contains. Notice how
McKay uses meter in both “If We Must Die” and “The benediction (ben´ ə dik shən) n. a blessing or
Tropics in New York.” something that fosters goodness; p. 803 The
homeless shelter was a benediction for the men and
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R11. women who needed it.

Interactive Literary Elements


Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • understanding and analyzing meter
• analyzing characteristics of the Harlem Renaissance • analyzing tone

CLAUDE MC KAY 8 01
Collection of Martin & Sondra Sperber, New York. Courtesy Heritage Gallery, Los Angeles.
Two Heads, 1946. Charles White. Watercolor, 163/4 x 241/4 in. Collection of Martin & Sondra Sperber,
New York. Courtesy Heritage Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.

If we must die, let it not be like hogs


Hunted and penned in an inglorious1 spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accursed2 lot.
5 If we must die, O let us nobly die,
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!
O kinsmen! we must meet the common foe!
10 Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!

1. Inglorious means “shameful” or “disgraceful.”


2. Accursed (ə kur sid) means “being under a curse” or “doomed.”
Claude McKay
Reading Strategy Analyzing Tone What tone does McKay
establish here? What type of words does he use to achieve this?

Vocabulary
nobly (nō blē) adv. with superior morals or character
constrained (kən strānd) v. forced or limited
kinsmen (kinz men) n. those who share the same racial or
cultural background as another

802 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F THE MODE RN AGE


Fruit Stand Vendor, 1994. Hyacinth Manning.
Acrylic on canvas 28 x 22 in. Private collection.

B ananas ripe and green, and ginger-root,


Cocoa in pods and alligator pears,
And tangerines and mangoes and grape fruit,
Fit for the highest prize at parish fairs,
5 Set in the window, bringing memories
Of fruit-trees laden by low-singing rills,
And dewy dawns, and mystical blue skies
In benediction over nun-like hills.
My eyes grew dim, and I could no more gaze;
10 A wave of longing through my body swept,
And, hungry for the old, familiar ways,
I turned aside and bowed my head and wept.

Big Idea The Harlem Renaissance How does this detail reflect
the African American experience during the Harlem Renaissance?

Vocabulary
benediction (ben´ ə dik shən) n. a blessing or something
Claude McKay that fosters goodness

C LAUD E MCKAY 803


Private Collection/Superstock
A F TE R YO U R E A D

RESP ON DI NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. (a)Which images from the poems stand out in 6. Some critics believe the publication of “If We Must
your mind? (b)What effects do these images Die” marked the beginning of the Harlem
have on you? Renaissance. Why might this poem have led to
such a creative outpouring?
Recall and Interpret
7. In “The Tropics in New York,” how does McKay use
2. (a)In “If We Must Die,” what two animals does the
sensory details to convey his meaning? Explain.
speaker name? Which animals are the hunters, and
which are the hunted? (b)With which animals does 8. “The Tropics in New York” is broken into three stanzas.
the speaker identify? Explain. What does each of the stanzas present? Why do you
think McKay chose to organize the poem in this way?
3. (a)How does the speaker want his kinsmen to
behave? (b)Why is this important to him? Connect
4. (a)In “The Tropics in New York,” what does the 9. Big Idea The Harlem Renaissance The think-
speaker see in the window? (b)What memories ers, writers, and artists of the Harlem Renaissance
does that sight bring? struggled with problems of racism and identity.
5. (a)How does the speaker react when he recalls his (a)What lesson about racism does McKay present in
homeland? (b)Why might he have this reaction? “If We Must Die”? (b)What message about identity is
implied in “The Tropics in New York”?

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R EAD I N G AN D VO CAB U L ARY

Literary Element Meter Reading Strategy Tone


The metrical foot that McKay uses in both poems is The subject matter of these two poems is extremely
the iamb, consisting of one unstressed syllable fol- different, and McKay uses a different tone in each to
lowed by one stressed syllable, as in the word divide. convey that subject matter.
Most lines have five iambic feet, or beats, forming the
1. Look at the chart you created as you read the
meter known as iambic pentameter.
poems. What words or images helped you under-
1. How regular is McKay’s use of iambic pentameter stand the tone of each poem?
in these two poems?
2. How would you describe the tone in each poem?
2. How does the meter’s effect differ in these poems?

Vocabulary Practice
Writing About Literature
Practice with Word Origins Match each word
Evaluate Sound Devices Writers use sound devices
with the meaning of its root. Use a dictionary for
to enhance the sense of rhythm, to emphasize particu-
assistance.
lar sounds, or to add a musical quality to their writing.
Examples of sound devices are alliteration, assonance, 1. nobly a. “to constrict”
consonance, onomatopoeia, and rhyme. Write a brief
essay comparing the sound devices used in these two 2. kinsmen b. “notable”
poems. 3. constrained c. “to speak well”
4. benediction d. “birth or race”
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

804 UNIT 5 BEGINNINGS OF THE MODERN AGE


I n f o r m a t i o n a l Te x t

Media Link to
African American
Culture
Preview the Article
STANZAS FROM
BLACK
In “Stanzas from a Black Epic,” the author

A
describes how Harlem artist Jacob
Lawrence depicted the Great Migration,
the mass movement of African Americans
from the South to the North during the
early 1900s.

EPIC
1. Examine the title. What might the
author mean by a “black epic”?
2. Look at the paintings on pages 806–
808. What can you predict about the
content of the article from these
images?

The 60 paintings in Jacob Lawrence’s great Migration


Set a Purpose for Reading series present piercing images of the African
Read to learn how a Harlem artist viewed American experience
the African American experience. By ROBERT HUGHES

T
HE SIXTY PAINTINGS THAT MAKE UP JACOB LAWRENCE’S
Reading Strategy Migration series are works that anyone interested in
Scanning Text to Find Specific Information African American cultural history—or, in a wider way,
Scanning is the process of searching the story of American painting as a whole—should see.
quickly through text for a particular fact.
When you scan text, your eyes sweep More than 60 years have passed American art is sown with attempts,
across a page in search of key words and since Lawrence made these little varying between saccharine senti-
specific information. pictures, on store-bought panels in mentality and stunning success, to
his Harlem studio; and they are of image forth the American story.
Scan the article for the key words Harlem far greater power than almost all the And for reasons that are sadly obvi-
and painting. What do you learn about acreage of Works Progress ous, few of these were created by
these topics? Use a graphic organizer to Administration (WPA) murals that African Americans, until Lawrence
record information. preceded them in the 1930s. They appeared.
were almost immediately bought, Younger than the painters and
Word Information half by the Phillips Collection in writers who took part in the Harlem
Harlem Lawrence—younger Washington, D.C., and half by the Renaissance of the 1920s, Lawrence
than and different Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) was also at an angle to them: He was
from Harlem in New York City, and were in fact not interested in the kind of ideal-
Renaissance artists the first paintings by a black artist ized portrayals of African Americans
to enter MOMA’s collection. It that others tended to produce.
seemed to the directors of both These fake-primitive images were
museums that Lawrence’s series rep- being created as an antidote to the
resented a unique combination of vile stereotypes with which white
African American experience, his- popular art had flooded the culture
O B J EC TIVES
tory painting, and a modernist style. since Reconstruction. Nevertheless,
• Scan text to locate specific information.
They were right. From Benjamin Lawrence gained self-confidence
• Clarify understanding of informational texts
by creating graphic organizers. West to Robert Rauschenberg, from the cultural climate of

STANZAS F ROM A BLACK EPIC 805


Informational Text
Harlem—in particular, from Alain
Locke, a Harvard-trained art critic.
Locke believed strongly that art cre-
ated by African Americans could
speak explicitly to their community
and still embody the values of mod-
ernism. Or, in Locke’s words: “There
is in truly great art no essential con-
flict between racial or national traits
and universal human values.’’

The Great Migration


What are the paintings about? A
huge subject, which no artist could
touch and only an African American
one could have handled with the
depth of feeling it required. The
migration of African Americans
from the rural South to the indus-
trial North, as it unfolded in the
first decades of the 20th century,
had an epic character. It was a col-
lective Odyssey to match the Iliad
of the Civil War. This migration
was forced by the merciless Southern
white reaction that came in the
wake of Reconstruction. The
African American population—
all poor, nearly all rural—of the
Southern states was plunged into
a hell where their rights were
abolished.
In the South, 1900 to 1925
brought the high tide of Jim Crow
laws, lynchings, and the terrorism of
the Ku Klux Klan. Unable to vote,
powerless to change their political
status, Southern blacks voted with
their feet. By the end of the 1930s
more than a million of them (the
exact figures will probably never
be known) had flocked to mid-
Atlantic, Northeastern, and The Female Workers Were the Last to Arrive North Pane #57 from the Migration series
by Jacob Lawrence. The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC.
Midwestern cities, looking for a
better America than the one they
had known. Some of them no doubt
imagined they were going to a prom-
ised land; and in this they were migrants grew a radically altered A Harlem Education
sharply disappointed, especially conception of African American Born in Atlantic City, New Jersey,
after 1929, when they arrived in a culture: distinctively urban but still in 1917, Lawrence was schooled in
North economically devastated by Southern in its origins and collec- Harlem and grew up among migrants
the Depression. But there was no tive memory. This was the culture and their children. When, years
way back. The South was drained of that produced the Harlem Renais- later, he told an interviewer that “I
its black workforce, while the North sance. In it, African Americans am the black community,’’ he was
acquired a new one. From these reinvented themselves. neither bragging nor kidding. He

806 UNIT 5 BEGINNINGS OF THE MODERN AGE


The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
Informational Text
trained as a painter at the Harlem its peak in America. Considering of a visual ballad, with each paint-
Art Workshop, inside the public the violence and suffering of so ing a stanza: taut, compressed, pared
library’s 135th Street branch. Indeed much of his subject matter—pris- down to the barest requirements of
the library itself, with its Schomburg ons, deserted communities, city narration. Number 10, They Were
Collection, Manhattan’s chief slums, race riots, labor camps—his Very Poor, takes the elements of a
archive on African American life images are restrained, and all the Southern sharecropper’s life down
and history, was to shape his series. more piercing. When he painted a to the static minimum. It shows a
Lawrence did months of painstak- lynching, for instance (No. 15), man and a woman staring at empty
ing research there to get the histori- he left out the dangling body and bowls on a bare brown plane and an
cal background right, even though the jeering crowd: there is only empty basket hung on the wall by
the final paintings rarely allude to bare earth, a branch, an empty an enormous nail—the sort of nail
specific events. He took on the task noose, and the huddled lump of a you imagine in a crucifixion. There
with a youthful earnestness (he was grieving woman. He set aside the is no trace of sentimentality.
in his early 20s) that remains one of muralist influence that lay so Lawrence called his style “dynamic
the most touching aspects of the heavily on other artists—he wasn’t Cubism,” and its debt to late Cubism
final work and goes far beyond self- painting murals but images closer is obvious—the flat, sharp overlaps
expressiveness. You sense that some- in size to single pages, no more of form, legible silhouettes, and
thing is speaking through than 18 inches by 12 inches. generally high degree of abstraction
Lawrence. in the color. Yet, his style also tends
One of the remarkable things Painting an Epic to an Egyptian stillness, friezelike
about the Migration series is the Nevertheless, Lawrence imagined even when you know the subject
language it does not use. Lawrence the paintings as integrally con- was in motion, like the crowd surg-
was not a propagandist. He avoided nected—a single work of art, no less ing into the narrow slot between
the caricatures used in Popular united than a mural is, but portable. two railroad cars in Number 23,
Front, Social Realist art, then at The Migration series has the effect “And the Migration Spread.”

They Were Very Poor Panel 10 from the Migration series by Jacob Lawrence. The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by
SCALA/Art Resource, New York.

STANZAS F ROM A BLACK EPIC 807


The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA/Art Resource, NY
Informational Text

And the Migration Spread Panel 23 from the Migration series by Jacob Lawrence.
The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC.

Lawrence’s style gives his pic- These themes are integral to the American historical experience by
tures a solid gravity. His dense and African Americans depicted an African American artist.
well-locked compositions are prime throughout Lawrence’s Migration —Updated 2006,
illustrations of the permanence and series—the first, and arguably still from TIME, December 6, 1993
resistance that are his key themes. the best, treatment of the African

R ES P O N D I N G AN D TH I N K I N G C R ITI CALLY

Respond Analyze and Evaluate


1. How do you react to the paintings of Jacob 5. (a)According to Hughes, why is the Migration
Lawrence? series so important? (b)How well does Hughes
back up his claim?
Recall and Interpret 6. (a)What does Hughes mean by “stanzas from a
2. (a)What was the Great Migration? (b)How do black epic”? (b)How well does his title fit his
Lawrence’s paintings show this event? essay? Explain.
3. (a)Name four or more subjects of the paintings in 7. The art critic Alain Locke said, “There is in truly
the Migration series. (b)How did Lawrence treat great art no essential conflict between racial or
these subjects differently than others before national traits and universal human values.” How is
him did? this idea evident in Lawrence’s work?
4. (a)What is the artistic style of the paintings in the
Migration series? (b)What is the effect of the style Connect
on the subject matter? 8. How does this selection relate to the Harlem
Renaissance? How does it go beyond it to tell more
about African American history and culture?

808 UNIT 5 BEGINNINGS OF THE MODERN AGE


The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Langston Hughes’s Poetry and Prose


M E E T L A NGSTON H U G H ES

I
n 1921 Langston Hughes moved to New York
City and enrolled at Columbia University to
learn more about poetry—in the nightclubs
and streets of Harlem. “To see Shuffle Along was
the main reason I wanted to go to Columbia,”
Hughes said. “When I saw it, I was thrilled and
delighted.” The first musical written and per-
formed by African Americans, Shuffle Along to pay his college tuition if Hughes left the United
became a Broadway sensation and launched sev- States. He refused, wanting to try life in New York
eral careers. Many African Americans were mov- City. The city captivated him, but he was unhappy
ing north for good-paying jobs and vibrant city at school. He dropped out—later he would finish
life, yet Hughes knew their life was bittersweet. his degree elsewhere—and worked odd jobs while
The remnants of slavery and the struggle with seg- traveling to Africa and France.
regation held back African Americans from the
American dream that was readily available to Harlem’s Bard Returning to the United States,
many whites during the Roaring Twenties. Hughes worked as a hotel busboy in Washington,
D.C. In 1925 he left three poems by the plate of
Hughes’s writing celebrated the dignity of ordinary,
well-known poet Vachel Lindsay, who was
working-class African Americans, helping many
astounded by Hughes’s work. Newspapers reported
realize that black was beautiful. “They seemed to
the next day that Lindsay had discovered an aston-
me like the gayest and the bravest people possi-
ishing poet, who happened to be an African
ble—these Negroes from the Southern ghettos—
American busboy. Hughes soon moved back to
facing tremendous odds, working and laughing and
Harlem, able to support himself through his writing.
trying to get somewhere in the world,” Hughes
His career began in 1926 with the publication of a
said. This sentiment fit into the Modernist notion
book of his poetry, The Weary Blues. Hughes, con-
that everyday images, speech, and events belong in
sidered the poet laureate of Harlem, also wrote
the highest forms of literature.
novels, nonfiction, plays, and children’s books.
Even death could not dampen his sense of humor.
Many Homes Born in Joplin, Missouri, Hughes
Hughes arranged for a jazz trio to play the Duke
lived in six different cities by the time he was
Ellington tune “Do Nothing Till You Hear from
twelve. It was a childhood of books, music, and
Me” at his funeral in New York City.
poverty. His father moved to Mexico, and his
mother moved frequently in search of employ- His legacy as a spokesperson of the Harlem
ment. When his mother sought work, Hughes Renaissance lives on in contemporary culture.
stayed in Lawrence, Kansas, with his grandmother. Critic Kevin Powell writes, “The very people that
he documented so well . . . were the people who
After finishing high school, he visited his father,
created hip-hop. . . . We’re still asking the same
by then a prosperous lawyer in Mexico. Crossing
questions that Langston Hughes was asking.”
the Mississippi River on the train gave Hughes the
inspiration for his poem “The Negro Speaks of Langston Hughes was born in 1902 and died in 1967.
Rivers.” “I put it down on the back of an envelope
I had in my pocket, and within the space of ten or
fifteen minutes, as the train gathered speed in the Author Search For more about
dusk, I had written this poem.” His father offered Langston Hughes, go to www.glencoe.com.

LANGST ON HUGHES 809


Robert W. Kelley/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W READI NG PREVI EW

Connecting to the Poems Reading Strategy Making Predictions


With what group of people do you feel most closely About Theme
associated? Are you a part of the computer culture? Making predictions about the theme of a literary
Sports culture? Hip-hop culture? Langston Hughes work can help give you a purpose for reading. Verifying
decided to align himself with his fellow African predictions can help you understand a work. Read the
Americans. As you read the poems, ask yourself the titles of the poems. What do you predict these poems
following questions: will be about?
• In what ways does Hughes assert that he is as Reading Tip: Use Titles to Make Predictions A title
American as anyone else?
• In what ways does Hughes claim a share in the his- like “I, Too” implies a connection. Ask yourself, “a con-
nection to what?” Start with the phrase I, too and men-
tory of the world?
tally extend it into a sentence.
Building Background
When Hughes began writing in the 1920s, little prog- I, too, (am) .
ress had been made in securing basic rights for African
Americans. In the South, laws legalized segregation. In I, too, (can) .
the North, African American workers were generally
hired only for low-wage jobs. Hughes’s father had left
Now complete the sentence to make predictions
for Mexico because he was fed up with discrimination
about the theme of the poem.
in the United States. Hughes’s college-educated
mother moved from city to city looking for work but Use a similar approach for the second poem. What
found only menial jobs. In Harlem, many artists, writ- does the title imply? What might an African American
ers, and intellectuals hoped their artistic movement want to say about rivers?
would help bring about an end to such discrimination.

Setting Purposes for Reading Vocabulary

Big Idea The Harlem Renaissance lull (lul) v. to soothe or cause to sleep; p. 812
As you read, notice how Hughes insists not only on The mother rocked her baby to lull him to sleep.
the place of African Americans in American culture but bosom (booz əm) n. the chest or heart;
insists as well on the beauty and dignity of African p. 812 The frantic woman pressed her child to her
American people. bosom once she found him again.
dusky (dus kē) adj. murky or dark in color;
Literary Element Repetition p. 812 The sailors could not see the bottom of the
Repetition is the recurrence of sounds, words, muddy, dusky water.
phrases, lines, and other elements in a literary work.
Repetition increases the sense of unity in a work and Vocabulary Tip: Denotation and Connotation
can call attention to particular ideas. As you read, The denotation is the literal definition of a word. The
notice how Hughes uses repetition to create refrains. connotation is its implied meaning. For example,
dark can have a negative connotation suggesting
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R15. mysteriousness or wickedness.

OB J EC TIVES
In studying these poems, you will focus on the following:
• analyzing literary periods Interactive Literary Elements
• making and verifying predictions about theme Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
• analyzing repetition go to www.glencoe.com.

810 U N IT 5 BEGINNINGS OF THE MODERN AGE


Colin Bootman/Private Collection/ Bridgeman Art Library

Against All Odds, 2003. Colin Bootman.


Oil on board. Private Collection. I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.

I,
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
5 But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,

Too
I’ll be at the table
10 When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.

15 Besides,
Langston Hughes They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—

I, too, am America.

Big Idea The Harlem Renaissance What do lines 8–10


imply about the future of African Americans?

LANGST ON HUGHES 811


T he N egro
S peaks of
R ivers
iver s
Langston Hughes

I’ve known rivers:


I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the
flow of human blood in human veins.
Font Caps=Bellevue lower case=Fenice Color 80c20m15y
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

I bathed in the Euphrates1 when dawns were young.


5 I built my hut near the Congo2 and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile3 and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln
went down to New Orleans,4 and I’ve seen its muddy
bosom turn all golden in the sunset.

I’ve known rivers:


Ancient, dusky rivers.

10 My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

1. The Euphrates (yō¯ō frā tēz) River flows from Turkey through Syria and Iraq. Many
ancient civilizations flourished in the area between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.
2. The Congo, also called the Zaire, is a river in central Africa.
3. The Nile, which runs through northeast Africa, is the longest river in the world.
4. According to legend, Abraham Lincoln decided that slavery should be abolished after
witnessing his first slave auction in New Orleans, Louisiana, along the Mississippi River.

Reading Strategy Making Predictions About Theme What do you expect this
poem to be about, after reading the title and the first line?

Literary Element Repetition What idea does the repetition in line 10 emphasize?

Vocabulary
lull (lul) v. to soothe or cause to sleep
bosom (boozəm) n. the chest or heart
dusky (dus kē) adj. murky or dark in color

812 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Leon Dabo/Indianapolis Museum of Art, USA, Gift of S. O. Buckner/Bridgeman Art Library
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Which lines from the poems would you most like 6. (a)How would you describe the mood of “I, Too”?
to have Langston Hughes explain? Put your (b)What elements of the poem contribute to
response in the form of a question. this mood?

Recall and Interpret 7. (a)What historical realities does the poem “I, Too”
reflect? (b)In what ways has the speaker in “The
2. (a)What is the identity of the speaker and of the
Negro Speaks of Rivers” been affected by the
other people in “I, Too”? (b)Does the speaker feel
history of his people?
at one with these people or separate from them?
8. (a)One of these poems looks toward the future,
3. (a)How is the speaker treated? (b)How does the
and one looks toward the past. Which of these
speaker respond to this treatment?
positions do you find more persuasive? Why?
4. (a)How does the speaker in “The Negro Speaks (b)Which of these poems do you think might
of Rivers” describe the rivers he has known? have found more acceptance among the white
(b)For what reason might he emphasize their age? Americans of the 1920s? Why?
5. (a)What do the activities associated with these rivers Connect
communicate about the history of African Americans?
(b)In your opinion, what do the rivers symbolize, or 9. Big Idea The Harlem Renaissance How do
stand for? these poems affirm the place of African Americans
in the cultural history of this country?

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Repetition Reading Strategy Making Predictions


Repetition is the recurrence of sounds, words, About Theme
phrases, lines, or other elements. Repetition can call Recall your predictions about the poems. How accu-
attention to particular ideas. rate were they?
1. What words are repeated in two lines of “I, Too”?
How does the difference between these lines
Academic Vocabulary
develop the theme of the poem?
2. What does the refrain in “The Negro Speaks of Here are two words from the vocabulary list on
Rivers” contribute to the theme of the poem? page R86.

distribute (dis trib ūt) v. to share among many;


Learning for Life to scatter over an area
Evaluate Reviews Use your library or the Internet to emerge (i murj) v. to come into view; to rise
research reviews of and commentaries on Langston from an inferior position
Hughes’s poetry. Choose two of the reviews and write
an evaluation of them. From your reading of the Practice and Apply
poems, do the reviews seem accurate? 1. Was opportunity distributed equally among
races in this country during Hughes’s time?
2. How did Vachel Lindsay help Langston Hughes
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to emerge as an important poet?
www.glencoe.com.

LANGST ON HUGHES 813


B EF O R E YO U R EA D When the Negro Was in Vogue
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W READI NG PREVI EW

Connecting to the Autobiography Reading Strategy Analyzing Concrete


Are you a “with it” kind of person? Are you constantly Details
where the action is? By moving to Harlem, Langston Good writers use concrete, or specific, details to help
Hughes put himself in the right place at the right time, readers visualize scenes that they describe. For exam-
in the burgeoning art movement. As you read, think ple, when Hughes describes Gladys Bentley as “a large,
about the following questions: dark, masculine lady, whose feet pounded the floor
while her fingers pounded the keyboard—a perfect
• Who determines what is the right place and the piece of African sculpture,” you can visualize her.
right time?
• Do people and places of importance usually last a Reading Tip: Mapping Details Create a web like the
long time? Why or why not?
one shown to note the concrete details you encounter
Building Background as you read.
Langston Hughes was nineteen years old when he
moved to New York City. His first book of poetry, The a large, dark,
Weary Blues, was published in 1926. To help his men- masculine lady
tor, Carl Van Vechten, with his introduction to that
book, Hughes wrote a brief essay, “L’histoire de ma
vie” (“History of My Life”) that so dazzled Van Vechten House-rent
Party
and publisher Alfred A. Knopf that they urged Hughes
to write an autobiography. But Hughes replied, “I am
still too much enmeshed in the effects of my young
life to write about it.” It was not until he was thirty-eight
that he would write his autobiography, The Big Sea.

Setting Purposes for Reading Vocabulary


Big Idea The Harlem Renaissance
scintillating (sin tə lā´ tin ) adj. brilliant; spar-
As you read, think about why Harlem was thought of kling; p. 815 Her scintillating conversation drew a
as the center of the renaissance of African American large number of partygoers to her side.
arts in the 1920s and 1930s.
vogue (vō ) n. fashion; style; p. 815 It seems to
be the vogue today to wear sunglasses indoors.
Literary Element Juxtaposition
patronage (pā trə nij) n. business; trade;
The placing of two or more distinct things side by side
custom; p. 816 A large part of the restaurant’s
is called juxtaposition. This is commonly done to con-
patronage comes from local people.
trast or compare the things and may evoke an emo-
tional response in the reader. As you read, notice how millennium (mi le nē əm) n. a period of great
Hughes juxtaposes the Harlem natives with the happiness, peace, or prosperity; p. 818 For
“Nordics,” or white tourists. Does either group appear Roger, being a movie critic was like the millennium.
in a more favorable light from being juxtaposed?
impromptu (im promp tō¯ō) adj. offhand; with-
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R10. out preparation; p. 818 The comic had developed
quite a reputation for impromptu characterizations.
Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

OB J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • analyzing concrete details
• analyzing literary periods • responding to juxtaposition

814 U N IT 5 BEGINNINGS OF THE MODERN AGE


Aspects of Negro Life: Song of the Towers, 1934. Aaron Douglas.
Oil on canvas, 9 x 9 ft. Photo: Manu Sassoonian. Schomburg
Langston Hughes Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York
Public Library, New York.

The 1920’s were the years of Manhattan’s black second act. Trixie Smith sang “He May Be Your
Renaissance. It began with Shuffle Along, Running Man But He Comes to See Me Sometimes.” And
Wild, and the Charleston.1 Perhaps some people Caterina Jarboro, now a European prima donna,3
would say even with The Emperor Jones, Charles and the internationally celebrated Josephine
Gilpin, and the tom-toms at the Provincetown. Baker were merely in the chorus. Everybody was
But certainly it was the musical revue, Shuffle in the audience—including me. People came back
Along, that gave a scintillating send-off to that to see it innumerable times. It was always packed.
Negro vogue in Manhattan, which reached its To see Shuffle Along was the main reason I
peak just before the crash of 1929, the crash that wanted to go to Columbia. When I saw it, I was
sent Negroes, white folks, and all rolling down the thrilled and delighted. From then on I was in the
hill toward the Works Progress Administration.2 gallery of the Cort Theatre every time I got a
Shuffle Along was a honey of a show. Swift, chance. That year, too, I saw Katharine Cornell
bright, funny, rollicking, and gay, with a dozen in A Bill of Divorcement, Margaret Wycherly in
danceable, singable tunes. Besides, look who were The Verge, Maugham’s The Circle with Mrs.
in it: The now famous choir director, Hall Leslie Carter, and the Theatre Guild production
Johnson, and the composer, William Grant Still, of Kaiser’s From Morn Till Midnight. But I remem-
were a part of the orchestra. Eubie Blake and ber Shuffle Along best of all. It gave just the
Noble Sissle wrote the music and played and proper push—a pre-Charleston kick—to that
acted in the show. Miller and Lyles were the com- Negro vogue of the 20’s, that spread to books,
ics. Florence Mills skyrocketed to fame in the African sculpture, music, and dancing.
Put down the 1920’s for the rise of Roland
1. The Charleston is an energetic dance to jazz music. The Lindy Hayes, who packed Carnegie Hall, the rise of Paul
Hop and the black-bottom, mentioned later, are similar dances.
Robeson in New York and London, of Florence
2. The Works Progress Administration was a government agency
established in 1935 to give employment to out-of-work people.
3. A prima donna (prē mə don ə) is a principal or featured
Vocabulary woman singer.
scintillating (sin tə lā´ tin) adj. brilliant; sparkling Big Idea The Harlem Renaissance What factors helped
vogue (vō) n. fashion; style make New York the center of African American culture?

LANGST ON HUGHES 815


Schomburg Center, The New York Public Library / Art Resource, NY
Mills over two continents, of Rose McClendon in realize that a large part of the Harlem attraction
Broadway parts that never measured up to her, the for downtown New Yorkers lay in simply watching
booming voice of Bessie Smith and the low moan the colored customers amuse themselves. And the
of Clara on thousands of records, and the rise of smaller clubs, of course, had no big floor shows or a
that grand comedienne of song, Ethel Waters, name band like the Cotton Club, where Duke
singing: “Charlie’s elected now! He’s in right for Ellington usually held forth, so, without black
sure!” Put down the 1920’s for Louis Armstrong patronage, they were not amusing at all.
and Gladys Bentley and Josephine Baker. Some of the small clubs, however, had people
White people began to come to Harlem in like Gladys Bentley, who was something worth
droves.4 For several years they packed the expen- discovering in those days, before she got famous,
sive Cotton Club on Lenox Avenue. But I was acquired an accompanist, specially written mate-
never there, because the Cotton Club was a Jim rial, and conscious vulgarity. But for two or three
Crow5 club for gangsters and monied whites. They amazing years, Miss Bentley sat, and played a big
were not cordial6 to Negro patronage, unless you piano all night long, literally all night, without
were a celebrity like Bojangles. So Harlem Negroes stopping—singing songs like “The St. James
did not like the Cotton Club and never appreci- Infirmary,” from ten in the evening until dawn,
ated its Jim Crow policy in the very heart of their with scarcely a break between the notes, sliding
dark community. Nor did ordinary Negroes like from one song to another, with a powerful and
the growing influx7 of whites toward Harlem after continuous underbeat of jungle rhythm. Miss
sundown, flooding the little cabarets and bars Bentley was an amazing exhibition of musical
where formerly only colored people laughed and energy—a large, dark, masculine lady, whose feet
sang, and where now the strangers were given the pounded the floor while her fingers pounded the
best ringside tables to sit and stare at the Negro keyboard—a perfect piece of African sculpture,
customers—like amusing animals in a zoo. animated by her own rhythm.
The Negroes said: “We can’t go downtown and But when the place where she played became
sit and stare at you in your clubs. You won’t even too well known, she began to sing with an
let us in your clubs.” But they didn’t say it out accompanist, became a star, moved to a larger
loud—for Negroes are practically never rude to place, then downtown, and is now in Hollywood.
white people. So thousands of whites came to The old magic of the woman and the piano and
Harlem night after night, thinking the Negroes the night and the rhythm being one is gone. But
loved to have them there, and firmly believing that everything goes, one way or another. The ’20’s
all Harlemites left their houses at sundown to sing are gone and lots of fine things in Harlem night
and dance in cabarets, because most of the whites life have disappeared like snow in the sun—since
saw nothing but the cabarets, not the houses. it became utterly commercial, planned for the
Some of the owners of Harlem clubs, delighted downtown tourist trade, and therefore dull.
at the flood of white patronage, made the grievous The lindy-hoppers at the Savoy even began to
error of barring their own race, after the manner of practise acrobatic routines, and to do absurd things
the famous Cotton Club. But most of these quickly for the entertainment of the whites, that probably
lost business and folded up, because they failed to never would have entered their heads to attempt
merely for their own effortless amusement. Some
4. Droves are large crowds. of the lindy-hoppers had cards printed with their
5. Jim Crow refers to segregation or discrimination against names on them and became dance professors
African Americans. teaching the tourists. Then Harlem nights became
6. Cordial (kor jəl) means “warm and friendly.”
show nights for the Nordics.8
7. An influx is a continual coming in of people or things.

Literary Element Juxtaposition How does the juxtaposi-


tion of whites and African Americans at the same Harlem 8. Nordics usually refers to people of Scandinavia; here, the
nightclubs develop Hughes’s theme? word means white people in general.

Reading Strategy Analyzing Concrete Details What do


Vocabulary
the dancers’ cards contribute to Hughes’s criticism of Harlem
patronage (pā trə nij) n. business; trade; custom nightlife?

816 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


Some critics say that that is what happened to to various distinguished white celebrities there as
certain Negro writers, too—that they ceased to guests. It was a period when almost any Harlem
write to amuse themselves and began to write to Negro of any social importance at all would be
amuse and entertain white people, and in so likely to say casually: “As I was remarking the
doing distorted and over-colored their material, other day to Heywood—,” meaning Heywood
and left out a great many things they thought Broun. Or: “As I said to George—,” referring to
would offend their American brothers of a George Gershwin. It was a period when local
lighter complexion. Maybe—since Negroes have and visiting royalty were not at all uncommon in
writer-racketeers, as has any other race. But I Harlem. And when the parties of A’Lelia Walker,
have known almost all of them, and most of the the Negro heiress, were filled with guests whose
good ones have tried to be honest, write hon- names would turn any Nordic social climber
estly, and express their world as they saw it. green with envy. It was a period when Harold
All of us know that the gay and sparkling life Jackman, a handsome young Harlem school
of the so-called Negro Renaissance of the ’20’s teacher of modest means, calmly announced one
was not so gay and sparkling beneath the surface day that he was sailing for the Riviera for a fort-
as it looked. Carl Van Vechten, in the character night, to attend Princess Murat’s yachting party.
of Byron in Nigger Heaven, captured some of the It was a period when Charleston preachers
bitterness and frustration of literary Harlem that opened up shouting churches as sideshows for
Wallace Thurman later so effectively poured into white tourists. It was a period when at least one
his Infants of the Spring—the only novel by a charming colored chorus girl, amber enough to
Negro about that fantastic period when Harlem
was in vogue. Literary Element Juxtaposition Hughes often juxtaposes
It was a period when, at almost every Harlem two distinct people or situations. What is he saying about the
upper-crust dance or party, one would be introduced situation in Harlem with this juxtaposition?

LANGST ON HUGHES 817


Penguin/Corbis
pass for a Latin American, was living in a pent one’s own, where you could do the black-bottom
house, with all her bills paid by a gentleman with no stranger behind you trying to do it, too.
whose name was banker’s magic on Wall Street. Non-theatrical, non-intellectual Harlem was an
It was a period when every season there was at unwilling victim of its own vogue. It didn’t like
least one hit play on Broadway acted by a Negro to be stared at by white folks. But perhaps the
cast. And when books by Negro authors were downtowners never knew this—for the cabaret
being published with much greater frequency and owners, the entertainers, and the speakeasy pro-
much more publicity than ever before or since in prietors treated them fine—as long as they paid.
history. It was a period when white writers wrote The Saturday night rent parties that I
about Negroes more successfully (commercially attended were often more amusing than any
speaking) than Negroes did about themselves. night club, in small apartments where God
It was the period (God help us!) when Ethel knows who lived—because the guests seldom
Barrymore appeared in blackface in Scarlet Sister did—but where the piano would often be
Mary! It was the period when the Negro was augmented10 by a guitar, or an odd cornet, or
in vogue. somebody with a pair of drums walking in off the
I was there. I had a swell time while it lasted. street. And where awful bootleg11 whiskey and
But I thought it wouldn’t last long. (I remember good fried fish or steaming chitterling were sold
the vogue for things Russian, the season the at very low prices. And the dancing and singing
Chauve-Souris first came to town.) For how could and impromptu entertaining went on until dawn
a large and enthusiastic number of people be crazy came in at the windows.
about Negroes forever? But some Harlemites These parties, often termed whist12 parties or
thought the millennium had come. They thought dances, were usually announced by brightly col-
the race problem had at last been solved through ored cards stuck in the grille of apartment house
Art plus Gladys Bentley. They were sure the New elevators. Some of the cards were highly enter-
Negro would lead a new life from then on in taining in themselves.
green pastures of tolerance created by Countee Almost every Saturday night when I was in
Cullen, Ethel Waters, Claude McKay, Duke Harlem I went to a house-rent party. I wrote lots
Ellington, Bojangles, and Alain Locke. of poems about house-rent parties, and ate
I don’t know what made any Negroes think thereat many a fried fish and pig’s foot—with
that—except that they were mostly intellectuals liquid refreshments on the side. I met ladies’
doing the thinking. The ordinary Negroes hadn’t maids and truck drivers, laundry workers and
heard of the Negro Renaissance. And if they shoe shine boys, seamstresses and porters. I can
had, it hadn’t raised their wages any. As for all still hear their laughter in my ears, hear the soft
those white folks in the speakeasies9 and night slow music, and feel the floor shaking as the
clubs of Harlem—well, maybe a colored man dancers danced. 
could find some place to have a drink that the
tourists hadn’t yet discovered. 10 . Augmented (o ment əd) means “accompanied; enlarged.”
Then it was that house-rent parties began to 11. Bootleg means “made, transported, or sold illegally.”
flourish—and not always to raise the rent either. 12. Whist is a card game similar to bridge.

But, as often as not, to have a get-together of Reading Strategy Analyzing Concrete Details What do
the details Hughes shares about rent parties tell you about
the reason for their success?
9. During Prohibition, speakeasies were secret clubs where
alcoholic drinks were sold illegally.
Big Idea The Harlem Renaissance What does Hughes’s
Big Idea The Harlem Renaissance How does Hughes experience at rent parties say about the reasons Harlem
portray the effects of the Harlem Renaissance on society? became the center of African American culture?

Vocabulary Vocabulary
millennium (mi le nē əm) n. a period of great impromptu (im promp tō¯ō) adj. offhand; without
happiness, peace, or prosperity preparation

818 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond 6. (a)What did the “ordinary Negroes” who lived in
Harlem think about the Renaissance? (b)Why did
1. If you had lived in Harlem in the 1920s, what
they think that way?
aspect of its culture do you think you would have
enjoyed most? Explain. 7. (a)What happened to the career of Gladys
Bentley? (b)How does Hughes respond to the
Recall and Interpret change in Gladys Bentley’s fortune?
2. (a)How was the musical Shuffle Along instrumental
8. (a)What did it mean for “the Negro” to be “in
in Hughes’s move to Harlem? (b)According to
vogue”? (b)Put together what Hughes has to
Hughes, what was the musical’s importance to the
say about this vogue with what you know about
African American community?
vogues to write a generalization about why the
3. How did the Jim Crow policy operate in the Cotton Harlem Renaissance did not last.
Club? (b)How did the residents of Harlem respond
to the Jim Crow policy? Connect
9. Think about how Langston Hughes might respond
4. (a)What were house-rent parties? (b)How does
to certain African American artists today. Put your
Hughes compare them to other forms of
response in the form of a question to Hughes.
entertainment?
10. Big Idea The Harlem Renaissance What
Analyze and Evaluate
expectations did some Harlemites have about
5. (a)How did the coming of white spectators to how the Renaissance would affect race relations?
Harlem affect business there? (b)How did the regu- Were they realistic?
lar club patrons respond to the coming of the whites?

DA I LY L I F E A N D C U LT U R E

H A R LE M
By the middle of the 1920s, Harlem had become the
largest community of people of African ancestry in
the world. The 1920 census reported that over
150,000 African Americans lived in New York City.

Even though laws were less oppressive in the North


than in the South, African Americans still faced
prejudice. Hughes mentions the whites-only policy Over 60 percent of African American women were
of the Cotton Club; some other theaters and night- employed—far more than for any other group of
clubs excluded Harlemites as well. In addition, Har- women at the time. More than half of them did
lem was overcrowded, since its population kept laundry or worked as maids, both low-paying jobs.
growing rapidly and surrounding neighborhoods did
not welcome African Americans.
Group Activity
Employment opportunities also were limited. Nearly Discuss the following questions with classmates.
half of African American men held service jobs as
messengers, janitors, or waiters. Another sizeable 1. What opportunities and difficulties might a person
number labored on the docks, loading and unloading from the rural South have faced in Harlem?
ships. Few African Americans found work in the 2. What problems might a young family have
skilled trades, and many unions were closed to them. faced if both parents held jobs?

LANGST ON HUGHES 819


Underwood & Underwood/CORBIS
L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Juxtaposition Reading Strategy Analyzing Concrete


Juxtaposition is the placing together of two or Details
more distinct things for the purpose of comparing or Concrete details help readers visualize a scene.
contrasting them. In “When the Negro Was in Vogue,” Writers who want to create a vivid picture include spe-
Langston Hughes juxtaposes people, places, and activ- cific details relating to the senses of sight, sound,
ities. smell, taste, and touch.
1. Why do you think Hughes juxtaposes “ladies’ maids 1. List some of the concrete details Hughes mentions
and truck drivers, laundry workers and shoe shine in his description of the rent parties.
boys, seamstresses and porters” in his description
of the house-rent parties? 2. Can you picture the scene? Contribute three more
concrete details Hughes does not mention but that
2. The white tourists are juxtaposed to the regular cus- you think you might find if you went to one of
tomers in the cabarets and bars. What is the effect? these parties.
3. What is Hughes’s conclusion from his juxtaposition
of the “intellectual” African Americans and the Vocabulary Practice
“ordinary” Harlem African Americans?
Practice with Synonyms For each numbered
vocabulary word from “When the Negro Was in
Vogue,” find the lettered synonym. You will not use
Review: Historical Narrative all the lettered words. Use a dictionary or thesaurus
if you need help.
As you learned on page 402, a historical narrative is
a work of nonfiction that tells the story of important 1. impromptu a. business
historical events or developments. 2. millennium b. not legal
3. patronage c. fashion
Partner Activity Meet with another classmate and 4. scintillating d. unknown thing
talk about the many people that Hughes mentions in 5. vogue e. young people
this historical narrative. Sort them out, as best you can, f. brilliant
using the context in which Hughes mentions them. g. time of happiness
Use a chart like this one to take notes. h. tragic
i. unclear
African Americans in Harlem j. without preparation

Writers & Singers & Musicians & Not Sure


Poets Actors Composers
Academic Vocabulary
Here are two words from the vocabulary list
on p. R86.

label (lā bəl) v. to name; identify


When you have listed all the names, go back and dimension (di men shən) n. scope or
highlight any that you have heard of before. Why do importance
you suppose Hughes does not identify each of the
people he mentions, such as George Gershwin, the Practice and Apply
songwriter and jazz composer? 1. How does Hughes label the white tourists who
flocked to Harlem for entertainment?
2. Did the dimension of the Harlem Renaissance
extend throughout the country? Explain.

820 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


W R I T I N G A N D E X TE N D I N G G R A M M A R A N D ST Y L E

Writing About Literature Hughes’s Language and Style


Explore Author’s Purpose An author’s purpose for Using Rhythmic Language Many critics praise
writing may be to entertain, to inform, to express, or to Hughes’s poetry for its use of the strong, shifting
persuade—or a combination of these. Write a brief rhythms of jazz and blues music. You know that
essay explaining what you think was Langston rhythm in literature is the pattern of beats created by
Hughes’s purpose in writing “When the Negro Was in the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables,
Vogue.” (It is an excerpt from his autobiography, The especially in poetry. Notice how the rhythm shifts in
Big Sea.) In your essay, explore how Hughes’s pur- this line from “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.”
pose for writing may have influenced the choices he
made about things such as form, voice, diction, and    ˘  ˘
I’ve known rivers ancient as˘ the
˘  ˘  ˘
world and older
use of personal references and opinions.
˘ ˘  ˘  ˘  ˘  ˘ 
As you draft, write from start to finish. Follow the writ- than the flow of human blood in human veins.
ing path shown here to help you organize your essay.
The line begins with three stresses, continues with a
START flow of mainly unstressed syllables, and ends with a
regular alternation of unstressed and stressed syllables.
State Hughes’s purpose
Introduction Patterns of rhythm can also add emphasis to particular

and mention elements it


influenced. words. In these lines from “I, Too,” the repeated
stresses emphasize “eat well” and “grow strong.”

˘  ˘ ˘  ˘ ˘  ˘
They send me to eat in the kitchen
Body Show influence on each

Paragraph(s) element in turn. ˘


When  ˘ ˘
company 
comes,
˘ ˘ 
But I laugh,

˘  
Briefly summarize what you And eat well,
Conclusion

have written and how you


˘  
have supported your points. And grow strong.

F IN I S H
Activity Copy a few lines of one of the poems and
mark the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.
After you complete your draft, meet with a peer
Does the pattern create a rhythm? Emphasize particu-
reviewer to evaluate each other’s work and to suggest
lar words? Now experiment with rephrasing the lines
revisions. Then proofread and edit your draft for errors
you copied to keep the meaning but change the
in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
rhythm. How does the rephrased version compare
with the original?
Interdisciplinary Activity: Art
Work with a small group of classmates to research a Revising Check
Harlem Renaissance artist, such as Jacob Lawrence,
Rhythm in Prose Reread the essay you wrote about
Aaron Douglas, Palmer Hayden, Malvin Gray Johnson,
author’s purpose. Do you see any opportunities for add-
Hale Woodruff, or Augusta Savage. Plan a brief pre-
ing rhythmic language by repeating similar sentence
sentation that includes music from the time or a dra-
structures? Decide whether such rhythm would enhance
matic reading about the artist.
the effect of your writing or would interfere with what
you have to say. Revise your essay accordingly.

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

LANGST ON HUGHES 821


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Your World
M E E T G EO RGI A DO U GL A S
J O H NSON

Georgia Douglas Johnson was a generous and pro- published two


lific writer, whose true contributions to the Harlem more: Bronze
Renaissance may never be fully known. Much of her and An Autumn
writing was thrown out on the day of her funeral by Love Cycle. In
workers clearing out her house. In addition, Johnson 1925 Johnson’s
used numerous pseudonyms during her lifetime. husband died,
and she had to
Nevertheless, her known efforts form an impressive
return to work.
body of work. Johnson wrote hundreds of poems,
She worked full-time at
numerous plays, and columns for twenty weekly
various jobs, and managed to put both her sons
newspapers. In addition, she edited almost one hun-
through college and graduate school.
dred books and hosted weekly literary gatherings
that historian David Levering Lewis described as a
“freewheeling jumble of the gifted, famous, and
odd.” For ten years, she hosted lively salons, where It seems to me an art to forget those
African American writers met and supported each
other.
things that make the heart heavy. If
one can soar, he should soar, leaving
Education and Family Life Georgia Douglas his chains behind.
Camp was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Her back-
ground was racially mixed: one grandparent was —Georgia Douglas Johnson
English, one was Native American, and one was
African American. She was well educated and
attended college and two music schools. Although Despite her heavy work schedule, Johnson contin-
Johnson first dreamed of becoming a musician, she ued to write. The year after her husband died, she
eventually decided against it. Instead she taught started writing plays that address serious racial
school, became an assistant principal, and then issues such as lynching. Many were not published,
married Henry Lincoln Johnson, a lawyer. While and only three of her more than two dozen plays
teaching, Johnson began to publish stories and were produced.
poems in newspapers and magazines. Johnson wrote well into old age. In 1962 she pub-
lished her last book of poetry, Share My World,
Writer and Publisher In 1910 the family moved which contained the poem “Your World.” One
to Washington, D.C., where Johnson spent the rest Johnson biographer, Valerie Jean, wrote, “I think
of her life. While her husband disapproved of her this poem shows how this creative, giving soul
writing, he did support her financially. Johnson’s would wish to be remembered.”
famous Saturday-night literary gatherings were
attended by many other Harlem Renaissance poets, Georgia Douglas Johnson was born around 1880 and
including Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, and died in 1966.
Zora Neale Hurston.
In 1918 Johnson published her first book of poetry, Author Search For more about
The Heart of a Woman. Within ten years she Georgia Douglas Johnson, go to www.glencoe.com.

822 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


SCHOMBURG CENTER/Art Resource, NY
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Poem Reading Strategy Visualizing


The following poem is one writer’s view of how life To visualize means to use your imagination to form
should be lived. As you read the poem, think about pictures of the setting, characters, and action in a liter-
the following questions: ary work. As you read, pay close attention to sensory
details and descriptions in the poem.
• What do you think is the best way to live life?
• How much of life is determined by attitude? Reading Tip: Noting Sensory Details Use a web
Building Background diagram like the one below to record sensory details
and to show how they are connected in the poem.
Although Harlem is in New York City, the writers, art-
ists, and composers who took part in the Harlem
Renaissance lived in other places too. This poem was narrowest
written toward the end of Johnson’s life, after she had nest
overcome numerous challenges. The images in the
poem directly relate to those used in the title poem of “Your World”
her first book, The Heart of a Woman. In that poem,
she compares the heart of a woman to a lone bird wings
that “tries to forget it has dreamed of the stars.” pressing close
Setting Purposes for Reading
Big Idea The Harlem Renaissance Vocabulary
Johnson not only wrote but also provided a haven for
other African American artists. She said that she called encircled (en sur kəld) v. to create a circle
her home ”Half-Way House” because “I’m halfway around; p. 824 A silver bracelet encircled her
between everybody and everything, and I bring them wrist.
together.” As you read, notice how “Your World” cap- immensity (i men sə tē) n. greatness in size
tures some of the ideals of the Harlem Renaissance. and degree; p. 824 Alone in a small boat, I was
always aware of the immensity of the ocean.
Literary Element Mood battered (bat ərd) v. to beat with blows; to
The mood of a literary work is its emotional quality or attack fiercely and repeatedly; p. 824 The
general feeling. A writer creates mood through figura- soldiers battered the locked castle gates.
tive language, diction, subject matter, tone, and sound
devices such as rhythm. Mood is not the same as Vocabulary Tip: Word Roots If you do not know
atmosphere, which refers more to the physical the meaning of a new word, look at the root word
details—location and weather, for instance—in a poem by eliminating any prefixes or suffixes. The root
or piece of fiction. As you read the poem, notice the word may help you determine the word’s meaning.
different aspects that create the mood.

• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R1

Interactive Literary Elements


Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • analyzing mood
• analyzing characteristics of the Harlem Renaissance • visualizing text

GEO RGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON 8 23


Images.com/CORBIS
Georgia Douglas Johnson

Abstract Female Figure. Riva Brown.

Your world is as big as you make it.


1. Here, abide may mean either “dwell” I know, for I used to abide1
or “remain.” In the narrowest nest in a corner,
My wings pressing close to my side.

5 But I sighted the distant horizon


Where the sky line encircled the sea
And I throbbed with a burning desire
To travel this immensity.

2. Cordons are barriers. I battered the cordons2 around me


10 And cradled my wings on the breeze
Then soared to the uttermost reaches
3. Rapture is the condition of being carried With rapture3, with power, with ease!
away by strong emotions such as joy
or love.
Literary Element Mood How does the contrast between
these words and lines 2–4 help you identify the mood of
this poem?

Vocabulary
encircle (en sur kəl) v. to create a circle around
immensity (i men sə tē) n. greatness in size and degree
batter (bat ər) v. to beat with blows; to attack fiercely
and repeatedly

8 24 UNIT 5 B EG I NN INGS OF THE MODERN A GE


Images.com/CORBIS
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Which images in the poem remind you most of 5. How well does the speaker support the belief that
feelings that you have had in your own life? Explain. “Your world is as big as you make it”? Use details
from the poem in your response.
Recall and Interpret
6. (a)How do you visualize the speaker at the end of
2. (a)To what does the speaker compare herself or
the poem? (b)Compare that image with the way in
himself? (b)How does the metaphor in the poem
which you visualized the speaker in the first stanza
match the speaker’s message?
and explain why the images might be different.
3. (a)Alliteration is the repetition of the consonant
7. Read aloud the last two lines of the poem and
sounds at the beginnings of words. Find an exam-
assess how the rhythm contributes to the poem’s
ple of alliteration in the first stanza of “Your World.”
emotional effect. Summarize your ideas.
(b)How does it contribute to the poem’s effect?
4. (a)What does the speaker see in the second stanza? Connect
(b)How does the mood change in this stanza? 8. Big Idea The Harlem Renaissance In what
ways might historical events have influenced the
author’s attitudes?

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Mood Reading Strategy Visualizing


The mood of a literary work is the overall emotion Visualizing is an effective method of comprehending a
created by that work. Usually mood can be described literary work and remembering details. If you are having
with one or two words, such as melancholy or opti- trouble visualizing a particular image, reread that section
mistic. Note that the mood of a work can shift. of the text. Look for patterns in the images and try to
determine their meanings from the context.
1. What words or images contribute to the mood in
the first and last stanzas? 1. Read the details used to describe the speaker and
the place the speaker “used to abide.” What do
2. What words suggest struggle? Success?
these images make you visualize?
2. What are three actions you can picture in the last
Performing stanza? How do these actions differ from one
Dramatic Reading With a group, prepare a dramatic another?
reading of “Your World.” Decide who will read each line
or stanza: an individual, a pair, or the whole group.
Discuss how each line should be read, then practice
Vocabulary Practice
your lines individually and as a group. Finally, perform Practice with Word Roots Look at each vocabu-
your dramatic reading for your classmates. lary word. Find the other word with the same root
below it. Use a dictionary to identify the meaning
of the root.
1. encircled 2. immensity 3. battered
battering circles immense
Web Activities For eFlashcards, circular immensely battery
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

GEO RGIA DO UGLAS JOHNSON 825


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

AP/Wide World Photos


A black man talks
of reaping
M E E T A RN A BON T E M PS

A
s a historian, an educator, and an author
of poems, plays, and novels, Arna
Bontemps helped draw attention to the
misleading education he felt many U.S. citizens
had received about the heritage and accomplish-
ments of African Americans. He has been credited
with helping to create the “trickle of interest in
Negro American literature—that trickle which is
now a torrent.” Bontemps wrote, “Had I not gone
home summers and hobnobbed with Negroes, . . . I
would have come out [of college] imagining that
the story of the Negro could be told in two short When Bontemps was a student at UCLA, he dis-
paragraphs: a statement about jungle people in covered a book by Claude McKay, a poet whose
Africa and an equally brief account of the slavery work eventually helped to spark the Harlem
issue in American history.” Renaissance. Bontemps read McKay’s book twice in
one day and then “began telling everybody I knew
about it.” In 1923, when he moved to New York,
he became friends with Langston Hughes, Countee
“In the Harlem Renaissance poetry led Cullen, and other Harlem Renaissance artists.
the way for the other arts. It touched
Adult Achievements Bontemps’s father wished
off the awakening that brought his son would become a mason, but Bontemps pre-
novelists, painters, sculptors, dancers, ferred to try his luck as a writer. He believed that
literature could both educate and empower. Soon
dramatists, and scholars of many kinds after his arrival in Harlem, he won recognition for
to the notice of a nation that had his poetry and for his first novel, God Sends Sunday.
He also began writing literature for children.
nearly forgotten about the gifts of its
In 1943 Bontemps became the librarian at Fisk
Negro people.” University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he
—Arna Bontemps devoted himself to recording the history of African
Americans. He said that his book The Story of the
Negro “consists mainly of things I learned after I
A Childhood Teacher Bontemps was born in left school that I wish I had known much earlier.”
Alexandria, Louisiana, but racism there led his Bontemps went on to write more than twenty-five
father to take the family to Los Angeles, California, books, including The Harlem Renaissance
when Bontemps was three years old. During Remembered and Golden Slippers, the first children’s
Bontemps’s childhood, his great-uncle Buddy anthology of African American poetry.
shared with Bontemps his love of variety shows,
Arna Bontemps was born in 1902 and died in 1973.
folk stories, and dialect, all of which were staples of
African American culture at the time. Bontemps
would go on to incorporate the rich cultural Author Search For more about
achievements of African Americans in his work. Arna Bontemps, go to www.glencoe.com.

826 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Poem Reading Strategy Connecting to Personal


In “A black man talks of reaping,” Bontemps evokes Experience
the feelings of people who have been deprived of the To gain a deeper understanding of what you read, try
fruits of their labor. As you read the poem, ask yourself connecting the events and ideas of a literary work to
the following questions: your own life or to other works you’ve read. As you
• How you would feel if others benefited from your read, try asking yourself: Do I know someone like this?
Have I ever felt this way? What else have I read that
work but you did not?
• How would you feel if you unfairly benefited from reminds me of this poem?
someone else’s work?
Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart like the one
Building Background below to record the connections you find between the
Langston Hughes’s vision of the role of African events, ideas, and feelings of “A black man talks of
American artists greatly influenced Bontemps. Hughes reaping” and your own experiences or beliefs.
wrote, “We younger Negro artists who create now
intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves Events, ideas, or My connections
without fear or shame. If white people are pleased we feelings in the poem
are glad. If they are not, it doesn’t matter. We know we
are beautiful. And ugly too. The tom-tom cries and the
tom-tom laughs. If colored people are pleased we are
glad. If they are not, their displeasure doesn’t matter
either.” Bontemps admired Hughes’ unapologetic
embrace of the African American experience.

Setting Purposes for Reading Vocabulary


Big Idea The Harlem Renaissance
sown (sōn) v. planted; p. 828 Two weeks after
As you read, notice the way that Bontemps’ poem the seeds were sown, the plants sprouted.
addresses injustices stemming from racial inequality.
lean (lēn) adj. unproductive; lacking; p. 828
The farmers fear that this year will be a lean one.
Literary Element Metaphor
reap (rēp) v. to gather or to harvest; p. 828
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two
Each fall, the farmers reap the grain in the fields.
seemingly unlike things. In contrast to a simile, a meta-
phor does not use the words like or as in making a
Vocabulary Tip: Using Context Clues Context
comparison. For example, the phrase “the car was
clues are the words and sentences around an
lightning and thunder” compares a noisy and speedy
unfamiliar word that can help you figure out the
car to lightning and thunder. “A black man talks of
word’s meaning. When you come across an unfa-
reaping” includes an implied extended metaphor—a
miliar word, consider its most likely meaning given
metaphor that is developed over more than one line.
the details that surround it.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R11.

Interactive Literary Elements


Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • understanding and analyzing extended metaphors
• analyzing characteristics of the Harlem Renaissance • connecting to personal experiences

ARNA BONTEMPS 8 27
(c)Estate of Robert Gwathmey/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY/San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA, Museum purchase with funds provided by Mrs. Leon D. Bonnet
Share Croppers, c. 1941. Robert Gwathmey. Watercolor,
45 x 32.4 cm. ©Estate of Robert Gwathmey/Licensed by VAGA,
New York/San Diego Museum of Art. Museum purchase with
funds provided by Mrs. Leon D. Bonnet.

I have sown beside all waters in my day.


I planted deep, within my heart the fear
that wind or fowl would take the grain away.
I planted safe against this stark, lean year.

5 I scattered seed enough to plant the land


in rows from Canada to Mexico
but for my reaping only what the hand
can hold at once is all that I can show.

Yet what I sowed and what the orchard yields


10 my brother’s sons are gathering stalk and root;
small wonder then my children glean1 in fields
they have not sown, and feed on bitter fruit.

Arna Bontemps
S11-147-01C-635423 AlOz Brush 1.Chris
Glean means “to gather grain left on a field after reaping.”

Literary Element Metaphor What might be the


underlying reason that the speaker has profited little from
the hard work of sowing (lines 7–8)?

Vocabulary
sown (sōn) v. planted
lean (lēn) adj. unproductive; lacking
reap (rēp) v. to gather or to harvest

828 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond ideas might Bontemps be trying to emphasize
through his use of rhyme?
1. How did this poem affect you? Explain.
6. African American author James Baldwin wrote,
Recall and Interpret “Color is not a human or a personal reality; it is a
2. (a)What is the work done by the speaker in the political reality.” How well does this poem illustrate
poem? (b)How would you explain the fears and Baldwin’s point? Explain.
concerns expressed in the first stanza?
7. How well does the title of the poem help you
3. (a)Who are “my brother’s sons,” and what are they understand the poem’s overall meaning? Explain.
doing? (b)Why do you think they are able to act in Cite details from the poem in your answer.
such a way?
Connect
4. (a)What does the speaker mean by “my children
glean in fields they have not sown”? (b)What might 8. Big Idea The Harlem Renaissance The
be the “bitter fruit” the children feed on? Explain. Harlem Renaissance encouraged authors to make
the experiences and concerns of African Americans
Analyze and Evaluate central to their writing. In what ways does this
5. In this poem, Bontemps uses end rhyme, or words poem reflect both the history of African Americans
that rhyme at the end of each line of poetry. What and the goals of the Harlem Renaissance?

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Metaphor Reading Strategy Connecting to Personal


An extended metaphor is a metaphor that is devel- Experience
oped over more than one line. In “A black man talks Arna Bontemps hoped to bring his experiences and
of reaping,” the metaphor is implied rather than those of other African Americans to the attention of
directly stated. others. Look at the chart you made noting the links
1. What comparison is Bontemps making? between the situation and feelings described in the
poem and your own feelings, ideas, and experiences.
2. What details in the poem convey the metaphor?
1. How do your ideas and experiences compare with
3. How does the metaphor help support the theme, the ideas and experiences Bontemps wrote about?
or underlying message, of the poem?
2. Think of a time you were treated unfairly. How did
you respond? Explain what you learned from this.
Learning for Life
Interview an Activist Locate an educator or activist in Vocabulary Practice
your community who is working to improve what he or
she feels is an unjust situation. Conduct an interview Practice with Context Clues For each of the fol-
with the person and ask him or her to explain the lowing sentences, use context clues to write a defi-
unjust situation and how he or she is working to change nition of the boldfaced word.
it. Share the results of your interview with the class. 1. I plan to reap the benefits of my studying once
exam time comes.
2. Our tomato plants produced far fewer tomatoes
Web Activities For eFlashcards, than they did last season; it was a lean crop.
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

AR NA BONTEMPS 829
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Any Human to Another


M E E T CO U N T E E C U LLE N reviews. By the time he received his master’s
degree from Harvard, Cullen had become the most

P
esteemed African American poet of his time.
robably more than any other writer during the
Harlem Renaissance, Countee Cullen embod-
ied the ideal of the “New Negro” and fulfilled
the goals of African American leaders W. E. B. “I shall not write of Negro subjects for
DuBois and James Weldon Johnson. He successfully
reached both African American and white audi- the purpose of propaganda. That is not
ences and eloquently addressed the issues of racism what a poet is concerned with. Of
and injustice in the United States. Though some
argued that Cullen spurned his African American
course, when the emotion rising out of
heritage because he considered himself simply a poet the fact that I am a Negro is strong, I
and not an African American poet, he never denied express it.”
his African American culture. His verse—even as it
showed the influence of English Romantic poetry— —Countee Cullen
echoed the struggle and violence of the times.
Cullen was born Countee Porter. His birthplace
remains a mystery, but most scholars believe it was Contradictions Unlike some of his contempo-
Louisville, Kentucky. Cullen was raised by a raries, Cullen wrote his poems in highly structured
woman who was thought to be his grandmother, and traditional European forms. He wanted to
and when she died in 1917, he went to live with prove that African Americans could write poetry
Reverend Frederick A. Cullen, pastor of the Salem as well as whites could. His belief in art’s ability to
Methodist Episcopal unite people of all races often prompted him to
Church in Harlem, and caution other African American poets, such as
his wife, Carolyn. Langston Hughes, against becoming “racial poets.”
Although not legally Although James Weldon Johnson understood
adopted by the Cullens, Cullen’s desire to avoid the “Negro poet” label, he
he eventually took their also noted the paradox between Cullen’s beliefs
last name. and his work, observing, “Strangely, it is because
Cullen excelled in Cullen revolts against . . . racial limitations—
school and won several technical and spiritual—that the best of his poetry
poetry awards, including is motivated by race.”
a citywide contest.
Before he graduated Legacy Cullen published several collections of
from New York poetry after Color. Although critical acclaim for his
University, his first book works waned in later years, Cullen’s popularity never
of poems, Color, was suffered, and today his literary legacy remains due to
published to good the eloquent, artfully crafted poems that he wrote
during the Harlem Renaissance.
Countee Porter Cullen, 1925. Winold Reiss. Pastel on artist
board. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Countee Cullen was born in 1903 and died in 1946.
Washington, DC.

Author Search For more about


Countee Cullen, go to www.glencoe.com.

830 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE


National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution/Art Resource, NY
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Poem Reading Strategy Connecting to


In “Any Human to Another,” Countee Cullen reflects on Contemporary Issues
how sorrow unites all human beings. As you read the Cullen’s poem reflects his desire to see people as indi-
poem, think about the following questions: viduals rather than as representatives of a group by
• How much can we empathize with—very deeply focusing on what unites human beings. As you read,
think about his outlook on life in the context of the
feel—another human being’s troubles?
• Which do you think unites us more with other contemporary world.
people: sharing our joys or sharing our sorrows?
Reading Tip: Record Your Observations To assess
Building Background the values you identify in Cullen’s poem in the context
Growing up in Harlem, Cullen was part of an expand- of contemporary issues, you might record your obser-
ing African American cultural awareness and learned vations in a chart like the one below:
about African American pride, unity, and art. Yet Cullen
was also immersed in white U.S. culture: he was for-
Cullen’s Beliefs Contemporary Observations
mally educated in primarily white upper-class schools,
he read the works of European writers, and he mod-
Issues
eled his writing after that of John Keats and other Sorrow unites Terrorist Cullen would
English Romantic poets. This combination of influ- people attacks understand why
ences—white and African American, formal and infor- people unite
mal—is reflected in his work. after terrorist
attacks.
Setting Purposes for Reading
Big Idea The Harlem Renaissance
Although Cullen did not want to be known as a “racial
poet,” much of his work addresses the issue of racism in Vocabulary
the United States. As you read “Any Human to Another,” fused (fūzd) adj. blended; p. 832 The jeweler
be aware of how he envisioned the world and the role crafted a bracelet made of fused metals.
of art as a means of breaking down racial barriers.
diverse (di vurs ) adj. composed of different
elements; p. 832 Because of newcomers from
Literary Element Stanza Asia and Latin America, the town had become
A stanza is a group of lines forming a unit in a poem more ethnically diverse.
or song. A stanza tends to focus on a certain topic or
unique (ū nēk ) adj. unusual; p. 832. The artist
feeling. Typically, stanzas are separated by a line space
generally paints religious paintings, so this land-
and often have the same number of lines, the same
scape painting is unique.
meter, and the same rhyme scheme. As you read “Any
Human to Another,” notice the focus of each stanza unsheathed (un shēthd ) adj. removed from a
and how the stanzas are arranged. protective case; p. 832 The unsheathed sword
appeared both menacing and beautiful.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R17.
Vocabulary Tip: Antonyms Antonyms are words
that have opposite meanings, such as gloomy and
Interactive Literary Elements cheerful. Note that antonyms are always the same
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements, part of speech.
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • understanding and analyzing stanzas
• analyzing characteristics of the Harlem Renaissance • connecting to contemporary issues

COUNTEE CULLEN 8 31
The ills I sorrow at
National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC/Art Resource, NY

Not me alone
Like an arrow,
Pierce to the marrow,
5 Through the fat
And past the bone.

Your grief and mine


Must intertwine
Like sea and river,
10 Be fused and mingle,
Diverse yet single,
Forever and forever.

Let no man be so proud


And confident,
15 To think he is allowed
A little tent
Pitched in a meadow
Of sun and shadow
All his little own.

20 Joy may be shy, unique,


Friendly to a few,
Sorrow never scorned to speak
To any who
Civilization is a method of living, an attitude of equal respect for all Were false or true.
men, from the series Great Ideas of Western Man, 1955. George Giusti.
India ink and gouache on paper sheet, 247/8 x 185/16 in. National
Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. 25 Your every grief
Like a blade
Shining and unsheathed
Must strike me down.
Of bitter aloes1 wreathed,
30 My sorrow must be laid
On your head like a crown.

1. Aloes refers to the spiny leaves of the aloe plant,


whose juices are used to make a bitter medicine.

Big Idea Harlem Renaissance What types of


people might the speaker be referring to here?

Vocabulary
fused (fūzd) adj. blended
diverse (di vurs) adj. composed of different
elements
unique (ū nēk) adj. unusual
unsheathed (un shēthd) adj. removed from a
protective case
Countee Cullen Kent
S11-145-01C-635423
AlOz Brush U5 T8
832 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F T HE MODE RN AGE
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. (a)What did you first think of when you read the 6. (a)What comparisons are introduced in the last
poem’s title? (b)How did your response change stanza? (b)Why might Cullen have selected those
after you read the poem? particular comparisons?

Recall and Interpret 7. In this poem, Cullen personifies, or gives human


attributes to, the emotions of joy and sorrow.
2. (a)Who is the speaker in this poem? (b)Whom
(a)What might be the purpose of this personifi-
does the speaker address?
cation? (b)Is it effective? Explain.
3. A simile is a comparison that uses words such as
like or as. What similes does Cullen use in the first Connect
and second stanzas? 8. Big Idea The Harlem Renaissance Racism is
4. What image of human isolation and self- not specifically mentioned anywhere in “Any
sufficiency does the speaker introduce in the Human to Another.” What attitude toward racism
third stanza, and what is his view of it? can be inferred from this poem?

5. (a)What point does the speaker make about joy


in the fourth stanza? (b)How does the speaker
contrast this point to the effect of sorrow?

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Stanza Reading Strategy Connecting to


Stanzas of a poem are often similar in structure and Contemporary Issues
have the same rhyme scheme, number of lines, and Look back over the chart you made on page 831 in
meter. However, some poems have stanzas with dif- which you recorded your observations about the val-
ferent numbers of lines or different rhyme schemes. ues expressed in “Any Human to Another.”
1. (a)How many stanzas does “Any Human to 1. What beliefs did you identify?
Another” have? (b)How many lines are in each
stanza? (c)How do Cullen’s stanzas reflect the 2. What contemporary issues did you identify?
definition of a stanza? 3. How relevant do you think Cullen’s poem is today?
2. What idea is presented in each stanza?
3. What effect does Cullen create through his choice Vocabulary Practice
of stanza form? Practice with Antonyms Choose the best
antonym for each vocabulary word.
Writing About Literature
1. diverse
Respond to Theme Do you agree with the argument
a. rare b. uniform c. varied
Cullen makes? Write a short essay stating why you do
or do not agree with Cullen. Use examples from the 2. fused
poem to support your points. a. separated b. joined c. stuck
3. unique
a. distinctive b. terrible c. common
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

COUNT EE CULLEN 833


Writing Workshop
Literary Analysis

The Writing Process


➥ Analyzing a Poem
In this workshop, you will fol- “[Robert Frost’s] sense of the human tragedy fortified him
low the stages of the writing
process. At any stage, you
against self-deception and easy consolation. ‘I have been’ he
may think of new ideas to wrote, ‘one acquainted with the night.’ And because he knew
include and better ways to
the midnight as well as the high noon, because he understood
express them. Feel free to
return to and revise earlier the ordeal as well as the triumph of the human spirit, he gave
stages as you write. his age strength with which to overcome despair.”
Prewriting —John F. Kennedy, from “Remarks at Amherst College”
Drafting

Revising
Connecting to Literature In the passage above, John F. Kennedy examines
➥ Focus Lesson: Sharpening
the Precision of Word the aspects of Frost’s character revealed through his poetry in order to honor
Choice Frost’s achievement as a whole. Similarly, in a literary analysis, you examine
the parts of a text to understand better the meaning of the text as a whole. The
Editing & Proofreading rubric below will help you learn the goals and strategies for writing a successful
expository literary analysis of a poem.
➥ Focus Lesson: Embedding
Quotations in Text

Presenting Features of Literary Analysis Writing

Goals Strategies

To analyze the meaning and ✓ Show how form, meter, language, and
techniques used in a poem speaker contribute to meaning

Writing Models For models To write a concise interpretation of ✓ In your introduction, state your
and other writing activities, go to the poem interpretation of the poem’s meaning
www.glencoe.com. ✓ In the conclusion, summarize your
interpretation and major points
OB J EC TIVES
To support your analysis with ✓ Use direct quotations and concrete
• Analyze a poem to demon-
strate an understanding of evidence examples from the poem for support
the poem’s meaning and
appreciation of the effects
that create that meaning. To organize your analysis logically ✓ Organize your discussion of elements in
• Advance a judgment of a a logical, coherent way
poem supported by evidence.

834 UNIT 5 BEGINNINGS OF THE MODERN AGE


Exposition

º Assignment Real-World Connection


Analyze a poem by identifying its meaning and then write an expository When you analyze a poem,
literary essay that explains how various techniques help create that meaning. think of yourself as a
As you move through the stages of the writing process, keep your audience detective trying to solve a
and purpose in mind. mystery. Before you talk
about the solution, you
Audience: peers, classmates, and teachers who are familiar with the poem must examine each clue
separately to determine
Purpose: to demonstrate an understanding of the poem’s meaning and an what it may reveal about
appreciation of the effects that create that meaning the case as a whole. Some
clues may not seem to
lead anywhere, and some
may have a meaning that
Analyzing a Professional Model is not immediately obvi-
ous. As a detective draws
In his expository literary analysis, Lawrence Raab argues that Robert Frost’s connections between clues
“Mending Wall” is less about revealing a particular meaning than showing the to solve a mystery, try to
reader how to find meaning. As you read the analysis, pay attention to the com- draw connections between
ments in the margin. They point out features that you might want to include in literary elements to inves-
your own literary analysis. tigate the meaning of your
poem.

From “Robert Frost’s ‘Mending Wall’” by Lawrence Raab


Introduction
“Mending Wall” opens with a riddle: “Something there is . . .” And a riddle,
Engage your reader with
after all, is a series of hints calculated to make us imagine and then name its an interesting introduc-
hidden subject. The poem doesn’t begin, “I hate walls,” or even, “Something tion. Show how your
analysis is a new way of
dislikes a wall.” Its first gesture is one of elaborate and playful concealment,
interpreting the poem.
a calculated withholding of meaning. Notice also that it is the speaker himself
who repairs the wall after the hunters have broken it. And it is the speaker
each year who notifies his neighbor when the time has come to meet and
mend the wall. Then can we safely claim that the speaker views the wall sim-
ply as a barrier between human contact and understanding?
Speaker and neighbor work together and equally. Although the job is
Supporting Evidence
tedious and hard, the speaker considers it “just another kind of outdoor game /
Use direct quotations from
One on a side.” He acknowledges that his whimsical spell—‘‘‘Stay where you the poem to support your
are until our backs are turned!’”—is useless, and that the result is imperma- analysis.

nent and perhaps less important than something else. For all practical purposes
this particular wall is not needed. But the project of mending it has taken on
significance: “Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder / If I could put a
notion in his head . . . ”

WRIT ING WO RKSHOP 835


Major Point
The speaker’s mischievous impulse is to plant an idea. He does not say that
Clearly state your major
points to guide your he wants to change his neighbor’s mind, to make him believe what he himself
reader. believes. He wants to nudge the neighbor’s imagination, just as a teacher
might wish to challenge a student. So he asks questions: “‘Why do they make
good neighbors? Isn’t it / Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.’”
But the neighbor is unwilling to play this game of teacher and student. He
won’t answer the questions, or consider the riddle. . . .
This is the poem’s essential challenge, which the neighbor will not accept.
Supporting Evidence
But the challenge is ours as well—our work, our play. The relationship
Use concrete examples
to support your analysis. between speaker and neighbor is like the relationship between poem and
reader, another kind of indoor game, one on a side.
But this is a relationship between poem and reader, not poet and reader.
Frost, I want to believe, is not the speaker exactly. He is behind the whole
Literary Element
poem, rather than narrowly inside it. We need to be at least a little skeptical
In your analysis, focus
on specific literary ele- of the speaker and not associate him automatically with the side of upholding
ments—such as the freedom, reason, and tolerance. At the end, because the neighbor won’t play
speaker’s point of view—
to show how these
his game, the speaker imagines him as “an old-stone savage,” a harsh judg-
contribute to the poem’s ment to apply even to the most recalcitrant student. Because the neighbor will
meaning.
only repeat what he remembers his father having said, he seems to “move in
darkness . . . Not of woods only and the shade of trees.” . . . It’s his refusal
to be playful and imaginative that irks the speaker, and his unwillingness to
consider work as anything more than a job to be accomplished. The speaker,
after all, does not ask the neighbor to give up his father’s notion. He wants him
to “go behind” it. If, as I want to suggest, the poem is about education, this
Literary Analysis
distinction is important. The poem does not merely advocate one position over
Explain how quotations
and examples support another. It asks neither for advocacy nor for application, but for investigation.
your major points. It is not a statement but a performance. It enacts its meanings. . . .
“Mending Wall” is a poem that lures the unwary reader into believing
that thinking is merely voting, choosing up sides, taking out of the poem
what most fits our own preconceived ideas. It adopts this subversive tactic
because its ultimate purpose is to challenge us to go behind what we might
Conclusion
find initially appealing in the formulas that lie on its surface. “We ask people
Summarize your thesis
in the conclusion and to think,” Frost says, “and we don’t show them what thinking is.” “Mending
leave the reader with Wall” is less a poem about what to think than it is a poem about what thinking
something to ponder.
is, and where it might lead.

Reading-Writing Connection Think about the writing techniques that you just
encountered and try them out in the expository literary analysis essay you write.

836 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F THE MODE RN AGE


Exposition

Prewriting
Choose a Poem to Analyze When choosing a poem to write about, think
about a poem in this unit you find provocative or challenging, one that you
would like to understand better. Make sure that the poem you choose is substan-
tive enough to discuss in your essay.

Explore Your Poem After you select a poem, explore its meaning and the
techniques the poet uses to convey that meaning. You may find it helpful to
make a copy of the poem to mark up as you analyze. Try these strategies: Every Word Counts
Poets choose each
º Paraphrase the poem’s general meaning in your own words. Then focus on word in a poem specifi-
specific words, punctuation, sounds, and figures of speech. Analyze the ways cally to give the poem
these elements contribute to the meaning of the poem. meaning and impact.
Always look for multi-
º Reread the poem. You probably will not notice everything at once.
ple meanings of a word
º Focus on smaller sections of the poem in detail. Explore the images in each and note how different
section and think about how they bring out the poet’s message. meanings may enhance
or complicate the
Analyze the Elements Remember that when you analyze something, you break meaning of the poem.
it into parts and examine each part, determining how the parts work together as a Test Prep
whole. A chart like the one below can help you work out your analysis of a poem
and can serve as evidence to support your thesis in your draft. When you analyze a
poem for a timed test,
examine the literary
Poem “I, Too” by Langston Hughes elements first. This
Form 5 stanzas; 18 lines analysis will form the
Rhyme Scheme unrhymed support for your thesis.

Repetition Lines nearly repeat: “When company comes” (lines 4 and


10) and “eat in the kitchen” (lines 3 and 13).
Imagery image of eating in kitchen repeated in stanzas 2 and 3
Figurative “I, too, sing America” (line 1); “I, too, am America”
Language (line 18)
Speaker/ African American speaker; “They” (Americans excluding
Characters African Americans)
Tone Confident and proud in stanzas 1, 2, 3, and 5; uncertain and
doubting in stanza 4
Theme The speaker wants not only to be able to participate in
what “America” is but also to be admired and seen as an
individual.

Clarify Your Thesis Look at your analysis chart and decide which elements
are most important in the poem you chose. You need not discuss every element
in your analysis, only the most important ones. Then examine your paraphrase
and the notes in your chart to sum up your interpretation of the meaning of the
poem in a thesis statement. Your thesis should explain how particular literary
elements illustrate or contribute to the theme of the poem.

Make a Plan As you write, use the elements in your chart to support your thesis.
Organize your major points so that your analysis follows a logical, effective order.

WRIT ING WO RKSHOP 837


Library of Congress
Organization of Major
Drafting
Points
Use a graphic organizer Use Your Plan as a Guide You may begin drafting by incorporating your
to help you organize thesis into an introduction, or you may choose to focus on the body of the essay
your body paragraphs. first. Organize your main points in a straightforward way in the body of your
essay, supporting each point with direct evidence from the poem. Explain the
Major Point significance of quotations and examples and make clear how they support your
thesis.

Evidence A Evidence C Analyzing a Workshop Model


Here is the final draft of a literary analysis essay. Read the essay and answer the
Evidence B
questions in the margin. Use the answers to these questions to guide you as you
write your own essay.
Quotation Quotation

Quotation

Part of America: Langston Hughes’s “I, Too”


Langston Hughes’s poem “I, Too” comments on the past, present, and
possible future treatment of African Americans in the United States. Strong
imagery, repetition, changing tone, and a varying formal arrangement in
Hughes’s poem are employed as the speaker questions the limited definition
Thesis
of America. The poem reflects the speaker’s desire not only to be able to
What makes this thesis
effective? participate in what America is but also to be recognized as an individual, as
part of the very definition of America.
Hughes’s poem can be interpreted as a direct response to Walt Whitman’s
poem “I Hear America Singing.” Whitman writes about America’s diver-
sity by describing how each individual sings a unique song. In “I, Too” the
speaker’s response is a wish to be recognized as one of those individual
Major Point
voices. The opening line of the poem, set apart for emphasis, suggests a
Why might the writer
decide to include a
direct reply to Whitman. “I, too, sing America,” proclaims the speaker,
major point here? pleading for attention and recognition and wondering why he was excluded
from Whitman’s poetic list of Americans (line 1).
The second stanza of the poem describes the speaker’s current situation.
The line “I am the darker brother” implies that there is a relation to the rest
of America, but by describing the speaker as “darker,” Hughes identifies the
Supporting Evidence
speaker as an African American (line 2). Hughes describes an ambiguous
What is the effect of
directly quoting the
“they” who send the speaker away “when company comes,” segregating and
words from the poem hiding him from other people (lines 3, 4). Although he is shoved aside, he
here?
attempts to make the best of his situation by laughing, eating, and getting stron-
ger (lines 5–7). Hughes illustrates how, even when they are being discounted,
African Americans remain optimistic, knowing that a better future lies ahead.

838 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F THE MODE RN AGE


Exposition
The third stanza shifts from present to future tense and point of view, Organization
as the speaker speculates on how the treatment of African Americans will How is this essay orga-
change “Tomorrow.” To highlight this shift, the speaker repeats the main nized, and why is this
method effective?
image of the second stanza and follows a similar structure in both stan-
zas. The turning point, “When company comes,” from line 4 is repeated
exactly in line 10 but to a different effect. In the third stanza, the speaker
looks forward to the day when he will sit at the table with everybody
Embedded Quotation
else, in a time when nobody will even consider telling him to “‘Eat in the
How are embedded quo-
kitchen’” (line 13). In this stanza, Hughes cements the symbolism of “the tations cited?
table,” which represents the basic rights and freedoms of a participating
American. The speaker describes a time when he will be allowed to join in
with the rest of Americans without being told that he cannot or should not.
The fourth stanza continues in the present tense as the speaker further
Literary Element
speculates on the changes the future will bring for African Americans. The
Why might the writer
three-line structure of this stanza sharply diverges from the structure of other address the form of the
stanzas, and the “Besides” introduces this stanza as an aside that similarly poem here?
diverges from the main text of the poem (lines 15–17). In this stanza, the
speaker shifts from affirming that “they” will allow him (and all African
Americans) to participate, or “eat at the table,” to affirming that “they” will
eventually recognize him as beautiful and be ashamed of their past treatment
Literary Analysis
of him (line 16–17). Therefore, the speaker wants—and expects—not only
How does this statement
to be allowed to share the same freedoms and liberties as other American contribute to the reader’s
citizens, to participate in what “America” is, but also to be admired and seen understanding of the
poem?
as an individual. Line 17 ends abruptly with a dash, however, suggesting that
the speaker suddenly doubts his own statement. This dash serves to undercut
the proud, confident, determined tone of the speaker in the first three stanzas,
each of which ends with a period. The speaker seems to acknowledge that
the future he described may not happen.
With the final line, Hughes brings the poem full circle, concluding with
“I, too, am America” (line 18). This line, in effect, repeats the opening of the
poem, lending a sense of symmetry and closure to the whole. The speaker
is not just participating in (“singing”) America; he is also a part of it—he is
America. Yet even this confident closing line cannot erase the hint of doubt
from the preceding line. The speaker expresses his feeling that the exclusion
and degradation must stop, although he does not seem convinced that it will
Conclusion
happen in the near future. Placing the final line in the present tense, as if it were
How might this conclu-
already true, emphasizes the pain behind the statement, as well as the insistence sion give the reader
on strength and hope, even as “Tomorrow” seems further and further away. something to ponder
further?

WRIT ING WO RKSHOP 839


Revising
Peer Review Exchange your finished draft with that of a partner to identify the
strengths and weaknesses of each draft. Partners should make sure that each anal-
Traits of Strong Writing ysis is logically organized and should comment on the tone of the essay. Analyses
Ideas message or should be interesting but formal in tone.
theme and the details
that develop it
Use the rubric below to evaluate your writing.

Organization arrange- Rubric: Writing an Effective Literary Analysis of a Poem


ment of main ideas and
supporting details ✓ Do you analyze the techniques in the poem to show how they contribute to
the poem’s meaning?
Voice writer’s unique way
of using tone and style ✓ Do you state your interpretation in a concise thesis statement?
✓ Do you support your analysis with quotations and examples from the poem?
Word Choice vocabulary
a writer uses to convey ✓ Do you organize your analysis in a logical, coherent way?
meaning
✓ Do you restate your thesis and summarize your major points in your conclusion?
Sentence Fluency
rhythm and flow of
sentences º Focus Lesson
Conventions correct Sharpening the Precision of Word Choice
spelling, grammar,
usage, and mechanics Concrete, precise writing appeals to readers because it evokes feelings and
images that help them personally relate to what is being discussed. In your
Presentation the way essay, help your readers understand your ideas by replacing abstract statements
words and design ele- with precise words and vivid examples. Review your thesis and major points
ments look on a page in particular, making sure your ideas are as accurate and precise as possible.
For more information Draft:
on using the Traits of
Strong Writing, see
The poem, however, shifts toward a sense of doubt, suggesting that the
pages R33–R34 of the
Writing Handbook. speaker and his views have changed. The tone and the punctuation in the
final stanza contribute to this effect.

Revision:

Line 17 ends abruptly with a dash,1 however, suggesting that the speaker
suddenly doubts his own statement.2 This dash serves to undercut the proud,
confident, determined tone of the speaker in the first three stanzas, each
of which ends in a period.3

1: Be concise and concrete.


2: Give specific rather than general explanations.
3: Replace vague examples with vivid, precise examples.

840 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F THE MODE RN AGE


Exposition

Editing and Proofreading


Get It Right When you have completed the final draft of your essay, proofread
it for errors in grammar, usage, mechanics, and spelling. Refer to the Language
Handbook, pages R46–R60, as a guide.

º Focus Lesson

Embedding Quotations in Text Quoting Poetry


In your essay, much of your direct evidence will be in the form of quotations When you quote poetry,
embedded within your analysis. Remember to place quotation marks around be sure to give the
only the quotation, excluding any introductory or explanatory remarks. In line numbers (rather
general separate such remarks from the actual quotation with a comma. than page numbers) in
When a quotation is interrupted by an explanatory remark, use two sets of parentheses after each
quotation marks. quotation. Use a slash
(/) to indicate a line
break. Example:
Problem: Direct evidence is not set off in quotation marks and is not set off
with a comma from the introductory remarks. “Tomorrow, / I’ll be at
the table” (lines 8–9)
The turning point when company comes from line 4 is repeated exactly in
line 10, but to a different effect.

Solution: Place quotation marks around the quotation and set off with
commas the introductory remark from the actual quotation.

The turning point, “When company comes,” from line 4 is repeated


exactly in line 10 but to a different effect.

Problem: Quotation marks include material not in the quotation.

Hughes describes an ambiguous “they who send the speaker away when
company comes,” segregating and hiding him from other people (lines 3, 4).

Solution: Place quotation marks around only quoted material, using two or
more sets of quotation marks if necessary.

Hughes describes an ambiguous “they” who send the speaker away


“when company comes,” segregating and hiding him from other people
(lines 3, 4).

Writer’s Portfolio
Presenting Place a clean copy of
your literary analysis
in your portfolio to
The Final Touch After you finish editing and proofreading your analysis, and review later.
check that all quotations are cited correctly, focus on presentation. Make sure
your analysis is typed in a legible font and type size, with reasonable margins and
spacing. Give your analysis an interesting title that will make your essay stand
out. Check with your teacher about any additional presentation guidelines.

WRIT ING WO RKSHOP 841


Speaking, Listening,
and Viewing Workshop
Oral Interpretation of a Poem

Connecting to Literature What is “I, Too” by Langston Hughes about? One


reader might say that it is about belonging; another might say that it is about
Clarifying Meaning rebelling. What image is strongest in Carl Sandburg’s poem about Chicago? Is it
One of the best ways to the dusty city, “laughing with white teeth,” or the faces of the women and chil-
check your understanding dren marked with “wanton hunger”? Think about these poems and others you
of the literal meaning of a have read and discussed in Unit 5. Have you noticed that there is no single “cor-
poem is to paraphrase it—or rect” way to interpret a particular poem? When you read a poem aloud and
rephrase it in your own explain your understanding of it, you are presenting an oral interpretation of it.
words. You may paraphrase
it line by line, stanza by Assignment

stanza, or any other way


Plan and deliver an oral interpretation of a poem.
that makes sense to you.

Planning Your Presentation


Using Background
Information
To interpret a poem successfully, you should do the following:
You can draw information
from a poet’s background • Understand the literal meaning. Read the poem several times to decide what
into your interpretation. For the speaker is saying and why he or she is saying it. In other words, what is the
example, many critics felt meaning of the poem, and what action or image is being described?
that T. S. Eliot’s poem “The • Understand the implied meaning. If the literal meaning is what the poet is
Love Song of J. Alfred saying, then the implied meaning is why the poet is saying it. How did you feel
Prufrock” reflected Eliot’s after reading the poem? Why might the poet want you to feel that way?
sense of the growing
alienation of modern
industry. Elements such as
Creating Your Visual Media
economics, race, or politics
Poetry is full of striking visual images, so it makes sense to include visual
can all influence a poet’s
elements in your presentation. Possible visual aids include photographs of the
work.
poet or a painting or drawing representing the meaning of the poem. Use the
chart below to help you brainstorm for other ideas about visual media.

What are some of the How can I find or What artifacts can I
memorable images or create visual display to highlight
ideas in the poem? representations of those those images or ideas?
images or ideas?

842 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F THE MODE RN AGE


Rehearsing
To perfect your oral interpretation, rehearse before you present it to your
audience. Ask a friend to listen and to offer helpful feedback as you practice.
Listen to the Poet
• Practice your oral interpretation often, experimenting with different tones, If you have chosen a
volumes, speeds, and other vocal devices. contemporary poet, visit the
• When you present your interpretation, first read the poem you have chosen to library to see if there are
your audience. Plan ahead to decide where you will pause for breath during any recordings of the poet
the reading. Pause at the end of a line only if a punctuation mark appears reading his or her work.
there or if it seems like a natural place to pause. This can guide you in your
• Look for imagery and figurative language. Think about ways to communicate recitation and also make an
these images and figures of speech in your interpretation. interesting aid to your
• Consider how the poet has used sound devices, such as rhyme, rhythm, alliter- presentation.
ation, assonance, and consonance. Decide how you will emphasize these ele-
ments in your oral presentation.
• Read the poem to yourself several times, focusing on your own reactions to it. Use a Mirror
Think of ways to use your voice to communicate your reactions. Practice your gestures in
front of a mirror until your
body language looks
Rubric: Techniques for Delivering an Oral Interpretation of Poem natural.
Verbal Techniques Nonverbal Techniques
✓ Volume Vary the volume of ✓ Posture Stand up tall with your Sound Check
your voice as needed but speak head straight. Record your presentation
loudly enough that everyone and play it back to check
can hear you. on whether your voice
expresses the right mood
✓ Pronunciation Speak clearly, ✓ Eye Contact Direct eye contact and your words are
enunciating all the words. with members of the audience understandable.
will convey that you are
knowledgeable and confident in
your interpretation.
✓ Pace Let the poem’s punctuation ✓ Facial Expressions Vary your
guide your pacing—pause for facial expressions to reflect what
spaces and line breaks and stop you are saying.
briefly for periods.
✓ Tone To set a strong, fierce tone, ✓ Gestures Use gestures to
speak loudly; speaking softly will emphasize important ideas in O B J ECTIV ES
create a quieter, softer tone. the poem. • Present and perform inter-
pretations of poems.
✓ Emphasis Stress important ✓ Visual Aids Use photographs, • Speak effectively to explain
and justify ideas to peers.
words and ideas. drawings, or artifacts that express
elements of the poem’s imagery
and ideas.

SPEAKING, LISTENING, AND VIEWING WO RKSHOP 843


LITER
LI T ER AT
ATUURE OF
O F TH
T H E TI
TIME

For Independent Reading


M
ANY POST–WORLD WAR I writers saw the war as an indication of the failure
of the old ways and thus tried to explore new subject matter, styles, and themes.
A common literary subject at the start of the Modern Age was the lifestyle of rich
and fashionable members of society. Edith Wharton, who was a member of that society, and
F. Scott Fitzgerald, who was not, brought different outlooks to this topic. Ernest Hemingway
had a different attitude toward society: he turned his back on it and created characters who
are outcasts rather than members of high society. With the publication of their influential
works, Wharton, Fitzgerald, and Hemingway helped to create the modern novel.

The Great Gatsby


by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)
Both the glamour and the dark side of the
Roaring Twenties are reflected in Fitzgerald’s story
of Jay Gatsby, a man who possesses mysterious
wealth, throws lavish parties, and lives for his
idealistic but doomed pursuits of a woman, Daisy
Buchanan, and the American dream. Told from
The Age of Innocence the point of view of Gatsby’s wide-eyed neighbor,
by Edith Wharton (1920) Nick Carraway, the story captures the spirit of the
Jazz Age, a period that Fitzgerald called “an age of
Through the story of a doomed love, Edith miracles, . . . an age of art, . . . an age of excess.”
Wharton presents an illuminating study of New
York society in the 1870s. She describes the
suffocating effects of living in the insulated world
of the very rich, where deviation from accepted
conventions resulted in unhappiness, scandal,
and ruination. In an ideal match, worldly and
wealthy Newland Archer is engaged to young
and beautiful May Welland, a member of the
same elite social circle. However, the presence of
May’s cousin, the exotic and aristocratic Ellen
Olenska who is estranged from her husband,
disrupts the couple’s perfect union. Swept away
by Olenska, Archer becomes torn between the
two women. Wharton was awarded a Pulitzer
Prize for this story of Archer’s struggle between
passion and society’s conventions.

844 UNIT 5 B EG I N N I N G S O F THE MODE RN AGE


(t)FPG, (bl)Hulton/Archive, (br)Christie’s Images
CRITICS’ CORNER

“No amount of analysis can convey the quality of ‘The Sun Also Rises.’ It is a truly gripping story, told in a
lean, hard, athletic narrative prose that puts more literary English to shame. Mr. Hemingway knows how not
only to make words be specific but how to arrange a collection of
words which shall betray a great deal more than is to be found in the
individual parts. It is magnificent writing, filled with that organic
action which gives a compelling picture of character.”
—The New York Times, October 31, 1926

From the Glencoe Literature Library

Ethan Frome
By Edith Wharton
A tragic love triangle
between the title character,
his ailing wife, and her
young cousin.

My Ántonia
By Willa Cather
A young boy moves west
from Virginia to the
The Sun Also Rises Nebraska plains and must
By Ernest Hemingway (1926) adjust to life on the
American frontier.
World War I, though long over, casts a deep
shadow over this story of young people
physically and perhaps psychologically damaged
by the war. Set in the cafés of Paris and the
All Quiet on the
bullrings of Spain, Hemingway’s novel paints in
Western Front
poignant detail the aimless lives of a group of By Erich Maria Remarque
disillusioned characters. The story focuses on
A German soldier
narrator Jake Barnes, a wounded war veteran,
experiences the horrors of
and Lady Brett Ashley, the love of his life.
battle during World War I
Barnes’s love for Lady Brett and resentment
and later struggles to adjust
toward her fiancé, Mike Campbell, fuel this
upon his return home.
story of longing and loss.

LITERATUR E OF T HE TIME 845


(l)Jagarts/Photofest, (c)Hulton/Archive, (r)AP/Wide World, (others)file photos
Test Preparation and Practice
English Language Arts

Reading: Short Stories


Carefully read the following passage. Use context clues to help you define any words with which
you are unfamiliar. Pay close attention to the theme, use of literary devices, and tone. Then, on
a separate sheet of paper, answer the questions on page 848.

Early Autumn by Langston Hughes


When Bill was very young, they had been in
love. Many nights they had spent walking, talking
together. Then something not very important had
come between them, and they didn’t speak.
5 Impulsively, she had married a man she thought
she loved. Bill went away, bitter about women.
Yesterday, walking across Washington Square,
she saw him for the first time in years.
“Bill Walker,” she said.
10 He stopped. At first he did not recognize
her, to him she looked so old.
“Mary! Where did you come from?”
Unconsciously, she lifted her face as though
wanting a kiss, but he held out his hand. She took it.
15 “I live in New York now,” she said.
“Oh”—smiling politely. Then a little frown
came quickly between his eyes.
“Always wondered what happened to you,
Bill.”
20 “I’m a lawyer. Nice firm, way downtown.”
“Married yet?”
“Sure. Two kids.”
“Oh,” she said.
A great many people went past them through
25 the park. People they didn’t know. It was late
afternoon. Nearly sunset. Cold.
“And your husband?” he asked her.
“We have three children. I work in the
bursar’s office at Columbia.”

846 UNIT 5 BE G IN N IN G S O F T HE M O D E RN A GE
30 “You’re looking very . . .” (he wanted to say
old) “. . . well,” he said.
She understood. Under the trees in
Washington Square, she found herself desperately
reaching back into the past. She had been older than
35 he then in Ohio. Now she was not young at all. Bill
was still young.
“We live on Central Park West,” she said.
“Come and see us sometime.”
“Sure,” he replied. “You and your husband
40 must have dinner with my family some night. Any
night. Lucille and I’d love to have you.”
The leaves fell slowly from the trees in the
Square. Fell without wind. Autumn dusk. She felt a
little sick.
45 “We’d love it,” she answered.
“You ought to see my kids.” He grinned.
Suddenly the lights came on up the whole
length of Fifth Avenue, chains of misty brilliance in
the blue air.
50 “There’s my bus,” she said.
He held out his hand, “Good-bye.”
“When . . . ” she wanted to say, but the bus
was ready to pull off. The lights on the avenue
blurred, twinkled, blurred. And she was afraid to
55 open her mouth as she entered the bus. Afraid it
would be impossible to utter a word.
Suddenly she shrieked very loudly, “Good-
bye!” But the bus door had closed.
The bus started. People came between them
60 outside, people crossing the street, people they
didn’t know. Space and people. She lost sight of
Bill. Then she remembered she had forgotten to
give him her address—or to ask him for his—or tell
him that her youngest boy was named Bill, too.

TE S T P RE PA RATIO N A N D P RACTICE 8 47
1. What caused Bill and Mary to end their 9. Why do you think Mary is “afraid it would be
relationship? impossible to utter a word”?
A. She impulsively married another man. A. Because Bill is bitter toward women, she is
B. They stopped speaking. afraid of upsetting him.
C. They both moved to New York. B. She is aware that Bill sees her as old.
D. Something came between them. C. She senses that they can no longer really
communicate.
2. Why do you think Mary unconsciously lifts her D. She thinks that Bill will ignore anything she
face as though wanting a kiss? might say.
A. She is still in love with Bill.
B. She is unhappy to see Bill in New York. 10. In the paragraph beginning in line 57, which is
C. She has momentarily forgotten the past. an example of connotative language?
D. She hopes to make Bill less bitter. A. very
B. closed
3. Of what is the title of the story most symbolic? C. shrieked
A. changing weather in New York D. good-bye
B. the changing of a relationship
C. the ages of Bill and Mary 11. Of what are the “space and people” in line 61
D. the time of the meeting most symbolic?
A. the emotional distance between Bill and
4. To what element of the story does the paragraph Mary
beginning in line 24 contribute? B. Bill’s and Mary’s children and spouses
A. characters C. Bill and Mary’s youthful relationship
B. setting D. the movement of the bus as it pulls away
C. plot
D. conflict 12. In this passage, how does Hughes reveal the
personality of Mary?
5. What does Mary “understand” in line 32? A. metaphor
A. that Bill has a better life than hers B. symbolism
B. that Bill has noticed her age C. direct characterization
C. that Bill is wealthy D. indirect characterization
D. that Bill is unhappy
13. From what point of view is this passage written?
6. Where did Mary and Bill first meet? A. first person
A. in Ohio B. second person
B. in Washington Square C. third-person omniscient
C. in New York City D. third-person limited
D. in Central Park
14. What is the overall tone of this passage?
7. What literary element is most evident in the A. serious
sentence beginning in line 47? B. humorous
A. allusion C. mischievous
B. imagery D. furious
C. metaphor
D. simile 15. Short Response In a short paragraph, describe
the theme of this story. Support your answer
8. In the context, what does the word brilliance in with details from the story.
line 48 mean?
A. intelligence
B. sharpness
C. preciousness
D. brightness

848 UNIT 5 BE GI NN I NG S OF T H E MO DER N AGE


Vocabulary Skills: Sentence Completion
For each item in the Vocabulary Skills section, choose the best word or words to complete the sentence.
Write your answers on a sheet of paper.

1. Ezra Pound believed in the creation of a 6. With the spread of jazz came a great deal of
new, modern poetry built on the literature of the and disapproval among older people,
past. who felt it was corrupting the youth.
A. whimsically A. vanity
B. stoically B. piety
C. vehemently C. patronage
D. tactfully D. perturbation

2. Much of the U.S. public was to the 7. The Jazz Age gradually eased, rather than ,
conflict in Europe until the United States entered to a close as the Second World War approached.
the war. A. lurched
A. indifferent B. exalted
B. ingenious C. jilted
C. withered D. jostled
D. dutiful
8. There was a on the face of many people
3. Many critics were unimpressed by the bold in the United States the day the stock market
declarations and the of some of the crashed.
Modernist writers. A. millennium
A. piety B. snicker
B. dissembling C. contrivance
C. brazenness D. grimace
D. snickers
9. Many African Americans felt and
4. The writers of the Harlem Renaissance refused to alienated from the mainstream culture in the
themselves to second-class citizenship. United States.
A. jostle A. withered
B. resign B. tactful
C. jilt C. dutiful
D. exalt D. detached

5. In their writing, Imagists often tried to transform 10. Many were shocked by E. E. Cummings’s unusual
elements from the , everyday world into and often use of punctuation, grammar,
something remarkable. and syntax.
A. ominous A. ominous
B. mundane B. withered
C. withered C. ingenious
D. ingenious D. tactful

T EST PRE PARATI ON AND P RAC TI C E 849


Grammar and Writing Skills: Paragraph Improvement
Read carefully through the following passage from the first draft of a student’s essay. Pay close attention to the
verb tense, use of clauses, and commas. Then, on a separate sheet of paper, answer the questions below.

(1) The opening line immediately signals the reader that this poem will disclose something important.
(2) That something—later revealed to be the wheelbarrow the white chickens, and rainwater—is
supporting “so much.” (3) The line stands out too, because it was the only line not dedicated to
imagery. (4) Also, by never identifying what actually “depends,” Williams creates a host of possible
interpretations for his poem.
(5) Williams dedicates the next three stanzas almost entirely to the eye. (6) Each adds a detail to
the poem’s imagery, each drops another puzzle piece into place. (7) The wheelbarrow is presented first.
(8) Williams described it outright, without embellishment. (9) However, he unexpectedly breaks the word
wheelbarrow between two lines. (10) By breaking this compound noun into its composite parts, the poet
draws the reader’s attention to the word itself, more than to the word’s meaning. (11) The wheelbarrow
is simultaneously an actual physical thing and the words that are used to describe it.
(12) The next stanza, “which tells us that the wheelbarrow is glazed with rain / water,” similarly
breaks the word rainwater between lines. (13) This, even more than the last, creates a situation in which
things, and the language used to describe those things, become confused. (14) Williams is aided by the
closeness in meaning of the words rain and water. (15) One is a component of the other, rain itself can
never really be separated from the water that makes it up.
(16) William Carlos Williams’s “The Red Wheelbarrow” is a deceptively simple poem. (17)
Deceptively simple in that, although it is succinct and its imagery plain and concrete, it expresses
complex ideas. (18) Williams has written a very simple poem. (19) In eight lines Williams created a poem
that shines a light on the underlying notions of language, literature, and representation.

1. Which of the following is the best revision of 2. Which of the following is the best revision of
sentence 2? sentence 3?
A. That something—later revealed to be the A. The line stands out too, because it was not
“wheelbarrow the white chickens and dedicated to imagery.
rainwater”—is supporting “so much.” B. The line stands out too, because it is the only
B. That something—later revealed to be the line not dedicated to imagery.
wheelbarrow the white chickens and C. These lines were the only lines not dedicated
rainwater—is supporting so much. to the creation of the poem’s central image.
C. That something—later revealed to be the D. This was the only line without imagery.
wheelbarrow, the white chickens, and
rainwater—is supporting “so much.” 3. Which of the following errors appears in
D. That something later revealed to be the sentence 6?
wheelbarrow the white chickens and rainwater A. run-on sentence
is supporting “so much.” B. incorrect parallelism
C. sentence fragment
D. incorrect verb tense

8 50 U N IT 5 BE G I NN I NG S O F T H E M O D E R N A GE
4. Which of the following is the best revision of 7. What information would best fit in a new paragraph
sentence 8? inserted between the third and fourth paragraphs?
A. Williams describes it outright, without A. biographical information about William Carlos
embellishment. Williams
B. Outright, Williams described it, without B. a discussion of the poem’s final stanza
embellishment. C. a discussion of other poems by Williams
C. Williams, describing it outright, without D. more background information concerning the
embellishment. writing of the poem
D. Williams is without embellishment.
8. Which of the following sentences adds the least to
5. Which of the following is the best revision of the last paragraph?
sentence 12? A. 16 C. 18
A. The next stanza, which tells us that the B. 17 D. 19
wheelbarrow is glazed with rain / water, similarly
breaks the word rainwater between lines. 9. Which of the following is the best revision of
B. The next stanza, “which tells us that the sentence 19?
wheelbarrow is glazed with rain / water,” A. Williams created a poem that shines a light on
similarly breaks the word rainwater across lines. the underlying notions of language literature
C. The next stanza, which tells us that the and representation.
wheelbarrow is glazed with rain / water, similarly B. In eight lines Williams created a poem that
breaks the word rainwater between lines. shines a light on the underlying notions of
D. The next stanza, which tells us that the language, and literature, and representation.
wheelbarrow is “glazed with rain / water,” C. Williams shines a light on the underlying
similarly breaks up the word rainwater between notions of literature.
lines. D. In eight lines, Williams created a poem that
shines a light on the underlying notions of
6. Which of the following errors appears in sentence 17? language, literature, and representation.
A. run-on sentence
B. incorrect parallelism 10. What is most noticeably missing from this essay?
C. sentence fragment A. a concluding paragraph
D. incorrect verb tense B. an opening paragraph
C. evidence
D. a visual aid

Essay: Writing Situation


Directions for Writing
Imagine discussing with a Modernist writer the use of traditional forms in poetry. Think about how traditional
forms, such as rhyme and meter, or the absence of these forms, function in a poem and their effect.
Now write an essay in which you argue for or against the use of these forms in modern poetry.
REMEMBER TO:
• write about the assigned topic • write about your ideas in depth so that the reader
• make your writing thoughtful and interesting is able to develop a good understanding of what
• make sure that each sentence you write contributes you are saying
to your composition as a whole • proofread your writing to correct errors in spelling,
• make sure that your ideas are clear and easy for the capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and sentence
reader to follow structure

Unit Assessment To prepare for


the unit test, go to www.glencoe.com.
TE ST PREPARATION AND PR AC T IC E 8 51
Baseball at Night, 1934. Morris Kantor. Oil on linen, 37 x 471/4 in. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC.

852
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC/Art Resource, NY
U N IT SIX

from
Depression
to Cold War
1930S –1960S
Looking Ahead
During this period, the United States faced extraordinary challenges. In
the 1930s, people in the United States struggled with the effects of the
Great Depression, the worst economic crisis in U.S. history. U.S. entry into
World War II in 1941 signaled the beginning of global responsibilities for
the United States. The postwar world brought the United States an
uneasy peace marked by anxiety about nuclear conflict.

Keep the following questions in mind as you read:

» How did the Depression encourage a revival of Regionalist literature?


» In what different ways did the writers of this period present urban life?
» How did the role of the United States in the world change as a result
of World War II and the Cold War?

OBJECTIVES
In learning about the period from the Depression to the Cold War, you will:

• interpret the possible influences on the historical context of a literary work


• identify and analyze the effect of artistic elements within literary texts such as character
development, rhyme, imagery, and language
• apply an understanding that language and literature are the primary means by which
a culture is transmitted
• use writing to formulate questions, refine topics, and clarify ideas

8 53
timeline
1930S –1960S
AM E R I C AN L I T E R AT U R E

1930 1940
1930 1937 1940
Sinclair Lewis becomes first Their Eyes Were Watching Native Son by 1945
U.S. citizen to win Nobel God by Zora Neale Hurston Richard Wright Black Boy by Richard Wright
Prize for Literature
1938 1943 1945
1936 Thornton Wilder stages Oklahoma! opens A Street in Bronzeville by
Absalom, Absalom! by Our Town on Broadway Gwendolyn Brooks
William Faulkner
1939 1945 1947
The Grapes of Wrath by Tennessee Williams stages Tennessee Williams stages
John Steinbeck The Glass Menagerie A Streetcar Named Desire

U N I T E D STAT E S E V E N TS

1930 1940
1930 1934 1941 1944
Depression deepens; bank Dust Bowl begins in the Japan attacks Pearl Harbor; D-Day invasion begins in
failures increase southern Great Plains United States enters World northern France
War II
1932 1935 1945
Franklin D. Roosevelt is Social Security Act is passed 1942 President Roosevelt dies;
elected president Internment of Americans Vice President Harry S.
of Japanese descent begins Truman becomes president
1933
New Deal is launched 1943 1945
Race riots occur in Detroit; United States drops atomic
Zoot Suit Riots occur bombs on Japan
in Los Angeles

WO R L D E VE N TS

1930 1940
1930 1937 1940 United Nations logo
Mohandas Gandhi leads Salt Pablo Picasso paints France surrenders to Germany
March in India Guernica
1940 1943
1933 1939 Battle of Britain begins Soviets defeat Germans
Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Germany invades Poland; at Stalingrad
party come to power in World War II begins 1942
Germany Nazi “final solution” 1945
establishes concentration and Germany surrenders;
1935 extermination camps for Jews Allied forces liberate Nazi
Nazis deprive German Jews death camps
of citizenship with the
Nürnberg Laws
1936 Emblem required by Nazis Timeline Visit www..glencoe.com
Spanish Civil War begins to be worn by Jews for an interactive timeline.

854 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


(t)Christie’s Images, (cl)Bettmann/CORBIS, (cr)AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, (b)U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
Franklin D. Roosevelt button

Jackie Robinson button

1950 1960
1949 1952 1955 1960
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Invisible Man by Notes of a Native Son by To Kill a Mockingbird by
Salesman is staged Ralph Ellison James Baldwin Harper Lee
1949 1955 1957 1961
William Faulkner wins A Good Man Is Hard to Find On the Road by Jack Kerouac Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Nobel Prize in Literature by Flannery O’Connor
1959
Lorraine Hansberry’s A
Raisin in the Sun is staged

1950 1960
1946 1950 1955 1962
First electronic digital Senator McCarthy charges Montgomery bus boycott Cuban Missile Crisis occurs
computer begins operation that Communists staff the begins
1963
U.S. State Department
1947 President John F. Kennedy
Jackie Robinson is first 1954 is assassinated; Vice
African American to play Supreme Court rules school President Lyndon Johnson
Major League Baseball segregation unconstitutional becomes president
in Brown v. Board of
1949
Education of Topeka
North Atlantic Treaty Organ-
ization (NATO) is founded

1950 1960
1945 1950 1957 1961
United Nations Charter Korean War begins Soviet Union launches Soviets erect Berlin Wall
signed Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2, to separate East Germany
1953
which carried a dog named from the West
1945 Watson and Crick crack
Laika
Japan surrenders; DNA code
World War II ends 1959
Fidel Castro overthrows
1948
Batista government in Cuba
U.N. establishes State
of Israel
1949
People’s Republic of China
Reading Check
established Analyzing Graphic Information Which events on the
timeline show the effects of Nazi racial policies?

INT ROD UCTION 855


(tl)David J. & Janice L. Frent Collection/CORBIS, (tr)David J. & Janice L. Frent Collection/CORBIS, (cl)Nobel Foundation, (cr)Getty Images, (b)Matthias Kulka/zefa/CORBIS
by the numbers
CYCLICAL EFFECT OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION
Stock Market Crash
On October 29, 1929, 16 million
stock shares were sold. By mid- Automobile sales declined.
November, stock prices were cut This loss of demand meant less demand for:
in half, costing investors about
$30 billion—a sum that was
equal to the total wages of all Which helped
Americans for 1929. Nearly 1.5 contribute further to. . .
million investors had previously Textiles Oil
purchased stock, and many lost
everything. By 1933, more than
Unemployment
12 million people were unem- Steel Rubber
ployed, and between 1929 Lower wages
and 1932 the average family
income dropped from $2,300
to $1,600 a year. Industry
slowed,
which caused:

THE DUST BOWL • In 1934 there were 22 dust THE SECOND GREAT
storms; in 1937 there were 72. MIGRATION
• During 1933 and 1935, unusu-
ally dry weather began to turn • Throughout most of the 1930s, • The Depression slowed the
parts of the Great Plains into millions of tons of airborne Great Migration of rural African
a desert. topsoil buried crops and killed Americans from the South to
livestock. the North that had begun dur-
• Between 1934 and 1939, ing World War I.
nearly 350,000 farm families • Westerly winds carried dust as
left the Dust Bowl; most of far as the Atlantic Ocean. • War production during World
them migrated to California. War II created new jobs,
prompting a “Second Great
Migration.”
AUTO PRODUCTION TANK PRODUCTION
1941–1945 1941–1945 • Mechanization of southern
4
farming in the 1950s forced
3,779,628
30 29,497 more rural southern African
Automobiles Produced (in millions)

Tanks Produced (in thousands)

3
25
23,884
Americans to move north
20
seeking work.
17,565
2 15 • The African American popula-
10
11,184 tions of big cities in the North
1 and West increased greatly. The
5 4,203
222,862 black population of Chicago,
139 610 70,001
for example, grew from
1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 278,000 to 813,000 between
Year Year 1940 and 1960.
Source Historical Statistics of the United States: Source Historical Statistics of the United States:
Colonial Times to 1970 Colonial Times to 1970

856 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


being there
In the 1930s, American artists, like American writers,
were divided between Regionalists, who depicted rural
life in the Midwest and West, and Social Realists, who
focused on American cities, particularly New York.

A Against Barbwire Fence, 1933. Arthur


Rothstein. Black and white photograph.

B Bankrupt Investor Walter Thornton Selling


Roadster After Stock Market Crash, 1929. C Line at Ration Board, 1943. John Vachon.
Black and white photograph.
Black and white photograph.

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Maps in Motion Visit


www.glencoe.com for an interactive map.

Reading Check 2. In what year during World War II were the fewest
automobiles and the most tanks produced?
Analyzing Graphic Information:
1. How many more dust storms were there in 1937 3. What effect did unemployment and lower wages
than in 1934? have on automobile sales? See diagram on p. 856.

INT ROD UCTION 857


(t)Bettmann/CORBIS, (bl)Bettmann/CORBIS, (br)CORBIS
from
Depression
to Cold War
1930S –1960S
Historical, Social, and Cultural Forces
The Depression captured the bleak spirit of the people of the United
States, many of whom were now forced to sell their
The stock market crashed in 1929, taking with it the
possessions, relinquish their homes, and stand in
optimism and prosperity of the 1920s. The crash
bread lines for food. When President Herbert
started a chain reaction that cost millions of people
Hoover ran for reelection in 1932, Franklin Delano
their jobs and homes. Banks failed when loans could
Roosevelt defeated him soundly, carrying 42 of the
not be repaid. People frantically removed their sav-
48 states. Soon programs and policies aimed at eco-
ings from banks, causing more banks to fail, which
nomic recovery and social reform, which Roosevelt
in turn caused factories and businesses to close.
called the New Deal, offered some relief to the belea-
The popular song “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?”
guered nation.

The New Deal


New Deal agencies employed people in public works
programs, such as reforestation; improved the nation’s
roads and schools; and built sidewalks, dams, and
bridges. The New Deal played a role in the arts as
well, employing out-of-work artists, writers, actors,
and musicians to decorate public buildings and pro-
duce plays and musicals. Even with the new agencies,
some people—dependent mothers, children, and the
elderly— were unemployable. In 1935, Congress
passed the Social Security Act, which offered unem-
ployment insurance and retirement benefits that
were financed through payroll taxes paid by employ-
ers and workers.

Persistent Racism
Although decades removed from slavery, African
Americans and other minority groups, such as Jews
and Native Americans, continued to suffer prejudice
and segregation. The New Deal failed to enact pro-
grams that challenged racism. For example, the
Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) did not provide
Man in a Dust Storm, c. 1930. Black and white photograph. loans to African American sharecroppers in the

858 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


CORBIS
South because they were tenant farmers, not land- help from the Soil Conservation Service (SCS),
owners. Other agencies refused to hire African which advocated contour plowing to help keep the
Americans, and some that did segregated blacks and soil from blowing away.
paid them lower wages. Violence against African
Americans, including lynching and race riots,
remained widespread.
World War II and the Cold War
By the 1930s, antidemocratic governments had
seized power in Italy, Germany, and Japan. Italy’s
Fascists, Germany’s Nazis, and Japan’s military rulers
“Dust storms are bringing distress and formed an alliance known as the Axis Powers.
death to 300,000 square miles.” Military aggression by these countries brought on
World War II in 1939. During the early months of
—Margaret Bourke-White the war, the Axis forces overwhelmed their enemies,
until only Britain still resisted. After a period of neu-
trality, the United States entered the war on Britain’s
side after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in
The Dust Bowl December 1941. Nearly four years of global warfare
A combination of drought and poor farming methods followed, ending with the final defeat of the Axis
during the 1920s turned a large area of the Great Powers in 1945. When World War II ended, it
Plains into what became known as the Dust Bowl. resulted in a world dominated by the United States
Topsoil blew as far as the Atlantic coast. Many fami- and the Soviet Union. An intense political and
lies left their farms and headed west in search of economic rivalry developed between these two super-
work. Not everyone found work, however, and the powers. The ensuing struggle, known as the Cold War,
Farm Security Administration (FSA) built camps to led to a massive buildup of armaments—including
house migrants. Those who stayed on their farms got nuclear weapons—by both sides.

PREVIEW Big Ideas of the Era of the Depression


and the Cold War
The United
Return to
1 Regionalism 2 Life in the City 3 States and the
World

The crisis of the Depression During the first half of the In 1941 aggression by the
encouraged a revival of twentieth century, the big cit- Axis Powers forced the United
Regionalism in literature. ies of the United States were States to enter World War II.
Some writers saw the values magnets for foreign-born The end of the war saw the
of ordinary people in the immigrants and rural U.S. citi- development of the Cold War
United States as a source of zens, who came seeking bet- between the United States
strength in hard times. Other ter lives for themselves and and the Soviet Union.
writers examined how char- their families. Responding to American writers examined
acters’ lives were shaped— modern urban life, American both wartime struggles and
and sometimes distorted—by writers portrayed both its rich- postwar anxieties.
the history and culture of ness and its problems. See pages 864 – 865.
their regions. See pages 862– 863.
See pages 860–861.

INT ROD UCTION 859


Big Idea 1
Return to Regionalism

T
he word “America” means something writers focused on the South’s relationship to its
different to each person in the United complex, often bitter history and on the interaction
States. Among the many factors that between Southern whites and blacks. The most
shape its meaning are the communities famous of these Southern writers, William Faulkner
that people come from—their histories, (see pages 876–889), used carefully detailed regional
traditions, customs, and values. During the Great settings and situations to present universal themes,
Depression, some American writers rediscovered such as the burden of the past, the complexity of
Regionalism, the literary movement that places human relationships, the nature of time and history,
emphasis on the themes, characters, and settings of and the loneliness and alienation of modern life. In
a particular geographical region. Unlike the local order to analyze the effects that Southern history had
colorists of the late 1800s (see pages 480–481), the on its people, Faulkner created a fictional Mississippi
Regionalists of the mid-twentieth century were less region he called Yoknapatawpha County. He popu-
concerned with peculiarities of local dialect or dress lated it with former slaves, poor white families,
than with the deeper impact of setting on character. wealthy businessmen, and plantation owners. As the
county begins to change and slowly absorb Northern
influences, its citizens struggle to either resist or keep
John Steinbeck and up with the outside world. In his brilliant experimen-
Migrant Workers tal novel The Sound and the Fury, Faulkner used a
During the Depression, the morale of people in the series of interior monologues to portray the psycho-
United States weakened and many lost faith in logical deterioration and moral decay of a once proud
national institutions, such as the federal government aristocratic family, the Compsons, whose members
and big business. As a result, some writers turned to cannot face the changing realities of race, class, cul-
regional traditions and the values of ordinary people ture, and economics in the modern South.
as sources of continuity and strength. California
writer John Steinbeck (see pages 868–874) found an Flannery O’Connor and
enduring humanity in the struggles of Dust Bowl
migrants. Steinbeck’s most famous novel, The Grapes Southern Gothic
of Wrath, describes the effects of the Depression and One category of modern writing is sometimes referred
Dust Bowl on farmers from the southern Great Plains to as Southern Gothic. Southern Gothic literature
(derisively called “Okies” since many of them were has some of the same elements as the Gothic litera-
from Oklahoma), who traveled westward to seek work ture of the Romantic period. The characters are simi-
as migrant laborers in California. The toughness and lar to those in Edgar Allan Poe’s stories: sometimes
optimism of these Okies in the face of hardship and weird, alienated, and prone to strange actions and
discrimination reflects the spirit of the New Deal era bizarre thoughts. Yet the reader is meant to feel sym-
and Steinbeck’s belief in the ability of ordinary peo- pathy for these characters and to understand what has
ple to defeat despair and rebuild their lives by achiev- blighted their lives. Another Southern writer,
ing a sense of community. Flannery O’Connor (see pages 913–925), sought to
shock her readers through “distortions of modern
life.” Her characters often encounter a force that
William Faulkner and threatens to change their lives and beliefs forever.
Yoknapatawpha County When critics claimed that her stories were grotesque,
One part of the United States where Regionalism O’Connor responded, “I have found that anything
was particularly active was the South. The richness that comes out of the South is going to be called gro-
of modern Southern writing has caused some literary tesque by the Northern reader, unless it is grotesque,
historians to speak of the Southern Literary in which case it is going to be called realistic.”
Renaissance in the twentieth century. Many of these

860 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


Valley Farms, 1933–34. Ross Dickinson. Oil on canvas, 39 1/2 x 49 3/5 in. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC.

from The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

The cars of the migrant people crawled out of the side In the evening a strange thing happened: the twenty
roads onto the great cross-country highway, and they families became one family, the children were the chil-
took the migrant way to the West. In the daylight they dren of all. The loss of home became one loss, and the
scuttled like bugs to the westward; and as the dark golden time in the West was one dream. And it might be
caught them, they clustered like bugs near to shelter and that a sick child threw despair into the hearts of twenty
to water. And they were lonely and perplexed, because families, of a hundred people; that a birth there in a tent
they had all come from a place of sadness and worry kept a hundred people quiet and awestruck through the
and defeat, and because they were all going to a new night and filled a hundred people with the birth-joy in the
mysterious place, they huddled together; they talked morning. A family which the night before has been lost
together, they shared their lives, their food, and the and fearful might search its goods to find a present for
things they hoped for in the new country. Thus it might the new baby. In the evening, sitting about the fires, the
be that one family camped near a spring, and another twenty were one.
camped for the spring and for company, and a third
because two families had pioneered the place and found
it good. And when the sun went down, perhaps twenty
families and twenty cars were there.
Reading Check
Making Inferences Why do you think a preoccupa-
tion with the past was a major characteristic of
Southern Regionalist writing?

INT ROD UCTION 861


Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC/Art Resource, NY
Big Idea 2
Life in the City

A
s the historian Richard Hofstadter Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man
famously observed in 1955, “The United
Decades after the Civil War, African Americans still
States was born in the country and has
suffered from prejudice and segregation. To Ralph
moved to the city.” Over the last hun-
Ellison, the African American man remained an
dred years, U.S. life has been shaped by
“invisible man,” marginalized by mainstream white
cities, which have given direction to the economy,
society and uncertain of his own role and identity.
politics, and culture of the United States. The rapid
The nameless narrator and protagonist of Ellison’s
urbanization of U.S. society had already begun in the
award-winning novel Invisible Man struggles vainly to
late nineteenth century, as immigrants to the United
overcome racial and social stereotypes and to be per-
States swelled urban populations and rural citizens
ceived as an individual. Finally, he comes to realize
also began migrating to the cities. By 1920, the
the absurdity of his situation and goes underground,
urban population of the United States exceeded the
living in an abandoned basement that he symboli-
rural population.
cally fills with lightbulbs. “In my novel,” Ellison
Modern U.S. cities became busy, exciting places, wrote, “the narrator’s development is one through
but were also crowded, dirty, and often dangerous. blackness to light; that is, from ignorance to enlight-
Large urban populations encouraged the growth of enment: invisibility to visibility.”
a varied, dynamic cultural life that ranged from muse-
ums and opera houses to movie theaters and night-
clubs. However, the same rapid growth also produced
Bernard Malamud and Brooklyn
slums and crime. In the twentieth century, many The parents of Bernard Malamud (see pages 940–956)
writers explored both the vitality and the malaise were Russian Jews who had emigrated to the United
of U.S. cities. States and settled in the New York City borough of
Brooklyn. Malamud’s fiction has typically focused on
the experience of urban Jews in the United States.
His work often combines sharply contrasting ele-
“The city is like poetry: it compresses all ments—humor and pain, fantasy and realism—as he
life, all races and breeds, into a small explores a character’s ability to overcome isolation
and suffering. His family’s difficult experiences in
island and adds music and the Brooklyn are clearly evident in his stories. “People say
accompaniment of internal engines.” I write so much about misery, but . . . no matter how
much happiness or success you collect, you cannot
—E. B. White, “Here Is New York” obliterate your early experience.”

Gwendolyn Brooks and Bronzeville


Between World War I and the 1960s, more than
E. B. White and New York City 6 million African Americans migrated from the rural
New York City was the center of modern U.S. cul- South to northern cities. Many of them settled on
ture, and the New Yorker magazine helped to set the south side of Chicago, forming the large African
urban trends and styles for the rest of the country. American community later known as Bronzeville.
While writing for the New Yorker, E. B. White (see African American writer Gwendolyn Brooks grew
pages 927–934) captivated the U.S. public with his up in Bronzeville, which became the setting for much
sophisticated essays and sketches. White’s essays of her work. Her poetry and fiction are distinguished
covered a range of topics, including personal by a compassionate understanding of the lives of
experiences, the problems of urban living, and America’s black urban poor, who struggle to survive
current events. both poverty and racism.

862 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


Subway, c. 1934. Lily Furedi. Oil on canvas,
39 x 48 1/2 in. Smithsonian American Art Musuem, from A Street in Bronzeville
Washington DC. by Gwendolyn Brooks
kitchenette building
Suburbia We are things of dry hours and the involuntary plan,
Despite the importance of cities in the Grayed in, and gray. “Dream” makes a giddy sound, not strong
development of the United States, a deep Like “rent,” “feeding a wife,” “satisfying a man.”
distrust of urban life also has been a part of
the U.S. character. By 1900 U.S. cities were But could a dream send up through onion fumes
already ringed with suburbs. The growth of Its white and violet, fight with fried potatoes
suburbia continued to accelerate through- And yesterday’s garbage ripening in the hall,
out the twentieth century. For millions of Flutter, or sing an aria down these rooms
people in the United States, a home in the
Even if we were willing to let it in,
suburbs came to symbolize the American
Had time to warm it, keep it very clean,
dream. Nevertheless, some writers have
Anticipate a message, let it begin?
depicted suburbia as a cultural wasteland
inhabited by conformists. John Cheever We wonder. But not well! not for a minute!
and John Updike are two writers who have Since Number Five is out of the bathroom now,
explored the culture of suburbs in the We think of lukewarm water, hope to get in it.
United States.

Reading Check
Analyzing Cause and Effect How did cities affect
the development of American literature in the mid-
twentieth century?

INT ROD UCTION 863


Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC/Art Resource, NY
Big Idea 3
The United States and the World

C
an you remember where you were when ment gathered 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry—
you first learned of the 9/11 terrorist 77,000 of whom were United States citizens—and
attacks? Psychologists describe how the forced them into internment camps in early 1942.
experience of a deeply felt or traumatic The renewed migration of African Americans from
event can produce an intense “flashbulb the South to big cities in the North and West some-
memory.” For millions of U.S. citizens who were alive times resulted in racial violence, as in Detroit,
on December 7, 1941, the Japanese attack on Pearl Michigan, where 25 African Americans and 9 whites
Harbor produced such a memory. were killed during riots in June of 1943. During that
same month, riots in Los Angeles occurred after hun-
dreds of U.S. soldiers and sailors attacked a group of
The Good War young Mexican American men.
World War II has become enshrined in American
public memory as the “good war”—a heroic crusade
against an evil enemy. However, most people in the The Holocaust
United States were strongly opposed to U.S. military Shortly after seizing power in the 1930s, the Nazis
involvement following the outbreak of war in Europe began a brutal campaign of violence against Jews and
in September 1939. This attitude changed abruptly other groups that they considered subhuman. During
after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and the United the early years of World War II, the Nazis rounded up
States mobilized for war against the Axis powers, and shot large numbers of Jews, Communists,
which included Japan, Germany, and Italy. On the Unitarians, Gypsies, and Slavs in conquered areas.
battlefront, U.S. forces turned the tide in both Europe Later, they expanded this program of genocide into
and the Pacific and played a crucial role in the victory the “final solution,” a huge project of “ethnic cleans-
of the Allies. On the home front, U.S. workers ing” that involved a network of death camps in
quickly transformed the U.S. economy into the most which millions of disabled persons, Jews, Poles,
productive and efficient war machine in the world. Russians, Gypsies, and other non-Aryans were sys-
tematically killed. In only a few years, the Jewish
communities of Europe, which had existed for more
than 1,000 years, were largely obliterated in what has
“We are now in this war. We are all in become known as the Holocaust.
it — all the way. Every single man,
woman, and child is a partner in the The Cold War
most tremendous undertaking of our The years after World War II brought changes to the
United States. Many U.S. citizens began to chal-
American history.”
lenge racial discrimination at home. The devastation
— Franklin D. Roosevelt, wartime radio broadcast in Europe allowed U.S. industries to dominate world
December 9, 1941 markets, and the wartime economic boom continued
through the 1950s. However, the United States and
the Soviet Union—wartime allies in the struggle
against the Axis Powers—became tense Cold War
Tension on the Home Front rivals in a worldwide struggle for power between cap-
Wartime production helped restore prosperity to the italism and communism. The two world superpowers
United States after the long years of the Depression. never went to war, but they continued to develop
Although minorities shared in this wartime prosper- and stockpile nuclear weapons. An anxious world
ity, racism and ethnic animosities persisted. Following now lived under a new cloud—the mushroom cloud
the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. govern- of the atomic age.

864 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


Family in Bomb Shelter, 1955. Black and white photograph.

Father and Daughter Entering Bomb Shelter,


1955. Black and white photograph.

from “The Four Freedoms” by Franklin D. Roosevelt

In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we The fourth is freedom from fear—which, translated into
look forward to a world founded upon four essential world terms, means a worldwide reduction of armaments
human freedoms. to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no
The first is freedom of speech and expression—every- nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical
where in the world. aggression against any neighbor—anywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a defi-
God in his own way everywhere in the world. nite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time
The third is freedom from want, which, translated into and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis
world terms, means economic understandings which will of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators
secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its seek to create with the crash of a bomb.
inhabitants everywhere in the world.

Reading Check
Analyzing Cause and Effect How did World War II
lead to the development of the United States as
a superpower?

INT ROD UCTION 865


(l)CORBIS, (r)CORBIS
wrap-up
Why It Matters Cultural Links
Beginning in the 1930s, Regionalism reasserted itself
in the face of economic difficulties. Distrustful of big
» John Steinbeck’s Tom Joad, the main character
of The Grapes of Wrath, was celebrated as a folk
business and modern culture, some Regionalist writers hero by American progressives such as Woody
found moral strength and universal significance in the Guthrie, who wrote a ballad about him.
lives and values of ordinary people in the United
States. Other writers, particularly in the South,
explored how their region’s history and culture defined
» The influence of William Faulkner on both
American and foreign writers has been enormous.
Among the most prominent world writers who
and distorted people’s lives. Their focus on the maca-
have acknowledged his influence are the
bre, which is often called Southern Gothic, had a sig-
Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez and
nificant influence on subsequent American literature.
the Indian writer R. K. Narayan.
The major global struggles of the period from the You might try using this study organizer to explore the different
1930s to the 1960s—World War II and the Cold literary genres in this unit.
War—shaped the contemporary world. The position
of the United States as an economic and military FOUR-TAB BOOK
superpower was established during this period and the
nuclear arms race began. The Holocaust led to the
founding of the State of Israel, which continues to be
a source of tension and hostility in the Middle East.

Big Ideas Link to Web resources to


further explore the Big Ideas at www.glencoe.com.

Connect to Today »
Use what you have learned about the
period to do one of these activities.

1. Speaking/Listening Work with a small group to research music from one of the decades from
the 1930s to 1960s. Find connections among the social, cultural, and musical styles of the decade
that you choose. For example, you might research the songs of Woody Guthrie about the Dust Bowl
period. Present your findings to the class, and, if possible, play recordings of some of the music.

2. Visual Literacy One of the New Deal’s enduring cultural programs was the decoration of public
buildings (often post offices) throughout the United States with murals and sculptures. View and
take photographs of examples in your area of the art produced by the Works Progress Administration
(WPA). Assemble a photo album to present to the class.

3. Writing Research the conditions of homeless people and migrant workers in the United States
today and any state or federal programs designed to help them. Write an editorial for your school or
local newspaper in which you assess these programs.

OB J EC TIVES

• Analyze the characteristics of a literary period.


• Clarify understanding of informational texts. Study Central Visit www.glencoe.
• Evaluate the influences of the historical period on its literature. com and click on Study Central to review the era from the
• Connect literature to current events and your own experiences. Depression to the Cold War.

866 U N IT 6 F ROM DEPRESSION TO COLD WAR


part 1

The New Regionalism


and the City

American Gothic, 1930. Grant Wood. Oil on beaverboard, 29 x 25 in. Art Institute of Chicago.

“Not everything that is faced can be changed,


but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
—James Baldwin
867
All rights reserved by the Estate of Nan Wood Graham/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Breakfast
M E E T J O H N ST E I N BEC K These life experiences furnished Steinbeck with
material for his novels and stories. His fourth

O
work, the novel Tortilla Flat (1935), was his first to
n October 25, 1962, during the Cuban
receive public acclaim. Set in his familiar Salinas
missile crisis, John Steinbeck turned on
Valley, it vividly and humorously depicted the joys
his television set to see “if the world was
and sorrows of a group of unemployed men. Several
still turning.” He was greeted by a news flash
literary successes followed it: In Dubious Battle (1936),
announcing that he had just been awarded the
which included realistic and violent scenes based
Nobel Prize in Literature. Often during his long
on labor strikes in California; Of Mice and Men
career, Steinbeck enjoyed both critical acclaim
(1937), which described the tragic friendship of
and enormous popularity. His greatest work, The
two migrant workers; and Travels with Charley
Grapes of Wrath (1939), was among the most
(1962), a nonfiction work that recounted the
widely read novels of the twentieth century.
author’s journey across the United States in a
pickup truck with his poodle, Charley.
Steinbeck’s fiction offers a strong sense of social jus-
“The writer is delegated to declare and tice, a heightened sensitivity to the colors and tex-
to celebrate man’s proven capacity for tures of the U.S. landscape, and compelling plots.
His characters often are society’s forgotten people,
greatness of heart and spirit—for struggling to survive and to preserve their humanity
gallantry in defeat, for courage, amid harrowing social and environmental condi-
tions. Memorable and authentic, Steinbeck’s char-
compassion, and love.” acters seem to step right off the page.
—John Steinbeck
Literary Distinction Steinbeck wrote his master-
from his Nobel Prize banquet speech
piece, The Grapes of Wrath (1939), when the
United States was recovering from the Great
Depression of the 1930s. This 1940 Pulitzer Prize
Crusader for Social Justice John Steinbeck was winner traces a dispossessed Oklahoma family’s
born and raised in Salinas, California, a small town migration to California in search of a better life.
nestled in a sprawling valley of lettuce farms. Bright There the family and others like it suffer tragically
and popular in high school, Steinbeck was accepted from injustice meted out by powerful landowners
to Stanford University but yearned for and corrupt officials. Today The Grapes of Wrath is
universally respected for its depiction of the indi-
more life experiences. He drifted in
vidual’s quest for justice and dignity.
and out of college, never earning a
degree. Instead he wrote and A little more than two decades after publishing The
worked, taking an assortment of Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel
jobs that included ranch Prize in Literature. Six years after receiving this
hand, fruit picker, factory award, Steinbeck died in New York City. He remains
worker, salesclerk, one of the most popular and respected authors of the
freelance newspa- twentieth century.
per writer, con-
John Steinbeck was born in 1902 and died in 1968.
struction worker,
and farm
Author Search For more about
laborer.
John Steinbeck,
Author Name, gogototowww.literature.glencoe.com.
www.glencoe.com.

868 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


Bettmann/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Connecting to Personal


The main character in Tennessee Williams’s famous Experience
play A Streetcar Named Desire exclaims: “I have Connecting to personal experience means linking
always depended on the kindness of strangers.” In what you read to events in your own life or to other
“Breakfast,” the narrator recalls an encounter with selections you’ve read. By connecting events, emotions,
strangers and the kindness they show him. As you and characters to your own life, you create meaning in
read this story, think about these questions: a selection and recall information and ideas better. To
• When have you benefited from the kindness of apply this strategy, ask yourself these questions: Do I
know someone like this? Have I ever felt this way?
strangers?
• Why is it important to be kind to people? What else have I read that is like this selection?

Building Background Reading Tip: Noting Familiar Details Use a chart


This story is set in northern California in the 1930s. like the one below to record connections between
The idea for this story came to Steinbeck while he your experiences and details in the story.
was interviewing migrant workers for his novel In
Dubious Battle. “Breakfast” was originally published Story Details My Experiences
in 1938 in a short-story collection called The Long
Valley and later adapted and included as part of a encounter with a Last summer I met
chapter in The Grapes of Wrath. Steinbeck’s odd family camping out other campers at a
jobs during the early 1920s gave him a firsthand state park.
look at the desperate working and living conditions
forced upon most farm laborers. These observations
helped Steinbeck develop the themes and plots of
many of his major works. He wrote about the work- Vocabulary
ing person’s quest for dignity and about the stark
scuffle (skuf əl) v. to move with a slow, heavy,
challenges presented by nature, society, and fate.
shuffling gait; p. 870 The losing players lowered
Setting Purposes for Reading their eyes and scuffled down the ramp to the locker
room.
Big Idea Return to Regionalism
dissipate (dis ə pāt´) v. to cause to scatter and
As you read this story, consider what Steinbeck reveals gradually vanish; to break up and drive off;
about the values of ordinary working people. p. 870 As the fog slowly dissipated, more and
more of the road ahead became visible.
Literary Element Implied Theme
avert (ə vurt ) v. to turn away or aside; p. 871
The theme of a piece of literature is a dominant Terribly upset, the bystander averted her eyes from
idea—often a universal message about life—that the the car wreck.
writer communicates to the reader. Authors rarely
state a theme outright. Instead they use an implied
theme, letting the main idea or message reveal
itself through events, dialogue, or descriptions. As
you read, look for details that suggest the author’s
message about life.
Interactive Literary Elements
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R18. Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • inferring theme
• understanding Regionalism • connecting personal experiences to literature

JOHN STEINBECK 869


John Steinbeck
S11-281-01C-635423 U6 T9
Mercurius Bold Script Kent

This thing fills me with pleasure. I don’t know shoulders up and scuffled my feet on the ground.
why, I can see it in the smallest detail. I find Down in the valley where I was, the earth was
myself recalling it again and again, each time that lavender gray of dawn. I walked along a
bringing more detail out of a sunken memory, country road and ahead of me I saw a tent that
remembering brings the curious warm pleasure. was only a little lighter gray than the ground.
It was very early in the morning. The eastern Beside the tent there was a flash of orange fire
mountains were black-blue, but behind them seeping out of the cracks of an old rusty iron
the light stood up faintly colored at the moun- stove. Gray smoke spurted up out of the stubby
tain rims with a washed red, growing colder, stovepipe, spurted up a long way before it spread
grayer and darker as it went up and overhead out and dissipated.
until, at a place near the west, it merged with I saw a young woman beside the stove, really
pure night. a girl. She was dressed in a faded cotton skirt
And it was cold, not painfully so, but cold
enough so that I rubbed my hands and shoved
Vocabulary
them deep into my pockets, and I hunched my
scuffle (skufəl) v. to move with a slow, heavy, shuf-
fling gait
Reading Strategy Connecting to Personal Experience dissipate (disə pāt´) v. to cause to scatter and gradu-
What pleasant memories can you recall in great detail? ally vanish; to break up and drive off

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and waist.1 As I came close I saw that she car- The water was slowly drying on their faces.
ried a baby in a crooked arm and the baby was They came to the stove and warmed their hands
nursing, its head under her waist out of the at it.
cold. The mother moved about, poking the fire, The girl kept to her work, her face averted
shifting the rusty lids of the stove to make a and her eyes on what she was doing. Her hair
greater draft, opening the oven door; and all was tied back out of her eyes with a string and it
the time the baby was nurs- hung down her back and swayed
ing, but that didn’t interfere as she worked. She set tin cups
with the mother’s work, nor
with the light quick grace-
The orange on a big packing box, set tin
plates and knives and forks out
fulness of her movements.
There was something very
fire flicked out too. Then she scooped fried
bacon out of the deep grease and
precise and practiced in her
movements. The orange fire
of the cracks in laid it on a big tin platter, and
the bacon cricked3 and rustled as
flicked out of the cracks in
the stove and threw dancing
the stove and it grew crisp. She opened the
rusty oven door and took out a
reflections on the tent.
I was close now and I
threw dancing square pan full of high big bis-
cuits.
could smell frying bacon When the smell of that hot
and baking bread, the reflections on bread came out, both of the men
warmest, pleasantest odors inhaled deeply.
I know. From the east the the tent. The elder man turned to me,
light grew swiftly. I came “Had your breakfast?”
near to the stove and “No.”
stretched my hands out to it and shivered all “Well, sit down with us, then.”
over when the warmth struck me. Then the That was the signal. We went to the packing
tent flap jerked up and a young man came out case and squatted on the ground about it. The
and an older man followed him. They were young man asked, “Picking cotton?”
dressed in new blue dungarees 2 and in new “No.”
dungaree coats with the brass buttons shining. “We had twelve days’ work so far,” the young
They were sharp-faced men, and they looked man said.
much alike. The girl spoke from the stove. “They even got
The younger had a dark stubble beard and new clothes.”
the older had a gray stubble beard. Their heads The two men looked down at their new dun-
and faces were wet, their hair dripped with water, garees and they both smiled a little.
and water stood out on their stiff beards and The girl set out the platter of bacon, the
their cheeks shone with water. Together they brown high biscuits, a bowl of bacon gravy and a
stood looking quietly at the lightening east; they pot of coffee, and then she squatted down by the
yawned together and looked at the light on the box too. The baby was still nursing, its head up
hill rims. They turned and saw me. under her waist out of the cold. I could hear the
“Morning,” said the older man. His face was sucking noises it made.
neither friendly nor unfriendly.
“Morning, sir,” I said.
“Morning,” said the young man. 3. Here, cricked means “turned or twisted.”

Big Idea Return to Regionalism What does the young


man’s comment reveal about economic conditions for ordi-
1. Here, a waist is a blouse. nary workers during the Great Depression?
2. Dungarees are blue denim pants.
Vocabulary
Reading Strategy Connecting to Personal Experience
Why do odors leave a lasting impression in one’s memory? avert (ə vurt) v. to turn away or aside

JOHN ST EINBECK 871


We filled our plates, poured bacon gravy over and saw the image of the mountain and the
our biscuits and sugared our coffee. The older man light coming over it reflected in the older
filled his mouth full and he chewed and chewed man’s eyes.
and swallowed. Then he said, “God Almighty, it’s Then the two men threw the grounds from
good,” and he filled his mouth again. their cups on the earth and they stood up
The young man said, “We been eating good together. “Got to get going,” the older man said.
for twelve days.” The younger turned to me. “’Fyou want to
We all ate quickly, frantically, and refilled pick cotton, we could maybe get you on.”
our plates and ate quickly again until we were “No. I got to go along. Thanks for breakfast.”
full and warm. The hot bitter coffee scalded The older man waved his hand in a negative.
our throats. We threw the last little bit with “O.K. Glad to have you.” They walked away
the grounds in it on the earth and refilled together. The air was blazing with light at the
our cups. eastern skyline. And I walked away down the
There was color in the light now, a reddish country road.
gleam that made the air seem colder. The two That’s all. I know, of course, some of the rea-
men faced the east and their faces were lighted sons why it was pleasant. But there was some ele-
by the dawn, and I looked up for a moment ment of great beauty there that makes the rush
of warmth when I think of it. 

Big Idea Return to Regionalism What can you infer Literary Element Implied Theme How does this detail
about the family’s experiences until recently? provide a clue to the theme of the story?

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A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. How did you react to the characters in this story? 5. Steinbeck wrote about migrant workers who lived
Explain. in small, supportive communities. In what ways
does he portray the narrator as part of such a
supportive community?
Recall and Interpret
6. The reader never learns why the narrator is walking
2. (a)What are the first things the narrator describes?
on a country road or where he is going. Why do
(b)What do these descriptions tell you about the
you think Steinbeck chose not to reveal much
narrator?
about the narrator?
3. (a)What observations does the narrator make
7. (a)What are some of your favorite sensory details
about the family of migrant workers? (b)What
in this story? (b)How did these sensory details
seems to be important to the family? Explain.
affect your reading of the story?
4. (a)What does the narrator say about his memory at
the end of the story? (b)What might his attach-
ment to this memory suggest about his life? What Connect
deeper understanding or awareness of life does he 8. Big Idea Return to Regionalism Which values
seem to gain? of migrant people does Steinbeck highlight in
this story?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S

Literary Element Implied Theme Partner Activity With a partner, examine the word
choice and the dialogue in “Breakfast.” Create a chart
In “Breakfast,” the implied theme is built around the
like the one started below, and fill it in with examples
narrator’s warm recollection of an encounter with a
of effective word choice and dialogue. Then answer
family of migrant workers.
the following question: What tone is conveyed by the
1. What is the implied theme, or message about life, family’s words and actions?
in this selection?
2. What details and descriptions support this theme?
Tone
Review: Tone
Tone is a reflection of a writer’s or a speaker’s attitude
toward the subject matter, as conveyed through ele- Word Choice
ments such as word choice, punctuation, sentence
structure, and figures of speech. A writer’s tone might
convey a variety of attitudes, such as sympathy, objec-
tivity, or humor.

JOHN ST EINBECK 873


R E AD I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY WRITI NG AN D EXTEN DI NG

Reading Strategy Connecting to Personal Writing About Literature


Experience Respond to Setting Steinbeck creates vivid pictures
Connecting to personal experience involves drawing of the setting by using concrete nouns and specific
parallels between the people, places, and events in the adjectives, adverbs, and verbs. Consider the following
story and the people, places, and events in your own life. example: “there was a flash of orange fire seeping out
Review the chart you filled in as you read “Breakfast.” of the cracks of an old rusty iron stove.” The vivid
language helps the reader imagine and relive the nar-
1. To which details in the story did you relate most rator’s experience.
strongly?
Write a short essay about Steinbeck’s use of vivid
2. What new insights about your experiences did you language in “Breakfast.” Include examples of descrip-
discover by connecting them to people and events tions that come alive for you and explain why they
in this story? are effective. Before drafting your essay, list your
examples in a chart like the one below.
Vocabulary Practice
Practice with Antonyms Find the antonym for Description Evaluation
each vocabulary word from “Breakfast” listed in the “cold enough so
first column below. Use a dictionary or a thesaurus that I rubbed my
if you need help. hands and shoved
1. scuffle a. shuffle b. glide them deep into my
pockets”
2. dissipate a. unite b. scatter
3. avert a. confront b. avoid
As you draft, write from start to finish. Begin by stating
your purpose. In the body of the essay, present your
examples of vivid language and explain why each is
Academic Vocabulary effective. Conclude with an assessment of how
Steinbeck’s vivid descriptions enhance your under-
Here are two words from the vocabulary list on standing and appreciation of the story.
page R86. These words will help you think, write,
and talk about the selection. After you finish your draft, meet with a classmate to
evaluate each other’s work and to suggest revisions.
challenge (chalinj) n. a test of abilities or Then proofread and edit your draft for errors in spell-
resources ing, grammar, and punctuation.
welfare (welfār´) n. the state of doing well;
happiness or well-being

Practice and Apply Literary Criticism


1. What challenges test the migrant family’s spirit Group Activity According to critic Daniel Aaron,
in “Breakfast”? Steinbeck portrays migrant workers as the “preservers
2. What values does Steinbeck believe promote of the old American verities, innocent of bourgeois
human welfare? properties, perhaps, but courteous, trusting, friendly,
and generous. . . . What preserved them in the end . . .
was a recovery of a neighborly interdependence that
an acquisitive society had almost destroyed.” Using
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to details from “Breakfast,” discuss Aaron’s position with a
www.glencoe.com. small group of classmates.

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Vocabulary Workshop
Word Parts

Understanding Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes º Vocabulary Terms


“The girl kept to her work, her face averted and her eyes on what she was doing.” A prefix is a word part
that is inserted at the
—John Steinbeck, from “Breakfast”
beginning of a word root
or base word to create a
Connecting to Literature One way to determine the meaning of an unfamiliar new meaning. A suffix is a
word is to analyze its parts. The Latin root vert means “turn.” It is a common combination of letters or a
root, found in the words averse, aversion, reverse, subvert, divert, and others. The single letter added at the
prefix a- can mean “in the state or condition of ”; and, of course, the suffix -ed end of a base word or
shows past tense. So an averted face is turned away, not directly facing someone. word part. Prefixes and
suffixes together are called
If you recognize the word root or the base word, you are well on your way to
affixes.
understanding the word’s meaning. Knowing some common Greek and Latin
roots can improve your understanding of what you read. º Test-Taking Tip
When you are asked for
Prefixes Roots Suffixes the meaning of a word that
appears in a reading pas-
geo- Earth graph writing of -ical having the nature of
sage, check the root, prefix,
dis- the reverse of place position -ment the condition of being and suffix of the word. If
contra- against dic(t) speak -tion action or process of you recognize the root, you
can probably figure out
in- within, into spir breathe -ed the past tense of a verb
what the word means.

º Reading Handbook
For more about roots,
prefixes, and suffixes,
Exercise see Reading Handbook,
For each item below, refer to the prefixes, roots, and suffixes in the chart to p. R20.
help you select the best answer.
1. During the Great Depression, some authors wrote of particular
geographical regions. Geographical regions are
a. particular b. beside the c. in the d. particular places eFlashcards For eFlashcards
times. ocean. mountains. on Earth. and other vocabulary activities, go
to www.glencoe.com.
2. John Steinbeck writes about the human cost of the Dust Bowl migrants’
displacement from their homes. Displacement means
a. being moved b. being put c. being d. being invited
away. in prison. confused. to stay.
3. Flannery O’Connor contradicted Northern critics who called her stories
grotesque. O’Connor OB J ECTI VES
a. agreed with b. disagreed c. ignored d. complimented • Learn to recognize common
her critics. with them. them. them. word roots.
• Use word parts to help you
4. Steinbeck drew inspiration from the migrants who shared their breakfast understand unfamiliar
with him. The migrants words.

a. gave him b. discouraged c. frightened d. did not impress


more spirit. him. him. him.

875
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

A Rose for Emily and Address upon


Receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature
M E E T W I LLI A M FAU LK N E R Yoknapatawpha As a young man, Faulkner trav-
eled abroad for some time and eventually landed in

A
New Orleans, Louisiana, where he became
s a young man, William Faulkner did not
acquainted with Sherwood Anderson and other
seem destined for literary renown. He was
writers. It was here that he began to write seriously.
both a high school and college dropout.
His first book, a poetry collection entitled The
His neighbors nicknamed him “Count No’count,”
Marble Faun, was less than successful. Anderson
and few guessed that this seemingly lazy youth was
advised him to attempt fiction. Faulkner published
a literary genius who would one day write fiction
his first novel, Soldier’s Pay, in 1926, and his second
that captured the struggles of the human heart and
novel, Mosquitoes, the following year.
immortalized a region of rural America.

Art Imitates Life Born in Albany, Mississippi,


Faulkner was a true “son of the South.” When he “I never read any history. I talked to
was five, his family moved to Oxford, Mississippi,
where his grandfather’s connections secured various
people around who had lived through it,
positions for Faulkner’s father. and I would pick it up—I was just
Faulkner himself held various jobs because he did saturated with it but never read about it.”
not have the patience to deal with the daily
monotonies of steady work. One of his longest —William Faulkner
employments, almost three years, was as postmas-
ter at the university in Oxford.
With his third novel, Sartoris, Faulkner found the
Although Faulkner read extensively, none of his read- formula that would place him among the greatest of
ing concerned the history of the area where he lived. American writers. In this book he created the fic-
The flavor and settings of his stories were gleaned tional world of Yoknapatawpha County, which was
through word of mouth from the people around him. based on the region of northern Mississippi where he
lived. Over the next thirty years, he continued to
explore the “history” of this county and its fictional
inhabitants.
Faulkner’s style often makes his writing difficult
to follow. He experimented with repetition, mul-
tiple points of view, and stream of consciousness.
Because of the difficulty of his writing style,
Faulkner was not widely read until The Portable
Faulkner was published in 1946 and catapulted
him to world fame. Three years later he won the
Nobel Prize in Literature. Faulkner kept writing
until his death.
William Faulkner was born in 1897 and died in 1962.

Author
Author Search
Search For
For more
more about
about
William Faulkner,
Author Name, go go to www.glencoe.com.
to www.literature.glencoe.com.

876 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


Cofield Collection, Center for the Study of Southern Culture, University of Mississippi
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Identifying Sequence


Most people harbor two identities. One is the public Faulkner shifts time frames so often in “A Rose for
face that we show to our friends and families, while Emily” that it can be difficult for readers to understand
the other is the private self. As you read, think about exactly when the events in the story take place. To
the following questions: keep track of what happens, list the events as they
occur in the narrative and then number them in the
• How different can a person’s public identity be from sequence they occur in Emily’s life.
his or her private identity?
• At what point might the secrets that divide a person’s Reading Tip: Making a Sequence Chart Use a
public and private lives cross the line into insanity?
sequence chart to help you keep track of events.
Building Background Order the events as they occur in Emily’s life. Use the
list you wrote above to guide you.
Faulkner’s writings draw upon his knowledge of gen-
teel aristocrats, unsophisticated sharecroppers, and

➧ ➧
Native Americans, as well as African Americans who Emily’s father Homer Barron Emily’s cous-
had endured first the dehumanization of slavery and dies. arrives in ins come to
town. advise her.
then the discrimination of Jim Crow.
The language in Faulkner’s work reflects the vernacular
and dialect of the South in his era. Modern readers may Vocabulary
be shocked or offended by his use of racial slurs in this
selection. Faulkner, like Mark Twain, does not use this sluggishly (slu ish lē) adv. slowly; without
language to offend or shock. He uses it merely to reflect strength or energy; p. 879 The exhausted hikers
the language of the time and place he describes. crawled sluggishly into their tents.
vindicate (vin də kāt´) v. to justify; to prove
Setting Purposes for Reading correct in light of later circumstances; p. 881
Big Idea Return to Regionalism Winning the competition vindicated her efforts.
As you read, imagine the people and the circum- haughty (ho tē) adj. conceited; arrogant;
stances that Faulkner presents. Do they mesh with p. 882 The haughty old woman would never admit
what you think a small southern town would have a mistake.
been like one hundred years ago?
circumvent (sur´ kəm vent ) v. to get around
or to avoid by clever maneuvering; p. 883 We
Literary Element Foreshadowing had to circumvent the usual procedure in order to
Foreshadowing is the use of clues by the author to pre- finish the job quickly.
pare readers for events that will happen later in the story. virulent (vir yə lənt) adj. extremely poisonous
In “A Rose for Emily,” for example, the bad smell coming or harmful; p. 883 After World War I, a virulent
from Miss Emily’s house foreshadows death and decay. strain of influenza killed more than 20 million people.
As you read, consider which events might foreshadow
important plot developments. Vocabulary Tip: Connotation and Denotation
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R7. The connotation of a word is its suggested or
implied meaning. The denotation is its literal defi-
nition.
Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • analyzing foreshadowing
• understanding the historical period • identifying sequence

WILLIAM FAULKNER 877


William Faulkner
S11-158-01C-635423 U6T9
Florens Flourished David Reed
When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty,
town went to her funeral: the men through a and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon
sort of respectful affection for a fallen monu- the town, dating from that day in 1894 when
ment, the women mostly out of curiosity to Colonel Sartoris, the mayor—he who fathered
see the inside of her house, which no one save the edict that no Negro woman should appear
an old man-servant—a combined gardener on the streets without an apron—remitted her
and cook—had seen in at least ten years. It taxes, the dispensation dating from the death
was a big, squarish frame house that had once of her father on into perpetuity.6 Not that Miss
been white, decorated with cupolas1 and spires Emily would have accepted charity. Colonel
and scrolled balconies in the heavily light- Sartoris invented an involved tale to the effect
some style of the seventies,2 set on what had that Miss Emily’s father had loaned money to the
once been our most select street. But garages town, which the town, as a matter of business,
and cotton gins had encroached and obliter- preferred this way of repaying. Only a man of
ated even the august3 names of that neighbor- Colonel Sartoris’ generation and thought could
hood; only Miss Emily’s house was left, lifting have invented it, and only a woman could have
its stubborn and coquettish4 decay above the believed it.
cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps—an When the next generation, with its more
eyesore among eyesores. And now Miss Emily modern ideas, became mayors and aldermen,
had gone to join the representatives of those this arrangement created some little dissatis-
august names where they lay in the cedar- faction. On the first of the year they mailed
bemused5 cemetery among the ranked and her a tax notice. February came, and there
anonymous graves of Union and Confederate was no reply. They wrote her a formal letter,
soldiers who fell at the battle of Jefferson. asking her to call at the sheriff ’s office at her
convenience. A week later the mayor wrote
1. Cupolas are small, domed structures rising above a roof.
her himself, offering to call or to send his
2. Lightsome means “light and graceful.” Seventies refers to car for her, and received in reply a note on
the 1870s. paper of an archaic7 shape, in a thin, flowing
3. August (o ust) means “distinguished” or “prominent.”
4. Coquettish (kō ket ish) means “flirtatious.”
5. Cedar-bemused means “lost among the cedar trees” 6. [remitted . . . perpetuity] This phrase means that Miss Emily
(literally, “confused by cedars”). was excused from paying taxes forever after her father’s death.
7. Here, archaic means “old-fashioned.”
Big Idea Return to Regionalism What does the opening
of “A Rose for Emily” tell you about the town and the type of Reading Strategy Identifying Sequence Which clues
people who live there? reveal that the narrator is moving into a flashback?

878 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


First Image
calligraphy8 in faded ink, to the effect that hear the invisible watch ticking at the end of
she no longer went out at all. The tax notice the gold chain.
was also enclosed, without comment. Her voice was dry and cold. “I have no taxes
They called a special meeting of the Board in Jefferson. Colonel Sartoris explained it to me.
of Aldermen.9 A deputation10 waited upon her, Perhaps one of you can gain access to the city
knocked at the door through which no visitor records and satisfy yourselves.”
had passed since she ceased giving china-paint- “But we have. We are the city authorities,
ing lessons eight or ten years earlier. They were Miss Emily. Didn’t you get a notice from the
admitted by the old Negro into a dim hall from sheriff, signed by him?”
which a stairway mounted into still more “I received a paper, yes,” Miss Emily said.
shadow. It smelled of dust and disuse—a close, “Perhaps he considers himself the sheriff . . . I
dank smell. The Negro led them into the parlor. have no taxes in Jefferson.”
It was furnished in heavy, leather-covered furni- “But there is nothing on the books to show
ture. When the Negro opened the blinds of one that, you see. We must go by the—”
window, they could see that the leather was “See Colonel Sartoris. I have no taxes in
cracked; and when they sat down, a faint dust Jefferson.”
rose sluggishly about their thighs, spinning with “But, Miss Emily—”
slow motes11 in the single sun-ray. On a tar- “See Colonel Sartoris.” (Colonel Sartoris had
nished gilt12 easel before the fireplace stood a been dead almost ten years.) “I have no taxes in
crayon portrait of Miss Emily’s father. Jefferson. Tobe!” The Negro appeared. “Show
They rose when she entered—a small, these gentlemen out.”
fat woman in black, with a thin gold chain
descending to her waist and vanishing into II
her belt, leaning on an ebony cane with a tar- So she vanquished them, horse and foot, just
nished gold head. Her skeleton was small and as she had vanquished their fathers thirty years
spare; perhaps that was why what would have before about the smell. That was two years
been merely plumpness in another was obesity after her father’s death and a short time after
in her. She looked bloated, like a body long her sweetheart—the one we believed would
submerged in motionless water, and of that marry her—had deserted her. After her father’s
pallid13 hue. Her eyes, lost in the fatty ridges death she went out very little; after her sweet-
of her face, looked like two small pieces of heart went away, people hardly saw her at all.
coal pressed into a lump of dough as they A few of the ladies had the temerity14 to call,
moved from one face to another while the but were not received, and the only sign of life
visitors stated their errand. about the place was the Negro man—a young
She did not ask them to sit. She just stood in man then—going in and out with a market
the door and listened quietly until the spokes- basket.
man came to a stumbling halt. Then they could “Just as if a man—any man—could keep a
kitchen properly,” the ladies said; so they were
8. Calligraphy is an elegant type of handwriting. not surprised when the smell developed. It was
9. The Board of Aldermen is the group formed by members another link between the gross, teeming world
of a city or town council. and the high and mighty Griersons.
10. A deputation is a “a small group that represents a larger one.”
11. Motes are particles or specks, as of dust.
12. Gilt means “covered with gold.”
14. Temerity (tə mer ə tē) is excessive boldness.
13. Pallid means “lacking healthy color” or “pale.”
Reading Strategy Identifying Sequence By the time
Literary Element Foreshadowing What might the paint- Emily had “vanquished” the town officials about the “smell,”
ing foreshadow?
what significant events had already occurred in Emily’s life?
List them in order.
Vocabulary
sluggishly (slu ish lē) adv. slowly; without strength or Literary Element Foreshadowing What might this state-
energy ment about the “smell” and Emily foreshadow?

WILLIAM FAULKNER 879


Autumn Glory: The Old Mill, 1869. John Atkinson Grimshaw. Oil on canvas, 62.2 x 87.6 cm.
Leeds Museums and Galleries, City Art Gallery, U.K.

A neighbor, a woman, complained to the “Dammit, sir,” Judge Stevens said, “will you
mayor, Judge Stevens, eighty years old. accuse a lady to her face of smelling bad?”
“But what will you have me do about it, So the next night, after midnight, four men
madam?” he said. crossed Miss Emily’s lawn and slunk about the
“Why, send her word to stop it,” the woman house like burglars, sniffing along the base of
said. “Isn’t there a law?” the brickwork and at the cellar openings while
“I’m sure that won’t be necessary,” Judge Stevens one of them performed a regular sowing
said. “It’s probably just a snake or a rat that nigger motion with his hand out of a sack slung from
of hers killed in the yard. I’ll speak to him about it.” his shoulder. They broke open the cellar door
The next day he received two more complaints, and sprinkled lime there, and in all the out-
one from a man who came in diffident depreca- buildings.16 As they recrossed the lawn, a
tion.15 “We really must do something about it, window that had been dark was lighted and
Judge. I’d be the last one in the world to bother Miss Emily sat in it, the light behind her,
Miss Emily, but we’ve got to do something.” That and her upright torso motionless as that of an
night the Board of Aldermen met—three gray- idol. They crept quietly across the lawn and
beards and one younger man, a member of the into the shadow of the locusts17 that lined the
rising generation. street. After a week or two the smell went
“It’s simple enough,” he said. “Send her word away.
to have her place cleaned up. Give her a certain
time to do it in, and if she don’t . . .”
16. Outbuildings are separate buildings, such as a woodshed
or barn, associated with a main building.
17. Locusts are deciduous trees. Several varieties have thorns
15. Diffident deprecation means “timid disapproval.” and fragrant flowers that hang down in clusters.

880 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


John Atkinson Grimshaw/Leeds Museums and Galleries, U.K./Bridgeman Art Library
That was when people had begun to feel really III
sorry for her. People in our town, remembering
how old lady Wyatt, her great-aunt, had gone She was sick for a long time. When we saw her
completely crazy at last, believed that the again her hair was cut short, making her look
Griersons held themselves a little too high for like a girl, with a vague resemblance to those
what they really were. None of the young men angels in colored church windows—sort of
were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such. tragic and serene.
We had long thought of them as a tableau,18 The town had just let the contracts for pav-
Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the back- ing the sidewalks, and in the summer after her
ground, her father a spraddled19 silhouette in the father’s death they began the work. The con-
foreground, his back to her and clutching a struction company came with niggers and mules
horsewhip, the two of them framed by the back- and machinery, and a foreman named Homer
flung front door. So when she got to be thirty Barron, a Yankee—a big, dark, ready man, with
and was still single, we were not pleased exactly, a big voice and eyes lighter than his face. The
but vindicated; even with insanity in the family little boys would follow in groups to hear him
she wouldn’t have turned down all of her cuss the niggers, and the niggers singing in time
chances if they had really materialized. to the rise and fall of picks. Pretty soon he
When her father died, it got about that the house knew everybody in town. Whenever you heard
was all that was left to her; and in a way, people a lot of laughing anywhere about the square,
were glad. At last they could pity Miss Emily. Being Homer Barron would be in the center of the
left alone, and a pauper,20 she had become human- group. Presently we began to see him and Miss
ized. Now she too would know the old thrill and the Emily on Sunday afternoons driving in the yel-
old despair of a penny more or less. low-wheeled buggy and the matched team of
The day after his death all the ladies prepared bays from the livery stable.
to call at the house and offer condolence and aid, At first we were glad that Miss Emily would
as is our custom. Miss Emily met them at the door, have an interest, because the ladies all said,
dressed as usual and with no trace of grief on her “Of course a Grierson would not think seri-
face. She told them that her father was not dead. ously of a Northerner, a day laborer.” But
She did that for three days, with the ministers there were still others, older people, who said
calling on her, and the doctors, trying to persuade that even grief could not cause a real lady to
her to let them dispose of the body. Just as they forget noblesse oblige21—without calling it
were about to resort to law and force, she broke noblesse oblige. They just said, “Poor Emily.
down, and they buried her father quickly. Her kinsfolk should come to her.” She had
We did not say she was crazy then. We some kin in Alabama; but years ago her father
believed she had to do that. We remembered had fallen out with them over the estate of
all the young men her father had driven away, old lady Wyatt, the crazy woman, and there
and we knew that with nothing left, she would was no communication between the two fami-
have to cling to that which had robbed her, as lies. They had not even been represented at
people will. the funeral.
And as soon as the old people said, “Poor
18. A tableau (tab lō) is a striking or artistic grouping of Emily,” the whispering began. “Do you sup-
people or objects. pose it’s really so?” they said to one another.
19. Spraddled means “sprawled” or “spread wide apart.” “Of course it is. What else could . . .” This
20. A pauper is a very poor person.

Big Idea Return to Regionalism What does this pas- 21. The French expression noblesse oblige (nō bles ō blēzh)
sage reveal about the social and economic status of most suggests that those of high birth or rank have a responsibility
people in the town as opposed to that of Miss Emily? to act kindly and honorably toward others.

Big Idea Return to Regionalism What does this


Vocabulary
comment suggest about the southern aristocratic attitude
vindicate (vin də kāt´) v. to justify; to prove correct in toward northerners? What does it imply about Emily’s interest
light of later circumstances in Homer Barron?

WILLIAM FAULKNER 881


behind their hands; rus- Miss Emily just stared at him, her head tilted
tling of craned22 silk and back in order to look him eye for eye, until he
satin behind jalousies looked away and went and got the arsenic and
closed upon the sun of wrapped it up. The Negro delivery boy brought
Sunday afternoon as the her the package; the druggist didn’t come back.
thin, swift clop-clop-clop When she opened the package at home there
of the matched team was written on the box, under the skull and
passed: “Poor Emily.” bones: “For rats.”
She carried her head
high enough—even when IV
Visual Vocabulary
we believed that she was
Jalousies (jalə sēz)
fallen. It was as if she So the next day we all said, “She will kill her-
are overlapping,
adjustable slats demanded more than ever self”; and we said it would be the best thing.
that cover a door the recognition of her dig- When she had first begun to be seen with
or window. nity as the last Grierson; Homer Barron, we had said, “She will marry
as if it had wanted that him.” Then we said, “She will persuade him
touch of earthiness to reaffirm her impervious- yet,” because Homer himself had remarked—
ness. Like when she bought the rat poison, the he liked men, and it was known that he drank
arsenic. That was over a year after they had with the younger men in the Elks’ Club—that
begun to say “Poor Emily,” and while the two he was not a marrying man. Later we said,
female cousins were visiting her. “Poor Emily” behind the jalousies as they passed
“I want some poison,” she said to the drug- on Sunday afternoon in the glittering buggy,
gist. She was over thirty then, still a slight Miss Emily with her head high and Homer
woman, though thinner than usual, with cold, Barron with his hat cocked and a cigar in his
haughty black eyes in a face the flesh of which teeth, reins and whip in a yellow glove.
was strained across the temples and about the Then some of the ladies began to say that it
eye-sockets as you imagine a lighthousekeep- was a disgrace to the town and a bad example to
er’s face ought to look. “I want some poison,” the young people. The men did not want to inter-
she said. fere, but at last the ladies forced the Baptist minis-
“Yes, Miss Emily. What kind? For rats and ter—Miss Emily’s people were Episcopal—to call
such? I’d recom—” upon her. He would never divulge what happened
“I want the best you have. I don’t care what during that interview, but he refused to go back
kind.” again. The next Sunday they again drove about
The druggist named several. “They’ll kill any- the streets, and the following day the minister’s
thing up to an elephant. But what you want is—” wife wrote to Miss Emily’s relations in Alabama.
“Arsenic,” Miss Emily said. “Is that a good one?” So she had blood-kin under her roof again and
“Is . . . arsenic? Yes, ma’am. But what you we sat back to watch developments. At first
want—” nothing happened. Then we were sure that they
“I want arsenic.” were to be married. We learned that Miss Emily
The druggist looked down at her. She had been to the jeweler’s and ordered a man’s
looked back at him, erect, her face like a toilet set23 in silver, with the letters H. B. on
strained flag. “Why, of course,” the druggist
said. “If that’s what you want. But the law 23. A toilet set is a set of articles used for personal grooming
requires you to tell what you are going to (hairbrush, comb, etc.).
use it for.” Literary Element Foreshadowing What might Emily’s
purchase at the drugstore foreshadow? What makes her
purchase seem particularly suspicious?
22. Craned means “stretched.”
Big Idea Return to Regionalism What does the town’s
Vocabulary
involvement in Emily’s affairs suggest about its morals and
haughty (ho tē) adj. conceited; arrogant values? Why is Emily a threat?

882 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


SuperStock
Day After the Funeral, 1925. Edward Hopper. Watercolor on paper. Private collection.
James Goodman Gallery, New York.

each piece. Two days later we learned that she Homer Barron was back in town. A neighbor saw
had bought a complete outfit of men’s clothing, the Negro man admit him at the kitchen door at
including a nightshirt, and we said, “They are dusk one evening.
married.” We were really glad. We were glad And that was the last we saw of Homer
because the two female cousins were even more Barron. And of Miss Emily for some time. The
Grierson than Miss Emily had ever been. Negro man went in and out with the market
So we were not surprised when Homer Barron— basket, but the front door remained closed. Now
the streets had been finished some time since—was and then we would see her at a window for a
gone. We were a little disappointed that there was moment, as the men did that night when they
not a public blowing-off,24 but we believed that he sprinkled the lime, but for almost six months
had gone on to prepare for Miss Emily’s coming, or she did not appear on the streets. Then we
to give her a chance to get rid of the cousins. (By knew that this was to be expected too; as if
that time it was a cabal,25 and we were all Miss that quality of her father which had thwarted
Emily’s allies to help circumvent the cousins.) Sure her woman’s life so many times had been too
enough, after another week they departed. And, as virulent and too furious to die.
we had expected all along, within three days

Literary Element Foreshadowing What might the juxta-


position of these two sentences foreshadow about Emily and
24. A blowing-off is a celebration.
Homer Barron?
25. A cabal (kə bal) is a group united in a secret plot.

Vocabulary Vocabulary
circumvent (sur´ kəm vent) v. to get around or to virulent (vir yə lənt) adj. extremely poisonous or
avoid by clever maneuvering harmful

WILLIAM FAULKNER 883


Edward Hopper/Private Collection, James Goodman Gallery, New York/Bridgeman Art Library
When we next saw Miss Emily, she had grown one, probably not even to her, for his voice had
fat and her hair was turning gray. During the grown harsh and rusty, as if from disuse.
next few years it grew grayer and grayer until it She died in one of the downstairs rooms, in a
attained an even pepper-and-salt iron-gray, when heavy walnut bed with a curtain, her gray head
it ceased turning. Up to the day of her death at propped on a pillow yellow and moldy with age
seventy-four it was still that vigorous iron-gray, and lack of sunlight.
like the hair of an active man.
From that time on her front door remained V
closed, save for a period of six or seven years, The Negro met the first of the ladies at the front
when she was about forty, during which she gave door and let them in, with their hushed, sibilant27
lessons in china-painting. She fitted up a studio voices and their quick, curious glances, and then
in one of the downstairs rooms, where the he disappeared. He walked right through the
daughters and granddaughters of Colonel house and out the back and was not seen again.
Sartoris’ contemporaries were sent to her with The two female cousins came at once. They
the same regularity and in the same spirit that held the funeral on the second day, with the town
they were sent to church on Sundays with a coming to look at Miss Emily beneath a mass of
twenty-five-cent piece for the collection plate. bought flowers, with the crayon face of her father
Meanwhile her taxes had been remitted. musing profoundly above the bier28 and the ladies
Then the newer generation became the sibilant and macabre;29 and the very old men—
backbone and the spirit of the town, and the some in their brushed Confederate uniforms—on
painting pupils grew up and fell away and did the porch and the lawn, talking of Miss Emily as if
not send their children to her with boxes of she had been a contemporary of theirs, believing
color and tedious brushes and pictures cut that they had danced with her and courted her
from the ladies’ magazines. The front door perhaps, confusing time with its mathematical
closed upon the last one and remained closed progression, as the old do, to whom all the past is
for good. When the town got free postal deliv- not a diminishing road but, instead, a huge
ery, Miss Emily alone refused to let them fas- meadow which no winter ever quite touches,
ten the metal numbers above her door and divided from them now by the narrow bottle-neck
attach a mailbox to it. She would not listen of the most recent decade of years.
to them. Already we knew that there was one room in
Daily, monthly, yearly we watched the that region above stairs which no one had seen
Negro grow grayer and more stooped, going in forty years, and which would have to be
in and out with the market basket. Each forced. They waited until Miss Emily was
December we sent her a tax notice, which decently in the ground before they opened it.
would be returned by the post office a week The violence of breaking down the door
later, unclaimed. Now and then we would see seemed to fill this room with pervading dust. A
her in one of the downstairs windows—she thin, acrid pall30 as of the tomb seemed to lie
had evidently shut up the top floor of the
house—like the carven torso of an idol in
a niche,26 looking or not looking at us, we 27. Sibilant (si bə lənt) means “making a hissing sound.”
could never tell which. Thus she passed from 28. A bier is a stand for a coffin.
29. Macabre (mə ka brə) means “gruesome” or “suggesting
generation to generation—dear, inescapable,
the horror of death.”
impervious, tranquil, and perverse. 30. An acrid pall is a bitter-smelling covering.
And so she died. Fell ill in the house filled with
Big Idea Return to Regionalism How do Emily’s ser-
dust and shadows, with only a doddering Negro
vant’s actions before and after her death reflect the general
man to wait on her. We did not even know she change in the town and in the South overall during this
was sick; we had long since given up trying to get period?
any information from the Negro. He talked to no
Reading Strategy Identifying Sequence How do you
think Faulkner’s nonlinear sequence of events enhances the
26. A niche (nich) is a recessed area in a wall, sometimes used
story about Emily?
for displaying a statue.

884 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


The Sunny Parlor, c. 1901. Wilhelm Hammershoi. Oil on canvas,
49.7 x 40 cm. Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin,
Germany.

everywhere upon this room decked and furnished body had apparently once lain in the attitude of
as for a bridal:31 upon the valance curtains of an embrace, but now the long sleep that outlasts
faded rose color, upon the rose-shaded lights, love, that conquers even the grimace of love,
upon the dressing table, upon the delicate array had cuckolded32 him. What was left of him, rot-
of crystal and the man’s toilet things backed with ted beneath what was left of the nightshirt, had
tarnished silver, silver so tarnished that the become inextricable from the bed in which he
monogram was obscured. Among them lay a col- lay; and upon him and upon the pillow beside
lar and tie, as if they had just been removed, him lay that even coating of the patient and bid-
which, lifted, left upon the surface a pale cres- ing dust.
cent in the dust. Upon a chair hung the suit, Then we noticed that in the second pillow
carefully folded; beneath it the two mute shoes was the indentation of a head. One of us lifted
and the discarded socks. something from it, and leaning forward, that
The man himself lay in the bed. faint and invisible dust dry and acrid in the nos-
For a long while we just stood there, looking trils, we saw a long strand of iron-gray hair. 
down at the profound and fleshless grin. The
32. Cuckolded means “betrayed,” in the sense of a husband
31. Here, bridal means “wedding.” deceived by an unfaithful wife.

WILLIAM FAULKNER 885


Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, NY
William Faulkner

I feel that this award was not made to me as a is ephemeral4 and doomed—love and honor and
man, but to my work—a life’s work in the agony pity and pride and compassion and sacrifice.
and sweat of the human spirit, not for glory and Until he does so, he labors under a curse. He
least of all for profit, but to create out of the writes not of love but of lust, of defeats in which
materials of the human spirit something which nobody loses anything of value, of victories without
did not exist before. So this award is only mine in hope and, worst of all, without pity or compassion.
trust. It will not be difficult to find a dedication His griefs grieve on no universal bones, leaving no
for the money part of it commensurate1 with the scars. He writes not of the heart but of the glands.
purpose and significance of its origin. But I would Until he relearns these things, he will write as
like to do the same with the acclaim too, by using though he stood among and watched the end of
this moment as a pinnacle2 from which I might man. I decline to accept the end of man. It is easy
be listened to by the young men and women enough to say that man is immortal simply because
already dedicated to the same anguish and tra- he will endure: that when the last ding-dong of
vail,3 among whom is already that one who will doom has clanged and faded from the last worthless
some day stand here where I am standing. rock hanging tideless in the last red and dying eve-
Our tragedy today is a general and universal ning, that even then there will still be one more
physical fear so long sustained by now that we can sound: that of his puny inexhaustible voice, still
even bear it. There are no longer problems of the talking. I refuse to accept this. I believe that man
spirit. There is only the question: When will I be will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is
blown up? Because of this, the young man or immortal, not because he alone among creatures has
woman writing today has forgotten the problems of an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a
the human heart in conflict with itself which alone spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and
can make good writing because only that is worth endurance. The poet’s, the writer’s, duty is to write
writing about, worth the agony and the sweat. about these things. It is his privilege to help man
He must learn them again. He must teach endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the
himself that the basest of all things is to be courage and honor and hope and pride and compas-
afraid; and, teaching himself that, forget it for- sion and pity and sacrifice which have been the
ever, leaving no room in his workshop for any- glory of his past. The poet’s voice need not merely
thing but the old verities and truths of the heart, be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the
the old universal truths lacking which any story pillars to help him endure and prevail. 

1. Commensurate (kə men sər it) means “of equal measure.”


2. Pinnacle (pin ə kəl) means “highest point” or “peak.” 4. Ephemeral (i fem ər əl) means “lasting a very brief time” or
3. Travail (trə vāl) is exhausting mental or physical work. “short-lived.”

Big Idea Return to Regionalism How might stories such Reading Strategy Identifying Sequence Why might
as “A Rose for Emily” reflect Faulkner’s desire to write about Faulkner have chosen to place this statement at the end and
“the human heart in conflict with itself”? not the beginning of his speech?

886 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Were you surprised by the ending of the story? 6. (a)In “A Rose for Emily,” what was the effect
Why or why not? of Emily’s father on her relationships with men?
(b)What clues does Faulkner use to reveal this effect?
Recall and Interpret
7. (a)How would you characterize the narrator of “A
2. (a)How did Miss Emily receive the delegation that
Rose for Emily”? (b)What can you infer about the
came to explain that she must pay taxes? (b)What
narrator’s attitude toward Miss Emily? Explain.
does her behavior demonstrate about her character?
8. (a)In Faulkner’s speech, what is his view of our
3. (a)What happens when Miss Emily’s house begins
future and of the writer’s role in that future? (b)Do
to smell and when her father dies? (b)How does
you agree with this view? Explain.
the community interpret her response to these
incidents? Connect
4. (a)In Faulkner’s “Address upon Receiving the Nobel 9. (a)How do you think the events of Faulkner’s
Prize in Literature,” what are modern writers con- time influenced this speech? (b)How are his
cerned with, according to Faulkner? (b)Why is this views still relevant today?
problematic?
10. Big Idea Return to Regionalism In “A Rose for
5. In the speech, what does Faulkner say is the only Emily,” how do the southern traditions and attitudes
thing worth writing about? Why? of her neighbors affect Miss Emily?

YO U ’ R E T H E C R I T I C : Similar Viewpoints

WO RK O R PLE A SU RE ?
William Faulkner has a
“And at once, if one considers these queer sentences
reputation for prose that not simply by themselves, as monsters of grammar or
is difficult to follow. First, awkwardness, but in their relation to the book as a
he does not unfold his plots in a linear fashion. As whole, one sees a functional reason and necessity for
Dean Morgan Schmitter explains in his essay “The their being as they are. They parallel in a curious
Faulkner Legend”: and perhaps inevitable way, and not without
aesthetic justification, the whole elaborate method of
deliberately withheld meaning, of progressive and
“Another feature of Faulkner’s style is the manner in partial and delayed disclosure, which so often gives
which he releases information, sometimes preventing the characteristic shape of the novels themselves.”
the reader from having full perspective on what is
happening. Although the reader accumulates
Nobel Foundation

information as he goes along, often he must wait


pages to find the facts he needs . . . ” 7 Group Activity
Discuss the following questions with your classmates.

The second reason that Faulkner’s writing is hard to 1. What examples can you find of confusing
follow is that his sentences are often long and ram- sequences of events and rambling sentences in
bling, as though he wants to present entire human “A Rose for Emily”?
experiences within a single written breath. As Conrad 2. (a)Do you find the story difficult to follow?
Aiken writes, (b)Is it worth the effort? Explain.

WILLIAM FAULKNER 887


L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Foreshadowing Reading Strategy Identifying Sequence


Faulkner’s style, which pulls his readers back and forth As you have seen, Faulkner does not often take his
through time to reveal the events in his plots, can readers on a chronological journey through his stories.
make it difficult to recognize foreshadowing. Because “A Rose for Emily” is no exception.
there is no single time frame in which a reader can
1. Use the list and the sequence chart that you made
comfortably base his or her perspective, it is important
as you read the story to write one or two para-
to pay special attention to details to see how they
graphs describing the important events in Emily’s
affect future outcomes or how they relate to events
life. Use sequencing words, such as first, next, then,
that occurred previously. In fact, some details fore-
and finally, and specific times and dates to put the
shadow events that occur earlier in Emily’s life, even
events in proper chronological order.
though they are revealed later in the narration.
2. Explain how the convoluted sequence adds to or
1. Which event in the narration is the earliest fore-
detracts from the story’s meaning.
shadowing of Homer Barron’s fate?
2. What is the next event that foreshadows Barron’s
fate? Vocabulary Practice
3. As you read the story, were you able to recognize Practice with Denotation and Connotation
any examples of foreshadowing even though For each of the vocabulary words listed below, circle
Faulkner jumbled events in his story? If you did, the word in parentheses that is the word’s denota-
explain how you recognized them. If you did not, tion and underline the word that is its connotation.
explain why you were fooled. 1. sluggishly (inactively, lazily)
2. circumvent (avoid, evade)
Review: Flashback
3. virulent (poisonous, harmful)
A flashback is an interruption in a plot to portray an
4. vindicate (avenge, justify)
incident that happened in the past. Writers use flash-
backs to explain why characters behave as they do or 5. haughty (proud, snobby)
how the plot has developed as it has.
Partner Activity Meet with another classmate to dis-
cuss Faulkner’s use of flashback in “A Rose for Emily.” Academic Vocabulary
Use the five sections as numbered by the author to
determine where the flashbacks are and at what point Here are two words from the vocabulary list on
in Emily’s life each one occurs. page R86. These words will help you think,
write, and talk about the selection.
Section Flashback
justify (jəs tə f̄ ) v. to give good reason for a
specific action to be taken
1
prior (pr̄ər) adj. occurring before a given time
or event

2 Practice and Apply


1. How did Colonel Sartoris justify Miss Emily’s
not having to pay taxes to the town?
3 2. Prior to her relationship with Homer Barron,
what was Miss Emily’s experience with young
men?

888 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


W R I T I N G A N D E X TE N D I N G G R A M M A R A N D ST Y L E

Writing About Literature Faulkner’s Language and Style


Respond to Conflict Faulkner once described “A Choosing Fresh Adjectives Faulkner is a master of
Rose for Emily” as a “manifestation of man’s injustice to description. He chooses adjectives that are precise and
man, of the poor tragic human being struggling with its unusual:
own heart, with others, with its environment, for the
“coquettish decay”
simple things which all human beings want.” Write a
“cedar-bemused cemetery”
brief essay in which you explain why one of the four
“profound and fleshless grin”
conflicts Faulkner mentions above is central to the story.
“Thus she passed from generation to generation—
The introduction of your essay should state which con- dear, inescapable, impervious, tranquil, and
flict you feel is central to the story and why. The conclu- perverse.”
sion should summarize your thoughts and perhaps
Imagine how spare these nouns would sound without
offer a related insight. Each body paragraph should
such colorful adjectives.
include a major point and evidence from the story to
support your viewpoint. Use a graphic organizer like the When describing people, things, or places in your writ-
one below to organize your body paragraphs: ing, avoid adjectives that are so overused that they
convey little meaning to readers. For example, the
adjective bad is so unoriginal that it connotes no spe-
Major Point
cific image for a reader. Words like sinister or hostile
suggest menace, while brutal and vicious show a
more violent type of evil.
Before you write a description, think carefully about
Evidence A Evidence B Evidence C what you are describing. Picture it in your mind and
choose adjectives that will stick with your reader. If
you have difficulty, consult an indexed thesaurus. A
Quotation(s) Quotation(s) Quotation(s) good thesaurus will suggest various nuances and con-
notations for the overused adjectives that often crowd
more exact and descriptive words from a writer’s
Explain Explain Explain
mind.
Quotation/ Quotation/ Quotation/
Connect to Connect to Connect to Activity Scan “A Rose for Emily” for other examples of
Thesis Thesis Thesis
fresh, precise adjectives. Make a list of them to read
aloud to the class.
After you complete your draft, meet with a partner to
offer suggestions on how to improve each other’s
work. Then edit and proofread your essay for errors in
spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Revising Check
Fresh Adjectives Work with a partner to review and
revise any overused or imprecise adjectives that you
Learning for Life used in your essay on “A Rose for Emily.”

Write a radio or television news story about the discovery


of Homer Barron’s body in Miss Emily’s bedroom. Use
details from “A Rose for Emily” as the basis for your story.
Then choose several characters from the story and
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
invent quotes from each one that reveal that character’s Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
involvement with and impact on Miss Emily’s life. www.glencoe.com.

WILLIAM FAULKNER 889


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

A Worn Path
M E E T E U DO R A W E LT Y

E
udora Welty admitted to living a sheltered during the Great
life. Born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, Depression, gave
she lived in her family’s house there until people work on pub-
her death at age ninety-two. Welty maintained, lic projects, such as
though, that “a sheltered life can be a daring life constructing roads
as well. For all serious daring starts from within.” and buildings, clear-
ing trails in parks,
Pleasant Childhood Welty’s parents filled their and painting murals.
house with books and loved to read on their own Welty traveled around Mississippi and wrote articles
and to their children. Once she learned to read about WPA projects in the state. Welty later said
herself, Welty read everything she could get her that, through her travels, she gained her first
hands on. Her mother, however, put one restriction glimpses of the very different ways in which people
on her reading. She told the town librarian that live. Her musings and imaginings about the people
Eudora could read anything in the library except she saw, talked to, and photographed inspired her
the then-popular novel Elsie Dinsmore. When writing throughout her life.
Eudora asked why, her mother explained that the
main character fainted and fell off her piano stool Successful Writing Career Welty had her first
after being made to practice for a long time. Her short story published when she was twenty-seven.
mother told Eudora that she was too impression- Five years later, she published A Curtain of Green, a
able: “You’d read that and the very first thing you’d collection of short stories in which “A Worn Path”
do, you’d fall off the piano stool.” Thereafter, Welty first appeared. In her thirties, she published her first
could never hear the word impressionable without novels, The Robber Bridegroom (1942) and Delta
calling up the image of falling off a piano stool. Wedding (1946). Welty went on to write award-
winning fiction for many years, until severe arthri-
tis forced her to give up writing at age eighty-five.
“Writing a story is one way of Southern Charm At Welty’s funeral, her agent,
discovering sequence in experience, Timothy Seldes, told a revealing story about
Welty’s last words. He said that when her doctor
of stumbling upon cause and effect in leaned over her bed and asked if there was any-
the happenings of a writer’s own life. thing he could do for her, she replied, “No, but
thank you for inviting me to the party.” This polite
This has been the case with me. response illustrates Welty’s southern charm and
Connections slowly emerge.” gracious warmth—qualities that Welty brought to
her writing. Her compassionate portrayals of peo-
—Eudora Welty ple living in the deep South powerfully illuminate
their shared values and complicated history.
Eudora Welty was born in 1909 and died in 2001.
Work with the WPA Welty’s love of reading and
her lively imagination inspired her decision to
become a writer for the Works Progress Admin- Author Search For more about
istration (WPA). This government agency, founded Eudora Welty, go to www.glencoe.com.

890 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


Hulton Archive/Getty Images
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Visualizing


Think about elderly people whom you respect and Visualizing is picturing a writer’s ideas or descriptions in
admire—people you know personally or people you the mind’s eye. Visualizing is one of the best ways to help
know about. What is it that you admire about them? As you understand and remember information in a story.
you read the story, reflect on the following questions:
Reading Tip: Sketch On a separate sheet of paper,
• What problems do older people face? make quick sketches showing how you visualize each
• What qualities of character do elderly people demon- important scene that you read.
strate as they deal with the difficulties of their lives?

Building Background Vocabulary


“A Worn Path” is set near the city of Natchez (nach iz),
Mississippi, around 1930. The Natchez Trace was an old grave ( rāv) adj. dignified and gloomy; somber;
trail that led from the Native American villages along the p. 892 Mark wore a grave look as he delivered the
banks of the lower Mississippi River northeastward six eulogy.
hundred miles to settlements along the Cumberland vigorously (vi ər əs lē) adv. with power,
River, in what is now Tennessee. Travelers who boated energy, and strength; p. 894 Katie vigorously
down the Mississippi had to walk or ride the Natchez shook the rug to get the dust out.
Trace to return to locations upstream. Around the turn of
the nineteenth century, the Natchez Trace was one of the ceremonial (ser´ə mo nē əl) adj. formal;
most well-traveled trails in the United States. However, p. 896 The graduates wore ceremonial robes.
new, powerful steamships that could travel against the solemn (sol əm) adj. serious; somber; p. 896
Mississippi’s strong current were introduced and allowed With a solemn expression, the child tended to her
river travelers to make their way upstream by boat. As a sick puppy.
result, the Natchez Trace fell into disuse around 1820.
comprehension (kom´pri hen shən) n. the act
Setting Purposes for Reading of grasping mentally; understanding; p. 896
Mia’s comprehension of math is excellent.
Big Idea Return to Regionalism
As you read, think about how the lives of the charac- Vocabulary Tip: Analogies Comparisons that
ters have been shaped by the history and culture of reveal the relationship between two words or
the South. ideas are called analogies. In analogies exercises,
you are frequently presented with a pair of words
Literary Element Description that demonstrates a relationship and then are
asked to combine two other words to indicate a
Description is writing that captures the physical sensa-
similar relationship. To complete such an exercise,
tions of a place or of an experience. As you read,
decide on the relationship represented by the first
notice the details Welty includes to help readers imag-
two words. Then apply that relationship to the sec-
ine that they can see, hear, smell, taste, and feel what
ond set of words.
she is describing.

• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R4.


Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • expanding vocabulary
• relating literature to historical period • reviewing archetypes
• analyzing description • comparing and contrasting characters
• visualizing scenes and characters

EUDO RA WELTY 8 91
Eudora Welty
Day’s End, Jackson, 1930s. Eudora Welty. Photograph.
Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson, MS.

I
Eudora Welty Collection.

t was December—a bright frozen day in the Her skin had a pattern all its own of numberless
early morning. Far out in the country there was branching wrinkles and as though a whole little
an old Negro woman with her head tied in a red tree stood in the middle of her forehead, but a
rag, coming along a path through the pinewoods. golden color ran underneath, and the two knobs
Her name was Phoenix Jackson. She was very of her cheeks were illumined by a yellow burning
old and small and she walked slowly in the dark under the dark. Under the red rag her hair came
pine shadows, moving a little from side to side in down on her neck in the frailest of ringlets, still
her steps, with the balanced heaviness and light- black, and with an odor like copper.
ness of a pendulum in a grandfather clock. She Now and then there was a quivering in the
carried a thin, small cane made from an umbrella, thicket. Old Phoenix said, “Out of my way, all
and with this she kept tapping the frozen earth you foxes, owls, beetles, jack rabbits, coons
in front of her. This made a grave and persistent and wild animals! . . . Keep out from under
noise in the still air, that seemed meditative like these feet, little bob-whites1. . . . Keep the big
the chirping of a solitary little bird. wild hogs out of my path. Don’t let none of
She wore a dark striped dress reaching down those come running my direction. I got a long
to her shoe tops, and an equally long apron of way.” Under her small black-freckled hand her
bleached sugar sacks, with a full pocket: all neat cane, limber as a buggy whip, would switch at
and tidy, but every time she took a step she the brush as if to rouse up any hiding things.
might have fallen over her shoelaces, which
dragged from her unlaced shoes. She looked
straight ahead. Her eyes were blue with age. 1. Bob-whites, also called quails or partridges, are birds with
mottled brown plumage and white markings.

Reading Strategy Visualizing Ask yourself what Phoenix


Vocabulary
Jackson looks like. Form a mental image of Phoenix based
grave (rāv) adj. dignified and gloomy; somber on the details you have read so far.

892 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


Mississippi Department of Archives and History
On she went. The woods were deep and But she sat down to rest. She spread her
still. The sun made the pine needles almost skirts on the bank around her and folded her
too bright to look at, up where the wind hands over her knees. Up above her was a tree
rocked. The cones dropped as light as feathers. in a pearly cloud of mistletoe. She did not
Down in the hollow 2 was the mourning dare to close her eyes, and when a little boy
dove—it was not too late for him. brought her a plate with a slice of marble-
The path ran up a hill. “Seem like there is cake on it she spoke to him. “That would be
chains about my feet, time I get this far,” she acceptable,” she said. But when she went to
said, in the voice of argument old people keep to take it there was just her own hand in the air.
use with themselves. “Something always take a So she left that tree, and had to go through
hold of me on this hill—pleads I should stay.” a barbed-wire fence. There she had to creep
After she got to the top she turned and gave a and crawl, spreading her knees and stretching
full, severe look behind her where she had come. her fingers like a baby trying to climb the
“Up through pines,” she said at length. “Now steps. But she talked loudly to herself: she
down through oaks.” could not let her dress be torn now, so late in
Her eyes opened their widest, and she started the day, and she could not pay for having her
down gently. But before she got to the bottom of arm or her leg sawed off if she got caught fast
the hill a bush caught her dress. where she was.
Her fingers were busy and intent, but her At last she was safe through the fence and
skirts were full and long, so that before she could risen up out in the clearing. Big dead trees,
pull them free in one place they were caught in like black men with one arm, were standing in
another. It was not possible to allow the dress to the purple stalks of the withered cotton field.
tear. “I in the thorny bush,” she said. “Thorns, There sat a buzzard.
you doing your appointed3 work. Never want to “Who you watching?”
let folks pass, no sir. Old eyes thought you was a In the furrow4 she made her way along.
pretty little green bush.” “Glad this not the season for bulls,” she
Finally, trembling all over, she stood free, and said, looking sideways, “and the good Lord
after a moment dared to stoop for her cane. made his snakes to curl up and sleep in the
“Sun so high!” she cried, leaning back and winter. A pleasure I don’t see no two-headed
looking, while the thick tears went over her eyes. snake coming around that tree, where it come
“The time getting all gone here.” once. It took a while to get by him, back in
At the foot of this hill was a place where a log the summer.”
was laid across the creek. She passed through the old cotton and went
“Now comes the trial,” said Phoenix. into a field of dead corn. It whispered and shook
Putting her right foot out, she mounted the log and was taller than her head. “Through the maze
and shut her eyes. Lifting her skirt, leveling her now,” she said, for there was no path.
cane fiercely before her, like a festival figure in Then there was something tall, black, and
some parade, she began to march across. Then she skinny there, moving before her.
opened her eyes and she was safe on the other side. At first she took it for a man. It could have
“I wasn’t as old as I thought,” she said. been a man dancing in the field. But she
stood still and listened, and it did not make a
sound. It was as silent as a ghost.
2. A hollow is a small valley. “Ghost,” she said sharply, “who be you the ghost
3. Appointed means “assigned” or “designated.” of? For I have heard of nary5 death close by.”
Literary Element Description Why does the author
include details about the animals in the woods as well as
about the silence and sunlight there? 4. A furrow is a long, narrow channel in the ground made
by a plow.
5. Nary means “not one.”
Big Idea Return to Regionalism From what you have
read so far, what do you infer about Phoenix Jackson’s back- Reading Strategy Visualizing How do you imagine Phoenix
ground as well as about her present life? Jackson looks and sounds as she goes through the fence?

EUD O R A WELTY 893


At last she came to the end, to a wagon track
where the silver grass blew between the red ruts.
The quail were walking around like pullets,6 seem-
ing all dainty and unseen.
“Walk pretty,” she said. “This the easy place.
This the easy going.”
She followed the track, swaying through the
quiet bare fields, through the little strings of
trees silver in their dead leaves, past cabins silver
from weather, with the doors and windows
boarded shut, all like old women under a spell
sitting there. “I walking in their sleep,” she said,
nodding her head vigorously.
In a ravine7 she went where a spring was
silently flowing through a hollow log. Old
Phoenix bent and drank. “Sweet-gum8 makes the
water sweet,” she said, and drank more. “Nobody
know who made this well, for it was here when I
was born.”
The track crossed a swampy part where the
moss hung as white as lace from every limb.
“Sleep on, alligators, and blow your bubbles.”
Then the track went into the road.
Deep, deep the road went down between the
high green-colored banks. Overhead the live-
Road Between High Banks, Hinds County, 1940s. Eudora Welty.
Photograph. Mississippi Department of Archives and History, oaks met, and it was as dark as a cave.
Jackson, MS. Eudora Welty Collection. A black dog with a lolling tongue came up out
Viewing the Photograph: In what ways is the path in the of the weeds by the ditch. She was meditating,
photograph similar to or different from the path in the story?
and not ready, and when he came at her she only
hit him a little with her cane. Over she went in
But there was no answer—only the ragged the ditch, like a little puff of milkweed.9
dancing in the wind. Down there, her senses drifted away. A dream
She shut her eyes, reached out her hand, and visited her, and she reached her hand up, but
touched a sleeve. She found a coat and inside nothing reached down and gave her a pull. So
that an emptiness, cold as ice. she lay there and presently went to talking. “Old
“You scarecrow,” she said. Her face lighted. woman,” she said to herself, “that black dog come
“I ought to be shut up for good,” she said with up out of the weeds to stall you off, and now
laughter. “My senses is gone. I too old. I the old- there he sitting on his fine tail, smiling at you.”
est people I ever know. Dance, old scarecrow,” A white man finally came along and found her—
she said, “while I dancing with you.” a hunter, a young man, with his dog on a chain.
She kicked her foot over the furrow, and with
mouth drawn down, shook her head once or 6. Pullets are young hens.
twice in a little strutting way. Some husks blew 7. A ravine is a deep, narrow valley, especially one eroded by
down and whirled in streamers about her skirts. running water.
Then she went on, parting her way from side 8. The sweet-gum tree discharges a fragrant gum through
cracks and crevices in its trunk.
to side with the cane, through the whispering field.
9. The pods of a milkweed plant split open and release seeds
with puffs of white, silky down.

Literary Element Vocabulary


Description Why does the author
include details of the scene such as “old cotton,” “dead vigorously (vi ər əs lē) adv. with power, energy, and
corn,” and “ragged dancing in the wind”? strength

894 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


Mississippi Department of Archives and History
“Well, Granny!” he laughed. “What are you Phoenix heard the dogs fighting, and heard
doing there?” the man running and throwing sticks. She even
“Lying on my back like a June-bug waiting to heard a gunshot. But she was slowly bending for-
be turned over, mister,” she said, reaching up her ward by that time, further and further forward,
hand. the lids stretched down over her eyes, as if she
He lifted her up, gave her a swing in the air, were doing this in her sleep. Her chin was low-
and set her down. “Anything broken, Granny?” ered almost to her knees. The yellow palm of her
“No sir, them old dead weeds is springy hand came out from the fold of her apron. Her
enough,” said Phoenix, when she had got her fingers slid down and along the ground under the
breath. “I thank you for your trouble.” piece of money with the grace and care they
“Where do you live, Granny?” he asked, while would have in lifting an egg from under a setting
the two dogs were growling at each other. hen. Then she slowly straightened up, she stood
“Away back yonder, sir, behind the ridge. You erect, and the nickel was in her apron pocket. A
can’t even see it from here.” bird flew by. Her lips moved. “God watching me
“On your way home?” the whole time. I come to stealing.”
“No sir, I going to town.” The man came back, and his own dog panted
“Why, that’s too far! That’s as far as I walk about them. “Well, I scared him off that time,”
when I come out myself, and I get something for he said, and then he laughed and lifted his gun
my trouble.” He patted the stuffed bag he car- and pointed it at Phoenix.
ried, and there hung down a little closed claw. It She stood straight and faced him.
was one of the bob-whites, with its beak hooked “Doesn’t the gun scare you?” he said, still
bitterly to show it was dead. “Now you go on pointing it.
home, Granny!” “No, sir, I seen plenty go off closer by, in my
“I bound to go to town, mister,” said Phoenix. day, and for less than what I done,” she said,
“The time come around.” holding utterly still.
He gave another laugh, filling the whole land- He smiled, and shouldered the gun. “Well,
scape. “I know you old colored people! Wouldn’t Granny,” he said, “you must be a hundred years
miss going to town to see Santa Claus!” old, and scared of nothing. I’d give you a dime
But something held old Phoenix very still. if I had any money with me. But you take my
The deep lines in her face went into a fierce and advice and stay home, and nothing will happen
different radiation.10 Without warning, she had to you.”
seen with her own eyes a flashing nickel fall out “I bound to go on my way, mister,” said
of the man’s pocket onto the ground. Phoenix. She inclined her head in the red rag.
“How old are you, Granny?” he was saying. Then they went in different directions, but she
“There is no telling, mister,” she said, “no could hear the gun shooting again and again
telling.” over the hill.
Then she gave a little cry and clapped her She walked on. The shadows hung from the
hands and said, “Git on away from here, dog! oak trees to the road like curtains. Then she
Look! Look at that dog!” She laughed as if in smelled wood-smoke, and smelled the river, and
admiration. “He ain’t scared of nobody. He a she saw a steeple and the cabins on their steep
big black dog.” She whispered, “Sic him!” steps. Dozens of little black children whirled
“Watch me get rid of that cur,” said the man. around her. There ahead was Natchez shining.
“Sic him, Pete! Sic him!” Bells were ringing. She walked on.
In the paved city it was Christmas time. There
were red and green electric lights strung and
10. Here, radiation means “a pattern of rays or waves.” crisscrossed everywhere, and all turned on in the
Reading Strategy Visualizing Picture the scene as the
man helps Phoenix.
Big Idea Return to Regionalism What does this
Literary Element Description What does the description exchange suggest about the way whites and African
of Phoenix suggest about her thoughts as she spies the nickel? Americans in the town behaved toward each other?

EUD O R A WELTY 895


daytime. Old Phoenix would have been lost if “Oh, that’s just old Aunt Phoenix,” she said.
she had not distrusted her eyesight and depended “She doesn’t come for herself—she has a little
on her feet to know where to take her. grandson. She makes these trips just as regular as
She paused quietly on the sidewalk where people clockwork. She lives away back off the Old
were passing by. A lady came along in the crowd, Natchez Trace.” She bent down. “Well, Aunt
carrying an armful of red-, green- and silver-wrapped Phoenix, why don’t you just take a seat? We
presents; she gave off perfume like the red roses in won’t keep you standing after your long trip.”
hot summer, and Phoenix stopped her. She pointed.
“Please, missy, will you lace up my shoe?” She The old woman sat down, bolt upright in
held up her foot. the chair.
“What do you want, Grandma?” “Now, how is the boy?” asked the nurse.
“See my shoe,” said Phoenix. “Do all right for Old Phoenix did not speak.
out in the country, but wouldn’t look right to go “I said, how is the boy?”
in a big building.” But Phoenix only waited and stared straight
“Stand still then, Grandma,” said the lady. ahead, her face very solemn and withdrawn into
She put her packages down on the sidewalk rigidity.
beside her and laced and tied both shoes tightly. “Is his throat any better?” asked the nurse.
“Can’t lace ’em with a cane,” said Phoenix. “Aunt Phoenix, don’t you hear me? Is your
“Thank you, missy. I doesn’t mind asking a nice lady grandson’s throat any better since the last time
to tie up my shoe, when I gets out on the street.” you came for the medicine?”
Moving slowly and from side to side, she went With her hands on her knees, the old woman
into the big building, and into a tower of steps, waited, silent, erect and motionless, just as if she
where she walked up and around and around were in armor.
until her feet knew to stop. “You mustn’t take up our time this way, Aunt
She entered a door, and there she saw nailed Phoenix,” the nurse said. “Tell us quickly about
up on the wall the document that had been your grandson, and get it over. He isn’t dead, is he?”
stamped with the gold seal and framed in the At last there came a flicker and then a flame
gold frame, which matched the dream that was of comprehension across her face, and she spoke.
hung up in her head. “My grandson. It was my memory had left me.
“Here I be,” she said. There was a fixed and There I sat and forgot why I made my long trip.”
ceremonial stiffness over her body. “Forgot?” The nurse frowned. “After you came
“A charity case, I suppose,” said an attendant so far?”
who sat at the desk before her. Then Phoenix was like an old woman begging
But Phoenix only looked above her head. There a dignified forgiveness for waking up frightened
was sweat on her face, the wrinkles in her skin in the night. “I never did go to school, I was too
shone like a bright net. old at the Surrender,”11 she said in a soft voice.
“Speak up, Grandma,” the woman said. “I’m an old woman without an education. It was
“What’s your name? We must have your history, my memory fail me. My little grandson, he is just
you know. Have you been here before? What the same, and I forgot it in the coming.”
seems to be the trouble with you?”
Old Phoenix only gave a twitch to her face as
if a fly were bothering her. 11. The Surrender of Robert E. Lee to Ulysses S. Grant in 1865
“Are you deaf?” cried the attendant. ended the Civil War.
But then the nurse came in. Reading Strategy Visualizing Visualize the exchanges
between Phoenix, the attendant, and the nurse. What attitudes
toward Phoenix do the attendant and the nurse express?
Literary Element Description Which details evoke the
contrast between the cabins near the river and the paved city? Vocabulary
solemn (sol əm) adj. serious; somber
Vocabulary
comprehension (kom´ pri hen shən) n. the act of
ceremonial (ser´ ə mō nē əl) adj. formal grasping mentally; understanding

896 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


School Children, Jackson, 1930s. Eudora Welty. Photograph. Mississippi Department of
Archives and History, Jackson, MS. Eudora Welty Collection.
Viewing the Photograph: Do you think Eudora Welty might have had her story “A Worn
Path” in mind when she took this photograph? Why or why not?

“Throat never heals, does it?” said the nurse, “All right.” The nurse was trying to hush her
speaking in a loud, sure voice to old Phoenix. By now. She brought her a bottle of medicine.
now she had a card with something written on “Charity,” she said, making a check mark in a book.
it, a little list. “Yes. Swallowed lye. When was Old Phoenix held the bottle close to her eyes,
it?—January—two-three years ago—” and then carefully put it into her pocket.
Phoenix spoke unasked now. “No, missy, he “I thank you,” she said.
not dead, he just the same. Every little while his “It’s Christmas time, Grandma,” said the
throat begin to close up again, and he not able attendant. “Could I give you a few pennies out of
to swallow. He not get his breath. He not able to my purse?”
help himself. So the time come around, and I go “Five pennies is a nickel,” said Phoenix stiffly.
on another trip for the soothing medicine.” “Here’s a nickel,” said the attendant.
“All right. The doctor said as long as you Phoenix rose carefully and held out her hand.
came to get it, you could have it,” said the nurse. She received the nickel and then fished the
“But it’s an obstinate case.” other nickel out of her pocket and laid it beside
“My little grandson, he sit up there in the house the new one. She stared at her palm closely, with
all wrapped up, waiting by himself,” Phoenix went her head on one side.
on. “We is the only two left in the world. He suffer Then she gave a tap with her cane on the floor.
and it don’t seem to put him back at all. He got a “This is what come to me to do,” she said. “I
sweet look. He going to last. He wear a little patch going to the store and buy my child a little wind-
quilt and peep out holding his mouth open like a mill they sells, made out of paper. He going to
little bird. I remembers so plain now. I not going find it hard to believe there such a thing in the
to forget him again, no, the whole enduring time. world. I’ll march myself back where he waiting,
I could tell him from all the others in creation.” holding it straight up in this hand.”
She lifted her free hand, gave a little nod, turned
around, and walked out of the doctor’s office. Then
Big Idea Return to Regionalism What do you infer
about the situation of Phoenix and her grandson?
her slow step began on the stairs, going down. 

Reading Strategy Visualizing After rereading the details


of the grandson’s appearance, picture him in your mind. Literary Element Description Notice the descriptions of
What impressions do you have of the boy and of Phoenix’s Phoenix Jackson’s manners, bearing, and plans she has for her
feelings about him? money. What do these details suggest about her character?

EUD O R A WELTY 897


Mississippi Department of Archives and History
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond 7. In Greek mythology, the phoenix is a bird that, at
the end of its life, burns itself to death; from its
1. What is your favorite incident or image from “A
ashes, a new phoenix rises. Why may Welty have
Worn Path”? What is it about the image or incident
named her main character Phoenix?
that especially appeals to you?
8. (a)An author uses description to create a picture
Recall and Interpret of a person, place, or thing. In your opinion, how
2. (a)What does Phoenix Jackson look like? (b)What effective are Welty’s descriptions in creating a
does Phoenix Jackson’s appearance tell you believable portrait of Phoenix Jackson? (b)How
about her? effective is Welty’s writing in creating a vivid pic-
ture of the “worn path”?
3. (a)Describe in detail the path Phoenix is taking.
(b)From its description, what can you infer about Connect
the path? Explain what the path may symbolize, or
9. Refer to your response to the Connecting to
represent. Support your answer.
the Story activity on page 891. Would you add
4. (a)What is Phoenix’s destination and purpose? Phoenix Jackson to your list? Why or why not?
(b)At what point in the story do you learn this?
10. Big Idea Return to Regionalism What does
5. What does the purpose of Phoenix’s trip tell you
“A Worn Path” reveal about the way conditions in
about her character?
the South during the 1930s affected the lives of
Analyze and Evaluate people there?

6. (a)Do you feel empathy toward Phoenix? (b)Why


or why not? Relate your answer to events in the
story as well as to your own experiences.

LI T E R A RY A N A LYS I S

Literary Element Description Review: Archetype


A description is a detailed portrayal of a person, An archetype is an image, a character type, or a plot
place, or thing. When authors write descriptions, they pattern that occurs frequently in literature, mythol-
include vivid and precise adjectives, nouns, and verbs. ogy, folklore, and religion. Archetypes call up strong—
Authors may use details to describe tangible things, and sometimes illogical—emotions in the reader.
such as the appearance of a character. Or they may
Group Activity Meet with a small group and discuss
use details to describe intangible things, such as a
Eudora Welty’s use of archetypes in “A Worn Path.”
character’s personality traits.
Possible archetypes to discuss include the strong
1. Identify details in the story that describe the coun- grandmother, the kind stranger, the poor but deter-
tryside around the Natchez Trace. Which details do mined woman, and the sick child. Share your thoughts
you consider most vivid or striking? Explain. on Welty’s use of these archetypes with the class.
2. In the city, Phoenix Jackson speaks first to a woman
carrying presents and later to an attendant and a
nurse. How do the descriptions in these scenes
help to suggest that Jackson has a certain amount
of pride despite her humble situation?

898 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


R E AD I N G A N D VO CA B U L A RY WRITI NG AN D EXTEN DI NG

Reading Strategy Visualizing Writing About Literature


Read the passage below from page 897. Try to Compare and Contrast Character In “A Worn Path,”
visualize the facial expressions and body language Phoenix Jackson encounters several secondary charac-
of the two characters. ters on her journey. The character portrayed in most
detail is the hunter. Write a brief essay in which you
“Here’s a nickel,” said the attendant.
compare Phoenix with the hunter. Include your thoughts
Phoenix rose carefully and held out her hand.
about the way in which the social makeup of the South
She received the nickel and then fished the other
during the 1930s is reflected in these characters. Use
nickel out of her pocket and laid it beside the new
evidence from the story to support your points.
one. She stared at her palm closely, with her head
on one side. Before you write your first draft, complete a chart like
the one below to compare Phoenix with the hunter in
1. Describe the probable facial expression and body
terms of age, appearance, activities, attitudes, dialect,
language of the attendant.
and any other elements that you think are important.
2. Why do you suppose Phoenix holds her head to
one side as she looks at the nickels? Support your
Phoenix Hunter
answer.
Characteristics

Vocabulary Practice
Practice with Analogies Choose the word that
best completes each analogy.
1. practice : competence :: study : Then follow the writing path shown here as you write
a. books your first draft.
b. comprehension
c. mathematics
Make a general statement
2. party : festive :: funeral : Introduction

comparing and contrasting the


a. solemn two characters.
b. sermon

c. ceremony
3. serious : trivial :: informal : Body
Develop the comparison and

contrast by elaborating on the


a. tuxedo Paragraphs points you noted in your chart.
b. gathering
c. ceremonial

Make a brief summarizing state-


4. weakly : feebly :: forcefully :
ment about the two characters
a. vigorously Conclusion

and consider commenting on


b. eagerly Welty’s purpose in introducing
the hunter to the story.
c. reluctantly
5. lighthearted : cheerful :: somber :
a. brokenhearted Before writing your final version, meet with a peer
b. expressionless reviewer to evaluate each other’s first drafts and to
c. grave offer suggestions about areas that can be improved.
Then proofread and edit your work for errors in spell-
ing, grammar, and punctuation.

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

EUD O R A WELTY 899


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

from Black Boy


M E E T R IC H A RD W R IG H T

A
s a writer, Richard Wright wanted to
“wage a war with words,” and he suc-
ceeded, becoming one of the first major
African American literary figures. His books are
raw and forceful—whether they are portraying life
in the urban ghettos of the North or the oppres-
sion of African Americans in the South.
claimed that “In Black Boy Wright has used his
Wright’s first book, Uncle Tom’s Children, was own life to probe what qualities of will, imagina-
praised by critics, and Malcolm Cowley of the New tion, and intellect are required of a Southern
Republic claimed it was “heartening, as evidence of Negro in order to possess the meaning of his life
a vigorous new talent, and terrifying as the expres- in the United States.”
sion of a racial hatred that has never ceased to
grow and gets no chance to die.” However, Wright Born in 1908 in Mississippi, Wright experienced
was dissatisfied with the book, because he felt that fear and oppression early. He first witnessed racial
it did not adequately portray the reality of racism violence at the age of eight when his uncle was
and violence in the United States. “I had written a lynched by a group of white men. Throughout his
book [Uncle Tom’s Children] which even banker’s life, Wright repeatedly saw members of his race
daughters could read and weep over and feel good. degraded by whites, yet he refused to believe that
I swore to myself that if I ever wrote another book, African Americans were inferior. He began read-
no one would weep over it; that it would be so hard ing and educating himself, and at nineteen he left
and deep that they would have to face it without for the North, mistakenly believing that he could
the consolation of tears.” His next work was Native live a life without discrimination there.
Son—a book that would change U.S. culture for-
ever through its portrayal of a man who has suf- Outspoken Expatriate Realizing that social con-
fered the injustices of racism, poverty, and despair. ditions for African Americans were not changing
for the better, Wright moved his family to Paris,
France, in 1947. He published no books for seven
years but instead wrote articles on politics. While in
“It’s strong, it’s raw—but it’s life as I France, he became friends with the writers Jean
see and lived it.” Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, and André Gide. Their
existential views influenced his later work.
—Richard Wright
Wright’s reputation and literary influence declined
during the 1950s, as young African American writers
Literature from Life In the opinion of many, such as James Baldwin and Ralph Ellison emerged.
Black Boy is Wright’s most important work because Amid the Black Arts movement of the 1960s, how-
it was not only his autobiography but a social doc- ever, Wright’s work was rediscovered, inspiring and
umentary of the hardships caused by racism. Ralph influencing a new generation of African Americans.
Ellison, who was strongly influenced by Wright, Unfortunately, Wright died before he could take part
in this emerging black unity and pride and the fight
for equality that he yearned for.
Author Search For more about
Richard Wright, go to www.glencoe.com. Richard Wright was born in 1908 and died in 1960.

900 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Comparing and


What experiences have helped form your values and Contrasting Characters
beliefs? In Black Boy, Wright recalls his childhood and When you compare and contrast characters, you note
the fear and oppression he lived with every day. His the similarities and differences between them. Comparing
experiences shaped his beliefs and actions for the and contrasting can help you to better understand who
rest of his life. As you read, think about the following the characters are and why they act in certain ways.
questions:

• What events have influenced your beliefs? Reading Tip: Venn Diagrams As you read, use Venn
• How do you think your childhood will affect what diagrams to compare and contrast characters.
you do later in life?
1. Physical Appearance
Building Background
Richard Wright’s father was a sharecropper near
Natchez, Mississippi. Although he received a small Wright Both Father
cabin and some income from the cotton crop, he had
a difficult time making ends meet. Eventually Wright’s
family was forced to give up sharecropping and moved
within the city limits. However, their luck was not much
better inside Natchez, and Wright’s father abandoned
them when Wright was six. Wright, his mother, and his
Vocabulary
brother were left with little income and a life marked
by hunger and fear. Their struggles and the events that futile (f ū til) adj. serving no practical purpose;
followed their abandonment are detailed in this selec- useless; worthless; p. 903 Trying to lift the chair
tion from Black Boy. was futile because it was nailed to the floor.

Setting Purposes for Reading hostile (host əl) adj. feeling or showing hatred;
antagonistic; p. 903 The woman became hostile
Big Idea Life in the City when the salesclerk refused to answer her questions.
As you read, notice how Wright examines the impact vindictive (vin dik tiv) adj. desiring revenge;
of segregation and racism on his life. p. 903 He was known for displaying vindictive
behavior when he felt betrayed.
Literary Element Flash-forward
poised (poizd) adj. having a calm, controlled,
A flash-forward is an interruption in the chronological
and dignified manner; composed; p. 906
sequence of a narrative to leap forward in time. A
Though angry, she remained poised when her boss
writer may signal a flash-forward with a new para-
questioned her about her work.
graph or with a description of a new setting. As you
read Black Boy, notice how Wright uses flash-forward alien (ā lē ən) adj. strange; unfamiliar; foreign;
to signal events that take place in the future. p. 906 The alien surroundings of her new town
made her uncomfortable.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R7.
Vocabulary Tip: Context Clues When you see an
unfamiliar word, pay attention to its context, or the
words around it. The context provides clues to the
Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
meaning of the word.
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • analyzing flash-forward
• analyzing literary periods • comparing and contrasting characters

RICHARD WRIGHT 9 01
Richard Wright
When I awakened one morning my mother glad when we were outside in the sunny streets.
told me that we were S11-163-01C-635423
going to see a judge Back at home U6T9
my mother wept again and talked
loire ital/ sombre
who would make my father support me and a n n e t te
complainingly about the unfairness of the judge
my brother. An hour later all three of us were who had accepted my father’s word. After the
sitting in a huge crowded room. I was over- court scene, I tried to forget my father; I did not
whelmed by the many faces and the voices hate him; I simply did not want to think of him.
which I could not understand. High above me Often when we were hungry my mother would
was a white face which my mother told me was beg me to go to my father’s job and ask him for a
the face of the judge. Across the huge room sat dollar, a dime, a nickel . . . But I would never
my father, smiling confidently, looking at us. consent to go. I did not want to see him.
My mother warned me not to be fooled by my My mother fell ill and the problem of food
father’s friendly manner; she told me that the became an acute, daily agony. Hunger was with
judge might ask me questions, and if he did I us always. Sometimes the neighbors would feed
must tell him the truth. I agreed, yet I hoped us or a dollar bill would come in the mail from
that the judge would not ask me anything. my grandmother. It was winter and I would buy
For some reason the entire thing struck me as a dime’s worth of coal each morning from the
being useless; I felt that if my father were going to corner coalyard and lug it home in paper bags.
feed me, then he would have done so regardless of For a time I remained out of school to wait
what a judge said to him. And I did not want my upon my mother, then Granny came to visit us
father to feed me; I was hungry, but my thoughts of and I returned to school.
food did not now center about him. I waited, grow- At night there were long, halting discussions
ing restless, hungry. My mother gave me a dry sand- about our going to live with Granny, but nothing
wich and I munched and stared, longing to go came of it. Perhaps there was not enough
home. Finally I heard my mother’s name called; she money for railroad fare. Angered by having
rose and began weeping so copiously1 that she could been hauled into court, my father now spurned
not talk for a few moments; at last she managed to us completely. I heard long, angrily whispered
say that her husband had deserted her and her two conversations between my mother and grand-
children, that her children were hungry, that they mother to the effect that “that woman ought to
stayed hungry, that she worked, that she was trying be killed for breaking up a home.” What irked
to raise them alone. Then my father was called; he me was the ceaseless talk and no action. If
came forward jauntily, smiling. He tried to kiss my someone had suggested that my father be killed,
mother, but she turned away from him. I only heard I would perhaps have become interested; if
one sentence of what he said. someone had suggested that his name never be
“I’m doing all I can, Your Honor,” he mum- mentioned, I would no doubt have agreed; if
bled, grinning. someone had suggested that we move to another
It had been painful to sit and watch my city, I would have been glad. But there was only
mother crying and my father laughing and I was endless talk that led nowhere and I began to
keep away from home as much as possible,

1. Copiously means “in great quantity.”

Reading Strategy Comparing and Contrasting Big Idea The New Regionalism and the City Why, as
Characters How does Wright react to his parents’ a boy, would the narrator have been glad to move to
differences in court? another city?

902 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


preferring the simplicity of the streets to the knees and wrench the grass loose from the dirt with
worried, futile talk at home. our fingers. At intervals Miss Simon would make a
Finally we could no longer pay the rent for our tour of inspection, examining the pile of pulled
dingy flat;2 the few dollars that Granny had left us grass beside each child, scolding or praising accord-
before she went home were gone. Half sick and in ing to the size of the pile. Many mornings I was too
despair, my mother made the rounds of the chari- weak from hunger to pull the grass; I would grow
table institutions, seeking help. She found an dizzy and my mind would become blank and I
orphan home that agreed to assume the guidance of would find myself, after an interval of unconscious-
me and my brother provided my mother worked ness, upon my hands and knees, my head whirling,
and made small payments. My mother hated to be my eyes staring in bleak astonishment at the green
separated from us, but she had no choice. grass, wondering where I was, feeling that I was
The orphan home was a two-story frame build- emerging from a dream…
ing set amid trees in a wide, green field. My During the first days my mother came each night
mother ushered me and my brother one morning to visit me and my brother, then her visits stopped.
into the building and into the presence of a tall, I began to wonder if she, too, like my father, had
gaunt, mulatto3 woman who called herself Miss disappeared into the unknown. I was rapidly learn-
Simon. At once she took a fancy to me and I was ing to distrust everything and everybody. When my
frightened speechless; I was afraid of her the mother did come, I asked her why had she remained
moment I saw her and my fear lasted during my away so long and she told me that Miss Simon had
entire stay in the home. forbidden her to visit us, that Miss Simon had said
The house was crowded with children and that she was spoiling us with too much attention. I
there was always a storm of noise. The daily rou- begged my mother to take me away; she wept and
tine was blurred to me and I never quite grasped told me to wait, that soon she would take us to
it. The most abiding feeling I had each day was Arkansas. She left and my heart sank.
hunger and fear. The meals were skimpy and there Miss Simon tried to win my confidence; she
were only two of them. Just before we went to bed asked me if I would like to be adopted by her if my
each night we were given a slice of bread smeared mother consented and I said no. She would take me
with molasses. The children were silent, hostile, into her apartment and talk to me, but her words
vindictive, continuously complaining of hunger. had no effect. Dread and distrust had already
There was an overall atmosphere of nervousness become a daily part of my being and my memory
and intrigue, of children telling tales upon others, grew sharp, my senses more impressionable; I began
of children being deprived of food to punish them. to be aware of myself as a distinct personality striv-
The home did not have the money to check the ing against others. I held myself in, afraid to act or
growth of the wide stretches of grass by having it speak until I was sure of my surroundings, feeling
mown, so it had to be pulled by hand. Each morn- most of the time that I was suspended over a void.
ing after we had eaten a breakfast that seemed like My imagination soared; I dreamed of running away.
no breakfast at all, an older child would lead a herd Each morning I vowed that I would leave the next
of us to the vast lawn and we would get to our morning, but the next morning always found me
afraid.
2. A flat is an apartment. One day Miss Simon told me that thereafter
3. Mulatto, a word seldom used today, describes a biracial I was to help her in the office. I ate lunch with
person, one of mixed African American and white ancestry. her and, strangely, when I sat facing her at the
Reading Strategy Comparing and Contrasting table, my hunger vanished. The woman killed
Characters How do Wright’s feelings in the house compare
with the feelings of the other children there?

Reading Strategy Comparing and Contrasting


Vocabulary
Characters Why does Wright immediately compare his moth-
futile (fūtil) adj. serving no practical purpose; useless; er’s actions to those of his father?
worthless
hostile (hostəl) adj. feeling or showing hatred; antagonistic Big Idea Life in the City Why might Wright be afraid to
vindictive (vin diktiv) adj. desiring revenge run away from the orphan home?

RIC HAR D WRIGHT 903


something in me. Next she called me to her desk
where she sat addressing envelopes.
“Step up close to the desk,” she said. “Don’t
be afraid.”
I went and stood at her elbow. There was a
wart on her chin and I stared at it.
“Now, take a blotter from over there and blot
each envelope after I’m through writing on it,” she
instructed me, pointing to a blotter that stood
about a foot from my hand.
I stared and did not move or answer.
“Take the blotter,” she said.
I wanted to reach for the blotter and suc-
ceeded only in twitching my arm.
“Here,” she said sharply, reaching for the blot-
ter and shoving it into my fingers.
She wrote in ink on an envelope and pushed
it toward me. Holding the blotter in my hand, I
stared at the envelope and could not move. Jim, 1930. William H. Johnson. Oil on canvas, 215/8 x 181/4 in.
“Blot it,” she said. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC.
I could not lift my hand. I knew what she had
said; I knew what she wanted me to do; and I had
heard her correctly. I wanted to look at her and say turned too many corners and had not kept track of
something, tell her why I could not move; but my the direction. Which way led back to the orphan
eyes were fixed upon the floor. I could not summon home? I did not know. I was lost.
enough courage while she sat there looking at me I stood in the middle of the sidewalk and cried.
to reach over the yawning space of twelve inches A “white” policeman came to me and I wondered if
and blot the wet ink on the envelope. he was going to beat me. He asked me what was
“Blot it!” she spoke sharply. the matter and I told him that I was trying to find
Still I could not move or answer. my mother. His “white” face created a new fear in
“Look at me!” me. I was remembering the tale of the “white” man
I could not lift my eyes. She reached her hand who had beaten the “black” boy. A crowd gathered
to my face and I twisted away. and I was urged to tell where I lived. Curiously, I
“What’s wrong with you?” she demanded. was too full of fear to cry now. I wanted to tell the
I began to cry and she drove me from the room. “white” face that I had run off from an orphan
I decided that as soon as night came I would run home and that Miss Simon ran it, but I was afraid.
away. The dinner bell rang and I did not go to the Finally I was taken to the police station where I
table, but hid in a corner of the hallway. When I was fed. I felt better. I sat in a big chair where I was
heard the dishes rattling at the table, I opened the surrounded by “white” policemen, but they seemed
door and ran down the walk to the street. Dusk was to ignore me. Through the window I could see that
falling. Doubt made me stop. Ought I go back? No; night had completely fallen and that lights now
hunger was back there, and fear. I went on, coming gleamed in the streets. I grew sleepy and dozed. My
to concrete sidewalks. People passed me. Where shoulder was shaken gently and I opened my eyes
was I going? I did not know. The farther I walked and looked into a “white” face of another police-
the more frantic I became. In a confused and vague man who was sitting beside me. He asked me ques-
way I knew that I was doing more running away tions in a quiet, confidential tone, and quite before
from than running toward something. I stopped. I knew it he was not “white” any more. I told him
The streets seemed dangerous. The buildings were
massive and dark. The moon shone and the trees
loomed frighteningly. No, I could not go on. I Big Idea Life in the City Why might Wright think of this
would go back. But I had walked so far and had tale when he is lost?

904 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC/Art Resource, NY
that I had run away from an orphan home and that “Now, don’t you-all fight,” my father said,
Miss Simon ran it. laughing.
It was but a matter of minutes before I was walk- “I’ll take that poker and hit you!” I blurted at my
ing alongside a policeman, heading toward the father.
home. The policeman led me to the front gate and He looked at my mother and laughed louder.
I saw Miss Simon waiting for me on the steps. She “You told him to say that,” he said.
identified me and I was left in her charge. I begged “Don’t say such things, Richard,” my mother said.
her not to beat me, but she yanked me upstairs into “You ought to be dead,” I said to the strange
an empty room and lashed me thoroughly. Sobbing, woman.
I slunk off to bed, resolved to run away again. But I The woman laughed and threw her arms
was watched closely after that. about my father’s neck. I grew ashamed and
My mother was informed upon her next visit that wanted to leave.
I had tried to run away and she was terribly upset. “How can you starve your children?” my
“Why did you do it?” she asked. mother asked.
“I don’t want to stay here,” I told her. “Let Richard stay with me,” my father said.
“But you must,” she said. “How can I work if “Do you want to stay with your father,
I’m to worry about you? You must remember that Richard?” my mother asked.
you have no father. I’m doing all I can.” “No,” I said.
“I don’t want to stay here,” I repeated. “You’ll get plenty to eat,” he said.
“Then, if I take you to your father…” “I’m hungry now,” I told him. “But I won’t
“I don’t want to stay with him either,” I said. stay with you.”
“But I want you to ask him for enough money “Aw, give the boy a nickel,” the woman said.
for us to go to my sister’s in Arkansas,” she said. My father ran his hand into his pocket and
Again I was faced with choices I did not like, but pulled out a nickel.
I finally agreed. After all, my hate for my father was “Here, Richard,” he said.
not so great and urgent as my hate for the orphan “Don’t take it,” my mother said.
home. My mother held to her idea and one night a “Don’t teach him to be a fool,” my father said.
week or so later I found myself standing in a room in “Here, Richard, take it.”
a frame house. My father and a strange woman were I looked at my mother, at the strange woman,
sitting before a bright fire that blazed in a grate. My at my father, then into the fire. I wanted to
mother and I were standing about six feet away, as take the nickel, but I did not want to take it
though we were afraid to approach them any closer. from my father.
“It’s not for me,” my mother was saying. “It’s for “You ought to be ashamed,” my mother said,
your children that I’m asking you for money.” weeping. “Giving your son a nickel when he’s
“I ain’t got nothing,” my father said, laughing. hungry. If there’s a God, He’ll pay you back.”
“Come here, boy,” the strange woman called “That’s all I got,” my father said, laughing
to me. again and returning the nickel to his pocket.
I looked at her and did not move. We left. I had the feeling that I had had
“Give him a nickel,” the woman said. “He’s cute.” to do with something unclean. Many times in
“Come here, Richard,” my father said, stretch- the years after that the image of my father and
ing out his hand. the strange woman, their faces lit by the danc-
I backed away, shaking my head, keeping my ing flames, would surge up in my imagination
eyes on the fire. so vivid and strong that I felt I could reach
“He is a cute child,” the strange woman said. out and touch it; I would stare at it, feeling
“You ought to be ashamed,” my mother said to that it possessed some vital meaning which
the strange woman. “You’re starving my children.” always eluded me.

Reading Strategy Comparing and Contrasting Literary Element Flash-forward Why does Wright tell the
Characters How does Wright compare his father’s girlfriend reader that he continued to think about his father and that
with his mother?
night for years?

RIC HAR D WRIGHT 905


never understand me or the scald-
ing experiences that had swept me
beyond his life and into an area of
living that he could never know. I
stood before him, poised, my mind
aching as it embraced the simple
nakedness of his life, feeling how
completely his soul was imprisoned
by the slow flow of the seasons, by
wind and rain and sun, how fas-
tened were his memories to a crude
and raw past, how chained were his
actions and emotions to the direct,
animalistic impulses of his wither-
ing body . . .
From the white landowners
above him there had not been
Negro Cabin, Sedalia, North Carolina (No. 1), 1930. Loïs Mailou Jones. handed to him a chance to learn
Watercolor on paper, 14 / x 19 / in. Collection of the artist.
1
8
1
8 the meaning of loyalty, of senti-
Viewing the Art: Does this painting capture the aspects of the father’s shack ment, of tradition. Joy was as
that cause Wright to pity him? Explain.
unknown to him as was despair. As
a creature of the earth, he endured,
A quarter of a century was to elapse between hearty, whole, seemingly indestructible, with no
the time when I saw my father sitting with the regrets and no hope. He asked easy, drawling ques-
strange woman and the time when I was to see tions about me, his other son, his wife, and he
him again, standing alone upon the red clay of a laughed, amused, when I informed him of their des-
Mississippi plantation, a sharecropper, clad in tinies. I forgave him and pitied him as my eyes
ragged overalls, holding a muddy hoe in his looked past him to the unpainted wooden shack.
gnarled, veined hands—a quarter of a century dur- From far beyond the horizons that bound this bleak
ing which my mind and consciousness had become plantation there had come to me through my living
so greatly and violently altered that when I tried to the knowledge that my father was a black peasant
talk to him I realized that, though ties of blood who had gone to the city seeking life, but who had
made us kin, though I could see a shadow of my failed in the city; a black peasant whose life had
face in his face, though there was an echo of my been hopelessly snarled in the city, and who had at
voice in his voice, we were forever strangers, last fled the city—that same city which had lifted
speaking a different language, living on vastly dis- me in its burning arms and borne me toward alien
tant planes of reality. That day a quarter of a cen- and undreamed-of shores of knowing. 
tury later when I visited him on the
plantation—he was standing against the sky, smil- Big Idea Life in the City How did life in the South affect
ing toothlessly, his hair whitened, his body bent, the choices of Wright’s father and Wright’s future?
his eyes glazed with dim recollection, his fearsome
aspect of twenty-five years ago gone forever from
him—I was overwhelmed to realize that he could Vocabulary
poised (poizd) adj. having a calm, controlled, and
Literary Element Flash-forward Why does Wright dignified manner; composed
describe his father this way? alien (ālē ən) adj. strange; unfamiliar; foreign

906 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


Lois Mailou Jones Pierre-Noel Trust
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. What was your reaction to the events of Wright’s 6. Does Wright’s father become more or less sympa-
life? Explain. thetic as the story progresses? Explain.

Recall and Interpret 7. (a)What is the tone of the selection? (b)How


effective is the tone in expressing the author’s main
2. (a)Why do Wright and his brother go to the orphan
point?
home? (b)How is the orphan home different from
and similar to his old home?
3. (a)Why does Wright run away? (b)What do you Connect
learn about Wright’s attitudes and perceptions 8. (a)How does knowing that this selection is from an
about race from this incident? autobiography affect your reaction to it? (b)Would
you react differently if it were fiction? Explain.
4. (a)What deal does Wright’s mother make with him
as she takes him out of the orphan home? (b)What 9. Big Idea Life in the City How are Wright’s atti-
do you learn about Wright’s character from his inter- tudes and perceptions about race shaped by the
actions with his father just after leaving the home? time and the place he lives in?
5. (a)What ultimately happens to Wright’s father?
(b)What does Wright’s visit with his elderly father
reveal about Wright and what he values in life?
Explain, using details from the selection.

LI T E R A RY A N A LYS I S

Literary Element Flash-forward Review: Autobiography


Although most stories are told in the order in which An autobiography is the story of a person’s life written
the events occur, sometimes writers interrupt the by that person. Unlike a memoir, which tends to focus
chronological flow. An author can use a technique on specific events or parts of the author’s life, an autobi-
called a flashback to explain an event that happened ography usually encompasses most of the author’s life.
before the action in the story. This technique provides
Activity Complete the chart below by finding descrip-
essential information about the character or prior
tions from the story about Wright’s life, his parents,
events so that the reader can better understand the
and the South during his childhood. Determine how
character’s motivations. An interruption in events to
each of these affected him and his choices.
leap forward in time is a flash-forward. Wright uses
this device to show how his views had changed since
the events in the excerpt had taken place. Description Effects on Wright
1. Where is the flash-forward in this selection?
His life
2. How does Wright signal that he is skipping ahead
Mother
of the main narrative?
Father
3. (a)What effect does this flash-forward create in
Wright’s narrative? (b)Does it strengthen or weaken The South
the narrative? Explain.

RIC HAR D WRIGHT 907


R E AD I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY WRITI NG AN D EXTEN DI NG

Reading Strategy Comparing and Writing About Literature


Contrasting Characters Compare and Contrast Setting When Wright’s
Authors compare and contrast settings and char- mother drops off him and his brother at the orphan
acters to help the reader understand them better. home, Wright is immediately terrified. He describes
Noticing these comparisons will help you understand the unhappiness of the home in a matter-of-fact way.
the characters’ motivations and relationships with one The orphanage was both different from and similar to
another and with their environments. Use your Venn his home.
diagrams to answer the following questions. Write a brief essay comparing and contrasting the
1. What does Wright find that he has in common orphan home with the home of Wright’s mother and
with his father? his feelings about both places. When writing your
essay, be sure to use quotations from the story to
2. How has the city affected him and his father support your point. It may help you to compare and
differently? contrast the actions of Miss Simon and Wright’s
mother and the way Wright feels about both women.
As you draft your essay, use a graphic organizer like
Vocabulary Practice
the one below to help you structure your essay.
Practice with Context Clues Choose the best
meaning for each vocabulary word below. Use the
context clues in each sentence to help you. Use the introduction to state
Introduction


how you are going to com-
1. Going to court was futile because my father pare the two homes.
was never going to help feed us.

a. helpful c. scary
Use each body paragraph to
b. pointless d. interesting compare and contrast certain
Body

2. After seeing my father with that woman, I elements. Use descriptions
and quotes from the story to
became hostile and threatened to hit him support your comparisons.
with a poker.

a. aggressive c. annoyed
Conclude with Wright’s feelings
b. friendly d. sad
Conclusion about both homes by summa-

3. Many of the children in the orphan home were rizing your comparisons.
vindictive, and sought revenge against those
they didn’t like.
a. sentimental c. friendly After completing your draft, meet with a peer reviewer
b. cooperative d. vengeful to evaluate each other’s work and to suggest revisions.
4. I spoke with him in a poised and controlled Then proofread and edit your draft for errors in spell-
voice, even though the sight of him filled me ing, grammar, and punctuation.
with anger and hatred.
a. delighted c. reckless
Reading Further
b. self-assured d. hateful
5. My alien surroundings scared me, and I wanted If you enjoyed this excerpt from Black Boy, you may
to run to the safety of my home. enjoy these other works by Richard Wright.
a. normal c. dirty Novel Native Son, by Richard Wright, tells the story of
b. comfortable d. unfamiliar a man who is driven to desperate acts after being sub-
jected to a life of racism and poverty.
Short Stories Eight Men: Short Stories, by Richard
Wright, includes “The Man Who Lived Underground”—
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to the story of a man on the run after he is accused of a
www.glencoe.com. murder he did not commit.

908 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


H I STOR IC AL P ER SP ECTIVE on Black Boy
Informational Text
Erskine Caldwell and
Margaret Bourke-White

Iron Mountain, Tennessee, 1937. Margaret Bourke-White. Silver gelatin print. Time
O. Henry Prize Winner & Life Pictures.

Building Background
Photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White documented
some of the most important events of the twentieth
century, including the liberation of Nazi concentration
T HE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY DELTA
and the Black Belt1 of Alabama are two
sections of the South that still produce
cotton in abundance. It grows, matures, and yields
camps and the Korean War. In 1937 Bourke-White and without fertilizer and without effort. The soil
her future husband, novelist Erskine Caldwell, collabo- there will be deep, fertile, and productive for a
rated on You Have Seen Their Faces. This book power- long time to come. Elsewhere the sub-soil, both
fully depicts the plight that southern sharecroppers faced. sand and clay, is being plowed up to be mixed
with the little top-soil that remains in an effort to
Set a Purpose for Reading make plants grow. There is no fertility in sub-soil,
Read to learn about the sharecropping system. but when brought to the surface it gives the
appearance of fertility and, when mixed with
Reading Strategy fertilizer, will produce enough cotton, providing
Analyzing the Purpose of Historical that the rains and sun are not extreme, to pay for
Texts and Photographs the fertilizer in normal times. Farming in sand or
clay is a back-breaking, spirit-crushing existence.
Analyzing the purpose of historical texts and photo-
There are reasons for this impoverishment2 of
graphs involves examining the ideas and culture pre-
the soil that go deep into the economic life of
sented by texts and images. As you read, use a chart
the South. The successful cotton-raisers have
to take notes about the selection and the photographs
always been plantation-owners. The plantations
in order to determine their purpose.
were large, generally from five hundred to five
Text Passage and Purpose Photograph and Purpose

1. The Black Belt is a strip of land with black, fertile soil across
central Alabama and Mississippi.
2. Impoverishment means “the state of being drained of
essential nutrients.”

ERSKINE CALDWELL AND MARGARET BOURKE-WHITE 909


Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
Informational Text
thousand acres of land in size. The owners for The tenant who set out to farm his portion
the most part had one main concern, and that of the plantation discovered that the land
was to make as much money as they could as required fertilizer. Without fertilizer he could
quickly as they could. not grow enough cotton to provide himself
Nothing made money like cotton. Nothing with a living, and to pay rent. The rent came
else grew like cotton. Cotton was king. first. The landlord generally saw to it that the
Now the day of the plantation is over, except tenant paid his three or four bales for rent
in the Delta country and in the Black Belt, and before the sharing began. If there was nothing
cotton is not king any longer. left to share after the rent had been paid, there
The plantation system pauperized3 the soil to was nothing the tenant could do about it. He
such a great degree that raising cotton became a could only look forward to the coming year,
means of making a living rather than a method hoping he would be able to make more than
of making a fortune. The plantation-owner, the minimum number of bales the rent
when he became aware of what had happened to required. If the following year was a good one
the soil, withdrew to the nearest city to live the for him, he paid off the chattel mortgage5 he
remainder of his life on his accumulated wealth. had given in payment for fertilizer he had
What he left behind was eroded, depleted, bought in an effort to produce the rent-cotton.
unprofitable land. His tenants still had to work for It is difficult to find a good word to say about
a living, even if he did not, and out of their desper- such an agricultural system. The sharecropping
ation grew a new system. The owner became an system was born of the plantation system, and
absentee-landlord. The plantation was divided into the new was anything but an improvement over
one-man farms and rented to the tenants. The rent the old. The old produced numerous families of
was paid either in half of the cotton produced or in wealth who developed a culture that was ques-
an agreed upon number of bales, or on a basis com- tionable. The new has concentrated wealth in
bining the two methods. The plantation system the hands of a few families who are determined
was traded for the sharecropping system, and the that no culture shall exist.
South to its sorrow was the victim of the deal. Much can be said about the detrimental
Before he knew it, the landlord had a new effects of such an agricultural system, more espe-
source of income that was larger than his previous cially when there are ten million persons now
one had been. And, besides, in the old days he had living under its yoke.6 They live in this cotton
had to take his own chances with his crop of cot- country on tenant farms which, in many cases,
ton, losing money when it rained too much or too are little more than sand dunes and clay stacks.
little, dipping into profits from preceding years They are either already worn out physically and
when expenditures were larger than income. In the spiritually, or are in the act of wearing them-
new era he had a source of income and profit that selves out. They are grouped in families of man
was as certain and secure as the seasons themselves. and wife and from one to sixteen children. They
Rent was paid to him for the use of the land on are farming, for the most part, soil that has been
a sharing basis, and he saw to it that the tenant yielding diminishing returns for fifty and a hun-
raised a maximum number of bales. When a hun- dred years. No matter if they get up an hour ear-
dred tenants produced six bales each, the landlord lier to work by lantern light, no matter if half a
received three hundred bales, the individual ten- dozen more children are begotten7 to supply
ant three bales. Cotton was not king any longer, additional hands in the field, they will continue
but the institution of sharecropping was making a to fall steadily behind as long as they live on
few men richer than kings, and much better land that produces less and less each time a new
enthroned.4 They did not have to concern them- crop of cotton is planted.
selves about the welfare of their subjects.

5. A chattel mortgage is a mortgage on personal property that


3. Pauperized means “depleted or drained.” is used as a guarantee for a debt.
4. Enthroned means “installed as king” and implies that the 6. Here, yoke refers to “something that causes servitude or
landlords were distanced from the sharecroppers just as a bondage.”
king might be removed from his subjects. 7. Begotten means “conceived.”

910 U N IT 6 F ROM DEPRESSION TO COLD WAR


This is nothing new. It is not a
situation that has suddenly come
about overnight. But it is a cir-
cumstance that becomes more
acute day by day as the exhaus-
tion and erosion of cotton land
progresses. Fertilizer will increase
the yield of cotton, but fertilizer
costs money and requires credit
that the tenant farmer does not
have. A larger farm will produce
more cotton, but there is a physi-
cal limit to the number of acres a
man and his family can cultivate.
The sharecropping system has in
recent years branched out into sev-
eral forms, none of them any more
economically sound than the source
from which they sprang, and most
of them working greater hardships
on human lives than the plantation
system ever did. Sharecropping has
deprived millions of persons of what
the rest of America considers the
necessities of life.
It deprives children of adequate
education because many of them
have to work either part of the
school year or all of it on their
fathers’ farms so that enough cot-
ton can be raised to pay rent and
buy fertilizer and to get food and
clothing. It forces families to live Child of sharecropper family, Louisiana, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White. Silver

in buildings that are detrimental to gelatin print. Time & Life Pictures.
health, and it forces them to exist
on food that is insufficient. Worse
still, it continues in operation year after year, himself from the hole he stands in. There is cotton
wringing dry the bodies and souls of men, to be raised, and he has trained himself to raise
women, and children; dragging down to its own it. That is his specialty. It is his life and, if share-
level from higher economic planes new numbers cropping continues as an institution, it will
to take the places of those crushed and thrown become his death.
aside; breeding families of eight, ten, twelve, The tenant farmer in the South is trying to
fourteen, sixteen, and more, in order to furnish hold onto a spinning world until by some
an ever-increasing number of persons necessary means he is enabled to get a grip on a better
to supply the rent-cotton for the landlord. way of life. He knows he cannot buy land of
It is foolish to ask a tenant farmer why he his own from the profits of sharecropping. He
remains where he is. He does move from farm to knows just as well that he cannot save until
farm from time to time, but only rarely can he he earns, and that he cannot earn much more
improve his status. Such a question is usually than a bare living from sterile, barren land.
asked with the purpose of covering up an inabil- He does well, under the circumstances, to
ity to suggest what the farmer could do to lift hold on at all.
ERSKINE CALDWELL AND MARGARET BOUR K E-WHITE 911
Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
Informational Text
Now that his condition has sunk to depths
that stop just short of peonage,8 there has
appeared the first sign of hope. What there
is in store for him in the future remains to
be seen, but now for the first time there is
hope. There has been talk, from one end of
the South to the other, of joining with other
tenant farmers to take collective action
against the institution of sharecropping.
The day when it was a sacred bull has passed.
The sign of its passing was when the landlords

Margaret Bourke-White/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images


began putting into force other forms of farm
tenancy. Farms were leased to tenants, but
sharing of the cotton continued; tenants
were paid to work by the day, but their pay
was received in a share of the cotton. No
one was fooled, least of all tenant farmers
themselves.
The farmer has little, if anything, to show
for his years of labor in the past. But the hard-
ships he has experienced will stand him in
good stead when the time comes for him to
begin thinking about taking over the job of
8. Peonage is the use of workers who are forced to labor for raising cotton—the job in which the landlord
someone to work off a debt. failed to treat him fairly and squarely.

R ES P O N D I N G AN D TH I N K I N G C R ITI CALLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. In your opinion, do the photographs or the text bet- 4. (a)In a short paragraph, describe how the images
ter convey the hardships experienced by sharecrop- add to your understanding of sharecropping.
pers? Explain. (b)Which image most enhances your understand-
ing of the institution? Explain.
Recall and Interpret
5. (a)What is the main idea of this selection? (b)Do
2. (a)According to Caldwell and Bourke-White, what you think that Caldwell and Bourke-White are suc-
caused the soil’s impoverishment? (b)What does cessful in conveying this idea? Why or why not?
this suggest to you about the rise of the sharecrop-
ping system?
Connect
3. (a)What effect did sharecropping have on the size of 6. Based on this selection and its images, in what
families? Of what did sharecropping deprive children? ways has your opinion of Richard Wright’s father—
(b)What might be the outcome of these two as he is depicted in Black Boy—changed? Explain.
effects?

OB J EC TIVES
• Read to enhance understanding of history and U.S. culture. • Distinguish the purposes of various media forms.
• Analyze relationships, ideas, and cultures as represented in
various media.

912 U N IT 6 F ROM DEPRESSION TO COLD WAR


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

The Life You Save May


Be Your Own
M E E T FL A N N E RY O ’CON N O R

A
ward-winning author Flannery O’Connor
often delighted in telling friends and
interviewers that the highlight of her life
occurred when, as a five-year-old, she taught a
chicken to walk backwards. It was on such odd yet
ordinary experiences that O’Connor later based
her work.

“Highly Unladylike” Mary Flannery O’Connor


was born in Savannah, Georgia. Soon after, her Along with William Faulkner, Carson McCullers,
family moved to Milledgeville, a small city in cen- and Tennessee Williams, O’Connor is sometimes
tral Georgia. After graduating from college in classified as a Southern Gothic writer because of
1945, she attended the prestigious Iowa Writers’ her detailed renderings of small town Southern
Workshop at the University of Iowa, earning an life and her flair for creating eccentric—even
MFA degree. While at Iowa, O’Connor had her grotesque—characters. Commenting on these
first short story, “The Geranium,” published in the characters, Alice Walker, an African American
summer of 1946. writer, observed, “O’Connor’s characters—whose
humanity if not their sanity is taken for granted,
and who are miserable, ugly, narrow-minded, . . .
with not a graceful, pretty one anywhere who is
“The truth does not change according not, at the same time, a joke—shocked and
to our ability to stomach it.” delighted me.”

—Flannery O’Connor Return to Georgia In 1952, at the age of 27,


O’Connor was stricken with a near fatal attack of
lupus, the incurable disease from which her father
had died. She was forced to move back to her
More short stories followed, including “The Life mother’s dairy farm outside Milledgeville, where
You Save May Be Your Own” (1953), “A Good she remained for the rest of her life. Despite her
Man Is Hard to Find” (1955), and “Everything illness, she managed to correspond with friends,
That Rises Must Converge” (published posthu- lecture on writing, raise her prized peacocks—and
mously in 1965). In these stories and in her continue to write.
first novel, Wise Blood (1952), O’Connor often Although O’Connor died from lupus at the age of
drew upon her experiences as a devout Roman 39, her fiction has inspired generations of writers.
Catholic to explore harsh and disturbing reali- She is a major literary voice of the American South.
ties: hard luck, hypocrisy, and failed expecta-
tions. Her work was widely read by the public Flannery O’Connor was born in 1925 and died
and highly praised by critics. A review appearing in 1964.
in Time magazine hailed O’Connor as “highly
unladylike [with] a brutal irony, a slam-bang
humor, and a style of writing as balefully direct Author Search For more about
as a death sentence.” Flannery O’Connor, go to www.glencoe.com.

FLANNERY O’ C ONNO R 913


Flannery O’Connor Collection, Ina Dillard Russell Library, Georgia College & State University
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W READI NG PREVI EW

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Applying Background


Have you ever judged someone on the basis of your Knowledge
first impressions? In “The Life You Save May Be Your Background knowledge refers to what you already
Own,” two characters, an old woman and a tramp, do know about the setting, characters, and situations in a
exactly that. As you read the story, think about the literary work. You can add to your background knowl-
following questions: edge by reading carefully the information included
• What do you look for when you meet someone for under the Building Background section preceding the
selections in this book. By relating what you know to
the first time?
• Are your first impressions usually accurate or off what you are reading, you create meaning and enrich
your understanding of the text.
the mark?

Building Background Reading Tip: Using a Preview Chart Skim the story
for information about the setting, characters, and possi-
Widespread unemployment during the Great Depression
ble conflicts in the story. Use a preview chart like the
brought hard times to many. Unemployed men, and
one below to record details from the story and from
occasionally women, often became wanderers, referred
your background knowledge.
to as “tramps” or “hoboes.” They went from city to city
and house to house, particularly in rural areas, seeking
odd jobs in return for food, clothes, or shelter. When Details What I Know
World War II began, many regularly employed workers rural setting fewer people, less
joined the armed forces. As a result, the previously technology
unemployed, and men wounded and sent home from Great Depression people needed money
the war, frequently filled in at temporary jobs. and work

Setting Purposes for Reading


Big Idea Return to Regionalism
Vocabulary
As you read, consider how this story reflects life in
the rural South during the later years of the Great gaunt ( ont) adj. thin, bony, and hollow-eyed, as
Depression. from hunger or illness; p. 915 Her face looked long
and gaunt, as though she suffered from poor health.
Literary Element Dialogue ravenous (rav ə nəs) adj. extremely hungry;
Dialogue is the conversation between characters in a p. 918 After fasting for a long time, the prisoner was
literary work. Through dialogue, an author reveals the ravenous for food.
feelings, thoughts, and intentions of characters; devel- stately (stāt lē) adj. noble; dignified; majestic;
ops conflicts; and moves the plot forward. As you read, p. 919 The mansion, elegant and stately, seemed like
notice what the dialogue reveals about the characters a palace for a king or queen.
in this story.
morose (mə rōs ) adj. bad-tempered, gloomy, and
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R5. withdrawn; p. 920 His morose disposition led him to
keep to himself and brood over his troubles.
rue (r¯¯¯
oo) v. to regret; to be sorry for; p. 922 When
Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
the car did not start, I rued the day I had bought it.
go to www.glencoe.com.

OB J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • applying background knowledge
• analyzing literary periods
• evaluating dialogue

914 U N IT 6 F ROM DEPRESSION TO COLD WAR


Setzer Cove Homeplace, 1982. Hubert Shuptrine. Drybrush, 147/8 x 211/2
in. Private collection.
Flannery O’Connor
The old womanS11-174-01C-635423
and her daughter were sitting on listed slightly to the side as if the breeze were push-
their porch when Mr. Shiftlet came up their road ing him. He had on a black town suit and a brown
Old Claude David Reed ARM
for the first time. The old woman slid to the edge felt hat that was turned up in the front and down
of her chair and leaned forward, shading her eyes in the back and he carried a tin tool box by a han-
from the piercing sunset with her hand. The dle. He came on, at an amble, up her road, his face
daughter could not see far in front of her and con- turned toward the sun which appeared to be bal-
tinued to play with her fingers. Although the old ancing itself on the peak of a small mountain.
woman lived in this desolate1 spot with only her The old woman didn’t change her position
daughter and she had never seen Mr. Shiftlet until he was almost into her yard; then she rose
before, she could tell, even from a distance, that he with one hand fisted on her hip. The daughter, a
was a tramp and no one to be afraid of. large girl in a short blue organdy dress, saw him
His left coat sleeve was folded up to show there all at once and jumped up and began to stamp
was only half an arm in it and his gaunt figure and point and make excited speechless sounds.
Mr. Shiftlet stopped just inside the yard and set
1. A desolate spot is miserable, lonely, and cheerless. his box on the ground and tipped his hat at her as
if she were not in the least afflicted; then he
Reading Strategy Applying Background Knowledge turned toward the old woman and swung the hat
Why is the old woman relieved when she realizes that the
all the way off. He had long black slick hair that
stranger is a tramp?
hung flat from a part in the middle to beyond the
tips of his ears on either side. His face descended
Vocabulary
in forehead for more than half its length and
gaunt (ont) adj. thin, bony, and hollow-eyed, as from ended suddenly with his features just balanced
hunger or illness
over a jutting steel-trap jaw. He seemed to be a

FLANNERY O’ C ONNO R 915


Courtesy Hubert Shuptrine
young man but he had a look of composed dissat- “That’s right,” the old woman said. “You from
isfaction as if he understood life thoroughly. around here?”
“Good evening,” the old woman said. She was “Name Tom T. Shiftlet,” he murmured, looking
about the size of a cedar fence post and she had a at the tires.
man’s gray hat pulled down low over her head. “I’m pleased to meet you,” the old woman said.
The tramp stood looking at her and didn’t “Name Lucynell Crater and daughter Lucynell
answer. He turned his back and faced the sunset. Crater. What you doing around here, Mr. Shiftlet?”
He swung both his whole and his short arm up He judged the car to be about a 1928 or ’29 Ford.
slowly so that they indicated an expanse of sky “Lady,” he said, and turned and gave her his full atten-
and his figure formed a crooked cross. The old tion, “lemme tell you something. There’s one of these
woman watched him with her arms folded across doctors in Atlanta that’s taken a knife and cut the
her chest as if she were the owner of the sun, human heart—the human heart,” he repeated, lean-
and the daughter watched, her head thrust for- ing forward, “out of a man’s chest and held it in his
ward and her fat helpless hands hanging at the hand,” and he held his hand out, palm up, as if it were
wrists. She had long pink-gold hair and eyes as slightly weighted with the human heart, “and studied
blue as a peacock’s neck. it like it was a day-old chicken, and lady,” he said,
He held the pose for almost fifty seconds and allowing a long significant pause in which his head
then he picked up his box and came on to the slid forward and his clay-colored eyes brightened, “he
porch and dropped down on the bottom step. don’t know no more about it than you or me.”
“Lady,” he said in a firm nasal voice, “I’d give a “That’s right,” the old woman said.
fortune to live where I could see me a sun do “Why, if he was to take that knife and cut into
that every evening.” every corner of it, he still wouldn’t know no more
“Does it every evening,” the old woman said and than you or me. What you want to bet?”
sat back down. The daughter sat down too and “Nothing,” the old woman said wisely. “Where
watched him with a cautious sly look as if he were you come from, Mr. Shiftlet?”
a bird that had come up very close. He leaned to He didn’t answer. He reached into his pocket
one side, rooting in his pants pocket, and in a sec- and brought out a sack of tobacco and a package
ond he brought out a package of chewing gum and of cigarette papers and rolled himself a cigarette,
offered her a piece. She took it and unpeeled it and expertly with one hand, and attached it in a hang-
began to chew without taking her eyes off him. He ing position to his upper lip. Then he took a box of
offered the old woman a piece but she only raised wooden matches from his pocket and struck one on
her upper lip to indicate she had no teeth. his shoe. He held the burning match as if he were
Mr. Shiftlet’s pale sharp glance had already studying the mystery of flame while it traveled dan-
passed over everything in the yard—the pump gerously toward his skin. The daughter began to
near the corner of the house and the big fig tree make loud noises and to point to his hand and
that three or four chickens were preparing to shake her finger at him, but when the flame was
roost in—and had moved to a shed where he saw just before touching him, he leaned down with his
the square rusted back of an automobile. “You hand cupped over it as if he were going to set fire
ladies drive?” he asked. to his nose and lit the cigarette.
“That car ain’t run in fifteen year,” the old He flipped away the dead match and blew a
woman said. “The day my husband died, it quit stream of gray into the evening. A sly look came
running.” over his face. “Lady,” he said, “nowadays, people’ll
“Nothing is like it used to be, lady,” he said. do anything anyways. I can tell you my name
“The world is almost rotten.” is Tom T. Shiftlet and I came from Tarwater,
Tennessee, but you never have seen me before:
how you know I ain’t lying? How you know my
Reading Strategy Applying Background Knowledge name ain’t Aaron Sparks, lady, and I come from
Why does Mr. Shiftlet focus his attention on the automobile?

Literary Element Dialogue What does this exchange Literary Element Dialogue How does this statement
reveal about Mr. Shiftlet? make you feel about Mr. Shiftlet?

916 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


neck. He told the old woman
then that all most people
were interested in was
money, but he asked what a
man was made for. He asked
her if a man was made for
money, or what. He asked
her what she thought she
was made for but she didn’t
answer, she only sat rocking
and wondered if a one-armed
man could put a new roof on
her garden house. He asked a
lot of questions that she
didn’t answer. He told her
that he was twenty-eight
years old and had lived a
varied life. He had been a
gospel singer, a foreman on
the railroad, an assistant in an
Singleberry, Georgia, or how you know it’s not undertaking parlor, and he had come over the
George Speeds and I come from Lucy, Alabama, radio for three months with Uncle Roy and his
or how you know I ain’t Thompson Bright from Red Creek Wranglers. He said he had fought
Toolafalls, Mississippi?” and bled in the Arm Service of his country
“I don’t know nothing about you,” the old and visited every foreign land and that every-
woman muttered, irked.2 where he had seen people that didn’t care if
“Lady,” he said, “people don’t care how they they did a thing one way or another. He said
lie. Maybe the best I can tell you is, I’m a man; he hadn’t been raised thataway.
but listen lady,” he said and paused and made his A fat yellow moon appeared in the branches
tone more ominous3 still, “what is a man?” of the fig tree as if it were going to roost there
The old woman began to gum a seed. “What with the chickens. He said that a man had to
you carry in that tin box, Mr. Shiftlet?” she asked. escape to the country to see the world whole and
“Tools,” he said, put back. “I’m a carpenter.” that he wished he lived in a desolate place like
“Well, if you come out here to work, I’ll be this where he could see the sun go down every
able to feed you and give you a place to sleep but evening like God made it to do.
I can’t pay. I’ll tell you that before you begin,” “Are you married or are you single?” the old
she said. woman asked.
There was no answer at once and no partic- There was a long silence. “Lady,” he asked
ular expression on his face. He leaned back finally, “where would you find you an innocent
against the two-by-four that helped support woman today? I wouldn’t have any of this trash
the porch roof. “Lady,” he said slowly, “there’s I could just pick up.”
some men that some things mean more to The daughter was leaning very far down, hanging
them than money.” The old woman rocked her head almost between her knees, watching him
without comment and the daughter watched through a triangular door she had made in her over-
the trigger that moved up and down in his turned hair; and she suddenly fell in a heap on the
floor and began to whimper. Mr. Shiftlet straight-
ened her out and helped her get back in the chair.
2. To be irked is to be annoyed or bothered.
3. Something ominous is, or seems to be, threatening.

Reading Strategy Applying Background Knowledge Big Idea Return to Regionalism Why does the author
Should the old woman trust Mr. Shiftlet or not? Explain. include these details?

FLANNERY O’ C ONNO R 917


G. Kalt/zefa/CORBIS
“Is she your baby girl?” he asked. everywhere, saying “Burrttddt ddbirrrttdt,” and
“My only,” the old woman said, “and she’s clapping her hands. The old woman watched
the sweetest girl in the world. I wouldn’t give from a distance, secretly pleased. She was
her up for nothing on earth. She’s smart too. ravenous for a son-in-law.
She can sweep the floor, cook, wash, feed the Mr. Shiftlet slept on the hard narrow back seat
chickens, and hoe. I wouldn’t give her up for a of the car with his feet out the side window. He
casket of jewels.” had his razor and a can of water on a crate that
“No,” he said kindly, “don’t ever let any man served him as a bedside table and he put up a
take her away from you.” piece of mirror against the back glass and kept
“Any man come after her,” the old woman his coat neatly on a hanger that he hung over
said, “ ’ll have to stay around the place.” one of the windows.
Mr. Shiftlet’s eye in the darkness was In the evenings he sat on the steps and talked
focused on a part of the automobile bumper while the old woman and Lucynell rocked vio-
that glittered in the distance. “Lady,” he said, lently in their chairs on either side of him. The old
jerking his short arm up as if he could point woman’s three mountains were black against the
with it to her house and yard and pump, “there dark blue sky and were visited off and on by vari-
ain’t a broken thing on this plantation that I ous planets and by the moon after it had left the
couldn’t fix for you, one-arm jackleg4 or not. chickens. Mr. Shiftlet pointed out that the reason
I’m a man,” he said with a sullen dignity, he had improved this plantation was because he
“even if I ain’t a whole one. I got,” he said, had taken a personal interest in it. He said he was
tapping his knuckles on the floor to emphasize even going to make the automobile run.
the immensity of what he was going to say, He had raised the hood and studied the mech-
“a moral intelligence!” and his face pierced anism and he said he could tell that the car had
out of the darkness into a shaft of doorlight been built in the days when cars were really
and he stared at her as if he were astonished built. You take now, he said, one man puts in
himself at this impossible truth. one bolt and another man puts in another bolt
The old woman was not impressed with the and another man puts in another bolt so that it’s
phrase. “I told you you could hang around and a man for a bolt. That’s why you have to pay so
work for food,” she said, “if you don’t mind sleep- much for a car: you’re paying all those men. Now
ing in that car yonder.” if you didn’t have to pay but one man, you could
“Why listen, Lady,” he said with a grin of get you a cheaper car and one that had had a
delight, “the monks of old slept in their coffins!” personal interest taken in it, and it would be a
“They wasn’t as advanced as we are,” the old better car. The old woman agreed with him that
woman said. this was so.
Mr. Shiftlet said that the trouble with the
The next morning he began on the roof of world was that nobody cared, or stopped and
the garden house while Lucynell, the daugh- took any trouble. He said he never would
ter, sat on a rock and watched him work. He have been able to teach Lucynell to say a
had not been around a week before the change word if he hadn’t cared and stopped long
he had made in the place was apparent. He enough.
had patched the front and back steps, built “Teach her to say something else,” the old
a new hog pen, restored a fence, and taught woman said.
Lucynell, who was completely deaf and had “What you want her to say next?” Mr.
never said a word in her life, to say the word Shiftlet asked.
“bird.” The big rosy-faced girl followed him The old woman’s smile was broad and tooth-
less and suggestive. “Teach her to say ‘sugarpie,’”
she said.
4. A jackleg, like a jack-of-all-trades, can do many different
kinds of work for which he or she has not been trained.

Literary Element Vocabulary


Dialogue Why might Mrs. Crater say
this to Mr. Shiftlet? ravenous (ravə nəs) adj. extremely hungry

918 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


Mr. Shiftlet already knew what was on her mind. “It would be a good idea to paint it too,” Mr.
The next day he began to tinker with the auto- Shiftlet remarked. “You don’t want it to rust out.”
mobile and that evening he told her that if she “We’ll see about that later,” the old woman said.
would buy a fan belt, he would be able to make the The next day he walked into town and returned
car run. with the parts he needed and a can of gasoline.
The old woman said she would give him the Late in the afternoon, terrible noises issued from
money. “You see that girl yonder?” she asked, point- the shed and the old woman rushed out of the
ing to Lucynell who was sitting on the floor a foot house, thinking Lucynell was somewhere having a
away, watching him, her eyes blue even in the dark. fit. Lucynell was sitting on a chicken crate, stamp-
“If it was ever a man wanted to take her away, I ing her feet and screaming, “Burrddttt! bddurrd-
would say, ‘No man on earth is going to take that dtttt!” but her fuss was drowned out by the car.
sweet girl of mine away from me!’ but if he was to With a volley of blasts it emerged from the shed,
say, ‘Lady, I don’t want to take her away, I want her moving in a fierce and stately way. Mr. Shiftlet was
right here,’ I would say, ‘Mister, I don’t blame you in the driver’s seat, sitting very erect. He had an
none. I wouldn’t pass up a chance to live in a per- expression of serious modesty on his face as if he
manent place and get the sweetest girl in the world had just raised the dead.
myself. You ain’t no fool,’ I would say.” That night, rocking on the porch, the old woman
“How old is she?” Mr. Shiftlet asked casually. began her business at once. “You want you an
“Fifteen, sixteen,” the old woman said. The girl innocent woman, don’t you?” she asked sympa-
was nearly thirty but because of her innocence it thetically. “You don’t want none of this trash.”
was impossible to guess. “No’m, I don’t,” Mr. Shiftlet said.

Literary Element Vocabulary


Dialogue Do you think Mrs. Crater’s
tender feelings for her daughter are genuine? Explain. stately (stātlē) adj. noble; dignified; majestic

FLANNERY O’ C ONNO R 919


Martyn Goddard/CORBIS
“One that can’t talk,” she continued, “can’t and there’s no mortgage on a thing about this
sass you back or use foul language. That’s the place. You can go to the courthouse and see for
kind for you to have. Right there,” and she yourself. And yonder under that shed is a fine
pointed to Lucynell sitting cross-legged in automobile.” She laid the bait carefully. “You can
her chair, holding both feet in her hands. have it painted by Saturday. I’ll pay for the paint.”
“That’s right,” he admitted. “She wouldn’t In the darkness, Mr. Shiftlet’s smile stretched
give me any trouble.” like a weary snake waking up by a fire. After
“Saturday,” the old woman said, “you and her a second he recalled himself and said, “I’m only
and me can drive into town and get married.” saying a man’s spirit means more to him than any-
Mr. Shiftlet eased his position on the steps. thing else. I would have to take my wife off for the
“I can’t get married right now,” he said. weekend without no regards at all for cost. I got to
“Everything you want to do takes money and follow where my spirit say to go.”
I ain’t got any.” “I’ll give you fifteen dollars for a weekend
“What you need with money?” she asked. trip,” the old woman said in a crabbed voice.
“It takes money,” he said. “Some people’ll do “That’s the best I can do.”
anything anyhow these days, but the way I think, I “That wouldn’t hardly pay for more than the
wouldn’t marry no woman that I couldn’t take on a gas and the hotel,” he said. “It wouldn’t feed her.”
trip like she was somebody. I mean take her to a “Seventeen-fifty,” the old woman said. “That’s
hotel and treat her. I wouldn’t marry the Duchesser all I got so it isn’t any use you trying to milk me.
Windsor,”5 he said firmly, “unless I could take her You can take a lunch.”
to a hotel and give her something good to eat. Mr. Shiftlet was deeply hurt by the word
“I was raised thataway and there ain’t a “milk.” He didn’t doubt that she had more
thing I can do about it. My old mother taught money sewed up in her mattress but he had
me how to do.” already told her he was not interested in her
“Lucynell don’t even know what a hotel is,” money. “I’ll make that do,” he said and rose and
the old woman muttered. “Listen here, Mr. walked off without treating6 with her further.
Shiftlet,” she said, sliding forward in her chair, On Saturday the three of them drove into town
“you’d be getting a permanent house and a deep in the car that the paint had barely dried on and Mr.
well and the most innocent girl in the world. Shiftlet and Lucynell were married in the Ordinary’s7
You don’t need no money. Lemme tell you some- office while the old woman witnessed. As they came
thing: there ain’t any place in the world for a out of the courthouse, Mr. Shiftlet began twisting his
poor disabled friendless drifting man.” neck in his collar. He looked morose and bitter as if
The ugly words settled in Mr. Shiftlet’s head like he had been insulted while someone held him.
a group of buzzards in the top of a tree. He didn’t “That didn’t satisfy me none,” he said. “That was just
answer at once. He rolled himself a cigarette and lit something a woman in an office did, nothing but
it and then he said in an even voice, “Lady, a man paper work and blood tests. What do they know
is divided into two parts, body and spirit.” about my blood? If they was to take my heart and
The old woman clamped her gums together. cut it out,” he said, “they wouldn’t know a thing
“A body and a spirit,” he repeated. “The about me. It didn’t satisfy me at all.”
body, lady, is like a house: it don’t go anywhere; “It satisfied the law,” the old woman said sharply.
but the spirit, lady, is like a automobile:
always on the move, always . . .”
“Listen, Mr. Shiftlet,” she said, “my well never 6. Here, treating means “negotiating or discussing terms.”
7. An Ordinary is a local judge who, in many states, is called
goes dry and my house is always warm in the winter
the “justice of the peace.”

Reading Strategy Applying Background Knowledge


5. Shiftlet is referring to the American woman for whom Why does the author compare Mr. Shiftlet’s smile to a snake?
Britain’s King Edward VIII gave up the throne in 1936. The
new king gave them the titles Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Vocabulary
Literary Element Dialogue Why does Mrs. Crater insult morose (mə rōs) adj. bad-tempered, gloomy, and
Mr. Shiftlet? withdrawn

920 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


“The law,” Mr. Shiftlet said and spit. “It’s the The early afternoon was clear and open and sur-
law that don’t satisfy me.” rounded by pale blue sky. Although the car would go
He had painted the car dark green with a yellow only thirty miles an hour, Mr. Shiftlet imagined a
band around it just under the windows. The three of terrific climb and dip and swerve that went entirely
them climbed in the front seat and the old woman to his head so that he forgot his morning bitterness.
said, “Don’t Lucynell look pretty? Looks like a baby He had always wanted an automobile but he had
doll.” Lucynell was dressed up in a white dress that never been able to afford one before. He drove very
her mother had uprooted from a trunk and there fast because he wanted to make Mobile9 by nightfall.
was a Panama hat on her head with a bunch of red Occasionally he stopped his thoughts long
wooden cherries on the brim. Every now and then enough to look at Lucynell in the seat beside him.
her placid8 expression was changed by a sly isolated She had eaten the lunch as soon as they were out
little thought like a shoot of green in the desert. of the yard and now she was pulling the cherries
“You got a prize!” the old woman said. off the hat one by one and throwing them out the
Mr. Shiftlet didn’t even look at her. window. He became depressed in spite of the car.
They drove back to the house to let the old He had driven about a hundred miles when he
woman off and pick up the lunch. When they were decided that she must be hungry again and at the
ready to leave, she stood staring in the window of next small town they came to, he stopped in front
the car, with her fingers clenched around the glass. of an aluminum-painted eating place called The
Tears began to seep sideways out of her eyes and Hot Spot and took her in and ordered her a plate
run along the dirty creases in her face. “I ain’t ever of ham and grits. The ride had made her sleepy
been parted with her for two days before,” she said. and as soon as she got up on the stool, she rested
Mr. Shiftlet started the motor. her head on the counter and shut her eyes. There
“And I wouldn’t let no man have her but you was no one in The Hot Spot but Mr. Shiftlet and
because I seen you would do right. Good-bye, the boy behind the counter, a pale youth with a
Sugarbaby,” she said, clutching at the sleeve of the greasy rag hung over his shoulder. Before he could
white dress. Lucynell looked straight at her and dish up the food, she was snoring gently.
didn’t seem to see her there at all. Mr. Shiftlet eased “Give it to her when she wakes up,” Mr.
the car forward so that she had to move her hands. Shiftlet said. “I’ll pay for it now.”

8. Placid means “calm” or “peaceful.” 9. Mobile (mōbēl) is a port city in southwestern Alabama.

Literary Element Dialogue Why does Mrs. Crater think Big Idea Return to Regionalism How do these details
Mr. Shiftlet will “do right” by her daughter? contribute to the setting?

FLANNERY O’ C ONNO R 921


Dan Holmberg/CORBIS
The boy bent over her and stared at the long the best old mother in the world so I reckon you
pink-gold hair and the half-shut sleeping eyes. only got the second best.”
Then he looked up and stared at Mr. Shiftlet. The boy gave him a quick dark glance and
“She looks like an angel of Gawd,” he murmured. then turned his face back out the window.
“Hitchhiker,” Mr. Shiftlet explained. “I can’t “It’s nothing so sweet,” Mr. Shiftlet continued,
wait. I got to make Tuscaloosa.”10 “as a boy’s mother. She taught him his first prayers
The boy bent over again and very carefully at her knee, she give him love when no other
touched his finger to a strand of the golden hair would, she told him what was right and what
and Mr. Shiftlet left. wasn’t, and she seen that he done the right thing.
He was more depressed than ever as he Son,” he said, “I never rued a day in my life like the
drove on by himself. The late afternoon had one I rued when I left that old mother of mine.”
grown hot and sultry and the country had flattened The boy shifted in his seat but he didn’t look
out. Deep in the sky a storm was preparing at Mr. Shiftlet. He unfolded his arms and put
very slowly and without thunder as if it meant one hand on the door handle.
to drain every drop of air from the earth “My mother was an angel of Gawd,” Mr.
before it broke. There were times when Mr. Shiftlet said in a very strained voice. “He took
Shiftlet preferred not to be alone. He felt too her from heaven and giver to me and I left her.”
that a man with a car had a responsibility to oth- His eyes were instantly clouded over with a mist
ers and he kept his eye out for a hitchhiker. of tears. The car was barely moving.
Occasionally he saw a sign that warned: “Drive The boy turned angrily in the seat. “You go to
carefully. The life you save may be your own.” the devil!” he cried. “My old woman is a flea bag
The narrow road dropped off on either side and yours is a stinking pole cat!” and with that
into dry fields and here and there a shack or a he flung the door open and jumped out with his
filling station stood in a clearing. The sun began suitcase into the ditch.
to set directly in front of the automobile. It was a Mr. Shiftlet was so shocked that for about a
reddening ball that through his windshield was hundred feet he drove along slowly with the door
slightly flat on the bottom and top. He saw a boy still open. A cloud, the exact color of the boy’s
in overalls and a gray hat standing on the edge of hat and shaped like a turnip, had descended over
the road and he slowed the car down and stopped the sun, and another, worse looking, crouched
in front of him. The boy didn’t have his hand behind the car. Mr. Shiftlet felt that the rotten-
raised to thumb the ride, he was only standing ness of the world was about to engulf him. He
there, but he had a small cardboard suitcase and raised his arm and let it fall again to his breast.
his hat was set on his head in a way to indicate “Oh Lord!” he prayed. “Break forth and wash
that he had left somewhere for good. “Son,” Mr. the slime from this earth!”
Shiftlet said, “I see you want a ride.” The turnip continued slowly to descend.
The boy didn’t say he did or he didn’t but he After a few minutes there was a guffawing
opened the door of the car and got in, and Mr. peal of thunder from behind and fantastic
Shiftlet started driving again. The child held the raindrops, like tin-can tops, crashed over
suitcase on his lap and folded his arms on top of the rear of Mr. Shiftlet’s car. Very quickly he
it. He turned his head and looked out the win- stepped on the gas and with his stump stick-
dow away from Mr. Shiftlet. Mr. Shiftlet felt ing out the window he raced the galloping
oppressed.11 “Son,” he said after a minute, “I got shower into Mobile. 

10. Tuscaloosa, in west central Alabama, is nearly 200 miles


11. Here, oppressed means “distressed” or “burdened.”
north of Mobile.
Literary Element Dialogue What is ironic about Mr.
Literary Element Dialogue Why does Mr. Shiftlet lie to
Shiftlet’s prayer?
the boy behind the counter?

Reading Strategy Vocabulary


Applying Background Knowledge
What does the road sign mean to motorists? rue (r¯¯¯
oo) v. to regret; to be sorry for

922 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. What was your reaction to the outcome of the 6. Whom do you think O’Connor intended to be the
story? Explain. protagonist of the story? Support your interpretation.

Recall and Interpret 7. (a)What happens to each of the characters at the


end of the story? (b)Whose life—if anyone’s—do
2. (a)How does Mr. Shiftlet present himself to Mrs.
you think may have been saved at the end of the
Crater? (b)What clues to his true character does
story?
she fail to notice?
8. (a)Situational irony occurs when the outcome of a
3. (a)What does Mr. Shiftlet accomplish during his
situation is different from the expectations of a
week on the Crater farm? (b)What does Mr. Shiftlet
character or the reader. Explain the situational irony
want from Mrs. Crater, and how do you know?
in this story. (b)Why do you think O’Connor uses
4. (a)What is Lucynell’s disability, and how does it this technique?
affect her? (b)Why does Mrs. Crater consider Mr.
Shiftlet a good match for her daughter? Connect
5. (a)What two agreements do Mr. Shiftlet and Mrs. 9. Big Idea Return to Regionalism How would
Crater make? (b)What factors might motivate Mr. this story have been different if it were set in a
Shiftlet to make each agreement? modern-day city instead of on a rural plantation in
the South in the 1940s?

V I S UA L L I T E R AC Y: Graphic Organizers

Creating a Story Map


A story map is a visual diagram of the events in a
story. This graphic organizer can help you identify and
Setting Characters
relate key details in the story. Fill in a story map similar
to the one shown with details from “The Life You Save
May Be Your Own.”
Group Activity Discuss the following questions with
Conflict
a small group of classmates. Refer to the story map
you created and cite other details from “The Life You
Save May Be Your Own” to support your answers.
1. What might Mrs. Crater have done to bring about a
different outcome? Major Event 1 Major Event 2

2. How might the conflict or resolution have changed


if other characters were involved in the story, such
as Mrs. Crater’s husband or other children besides
Lucynell? Resolution

FLANNERY O’ C ONNO R 923


L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Dialogue Reading Strategy Applying Background


In this story O’Connor uses dialogue not only to pro- Knowledge
vide local color but also to reveal characters’ personali- To understand the interactions between Mrs. Crater
ties and traits. Dialogue brings characters to life by and Mr. Shiflet, you must apply what you know about
showing what they are thinking and feeling as they the Great Depression and the rural South. Review the
react to other characters. Think about the dialogue in preview chart you created on page 914, and then
“The Life You Save May Be Your Own” as you answer answer the following questions.
the questions below.
1. Why does Mr. Shiftlet agree to work for Mrs. Crater?
1. How does the dialogue between Mrs. Crater and
Mr. Shiftlet reveal their true characters? Give 2. How important is money to both Mr. Shiftlet and
specific examples. Mrs. Crater?

2. What impact does Lucynell’s lack of dialogue have


on the story? Vocabulary Practice
Practice with Synonyms Think about the mean-
ings of the underlined words in the sentences
Review: Foreshadowing
below. Then, from the vocabulary words, choose a
Foreshadowing, as you learned in examining “A Rose synonym that better fits the context.
for Emily,” is the use of clues by the author to prepare
readers for later events in a story. 1. Too sick from the flu to eat, he appeared quite
thin.
Group Activity Meet with a small group to discuss 2. Liza’s gloomy attitude made it difficult for her to
O’Connor’s use of foreshadowing in “The Life You make friends.
Save May Be Your Own.” Use a chart like the one 3. I did regret not buying the dress, as it sold out
below to record examples of foreshadowing through- quickly.
out the story. 4. The castle belonging to the royal family had a
splendid appearance.
5. Having eaten neither breakfast nor lunch, I was
Event Foreshadowing
hungry by dinnertime.
Mr. Shiftlet steals
Mrs. Crater’s car.

Academic Vocabulary
Here are two words from the vocabulary list on
page R86.

orient (o r ē ent´) v. to acquaint with the exist-


ing situation or environment
generation (jen´ ə rā shən) n. a group of people
born around the same time period

Practice and Apply


1. How does O’Connor orient the reader in the
story’s setting?
2. What does Mr. Shiftlet think about the values of
the younger generation?

924 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


W R I T I N G A N D E X TE N D I N G G R A M M A R A N D ST Y L E

Writing About Literature O’Connor’s Language and Style


Evaluate Title The title, or name, of a work of litera- Avoiding Double Negatives In “The Life You Save
ture is sometimes linked to the work’s central theme or May Be Your Own,” O’Connor’s characters speak in a
to the traits of a major character. The link may be sub- regional dialect that includes the use of the double
tle or obvious. Is the title of this story effective or not? negative—that is, two or more negative words in the
Write a brief essay explaining your position and sup- same clause to express the same idea.
porting it with evidence from the story.
“I don’t know nothing about you . . . ”
As you draft, use the following writing plan to organize “And I wouldn’t let no man have her but you . . . ”
your essay.
Notice that O’Connor also uses Standard English—only
one negative word in a clause—to express a negative
START
idea.

Introduce your topic and then Mr. Shiflet said that the trouble with the world was
Introduction

state your position or thesis. that nobody cared.


“Nothing is like it used to be, lady.”

Double negatives are effective for O’Connor’s pur-


Present one or more reasons pose, but they should be avoided in standard writing
Middle and speech because one negative word “cancels out”

and support them with


evidence from the story.
another.

Dialect “I wouldn’t give her up for


Restate your position and give
nothing on earth.”
Conclusion

the reader a parting thought


about O’Connor’s title. Standard English “I wouldn’t give her up for
anything on earth.”
F IN I S H
Standard English “I would give her up for
nothing on earth.”
After you complete your draft, meet with a peer
reviewer to evaluate each other’s work and to suggest
Activity Find three other examples of double nega-
revisions. Then proofread and edit your draft for errors
tives in “The Life You Save May Be Your Own.” Revise
in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
them to change each into Standard English.

Interdisciplinary Activity: Theater


Revising Check
Imagine that you are to stage a production of “The
Avoiding Double Negatives In most cases, writers
Life You Save May Be Your Own.” With a partner or a
use Standard English in their work, except in direct
small group, write a proposal stating your plans. Create
quotations that provide local color. With a partner,
a proposal portfolio that contains the following:
review your essay on “The Life You Save May Be Your
• a statement about the story and why you think it Own” to identify any double negatives that you may
could be successfully adapted into a drama have overlooked earlier. Revise your draft to correct
these errors in one of the two ways provided in the
• a cast list, including a brief description of each char- examples above.
acter in the play

• a scene-by-scene description of the settings, with a


list of the materials and props you will need (includ-
ing sketches of each set)
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
• a description of the costumes needed for each cast Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
member (including sketches if possible) www.glencoe.com.

FLANNERY O’ C ONNO R 925


Grammar Workshop
Sentence Structure

º Vocabulary Terms Using Introductory Phrases and Clauses


An introductory phrase or “As they came out of the courthouse, Mr. Shiftlet began twisting his neck in his collar.”
an introductory clause
—Flannery O’Connor, from “The Life You Save May Be Your Own”
begins a sentence and
provides additional infor-
Connecting to Literature Introductory phrases and clauses add information
mation about the main
about the main clause. As they came out of the courthouse is an introductory
clause.
clause—a dependent clause that begins a sentence. Like other dependent
clauses, an introductory clause has a subject and predicate, but it does not
º Test-Taking Tip express a complete thought. Use a comma after an introductory clause.
To decide whether an
introductory phrase needs “In the darkness, Mr. Shiftlet’s smile stretched like a weary snake waking up by a fire.”
a comma, decide whether
the sentence makes sense In the darkness is an introductory phrase that tells where the action happens.
without the phrase. If so, Like other phrases, an introductory phrase lacks a subject and predicate. You
the introductory phrase must use a comma after an introductory phrase if it contains a verb form (partici-
probably needs a comma ple, gerund, or infinitive). In addition, use a comma after a long introductory
after it. prepositional phrase or a series of prepositional phrases. A comma after a short
introductory prepositional phrase is usually not necessary.

º Reading Handbook Examples


For more about phrases
and clauses, see Reading To fix the car, Mr. Shiftlet raised the hood and studied the engine.
Handbook, p. R20. To fix the car is an introductory infinitive phrase that tells why Mr. Shiftlet raised
the hood. Because it is an infinitive phrase, it needs a comma after it.

In the evenings Mr. Shiftlet sat on the porch steps and talked.
The introductory prepositional phrase in the evenings is short, so it needs no comma.

In the afternoon of the next day, Mr. Shiftlet got the car to start.
A comma is necessary after the two introductory prepositional phrases.

“If you come out here to work, I’ll be able to feed you and give you a place to sleep.”
eWorkbooks To link to If you come out here to work is an introductory clause, so it needs a comma after it.
the Grammar and Language
eWorkbook, go to
www.glencoe.com.
Exercise
Combine each pair of sentences by changing one of them into an intro-
ductory phrase or clause.
OB J EC TIV ES
• Understand introductory 1. O’Connor was disabled by lupus in 1952. She spent the remainder of
phrases and clauses.
her life on her mother’s farm.
• Recognize and correct
errors in grammar. 2. Mr. Shiftlet came up the road for the first time. The old woman and her
daughter were sitting on their porch.
3. Eudora Welty was raised in the South. Much of her work was inspired
by Southern settings.

926 UNIT 6
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

The Second Tree from the Corner


MEET E. B. WHITE He also contrib-
uted to Harper’s

A
Magazine from
lthough the beloved children’s classics
1938 to 1943,
Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little remain
writing the col-
two of Elwyn Brooks (E. B.) White’s best-
umn “One
known works, he is also highly acclaimed for his
Man’s Meat.”
essays and short stories. In fact, it was while working
for The New Yorker magazine in his late twenties On the farm, he
that White first captivated the American public. penned his
There, he worked with other legendary writers such famed children’s
as James Thurber, Dorothy Parker, and Robert stories. The first
Benchley to create a sophisticated and clever “New one, Stuart Little, features an adventurous mouse-
York” voice for the new magazine. child, born into a human family. The second,
Charlotte’s Web, is about the friendship between
The Road to The New Yorker The youngest Wilbur, a young pig, and Charlotte, a spider who
child in a large, affectionate family, White was saves his life through her clever web weavings. The
born in rural Mount Vernon, a suburb of New York third, The Trumpet of the Swan, tells the story of a
City. In 1921 he graduated from Cornell mute swan who becomes a celebrity after learning
University. At Cornell he received the nickname to trumpet. The themes of friendship, tolerance,
Andy, by which he was known for the rest of his loyalty, and rural living are common threads in
life. (All Cornell students named White were these books.
dubbed “Andy,” after the university’s co-founder,
Andrew Dickson White.)
After college, Andy White traveled and worked “I arise in the morning torn between a
at a series of miscellaneous jobs for about five
years. Returning to New York, he worked in an
desire to improve (or save) the world and
ad agency and began sending manuscripts to The a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world.
New Yorker. The editor of the magazine, Harold
Ross, recognized talent when he saw it, and he
This makes it hard to plan the day.”
soon hired White as a staff writer. White married —E. B. White
Katherine Sergeant Angell, the magazine’s liter-
ary editor, in 1929. According to Brendan Gill,
a fellow New Yorker staff member, Andy and White was awarded the Presidential Medal of
Katherine worked so closely together over the Freedom in 1963 and the Laura Ingalls Wilder
years that most people thought of them as one Award from the American Library Association in
person, referred to as “the Whites.” 1970. In 1973 he was elected to the American
Academy of Arts and Letters.
On the Farm In 1938 the Whites decided to
leave the city and return to a simple rural life, this E. B. White was born in 1899 and died in 1985.
time in North Brooklin, Maine. Andy kept animals
on their farm there, some of which made their way
into his stories and books. He remained on the staff
of The New Yorker, continuing to produce essays Author
Author Search
Search For
For more
more about
about
and his unsigned column “Notes and Comments.” E. B. White,
Author Name, go go
to to
www.glencoe.com.
www.literature.glencoe.com.

E. B. WHITE 927
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W READI NG PREVI EW

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Analyzing Text Structure


Imagine that someone asks you, “What do you want out Analyzing text structure means taking a close look at
of life?” How would you answer? What are your goals the organizational pattern of a piece of writing. A writer
and desires? As you read, think about these questions: might use chronological order (order of time), compar-
ison and contrast, cause and effect, or order of impor-
• What is most important in life? tance as a frame on which to hang the text. Most
• What do your dreams and goals reveal about you? fiction, including this story, is organized primarily in
Building Background chronological order.
“The Second Tree from the Corner” takes place in
Reading Tip: Finding Time References Use a
Manhattan, a part of New York City, probably in
graphic organizer like the one below to keep track of
the late 1940s. One clue to the story’s time frame
the time references in the story.
comes from a reference to Ethel Merman, a popular
Broadway singer and actress of the time. Other refer-
ences to famous New York institutions and places
appear in the story as well. The narrator mentions
the Times, which is The New York Times newspaper;
Trexler felt the
time passing.
➧ He had already used up
pretty nearly four seconds.

the “Park,” which is Central Park; the “East Seventies,”
a section of Manhattan known for its wealthy resi-
Vocabulary
dents; and Madison Avenue, a famous luxury shop-
ping district. amorphous (ə mor fəs) adj. without definite
form; p. 929 Amorphous clouds filled the sky.
Setting Purposes for Reading
retractable (ri trak tə bəl) adj. capable of being
Big Idea Life in the City drawn back or in; p. 930 Cats have retractable
As you read, notice how White weaves in references to claws.
city life, transportation, scenery, and culture in “The hemorrhage (he mə rij) n. a severe discharge
Second Tree from the Corner.” Ask yourself which of of blood; p. 930 The doctor was able to stop the
these scenes, situations, and attitudes could happen hemorrhage.
only in a city and not in the country.
inquisitor (in kwi zə tər) n. one who asks ques-
tions; p. 931 Jennifer refused to answer the rude
Literary Element Plot
inquisitor.
A plot is the sequence of events that constitutes a
narrative, usually involving characters in conflict. A plot
intimation (in´ tə mā shən) n. a hint; a sugges-
includes rising action (development of the conflict),
tion; p. 932 Mike’s reputation was hurt by the
climax (sometimes called the crisis or turning point),
intimation of scandal.
and falling action (sometimes called the resolution of
Vocabulary Tip: Word Parts Root words can be
the conflict). As you read the story, be aware of how
combined with prefixes and suffixes to form new
White develops these elements of the plot.
words. The word unattainable, for example, is
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R13. formed from the root word attain (meaning “to
get”), the prefix un- (meaning “not”), and the suffix
-able (meaning “capable of”).
Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

OB J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • understanding plot
• relating literature to the historical period • analyzing text structure

9 28 U N IT 6 F ROM DEPRESSION TO COLD WAR


E. B. White
The Frick Gallery, 1997. Julian Barrow. Oil on canvas, 18 x 24 in. Private Collection.

“Ever have any bizarre thoughts?” asked the doctor. thoughts and amorphous fears. Poor fellow,
Mr. Trexler failed to catch the word. “What thought Trexler. Out there all alone in that mis-
kind?” he said. shapen antechamber,1 staring at the filing cabi-
“Bizarre,” repeated the doctor, his voice steady. net and wondering whether to tell the doctor
He watched his patient for any slight change of about that day on the Madison Avenue bus.
expression, any wince. It seemed to Trexler that Let’s see, bizarre thoughts. Trexler dodged back
the doctor was not only watching him closely but along the dreadful corridor of the years to see
was creeping slowly toward him, like a lizard what he could find. He felt the doctor’s eyes upon
toward a bug. Trexler shoved his chair back an him and knew that time was running out. Don’t
inch and gathered himself for a reply. He was be so conscientious, he said to himself. If a bizarre
about to say “Yes” when he realized that if he thought is indicated here, just reach into the bag
said yes the next question would be unanswerable. and pick anything at all. A man as well supplied
Bizarre thoughts, bizarre thoughts? Ever have any with bizarre thoughts as you are should have no
bizarre thoughts? What kind of thoughts except difficulty producing one for the record. Trexler
bizarre had he had since the age of two? darted into the bag, hung for a moment before
Trexler felt the time passing, the necessity for one of his thoughts, as a hummingbird pauses in
an answer. These psychiatrists were busy men, the delphinium. No, he said, not that one. He
overloaded, not to be kept waiting. The next darted to another (the one about the rhesus mon-
patient was probably already perched out there key), paused, considered. No, he said, not that.
in the waiting room, lonely, worried, shifting
around on the sofa, his mind stuffed with bizarre
1. An antechamber, or waiting room, is a smaller room serving
as an entrance to a larger or main room.

Vocabulary
Literary Element Plot How would you describe
Mr. Trexler’s internal conflict at this point? amorphous (ə mor fəs) adj. without definite form

E. B. WHITE 929
Julian Barrow/Private Collection/Bridgeman Art Library
Trexler knew he must hurry. He had already used out. Trexler got up, knocked the ashes out of his
up pretty nearly four seconds since the question had brain, and waited. The doctor smiled warmly and
been put. But it was an impossible situation—just stuck out his hand. “There’s nothing the matter
one more lousy, impossible situation such as he was with you—you’re just scared. Want to know how
always getting himself into. When, he asked him- I know you’re scared?”
self, are you going to quit maneuvering yourself into “How?” asked Trexler.
a pocket? He made one more effort. This time he “Look at the chair you’ve been sitting in! See
stopped at the asylum, only the bars were lucite2— how it has moved back away from my desk? You
fluted, retractable. Not here, he said. Not this one. kept inching away from me while I asked you
He looked straight at the doctor. “No,” he said questions. That means you’re scared.”
quietly. “I never have any bizarre thoughts.” “Does it?” said Trexler, faking a grin. “Yeah, I
The doctor sucked in on his pipe, blew a plume suppose it does.”
of smoke toward the rows of medical books. Trexler’s They finished shaking hands. Trexler turned
gaze followed the smoke. He managed to make out and walked out uncertainly along the passage,
one of the titles, The Genito-Urinary System. A then into the waiting room and out past the next
bright wave of fear swept cleanly over him and he patient, a ruddy pin-striped man who was seated
winced under the first pain of kidney stones.3 He on the sofa twirling his hat nervously and staring
remembered when he was a child, the first time he straight ahead at the files. Poor, frightened guy,
ever entered a doctor’s office, sneaking a look at the thought Trexler, he’s probably read in the Times
titles of the books—and the flush of fear, the shirt that one American male out of every two is
wet under the arms, the book on t.b.,4 the sudden going to die of heart disease by twelve o’clock
knowledge that he was in the advanced stages of next Thursday. It says that in the paper almost
consumption,5 the quick vision of the hemorrhage. every morning. And he’s also probably thinking
Trexler sighed wearily. Forty years, he thought, and I about that day on the Madison Avenue bus.
still get thrown by the title of a medical book. Forty A week later, Trexler was back in the patient’s
years and I still can’t stay on life’s little bucky horse. chair. And for several weeks thereafter he con-
No wonder I’m sitting here in this dreary joint at tinued to visit the doctor, always toward the end
the end of this woebegone6 afternoon, lying about of the afternoon, when the vapors hung thick
my bizarre thoughts to a doctor who looks, come to above the pool of the mind and darkened the
think of it, rather tired. whole region of the East Seventies.7 He felt no
The session dragged on. After about twenty better as time went on, and he found it impossi-
minutes, the doctor rose and knocked his pipe ble to work. He discovered that the visits were
becoming routine and that although the routine
2. Lucite is the trademark name of a transparent plastic. was one to which he certainly did not look for-
3. Kidney stones are small, hard calcium deposits that ward, at least he could accept it with cool resig-
sometimes form in the kidneys and cause pain. nation, as once, years ago, he had accepted a
4. Tuberculosis, a disease that often affects the lungs, is
long spell with a dentist who had settled down to
sometimes referred to as t.b.
5. Consumption is another name for tuberculosis. a steady fooling with a couple of dead teeth. The
6. Woebegone means “sorrowful” or “filled with grief”; it can visits, moreover, were now assuming a pattern
also suggest “dreary and miserable.” recognizable to the patient.
Reading Strategy Analyzing Text Structure How do
Each session would begin with a resumé of symp-
you know the author is using chronological order to organize toms—the dizziness in the streets, the constricting
the story?

Literary Element Plot In what way is Mr. Trexler trying 7. Most of the streets that run east to west in Manhattan are
to resolve his internal conflict? identified by numbers rather than names. East Seventies
refers to the section of streets from 70–79 that are on the
Vocabulary east side of Manhattan.
retractable (ri trak tə bəl) adj. capable of being drawn Reading Strategy Analyzing Text Structure About how
back or in
much time has passed since the opening scene of the story?
hemorrhage (he mə rij) n. a severe discharge of blood How do you know?

930 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


pain in the back of the neck,
the apprehensions, the tightness
of the scalp, the inability to
concentrate, the despondency8
and the melancholy times, the
feeling of pressure and tension,
the anger at not being able to
work, the anxiety over work not
done, the gas on the stomach.
Dullest set of neurotic symp-
toms in the world, Trexler
would think, as he obediently
trudged back over them for the
doctor’s benefit.
As he became familiar with
the pattern Trexler found that
he increasingly tended to iden-
tify himself with the doctor,
transferring himself into the
doctor’s seat—probably (he
thought) some rather slick
form of escapism. At any rate,
it was nothing new for Trexler
Gridlock NYC, 1998. Bill Jacklin. Oil on canvas, 152.4 x 152.4 cm. Private collection.
to identify himself with other
people. Whenever he got into
a cab, he instantly became the driver, saw every- “Sure they do,” replied the doctor.
thing from the hackman’s angle (and the reaching “Do you know what you want?” asked Trexler
over with the right hand, the nudging of the flag, narrowly.
the pushing it down, all the way down along the “Certainly,” said the doctor. Trexler noticed
side of the meter), saw everything—traffic, fare, that at this point the doctor’s chair slid
everything—through the eyes of Anthony Rocco, slightly backward, away from him. Trexler sti-
or Isidore Freedman, or Matthew Scott. In a bar- fled a small, internal smile. Scared as a rabbit,
bershop, Trexler was the barber, his fingers curled he said to himself. Look at him scoot!
around the comb, his hand on the tonic. Perfectly “What do you want?” continued Trexler, press-
natural, then, that Trexler should soon be occupy- ing his advantage, pressing it hard.
ing the doctor’s chair, asking the questions, wait- The doctor glided back another inch away
ing for the answers. He got quite interested in the from his inquisitor. “I want a wing on the small
doctor, in this way. He liked him, and he found house I own in Westport.9 I want more money,
him a not too difficult patient. and more leisure to do the things I want to do.”
It was on the fifth visit, about halfway Trexler was just about to say, “And what are
through, that the doctor turned to Trexler and those things you want to do, Doctor?” when he
said, suddenly, “What do you want?” He gave the caught himself. Better not go too far, he mused.
word “want” special emphasis.
“I d’know,” replied Trexler uneasily. “I guess
9. Westport is a residential community and summer resort
nobody knows the answer to that one.” on the coast of Connecticut.

Literary Element Plot In what way does the doctor’s origi-


8. Despondency means “hopelessness” or “depression.” nal question help Mr. Trexler begin to solve his own problems?

Big Idea Life in the City How does this paragraph give Vocabulary
the reader an idea of what it would be like to live in a big
city such as New York? inquisitor (in kwi zə tər) n. one who asks questions

E. B. WHITE 931
Bill Jacklin/Private Collection/Bridgeman Art Library
Better not lose possession of the ball. And could sometimes pick out from the unregenerate
besides, he thought, what the hell goes on here, ranks the ones who had not forgotten, gazing
anyway—me paying fifteen bucks a throw for steadily into the bottoms of the glasses on the long
these séances10 and then doing the work myself, chance that they could get another little peek at it.
asking the questions, weighing the answers. So Trexler found himself renewed by the remembrance
he wants a new wing! There’s a fine piece of the- that what he wanted was at once great and micro-
atrical gauze for you! A new wing. scopic, and that although it borrowed from the
Trexler settled down again and resumed the role nature of large deeds and of youthful love and of old
of patient for the rest of the visit. It ended on a songs and early intimations, it was not any one of
kindly, friendly note. The doctor reassured him that these things, and that it had not been isolated or
his fears were the cause of his sickness, and that his pinned down, and that a man who attempted to
fears were unsubstantial. They shook hands, smiling. define it in the privacy of a doctor’s office would fall
Trexler walked dizzily through the empty wait- flat on his face.
ing room and the doctor followed along to let Trexler felt invigorated. Suddenly his sickness
him out. It was late; the secretary had shut up seemed health, his dizziness stability. A small tree,
shop and gone home. Another day over the dam. rising between him and the light, stood there satu-
“Goodbye,” said Trexler. He stepped into the rated with the evening, each gilt-edged leaf per-
street, turned west toward Madison, and thought fectly drunk with excellence and delicacy. Trexler’s
of the doctor all alone there, after hours, in that spine registered an ever so slight tremor as it picked
desolate hole—a man who worked longer hours up this natural disturbance in the lovely scene. “I
than his secretary. Poor, scared, over-worked guy, want the second tree from the corner, just as it
thought Trexler. And that new wing! stands,” he said, answering an imaginary question
It was an evening of clearing weather, the Park from an imaginary physician. And he felt a slow
showing green and desirable in the distance, the last pride in realizing that what he wanted none could
daylight applying a high lacquer to the brick and bestow, and that what he had none could take
brownstone walls and giving away. He felt content to be sick, unembarrassed
the street scene a luminous at being afraid; and in the jungle of his fear he
and intoxicating splendor. glimpsed (as he had so often glimpsed them before)
Trexler meditated, as he the flashy tail feathers of the bird courage.
walked, on what he wanted. Then he thought once again of the doctor,
Visual Vocabulary
“What do you want?” he and of his being left there all alone, tired,
Brownstone is the heard again. Trexler knew frightened. (The poor, scared guy, thought
name of a reddish- what he wanted, and what, in Trexler.) Trexler began humming “Moonshine
brown sandstone general, all men wanted; and Lullaby,” his spirit reacting instantly to the
as well as a type of
he was glad in a way, that it hypodermic of Merman’s11 healthy voice. He
house made with it.
was both inexpressible and crossed Madison, boarded a downtown bus,
unattainable, and that it and rode all the way to Fifty-second Street
wasn’t a wing. He was satisfied to remember that it before he had a thought that could rightly
was deep, formless, enduring, and impossible of ful- have been called bizarre. 
fillment, and that it made men sick, and that when
you sauntered along Third Avenue and looked
through the doorways into the dim saloons, you 11. Ethel Merman (1909–1984) was an American actress and
singer known for her powerful voice.

10. A séance is a meeting in which people attempt to Literary Element Plot How has Mr. Trexler resolved his
communicate with the spirits of the dead. Here, Trexler is internal conflict?
questioning the scientific validity of his psychiatric sessions.
Vocabulary
Big Idea Life in the City What elements in this paragraph
are unique to the city and would not be found in the country? intimation (in´ tə mā shən) n. a hint; a suggestion

932 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


Jeff Greenberg/Photo Researchers
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. What questions would you like to ask Mr. Trexler? 5. Is Trexler’s reaction to his discovery of what he
Explain. wants in life realistic? Why or why not?

Recall and Interpret 6. (a)Why do you think Trexler pities others? (b)Do
you think his observations are accurate? Explain.
2. (a)What question does the doctor ask Mr. Trexler
at the beginning of the story? What is Trexler’s 7. (a)What personality traits—both positive and nega-
answer? (b)In your opinion, what does Trexler’s tive—does Trexler exhibit? (b)On the basis of these
reaction to the doctor’s first question reveal about traits, do you find Trexler to be a sympathetic char-
Trexler’s state of mind? acter? Explain.

3. (a)What, according to the doctor, is wrong with Connect


Trexler? (b)Do you agree with the doctor’s early
8. Do you think “the second tree from the corner” is
diagnosis of Trexler? Explain.
an effective symbol, or representation, of what
4. (a)How does Trexler respond to the question “What Trexler wants from life? Explain.
do you want?” (b)What does the question make
him think about after his visit to the doctor? (c)In 9. Big Idea Life in the City What does “The
your opinion, what does Trexler want? Second Tree from the Corner” reveal about city life?
Explain using details from the story.

LI T E R A RY A N A LYS I S

Literary Element Plot Review: Irony


At the center of a story’s plot, there is usually a strug- As you learned on page 568, irony is a contrast or
gle, or conflict, between two opposing forces. The discrepancy between appearance and reality. Verbal
conflict might be external—between the main charac- irony occurs when someone says one thing but
ter and another person or an outside force—or it may means another. Situational irony exists when the
be internal—between opposing thoughts or desires outcome of a situation is the opposite of someone’s
within the character’s mind. expectations.
1. Identify and discuss Trexler’s internal conflicts after Group Activity Meet with a small group to discuss
the psychiatrist asks him if he has ever had any E. B. White’s use of irony in “The Second Tree from
bizarre thoughts. the Corner.” Together, create a web diagram like the
one below, filling in the circles with examples of irony
2. Consider Trexler’s comment that his identification
in the story.
with other people is “some rather slick form of
escapism.” Is it possible that Trexler’s ability to look
through others’ eyes leads to a resolution of his Trexler
starts analyzing the
conflict? Explain. psychiatrist.

3. Discuss how the psychiatrist’s question “What


do you want?” helps Trexler to resolve his inner irony
conflict.

E. B. WHITE 933
R E AD I N G A N D VO CA B U L A RY WRITI NG AN D EXTEN DI NG

Reading Strategy Analyzing Text Structure Writing About Literature


Authors often embed several organizational methods Evaluate Author’s Craft E. B. White uses many visual
within the same text. For example, a story might pro- images to describe Trexler’s thoughts and feelings. For
ceed mainly in chronological order but show cause- example, Trexler thinks the doctor “was creeping slowly
and-effect relationships or comparison and contrast at toward him, like a lizard toward a bug.” Write a brief
the same time. essay in which you address the following questions.
Support your answers with evidence from the story.
1. (a)Identify an instance in which White uses cause
and effect as an organizational method. (b)In what • How would you describe the images used in the
way does this example advance the plot? beginning of the story? What do these images sug-
gest about Trexler?
2. (a)Find an example of comparison and contrast in
the story. (b)What does this example reveal about
Trexler’s character?
• In what way do the images toward the end of the
story differ from the earlier ones? What does this
difference suggest about the changes that have
occurred in Trexler?
Vocabulary Practice
Practice with Word Parts Identify the meaning Before you begin your first draft, complete a chart like
of the underlined part of each vocabulary word the one below, listing visual images in the story.
below. Consult a dictionary if you need help. Comment on how each image helps the reader gain a
better understanding of Trexler’s character.
1. amorphous
a. without b. form
2. retractable Image What It Reveals
a. back b. capable of About Trexler
3. hemorrhage “The doctor was not Trexler views himself
a. blood b. severe only watching him as small and
4. inquisitor closely but was vulnerable.
a. question b. one who creeping slowly
5. intimation toward him, like a
a. the act of b. suggest lizard toward a bug.”
“Trexler dodged
back along the
Academic Vocabulary dreadful corridor of
the years.”
Here are two words from the vocabulary list on
page R86.

evident (e və dənt) adj. clear; apparent


normal (nor məl) adj. conforming to a set pat- After you complete your first draft, meet with a peer
tern or standard reviewer to evaluate each other’s work and to suggest
ways to improve it. Then proofread and edit your draft
Practice and Apply for errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
1. Is Trexler’s conflict immediately evident to the
doctor? Explain.
2. Would you describe Trexler’s thoughts as normal
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
or bizarre? Explain. Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

934 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

To Don at Salaam and


The Bean Eaters
M E E T GW E N DO LY N BROO K S

T
he sounds, sights, and rhythm of urban life
pour out of the poetry of Gwendolyn
Brooks. As Brooks once said, “I wanted to
write poems that I could take into the streets.”
With an ear for the beat of the city and the hum
of everyday life, Brooks re-created the lives of
African Americans in the city and elsewhere. struggles of the black community and express the
black experience in a time of rapid change.
Although she was born in Topeka, Kansas, Brooks
grew up in Chicago. A shy girl, Gwendolyn Brooks Poetic Transformation In 1945 Brooks’s first
spent much of her childhood alone reading books and book, A Street in Bronzeville, was published to rave
writing poetry. “My mother says I began rhyming at reviews. In her early work, Brooks wrote poetic
seven. . . . Of course I would be a poet! Was a poet! narratives, using traditional verse forms—such as
Didn’t I write a poem every day? Sometimes two the sonnet and ballad. In the 1960s, however, her
poems?” Her mother’s belief in her talent gave her the voice and style changed, and she brought a new
confidence she needed to keep writing, and Brooks consciousness of her racial identity to her work.
published her first poem, “Eventide,” when she was Inspired by black activism, Brooks began to overtly
thirteen. By the late 1930s, she had published address political issues, especially the need for
seventy-five poems in the Chicago Defender. racial unity. As she became more involved with
the Black Arts movement in Chicago, Brooks
moved from major publishing houses to smaller
“I want to write poems that will be ones run by African Americans. Although her
commitment to racial unity was evident and her
meaningful . . . things that will touch verse powerful, her poetry was never bitter.
[readers].”
Role of the Poet Success and recognition didn’t
—Gwendolyn Brooks change Brooks’s outlook. In fact, it made her more
committed to art and to helping young artists. With
the publication of her second book, Annie Allen, she
became the first African American to win the Pulitzer
Literary Influences Brooks’s mother took her to see Prize. She would later be named Poet Laureate of
poets read whenever they came to Chicago. Two of Illinois, poetry consultant to the Library of Congress,
these poets—James Weldon Johnson and Langston and a member of the National Women’s Hall of
Hughes—became important influences on her career Fame. Most important to Brooks were her visits to
and writing. Johnson played the role of advisor, urging local schools and the classes and contests she spon-
her to read modern poets such as T. S. Eliot and E. E. sored to help urban children “see” the poetry in the
Cummings—poets whose styles would be reflected in world around them. Today, Brooks remains one of
her later work. When Brooks was sixteen, she went to America’s most beloved and inspirational poets.
see Langston Hughes read. After the reading, she gave
Gwendolyn Brooks was born in 1917 and died in 2000.
him some of her poems, which he read immediately.
He encouraged her to continue writing and would
later become her close friend and inspiration. As a Author
Author Search
Search For
For more
more about
about
poet, Brooks shared Hughes’s ability to respond to the Gwendolyn Brooks,
Author Name, go to go to www.glencoe.com.
www.literature.glencoe.com.

GWEND OLYN B ROOKS 935


Bettmann/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W READI NG PREVI EW

Connecting to the Poems Reading Strategy Evaluating Language


Gwendolyn Brooks was a keen observer of people, writing An important element of a writer’s voice and style is
in particular about the lives and struggles of the people in word choice, or diction. As you read these poems,
her Chicago neighborhood. What are the people in your note how Brooks’s individual word choices help create
neighborhood like? As you read “The Bean Eaters” and the tone and convey meaning.
“To Don at Salaam,” think about the following questions:
Reading Tip: Taking Notes Use a chart like the one
• What is unique about your neighborhood and the below to write down important words and their effect
people who live there?
on each poem’s meaning.
• What have you learned about life from the people
in your community?
Word or Words Effect on Meaning
Building Background beans suggest ordinariness
Many of Brooks’s characters, such as the old couple in or poverty
“The Bean Eaters,” were inspired by people who lived
in her neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. Through
such characters, Brooks chronicled the dreams and
disappointments of the African American urban poor.
Other characters, like the man in “To Don at Salaam,”
were inspired by the young black artists and activists of Vocabulary
the 1960s and onward, who possessed what Brooks
called “a general energy, an electricity, in look, walk, impudent (im pyə dənt) adj. cocky, bold;
speech, [and] gesture. . . .” Through such characters, p. 937 In the army, Sean stopped his impudent
Brooks expresses a “black is beautiful” theme. behavior only after being punished by an officer.
tribute (tri byut) n. something given to show
Setting Purposes for Reading affection, gratitude, or respect; p. 937 Marco
Big Idea Life in the City gave a speech in tribute to his son on his wed-
As you read “The Bean Eaters,” notice how the charac- ding day.
ters are influenced by their urban setting. consolidation (kən sa lə da shən) n. the process
of uniting or merging; p. 937 The consolidation
Literary Element Rhyme Scheme of the two companies led to greater efficiency but
fewer jobs.
Rhyme scheme is the pattern that end rhymes form
in a stanza or a poem. Rhyme schemes are desig- twinge (twinj) n. a sudden, sharp physical or
nated by assigning a different letter of the alphabet to emotional pain; p. 938 She felt a twinge of sadness
each new rhyme. For example, the rhyme scheme of a at the sight of her dead grandmother’s photograph.
poem that repeats the same rhyme in every other line
is abab. Notice how Brooks uses rhyme scheme in Vocabulary Tip: Connotation Connotation refers
“The Bean Eaters” and the effect it creates. to the suggested or implied meanings associated
with a word beyond its dictionary definition. A word
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R1 can have a positive or negative connotation.

Interactive Literary Elements


Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

OB J EC TIVES
In studying these selections, you will focus on the following: • understanding rhyme scheme
• analyzing literary periods • evaluating language

9 36 U N IT 6 F ROM DEPRESSION TO COLD WAR


Gwendolyn Brooks

I like to see you lean back in your chair


so far you have to fall but do not—
your arms back, your fine hands
in your print pockets.

5 Beautiful. Impudent.
Ready for life.
A tied storm.

I like to see you wearing your boy smile


whose tribute is for two of us or three.

10 Sometimes in life
things seem to be moving
and they are not
and they are not Hombre ante el infinito (Man before the infinite). Rufino Tamayo.
there. Musée d’Art Moderne, Brussels, Belgium.
15 You are there.

Your voice is the listened-for music.


Your act is the consolidation.

I like to see you living in the world.

Salaam is an Arabic word that means “peace.”

Reading Strategy Evaluating Language Why do you think Brooks uses the word impudent to
describe the man?

Vocabulary
impudent (im pyə dənt) adj. cocky, bold
tribute (tri byut) n. something given to show affection, gratitude, or respect
consolidation (kən sa lə da shən) n. the process of uniting or merging

GWENDOLYN BROOKS 9 37
Art Resource, NY
Gwendolyn Brooks

Onion Tears, 1929. Cagnaccio di San Pietro. Camera di Lavoro, Trieste, Italy.

They eat beans mostly, this old yellow pair.


Dinner is a casual affair.
Plain chipware on a plain and creaking wood,
Tin flatware.

5 Two who are Mostly Good.


Two who have lived their day,
But keep on putting on their clothes
And putting things away.

And remembering . . .
10 Remembering, with twinklings and twinges,
As they lean over the beans in their rented back room that
is full of beads and receipts and dolls and cloths,
tobacco crumbs, vases and fringes.

Big Idea City Life What is city life like for the bean eaters?

Vocabulary
twinge (twinj) n. a sudden, sharp physical or
emotional pain

938 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


Cameraphoto Arte, Venice/Art Resource, NY
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Would you like to meet the man described in “To 5. A word’s connotation is its suggested or implied
Don at Salaam”? Explain. meanings. (a)Name four or more words in “The
Bean Eaters” that have meanings beyond their dic-
Recall and Interpret tionary definitions. (b)Explain how the connotations
2. (a)What is the setting in “The Bean Eaters”? of the word yellow help to describe the couple.
(b)What do the details of the setting show? 6. (a)How would you describe the tone of “The Bean
3. (a)How does Brooks describe the characters in Eaters”? (b)How does the tone help you under-
“The Bean Eaters”? (b)What do the couple’s stand the meaning of the poem?
actions suggest about them? 7. (a)How does Brooks use imagery to describe the
4. (a)In “To Don at Salaam,” what adjectives or adjec- man in “To Don at Salaam”? (b)How well do these
tive phrases does the speaker use to describe the images tell you what the speaker sees in the man?
man? (b)What do these modifiers suggest about
the man? (c)What do they suggest about the Connect
speaker? 8. Big Idea Life in the City What aspects of life
in a big city does “The Bean Eaters” show?

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Rhyme Scheme Reading Strategy Evaluating Language


Rhyme schemes are often predictable, which often Because poems are so compact, each word can carry a
reinforces meaning and aids the reader by providing a great deal of meaning. Look at the chart you created to
flowing, logical structure. In contrast, some poets evaluate the language of the poems. It may help you
employ rhyme without using a rigid rhyme scheme. answer the following questions.
1. (a)What is the rhyme scheme of “The Bean Eaters”? 1. In “The Bean Eaters,” what does Brooks mean by
(b)Is the rhyme scheme predictable? Explain. “twinklings and twinges”? How do these words
communicate both meaning and attitude?
2. Explain how the rhyme scheme affects the poem’s
tone and meaning. 2. In “To Don at Salaam,” the speaker says, “Your act
is the consolidation.” What does the speaker mean?
Why does the poet choose the word consolidation?
Internet Connection
Poet Laureates are given the responsibility of raising the
status of poetry and helping individuals see poetry in their Vocabulary Practice
everyday lives. Brooks was named Poet Laureate of Practice with Connotation Decide whether
Illinois in 1968. Use the Internet to research Brooks’s role each vocabulary word and its synonym below has
as Poet Laureate and what she accomplished during that a positive or negative connotation. Use a dictionary
time. Use your research to write a short essay about or thesaurus if necessary.
Brooks as a Poet Laureate, and share your findings with
the class. 1. twinge pang
2. tribute repayment
3. impudent bold
4. consolidation merger
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

GWEND OLYN BROOKS 939


B EF O R E YO U R E A
ADD

The Magic Barrel


M E E T BE RN A RD M A L A M U D

B
ernard Malamud was born to Russian
Jewish immigrants who worked sixteen
hours a day in their small grocery store on
New York City’s Lower East Side. Reflecting on
his childhood, he would recall that there were
no books in his home, no records or musical
instruments, and no pictures on the walls. He
would, however, recall the generosity of his
father, who bought him the twenty-volume Book
of Knowledge in 1923, when he was a nine-year-
old recovering from pneumonia.
Inspired by his father’s stories of life in czarist
Russia, Malamud began creating stories of his
own for his boyhood friends. He graduated from religious creed. To be Jewish, he felt, was to
City College of New York and Columbia struggle with life’s limitations and responsibili-
University, and while teaching evening classes ties. Malamud said that he wrote about Jews
he wrote short stories that appeared in Harper’s “because they set my imagination going. I know
Bazaar and other magazines. His first novel, something about their history, the quality of
written in 1952 when he was in his late thirties, experience and belief, and of their literature,
was The Natural, the story of the rise and fall of though not as much as I would like.”
a baseball player. The novel was later made into He saw himself as a storyteller whose fictions
a popular movie starring Robert Redford. His were about “simple people struggling to make
second novel, The Assistant, written in 1957, their lives better in a world of bad luck.” His
brought him fame as a major Jewish American characters are often pursued by a sense of injus-
writer. His novel of injustice in czarist Russia, tice, burdened with grief, and strengthened by
The Fixer (1966), won both the National Book their own persistence. They are intensely aware
Award and the Pulitzer Prize. of the past as they try to make a life for them-
selves in the modern world. The mixture of vic-
tory and defeat in their lives endows Malamud’s
“People say I write so much about work with a tragicomic character.

misery, but you write about what you Malamud won highest acclaim as a writer of short
stories, and “The Magic Barrel” is considered one
know best.” of his best. His stories contain a robust humor,
—Bernard Malamud striking contrasts, a strong sense of compassion,
and a complete understanding of his characters
and their way of life.
Bernard Malamud was born in 1914 and died in 1986.
Master of Characterization Though most
of the characters in his stories and novels are
Jewish, Malamud thought of Jewishness as a spiri- Author
Author Search
Search For
For more
more about
about
tual condition rather than as a cultural heritage or Bernard Malamud,
Author Name, go togo to www.glencoe.com.
www.literature.glencoe.com.

940 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


David Lee/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Analyzing


In Malamud’s short story, a young rabbinical student Characterization
decides it is time to get married and sets out to find a Analyzing characterization means examining the
suitable spouse. If you were in a similar situation, what methods an author uses to reveal a character’s person-
steps would you take to choose a spouse? As you ality. In direct characterization the writer makes explicit
read the story, think about the following questions: statements about a character. In indirect characterization
• Would you list the qualities you wanted in a spouse, the writer reveals a character through the character’s
thoughts, words, actions, or appearance or through what
or would you simply rely on your gut feelings?
• Would you ask someone to help you meet the right other characters think and say about that character. The
reader must then use these details to make inferences
person?
about the character.
Building Background
“The Magic Barrel” takes place in New York City, proba- Reading Tip: Taking Notes on Characters There are
bly during the 1950s. Between 1880 and 1914, about two main characters in “The Magic Barrel”: Leo Finkle and
two million Jews from Eastern Europe immigrated to Pinye Salzman. For each character, list the details that the
the United States. The largest concentration of Jewish writer provides and the inferences you make from them.
immigrants settled on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
They brought with them their culture and traditions, Character Details Inferences
which included the use of matchmakers—people paid
to bring young men and women together for the pur-
Pinye dresses not wealthy
pose of marriage.
Salzman shabbily

Setting Purposes for Reading


Big Idea Life in the City
Vocabulary
Malamud mentions various locations, newspapers,
customs, and sights that are unique to New York City. meager (mē ər) adj. deficient in quantity or
As you read, ask yourself what the story reveals about completeness; p. 943 The orphans were fed a
life in that city. meager breakfast of oatmeal and water.
amiable (ā mē ə bəl) adj. friendly; p. 943 Marla’s
Literary Element Dialect amiable smile put her guests at ease.
Dialect is a way of speaking and writing that is charac- animated (an ə mā´tid) adj. full of life; active;
teristic of a particular group, often within a particular lively; p. 943 The zoo visitors enjoyed the mon-
region and time. Dialects may differ from the standard keys’ animated antics.
form of a language in vocabulary, pronunciation, or
enamored (en am ərd) adj. inspired with love;
grammatical form. As you read, notice how Malamud
charmed; captivated; p. 949 Ben was completely
uses dialect in the story.
enamored with Julie.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R4. abjectly (ab jekt lē) adv. in a humiliating,
mean, or degrading manner; p. 950 Disappointed
with his performance, Carl abjectly accepted his
third-place medal.
Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • understanding dialect
• relating literature to historical period • analyzing characterization

BERNARD MALAMUD 9 41
Bernard Malamud

Intensive study, 1910. Unknown. Oil on canvas, 321/4 x 29 in. Judaica Coll. Max Berger,
Vienna, Austria.

942 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY
N ot long ago there lived in uptown New
York in a small, almost meager room, though
He at once informed Salzman why he had
asked him to come, explaining that his home was
crowded with books, Leo Finkle, a rabbinical in Cleveland, and that but for his parents, who
student in the Yeshivah University.1 Finkle, had married comparatively late in life, he
after six years of study, was to be ordained in was alone in the world. He had for six years
June and had been advised by an acquaintance devoted himself almost entirely to his studies,
that he might find it easier to win himself a as a result of which, understandably, he had found
congregation if he were married. Since he had himself without time for a social life and the com-
no present prospects of marriage, after two pany of young women. Therefore he thought it
tormented days of turning it over in his mind, the better part of trial and error—of embarrassing
he called in Pinye Salzman, a marriage broker fumbling—to call in an experienced person to
whose two-line advertisement he had read in advise him on these matters. He remarked in pass-
the Forward.2 ing that the function of the marriage broker was
The matchmaker appeared one night out of ancient and honorable, highly approved in the
the dark fourth-floor hallway of the graystone Jewish community, because it made practical the
rooming house where Finkle lived, grasping a necessary without hindering joy. Moreover, his
black, strapped portfolio that had been worn own parents had been brought together by a
thin with use. Salzman, who had been long in matchmaker. They had made, if not a financially
the business, was of slight but dignified build, profitable marriage—since neither had possessed
wearing an old hat, and an overcoat too short any worldly goods to speak of—at least a success-
and tight for him. He smelled frankly of fish, ful one in the sense of their everlasting devotion
which he loved to eat, and although he was to each other. Salzman listened in embarrassed
missing a few teeth, his presence was not dis- surprise, sensing a sort of apology. Later, however,
pleasing, because of an amiable manner curi- he experienced a glow of pride in his work, an
ously contrasted with mournful eyes. His emotion that had left him years ago, and he heart-
voice, his lips, his wisp of beard, his bony fin- ily approved of Finkle.
gers were animated, but give him a moment of The two went to their business. Leo had led
repose and his mild blue eyes revealed a depth Salzman to the only clear place in the room,
of sadness, a characteristic that put Leo a lit- a table near a window that overlooked the
tle at ease although the situation, for him, was lamp-lit city. He seated himself at the match-
inherently tense. maker’s side but facing him, attempting by an
act of will to suppress the unpleasant tickle in
his throat. Salzman eagerly unstrapped his
1. Yeshivah (yə shē və) University in New York City, originally a portfolio and removed a loose rubber band
seminary for rabbis, today offers both theological and secular from a thin packet of much-handled cards. As
courses.
2. The Yiddish-language newspaper the Jewish Daily Forward
he flipped through them, a gesture and sound
was published daily in New York. that physically hurt Leo, the student pretended
not to see and gazed steadfastly out the win-
Big Idea Life in the City Which details in the first dow. Although it was still February, winter was
paragraph tell you something about Jewish life in New
York City?
on its last legs, signs of which he had for the
first time in years begun to notice. He now
Reading Strategy Analyzing Characterization Why
observed the round white moon, moving high
does the author include these details about Salzman? in the sky through a cloud menagerie,3 and
watched with half-open mouth as it penetrated a
Vocabulary huge hen, and dropped out of her like an egg
meager (mē ər) adj. deficient in quantity or laying itself. Salzman, though pretending
completeness
amiable (ā mē ə bəl) adj. friendly
animated (an ə mā´ tid) adj. full of life; active; lively 3. A menagerie (mi naj ər ē) is a collection of wild or unusual
animals.

BERNAR D MALAMUD 943


Torah Binder, 1848. Shimshon Kurzman. Ink and watercolor on cotton. The Jewish Museum,
New York.

through eyeglasses he had just slipped on, to felt he had told the marriage broker more than
be engaged in scanning the writing on the was absolutely necessary.
cards, stole occasional glances at the young He hesitantly inquired, “Do you keep photo-
man’s distinguished face, noting with pleasure graphs of your clients on file?”
the long, severe scholar’s nose, brown eyes heavy “First comes family, amount of dowry,6 also
with learning, sensitive yet ascetic4 lips, and a what kind promises,” Salzman replied, unbuttoning
certain, almost hollow quality of the dark cheeks. his tight coat and settling himself in the chair.
He gazed around at shelves upon shelves of “After comes pictures, rabbi.”
books and let out a soft, contented sigh. “Call me Mr. Finkle. I’m not yet a rabbi.”
When Leo’s eyes fell upon the cards, he Salzman said he would, but instead called him
counted six spread out in Salzman’s hand. doctor, which he changed to rabbi when Leo was
“So few?” he asked in disappointment. not listening too attentively.
“You wouldn’t believe me how much cards I Salzman adjusted his horn-rimmed spectacles,
got in my office,” Salzman replied. “The drawers gently cleared his throat and read in an eager voice
are already filled to the top, so I keep them now the contents of the top card:
in a barrel, but is every girl good for a new rabbi?” “Sophie P. Twenty-four years. Widow one
Leo blushed at this, regretting all he had year. No children. Educated high school and
revealed of himself in a curriculum vitae5 he two years college. Father promises eight thou-
had sent to Salzman. He had thought it best sand dollars. Has wonderful wholesale busi-
to acquaint him with his strict standards ness. Also real estate. On the mother’s side
and specifications, but in having done so, comes teachers, also one actor. Well known on
Second Avenue.”
Leo gazed up in surprise. “Did you say a widow?”
4. Here, ascetic means “severe” or “stern.”
5. A curriculum vitae (kə ri kyə ləm vē t̄) is a summary of a
person’s education and work experience, usually given to a
prospective employer. Finkle has provided Salzman with 6. A dowry is money or property a woman brings to her
a summary of the “highlights” of his life. husband at the time of marriage.

Reading Strategy Analyzing Characterization What do Big Idea Life in the City What information about New
these details reveal about Finkle and Salzman? York City can you infer from this passage?

944 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


The Jewish Museum of New York/Art Resource, NY
“A widow don’t mean spoiled, rabbi. She lived “So what is the difference, tell me, between
with her husband maybe four months. He was a sick twenty-seven and thirty-two? My own wife is
boy she made a mistake to marry him.” seven years older than me. So what did I suf-
“Marrying a widow has never entered my mind.” fer?—Nothing. If Rothschild’s8 a daughter
“This is because you have no experience. A wants to marry you, would you say on account
widow, especially if she is young and healthy like her age, no?”
this girl, is a wonderful person to marry. She will “Yes,” Leo said dryly.
be thankful to you the rest of her life. Believe Salzman shook off the no in the yes. “Five
me, if I was looking now for a bride, I would years don’t mean a thing. I give you my word
marry a widow.” that when you will live with her for one week
Leo reflected, then shook his head. you will forget her age. What does it mean five
Salzman hunched his shoulders in an almost years—that she lived more and knows more
imperceptible gesture of disappointment. He than somebody who is younger? On this girl,
placed the card down on the wooden table and God bless her, years are not wasted. Each one
began to read another: that it comes makes better
“Lily H. High school the bargain.”
teacher. Regular. Not a “What subject does she
substitute. Has savings teach in high school?”
and new Dodge car. Lived
in Paris one year. Father
“If you heard the “Languages. If you heard
the way she speaks French,
is successful dentist thirty- way she speaks you will think it is music. I
five years. Interested in am in the business twenty-
professional man. Well
French, you five years, and I recommend
Americanized family. will think her with my whole heart.
Wonderful opportunity.” Believe me, I know what
“I knew her person- it is music.” I’m talking, rabbi.”
ally,” said Salzman. “I “What’s on the next
wish you could see this card?” Leo said abruptly.
girl. She is a doll. Also Salzman reluctantly turned
very intelligent. All day up the third card:
you could talk to her about books and “Ruth K. Nineteen years. Honor student.
theyater7 and what not. She also knows Father offers thirteen thousand cash to the
current events.” right bridegroom. He is a medical doctor.
“I don’t believe you mentioned her age?” Stomach specialist with marvelous practice.
“Her age?” Salzman said, raising his brows. “Her Brother-in-law owns own garment business.
age is thirty-two years.” Particular people.”
Leo said after a while, “I’m afraid that seems a Salzman looked as if he had read his trump card.
little too old.” “Did you say nineteen?” Leo asked with
Salzman let out a laugh. “So how old are you, interest.
rabbi?” “On the dot.”
“Twenty-seven.” “Is she attractive?” He blushed. “Pretty?”
Salzman kissed his finger tips. “A little doll. On
this I give you my word. Let me call the father
tonight and you will see what means pretty.”
7. Theyater is the way Salzman is pronouncing the word
theater.
But Leo was troubled. “You’re sure she’s
that young?”
Reading Strategy Analyzing Characterization What “This I am positive. The father will show
qualities does Salzman consider important in a wife?
you the birth certificate.”
Literary Element Dialect How does the use of dialect in
this passage contribute to the characterization of Salzman?
8. The Rothschilds were a prominent, wealthy Jewish family.

BERNAR D MALAMUD 945


“Are you positive there isn’t something Leo found himself hesitating whether to seek out
wrong with her?” Leo insisted. another matchmaker, one more polished than
“Who says there is wrong?” Pinye, he wondered if it could be—his protesta-
“I don’t understand why an American girl tions to the contrary, and although he honored his
her age should go to a marriage broker.” father and mother—that he did not, in essence,
A smile spread over Salzman’s face. care for the match making institution? This
“So for the same reason you went, she comes.” thought he quickly put out of mind yet found him-
Leo flushed. “I am pressed for time.” self still upset. All day he ran around in the
Salzman, realizing he had been tactless, woods9—missed an important appointment, forgot
quickly explained. “The father came, not her. to give out his laundry, walked out of a Broadway
He wants she should have the best, so he cafeteria without paying and had to run back with
looks around himself. When we will locate the ticket in his hand; had even not recognized his
the right boy he will introduce him and landlady in the street when she passed with a friend
encourage. This makes a better marriage than and courteously called out, “A good evening to
if a young girl without experience takes for you, Doctor Finkle.” By nightfall, however, he had
herself. I don’t have to tell you this.” regained sufficient calm to sink his nose into a
“But don’t you think this young girl book and there found peace from his thoughts.
believes in love?” Leo spoke uneasily. Almost at once there came a knock on the
Salzman was about to guffaw but caught him- door. Before Leo could say enter, Salzman, com-
self and said soberly, “Love comes with the right mercial cupid, was standing in the room. His face
person, not before.” was gray and meager, his expression hungry, and
Leo parted dry lips but did not speak. Noticing he looked as if he would expire on his feet. Yet
that Salzman had snatched a glance at the next the marriage broker managed, by some trick of
card, he cleverly asked, “How is her health?” the muscles, to display a broad smile.
“Perfect,” Salzman said, breathing with diffi- “So good evening. I am invited?”
culty. “Of course, she is a little lame on her right Leo nodded, disturbed to see him again, yet
foot from an auto accident that it happened to her unwilling to ask the man to leave.
when she was twelve years, but nobody notices on Beaming still, Salzman laid his portfolio on the
account she is so brilliant and also beautiful.” table. “Rabbi, I got for you tonight good news.”
Leo got up heavily and went to the window. “I’ve asked you not to call me rabbi. I’m still a
He felt curiously bitter and upbraided himself student.”
for having called in the marriage broker. “Your worries are finished. I have for you a
Finally, he shook his head. first-class bride.”
“Why not?” Salzman persisted, the pitch of “Leave me in peace concerning this subject.”
his voice rising. Leo pretended lack of interest.
“Because I detest stomach specialists.” “The world will dance at your wedding.”
“So what do you care what is his business? “Please, Mr. Salzman, no more.”
After you marry her do you need him? Who says “But first must come back my strength,”
he must come every Friday night in your house?” Salzman said weakly. He fumbled with the portfolio
Ashamed of the way the talk was going, Leo straps and took out of the leather case an oily
dismissed Salzman, who went home with heavy, paper bag, from which he extracted a hard,
melancholy eyes.
Though he had felt only relief at the marriage
broker’s departure, Leo was in low spirits the next 9. [ran . . . woods] Here, this phrase means that Finkle was
day. He explained it as arising from Salzman’s nervous and distracted.

failure to produce a suitable bride for him. He Reading Strategy Analyzing Characterization How
did not care for his type of clientele. But when does this description of Salzman differ from the description
of him when he first entered Finkle’s home?

Literary Element Dialect How would this passage be Literary Element Dialect What inversion does
written in Standard English? Salzman make?

946 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


seeded roll and a small, smoked
white fish. With a quick motion
of his hand he stripped the fish
out of its skin and began raven-
ously to chew. “All day in a
rush,” he muttered.
Leo watched him eat.
“A sliced tomato you have
maybe?” Salzman hesitantly
inquired.
“No.”
The marriage broker shut his
eyes and ate. When he had fin-
ished he carefully cleaned up the
crumbs and rolled up the remains
of the fish, in the paper bag. His
spectacled eyes roamed the room
until he discovered, amid some
piles of books, a one-burner gas
stove. Lifting his hat he humbly
asked, “A glass tea you got, rabbi?”
Conscience-stricken, Leo rose
and brewed the tea. He served it
with a chunk of lemon and two
cubes of lump sugar, delighting
Salzman.
After he had drunk his tea,
Salzman’s strength and good spir-
its were restored.
“So tell me, rabbi,” he said Portrait of Miss Stryker (Portrait of an Aristocrat). Ella Condie Lamb. Pastels on
paper, 26 / x 22 / in. Collection of The Newark Museum, NJ.
1 5
amiably, “you considered some 2 8

more the three clients I mentioned


yesterday?” tains where she went for her vacation. When
“There was no need to consider.” her father spoke to me the first time I forgot
“Why not?” to write the age and I told you thirty-two, but
“None of them suits me.” now I remember this was a different client, a
“What then suits you?” widow.”
Leo let it pass because he could give only a “The same one you told me about? I thought
confused answer. she was twenty-four?”
Without waiting for a reply, Salzman asked, “A different. Am I responsible that the world
“You remember this girl I talked to you—the is filled with widows?”
high school teacher?” “No, but I’m not interested in them, nor for
“Age thirty-two?” that matter, in school teachers.”
But, surprisingly, Salzman’s face lit in a smile. Salzman pulled his clasped hands to his
“Age twenty-nine.” breast. Looking at the ceiling he devoutly
Leo shot him a look. “Reduced from thirty-two?” exclaimed, “Yiddishe kinder,10 what can I say
“A mistake,” Salzman avowed. “I talked
today with the dentist. He took me to his
safety deposit box and showed me the birth
certificate. She was twenty-nine years last 10. Yiddishe kinder (yid ish ə kint ər) means “Jewish
August. They made her a party in the moun- children” or “Jewish young people.”

BER NAR D MALAMUD 947


The Newark Museum/Art Resource, NY
to somebody that he is not interested in high sound—score another for Salzman, who he
school teachers? So what then you are interested?” uneasily sensed to be somewhere around, hiding
Leo flushed but controlled himself. perhaps high in a tree along the street, flashing
“In what else will you be interested,” Salzman the lady signals with a pocket mirror; or perhaps
went on, “if you not interested in this fine girl a cloven-hoofed Pan, piping nuptial ditties as he
that she speaks four languages and has person- danced his invisible way before them, strewing
ally in the bank ten thousand dollars? Also her wild buds on the walk and
father guarantees further twelve thousand. Also purple grapes in their path,
she has new car, wonderful clothes, talks on all symbolizing fruit of a
subjects, and she will give you a first-class home union, though there was of
and children. How near do we come in our life course still none.
to paradise?” Lily startled Leo by
“If she’s so wonderful, why wasn’t she married remarking, “I was thinking
ten years ago?” of Mr. Salzman, a curious Visual Vocabulary
In Greek mythol-
“Why?” said Salzman with a heavy laugh. figure, wouldn’t you say?” ogy, Pan was a god
“—Why? Because she is partikiler.11 This is why. Not certain what to of pastures, flocks,
She wants the best.” answer, he nodded. and shepherds who
Leo went silent, amused at how he had entan- She bravely went on, was believed to
foster reproduction
gled himself. But Salzman had aroused his interest blushing, “I for one am
and growth. He
in Lily H., and he began seriously to consider call- grateful for his introducing was traditionally
ing on her. When the marriage broker observed us. Aren’t you?” depicted as a musi-
how intently Leo’s mind was at work on the facts He courteously replied, cian who was part
he had supplied, he felt certain they would soon “I am.” man and part goat.

come to an agreement. “I mean,” she said with


a little laugh—and it was all in good taste, or
Late Saturday afternoon, conscious of Salzman, at least gave the effect of being not in bad—
Leo Finkle walked with Lily Hirschorn along “do you mind that we came together so?”
Riverside Drive.12 He walked briskly and erectly, He was not displeased with her honesty, rec-
wearing with distinction the black fedora13 he ognizing that she meant to set the relationship
had that morning taken with trepidation out of aright, and understanding that it took a cer-
the dusty hat box on his closet shelf, and the tain amount of experience in life, and courage,
heavy black Saturday coat he had thoroughly to want to do it quite that way. One had to
whisked clean. Leo also owned a walking stick, a have some sort of past to make that kind of
present from a distant relative, but quickly put beginning.
temptation aside and did not use it. Lily, petite He said that he did not mind. Salzman’s
and not unpretty, had on something signifying function was traditional and honorable—
the approach of spring. She was au courant14 valuable for what it might achieve, which,
animatedly, with all sorts of subjects, and he he pointed out, was frequently nothing.
weighed her words and found her surprisingly Lily agreed with a sigh. They walked on
for a while and she said after a long silence,
again with a nervous laugh, “Would you mind
11. Partikiler is the way Salzman is pronouncing the word if I asked you something a little bit personal?
particular. Frankly, I find the subject fascinating.”
12. Riverside Drive, a major road on the west side of
Although Leo shrugged, she went on half
Manhattan, runs beside the Hudson River.
13. A fedora (fi dor ə) is a soft felt hat with a curved brim embarrassedly, “How was it that you came to
and a lengthwise crease in the crown. your calling? I mean was it a sudden passionate
14. The French words au courant (ō k¯¯¯ oo ran) literally mean inspiration?”
“in the current” but are most often used to mean “fully
informed” or “up-to-date.”

Big Idea Life in the City Which details depict a stroll in Reading Strategy Analyzing Characterization What
New York City rather than in the country? does this passage reveal about Finkle’s state of mind?

948 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


North Wind Picture Archives
Leo, after a time, slowly replied, “I was always He was infuriated with the marriage broker and
interested in the Law.” swore he would throw him out of the room the
“You saw revealed in it the presence of the minute he reappeared. But Salzman did not come
Highest?” that night, and when Leo’s anger had subsided,15 an
He nodded and changed the subject. “I unaccountable despair grew in its place. At first he
understand that you spent a little time in thought this was caused by his disappointment in
Paris, Miss Hirschorn?” Lily, but before long it became evident that he had
“Oh, did Mr. Salzman tell you, Rabbi involved himself with Salzman without a true
Finkle?” Leo winced but she went on, “It was knowledge of his own intent. He gradually real-
ages ago and almost forgotten. I remember I ized—with an emptiness that seized him with six
had to return for my sister’s wedding.” hands—that he had called in the broker to find him
And Lily would not be put off. “When,” she a bride because he was incapable of doing it himself.
asked in a trembly voice, “did you become This terrifying insight he had derived as a result of
enamored of God?” his meeting and conversation with Lily Hirschorn.
He stared at her. Then it came to him that Her probing questions had somehow irritated him
she was talking not about Leo Finkle, but of a into revealing—to himself more than her—the true
total stranger, some mystical figure, perhaps nature of his relationship to God, and from that it
even passionate prophet that Salzman had had come upon him, with shocking force, that apart
dreamed up for her—no relation to the living from his parents, he had never loved anyone.
or dead. Leo trembled with rage and weakness. Or perhaps it went the other way, that he did not
The trickster had obviously sold her a bill of love God so well as he might, because he had not
goods, just as he had him, who’d expected to loved man. It seemed to Leo that his whole life
become acquainted with a young lady of twenty- stood starkly revealed and he saw himself for the
nine, only to behold, the moment he laid eyes first time as he truly was—unloved and loveless.
upon her strained and anxious face, a woman This bitter but somehow not fully unexpected rev-
past thirty-five and aging rapidly. Only his self elation brought him to a point of panic, controlled
control had kept him this long in her presence. only by extraordinary effort. He covered his face
“I am not,” he said gravely, “a talented religious with his hands and cried.
person,” and in seeking words to go on, found him- The week that followed was the worst of his life.
self possessed by shame and fear. “I think,” he said He did not eat and lost weight. His beard darkened
in a strained manner, “that I came to God not and grew ragged. He stopped attending seminars
because I loved Him, but because I did not.” and almost never opened a book. He seriously con-
This confession he spoke harshly because its sidered leaving the Yeshivah, although he was
unexpectedness shook him. deeply troubled at the thought of the loss of all his
Lily wilted. Leo saw a profusion of loaves of years of study—saw them like pages torn from a
bread go flying like ducks high over his head, not book, strewn over the city—and at the devastating
unlike the winged loaves by which he had counted effect of this decision upon his parents. But he had
himself to sleep last night. Mercifully, then, it lived without knowledge of himself, and never
snowed, which he would not put past Salzman’s in the Five Books and all the Commentaries16—
machinations. mea culpa17—had the truth been revealed to
him. He did not know where to turn, and in
all this desolating loneliness there was no to
Literary Element Dialect How could you rephrase this whom, although he often thought of Lily but
sentence using a standard grammatical form? not once could bring himself to go downstairs

Reading Strategy Analyzing Characterization What


15. Subsided means “decreased in intensity.”
does this confession reveal about Finkle?
16. The Pentateuch (pen tə took´), or first Five Books of the
Hebrew Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and
Vocabulary Deuteronomy), are known collectively in Judaism as the
enamored (en am ərd) adj. inspired with love; Torah, or the Law. Commentaries provide explanatory and
charmed; captivated scholarly information about the biblical texts.
17. Mea culpa (mā ə kool´ pə) means “my own fault” in Latin.

BERNAR D MALAMUD 949


and make the call. He became touchy and “Of this don’t be too sure. Her father told me—”
irritable, especially with his landlady, who “Never mind. The worst of it was that you lied
asked him all manner of personal questions; to her.”
on the other hand, sensing his own disagree- “How did I lie to her, tell me?”
ableness, he waylaid her on the stairs and “You told her things about me that weren’t
apologized abjectly, until mortified, she ran true. You made me out to be more, conse-
from him. Out of this, however, he drew the quently less than I am. She had in mind a
consolation that he was a Jew and that a Jew totally different person, a sort of semi-mystical
suffered. But gradually, as the long and terrible Wonder Rabbi.”
week drew to a close, he regained his compo- “All I said, you was a religious man.”
sure and some idea of pur- “I can imagine.”
pose in life: to go on as Salzman sighed. “This is
planned. Although he was my weakness that I have,”
imperfect, the ideal was not. Perhaps love he confessed. “My wife says
As for his quest of a bride, to me I shouldn’t be a sales-
the thought of continuing would now man, but when I have two
afflicted him with anxiety
and heartburn, yet perhaps
come to him fine people that they would
be wonderful to be married,
with this new knowledge of and a bride I am so happy that I talk
himself he would be more too much.” He smiled
successful than in the past.
to that love. wanly.18 “This is why
Perhaps love would now Salzman is a poor man.”
come to him and a bride to Leo’s anger left him.
that love. And for this sanctified seeking who “Well, Salzman, I’m afraid that’s all.”
needed a Salzman? The marriage broker fastened hungry eyes
The marriage broker, a skeleton with on him.
haunted eyes, returned that very night. He “You don’t want any more a bride?”
looked, withal, the picture of frustrated expec- “I do,” said Leo, “but I have decided to seek her
tancy—as if he had steadfastly waited the week in a different way. I am no longer interested in an
at Miss Lily Hirschorn’s side for a telephone arranged marriage. To be frank, I now admit the
call that never came. necessity of premarital love. That is, I want to be
Casually coughing, Salzman came immediately in love with the one I marry.”
to the point: “So how did you like her?” “Love?” said Salzman, astounded. After a
Leo’s anger rose and he could not refrain from moment he remarked, “For us, our love is our
chiding the matchmaker: “Why did you lie to life, not for the ladies. In the ghetto they—”
me, Salzman?” “I know, I know,” said Leo. “I’ve thought of
Salzman’s pale face went dead white, the it often. Love, I have said to myself, should be
world had snowed on him. a by-product of living and worship rather than
“Did you not state that she was twenty-nine?” its own end. Yet for myself I find it necessary
Leo insisted. to establish the level of my need and fulfill it.”
“I give you my word—” Salzman shrugged but answered, “Listen,
“She was thirty-five, if a day. At least thirty- rabbi, if you want love, this I can find for you
five.” also. I have such beautiful clients that you will
love them the minute your eyes will see them.”
Leo smiled unhappily. “I’m afraid you don’t
Reading Strategy Analyzing Characterization What understand.”
does this third description of Salzman suggest about him?

18. Here, wanly means “sadly” or “in a dejected way.”


Vocabulary
abjectly (ab jekt lē) adv. in a humiliating, mean, or Reading Strategy Analyzing Characterization Why
degrading manner does Finkle reach this conclusion?

950 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


But Salzman hastily unstrapped his portfolio machine for a quarter. He gazed at it a moment
and withdrew a manila packet from it. and let out a cry.
“Pictures,” he said, quickly laying the envelope Her face deeply moved him. Why, he could
on the table. at first not say. It gave him the impression of
Leo called after him to take the pictures away, youth—spring flowers, yet age—a sense of having
but as if on the wings of the wind, Salzman had been used to the bone, wasted; this came from the
disappeared. eyes, which were hauntingly familiar, yet absolutely
strange. He had a vivid impression that he had met
March came. Leo had returned to his regular her before, but try as he might he could not place
routine. Although he felt not quite himself yet— her although he could almost recall her name, as if
lacked energy—he was mak- he had read it in her own
ing plans for a more active handwriting. No, this couldn’t
social life. Of course it would be; he would have remembered
cost something, but he was her. It was not, he affirmed,
an expert in cutting corners; Her face deeply that she had an extraordinary
and when there were no cor-
ners left he would make cir-
moved him. beauty—no, though her face
was attractive enough; it was
cles rounder. All the while Why, he could at that something about her
Salzman’s pictures had lain moved him. Feature for fea-
on the table, gathering dust. first not say. ture, even some of the ladies of
Occasionally as Leo sat the photographs could do bet-
studying, or enjoying a cup ter; but she leaped forth to his
of tea, his eyes fell on the heart—had lived, or wanted
manila envelope, but he never opened it. to—more than just wanted, perhaps regretted how
The days went by and no social life to speak of she had lived—had somehow deeply suffered: it
developed with a member of the opposite sex—it could be seen in the depths of those reluctant eyes,
was difficult, given the circumstances of his situa- and from the way the light enclosed and shone from
tion. One morning Leo toiled up the stairs to his her, and within her, opening realms of possibility:
room and stared out the window at the city. this was her own. Her he desired. His head ached
Although the day was bright his view of it was dark. and eyes narrowed with the intensity of his gazing,
For some time he watched the people in the street then as if an obscure fog had blown up in the mind,
below hurrying along and then turned with a heavy he experienced fear of her and was aware that he
heart to his little room. On the table was the had received an impression, somehow, of evil. He
packet. With a sudden relentless gesture he tore it shuddered, saying softly, it is thus with us all. Leo
open. For a half-hour he stood by the table in a brewed some tea in a small pot and sat sipping it
state of excitement, examining the photographs of without sugar, to calm himself. But before he had
the ladies Salzman had included. Finally, with a finished drinking, again with excitement he exam-
deep sigh he put them down. There were six, of ined the face and found it good: good for Leo Finkle.
varying degrees of attractiveness, but look at them Only such a one could understand him and help
long enough and they all became Lily Hirschorn: him seek whatever he was seeking. She might, per-
all past their prime, all starved behind bright haps, love him. How she had happened to be among
smiles, not a true personality in the lot. Life, the discards in Salzman’s barrel he could never guess,
despite their frantic yoohooings, had passed them but he knew he must urgently go find her.
by; they were pictures in a brief case that stank of Leo rushed downstairs, grabbed up the Bronx19
fish. After a while, however, as Leo attempted to telephone book, and searched for Salzman’s home
return the photographs into the envelope, he found
in it another, a snapshot of the type taken by a
19. The Bronx is one of five boroughs, or divisions, that make
up New York City. Manhattan is another.

Big Idea Life in the City How do the descriptions of city Reading Strategy Analyzing Characterization Why is
life here enhance the tone? Finkle experiencing fear here?

BERNARD MALAMUD 9 51
address. He was not listed, nor was his office. She stared at him a long minute. “Of course.”
Neither was he in the Manhattan book. But Leo He felt embarrassed. “Is he in?”
remembered having written down the address “No.” Her mouth, though left open, offered
on a slip of paper after he had read Salzman’s nothing more.
advertisement in the “personals” column of “The matter is urgent. Can you tell me where
the Forward. He ran up to his room and tore his office is?”
through his papers, without luck. It was exasper- “In the air.” She pointed upward.
ating. Just when he needed the matchmaker he “You mean he has no office?” Leo asked.
was nowhere to be found. “In his socks.”
Fortunately Leo remembered He peered into the apartment. It was sun-
to look in his wallet. There less and dingy, one large room divided by a
on a card he found his name half-open curtain, beyond which he could see
written and a Bronx address. a sagging metal bed. The near side of a room
No phone number was was crowded with rickety chairs, old bureaus,
Visual Vocabulary
listed, the reason—Leo now a three-legged table, racks of cooking utensils,
A skullcap,
or yarmulke
recalled—he had originally and all the apparatus of a kitchen. But there
(ya mə kə), is a communicated with Salzman was no sign of Salzman or his magic barrel,
brimless cap by letter. He got on his coat, probably also a figment of the imagination.
worn by many put a hat on over his skullcap An odor of frying fish made Leo weak to the
Jewish men and and hurried to the subway knees.
boys, especially
station. All the way to the far “Where is he?” he insisted. “I’ve got to see
during religious
services.
end of the Bronx he sat on your husband.”
the edge of his seat. He was At length she answered, “So who knows
more than once tempted to where he is? Every time he thinks a new
take out the picture and see if the girl’s face was thought he runs to a different place. Go home,
as he remembered it, but he refrained, allowing he will find you.”
the snapshot to remain in his inside coat pocket, “Tell him Leo Finkle.”
content to have her so close. When the train She gave no sign she had heard.
pulled into the station he was waiting at the He walked downstairs, depressed.
door and bolted out. He quickly located the But Salzman, breathless, stood waiting at
street Salzman had advertised. his door.
The building he sought was less than a block Leo was astounded and overjoyed. “How did
from the subway, but it was not an office building, you get here before me?”
nor even a loft, nor a store in which one could “I rushed.”
rent office space. It was a very old tenement20 “Come inside.”
house. Leo found Salzman’s name in pencil on a They entered. Leo fixed tea, and a sardine
soiled tag under the bell and climbed three dark sandwich for Salzman. As they were drinking
flights to his apartment. When he knocked, the he reached behind him for the packet of pic-
door was opened by a thin, asthmatic, gray-haired tures and handed them to the marriage broker.
woman in felt slippers. Salzman put down his glass and said
“Yes?” she said, expecting nothing. She listened expectantly, “You found somebody you like?”
without listening. He could have sworn he had “Not among these.”
seen her, too, before but knew it was an illusion. The marriage broker turned away.
“Salzman—does he live here? Pinye Salzman,” “Here is the one I want.” Leo held forth the
he said, “the matchmaker?” snapshot.
Salzman slipped on his glasses and took the
picture into his trembling hand. He turned
20. A tenement is an apartment building or rooming house
that is built or maintained poorly and is often overcrowded.
ghastly and let out a groan.
“What’s the matter?” cried Leo.
Big Idea Life in the City What details set the scene in “Excuse me. Was an accident this picture.
New York City?
She isn’t for you.”

952 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


Christopher Morris/Black Star Publishing/PictureQuest
Salzman frantically shoved
the manila packet into his
portfolio. He thrust the snap-
shot into his pocket and fled
down the stairs.
Leo, after momentary paraly-
sis, gave chase and cornered
the marriage broker in the ves-
tibule.21 The landlady made
hysterical outcries but neither
of them listened.
“Give me back the picture,
Salzman.”
“No.” The pain in his eyes
was terrible.
“Tell me who she is then.”
“This I can’t tell you.
Excuse me.”
He made to depart, but Leo,
forgetting himself, seized the
matchmaker by his tight coat
and shook him frenziedly.
“Please,” sighed Salzman.
“Please.”
Leo ashamedly let him go.
“Tell me who she is,” he begged.
“It’s very important for me to
know.”
“She is not for you. She is a
wild one—wild, without shame.
This is not a bride for a rabbi.”
“What do you mean wild?”
“Like an animal. Like a dog.
For her to be poor was a sin. This
is why to me she is dead now.”
“In God’s name, what do you
mean?”
“Her I can’t introduce to
you,” Salzman cried.
“Why are you so excited?”
“Why, he asks,” Salzman said,
The Lover of Books, 1934. Moses Soyer. Oil on canvas, 42 x 231/2 in. The Jewish
bursting into tears. “This is my Museum, New York.
baby, my Stella, she should burn
in hell.”
Leo hurried up to bed and hid he thought his life through. Although he
under the covers. Under the covers soon fell asleep he could not sleep her out of
his mind. He woke, beating his breast.
21. A vestibule (ves tə būl´) is an entrance hall or lobby. Though he prayed to be rid of her, his prayers
went unanswered. Through days of torment
Reading Strategy Analyzing Characterization Why he endlessly struggled not to love her; fearing
does his daughter’s wildness cause Salzman to reject her?
success, he escaped it. He then concluded
BERNAR D MALAMUD 953
The Jewish Museum of New York/Art Resource, NY
to convert her to goodness, himself to God. The Leaving the cafeteria, he was, however,
idea alternately nauseated and exalted him. afflicted by a tormenting suspicion that
He perhaps did not know that he had come to Salzman had planned it all to happen this way.
a final decision until he encountered Salzman in
a Broadway cafeteria. He was sitting alone at a Leo was informed by letter that she would
rear table, sucking the bony remains of a fish. meet him on a certain corner, and she was
The marriage broker appeared haggard, and there one spring night, waiting under a street
transparent to the point of vanishing. lamp. He appeared, carrying a small bouquet
Salzman looked up at first without recognizing of violets and rosebuds. Stella stood by the
him. Leo had grown a pointed beard and his eyes lamp post, smoking. She wore white with red
were weighted with wisdom. shoes, which fitted his expectations, although
“Salzman,” he said, “love has at last come to in a troubled moment he had imagined the
my heart.” dress red, and only the shoes white. She
“Who can love from a picture?” mocked the waited uneasily and shyly. From afar he saw
marriage broker. that her eyes—clearly her father’s—were filled
“It is not impossible.” with desperate innocence. He pictured, in her,
“If you can love her, then you can love any- his own redemption. Violins and lit candles
body. Let me show you some new clients that revolved in the sky. Leo ran forward with
they just sent me their photographs. One is a flowers outthrust.
little doll.” Around the corner, Salzman, leaning against a
“Just her I want,” Leo murmured. wall, chanted prayers for the dead. 
“Don’t be a fool, doctor. Don’t bother with her.”
“Put me in touch with her, Salzman,” Leo said
humbly. “Perhaps I can be of service.” Reading Strategy Analyzing Characterization How is
Salzman had stopped eating and Leo under- Finkle’s date with Stella different from his previous date with
Lily Hirschorn?
stood with emotion that it was now arranged.

954 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Were you surprised by the outcome of the story? 5. Why might Finkle have responded so strongly to
Explain why or why not. the snapshot of Stella?

Recall and Interpret 6. How does the setting of Salzman’s apartment add
to the author’s characterization of the matchmaker?
2. (a)Why does Leo Finkle decide to consult a mar-
Explain with details from the selection.
riage broker, or matchmaker? (b)What do you think
consulting a marriage broker represents for Finkle? 7. Imagine that you are buying something and the
salesperson uses methods like Salzman’s. How
3. (a)Who are the first three women Salzman
would you respond? Explain your answer.
describes? (b)How does Finkle react to the
description of each? (c)What does Finkle’s attitude 8. How does Malamud use suspense to draw the
toward the women reveal about his personality? reader into the story? Support your response.

4. (a)How does Finkle feel about Salzman at the end Connect


of the story? (b)Do you think Finkle’s suspicion
about Salzman at the end of the story is correct? 9. Big Idea Life in the City In what ways does the

Support your answer with evidence from the story. city environment shape and influence Finkle’s life?

LI T E R A RY A N A LYS I S

Literary Element Dialect Group Activity Meet with a small group to discuss
the motivations of Leo Finkle in “The Magic Barrel.”
In “The Magic Barrel,” Salzman speaks in a dialect of
Create a chart like the one shown, and fill it in by
English influenced by Yiddish grammar and syntax. For
identifying the motivation for each action listed.
example, he says “She lived with her husband maybe
four months. He was a sick boy she made a mistake
LEO F INKLE
to marry him.” In Standard English, this passage might
read, “She lived with her husband for perhaps four Motivation Actions

months. He was a sick boy; it was a mistake for her to


1. calls in Salzman
marry him.”
1. Find three more examples of dialect in Salzman’s 2. rejects Salzman’s
speech in the story. three candidates

2. Notice that Salzman speaks in dialect but Finkle


3. agrees to meet
does not. What do these differences in speech tell Lily Hirschorn
you about these characters?
4. stops eating and
attending seminars

Review: Motivation
5. falls in love with
Motivation is the reason or cause for a character’s Stella’s snapshot
actions. The cause may be internal (for example, a
character’s ambition, fear, or love) or external (for
example, societal pressure or danger). Most characters
are motivated by both internal and external factors.

BERNAR D MALAMUD 955


R E AD I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY WRITI NG AN D EXTEN DI NG

Reading Strategy Analyzing Writing About Literature


Characterization Analyze Cultural Context “The Magic Barrel” is set
In “The Magic Barrel,” Malamud primarily uses indirect primarily in a Jewish community in New York City.
characterization to reveal the personalities of his two Write a brief essay analyzing this cultural context.
main characters. Indirect characterization requires readers Discuss the following questions and use evidence
to interpret details and events—to reach conclusions on from the story to support your ideas.
the basis of the clues provided by the author. 1. What is the general attitude of the Jewish population
1. Find three instances in which Malamud portrays toward rabbis? What does this suggest about the
Salzman’s character. importance of religion in the lives of the people?

2. Identify the method used to reveal character in 2. Marriage brokers play an important role in the social
each instance: for example, through the character’s life of the community. What does this tell you about
thoughts, words, actions, or appearance or through the community’s attitude toward marriage and the
what other characters think and say about that family?
character. 3. What qualities does Salzman esteem in a wife? What
3. Write a brief sketch of Salzman’s character based does this suggest about the community’s values?
on these passages. Before you begin your first draft, complete a chart like
the one started below. List the qualities valued by
Finkle and Salzman, the representatives of the culture.
Vocabulary Practice
Practice with Word Origins You know that Latin Rabbis and Marriage and Qualities
roots form the basis of many English words and Religion Family Desirable in a
Wife
that the meaning of an English word is related to
Finkle’s wants to be
the meaning of its root. Study the meanings of
Attitude a rabbi but
these Latin roots: has conflicted
feelings about
ami(c)—”friend” anim—”mind; soul” amat or God
amor—”to love” Salzman’s respects rabbis
Attitude
Now notice how the roots affect the meanings of
three vocabulary words from the selection:
amiable—”friendly” After you complete your first draft, get together with a
classmate to evaluate each other’s work and to sug-
animated—”full of life, or soul”
gest revisions. Then proofread and edit your draft for
enamored—”filled with love” errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Write each word below and underline its Latin
root. Then tell how the root contributes to the Learning for Life
meaning of the word.
Group Activity For many people who are busy or shy,
1. amateur or who have trouble meeting romantic partners for other
2. amicable reasons, dating services have taken the place of match-
3. amity makers. Imagine yourself as the owner of a dating service.
4. magnanimous Write the text for a brochure to persuade people like Leo
5. amorous Finkle and Lily Hirschorn to use your service. Keep in mind
that such a brochure would be a form of persuasive writing.

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

956 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

The Rockpile
M E E T JA M ES BA LDW I N

J ames Baldwin wrote constantly about contro-


versial topics, such as race, politics, love, and
religion. In the course of his career, Baldwin
produced a formidable body of work, which holds a
place of honor in American literature. To achieve
that eminence, he had to overcome many obstacles.
The grandson of slaves, Baldwin grew up in a
large, impoverished family in the Harlem neigh-
borhood of New York during the economic hard
times of the Great Depression. He once said that
he wanted to be rich and famous simply so no one
could evict his family again. Alhough he wrote not being consumed by it—became the basis for
plays, short stories, and novels, Baldwin is perhaps much of his work, both fiction and nonfiction.
most highly regarded as an essayist. Among his
Changing Perspectives Baldwin’s later work
most famous essay collections are Notes of a Native
focused primarily on protesting racial inequality. He
Son, Nobody Knows My Name, and The Fire Next
said, “It is a terrible, an inexorable, law that one can-
Time. In both his fiction and his nonfiction, he
not deny the humanity of another without diminish-
examined issues of African American identity and
ing one’s own: in the face of one’s victim, one sees
the sources of racial bigotry in the twentieth-
himself.” Besides achieving fame as a writer, Baldwin
century United States.
was also a popular speaker during the civil rights
movement of the 1950s and 1960s. His uncompro-
mising honesty and realism, his ear for language, and
“I love America more than any other his early experience as a minister combined to make
him a powerful force at the podium.
country in the world, and exactly for
In 1969 Baldwin moved to France, where he
this reason, I insist on the right to lived for the majority of the rest of his life. In the
criticize her perpetually.” United States, Baldwin had never won a major
literary prize. In France, he was honored with one
—James Baldwin of the literary world’s most prestigious awards:
Commander of the Legion of Honor. When James
Baldwin died, his body was sent back to Harlem
Confronting the Past Baldwin’s work first and buried only a few blocks from the house
became known to a wide audience when he pub- where he was born. More than 5,000 mourners
lished his novel Go Tell It on the Mountain in 1953, gathered to pay their respects to the man who
a work that reflects the author’s search for his roots. once said, “An artist is here not to give you
Baldwin had struggled with the novel for ten years, answers, but to ask you questions.”
noting that, “In a sense, I wrote to redeem my James Baldwin was born in 1924 and died in 1987.
father. I had to understand the forces, the experi-
ence, the life that shaped him before I could grow
up myself, before I could become a writer.” Baldwin’s Author Search For more about
ability to accept and use the pain of the past—while James Baldwin, go to www.glencoe.com.

JAMES BALDWIN 957


Bettmann/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W READI NG PREVI EW

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Making Generalizations


Have you ever known someone who chose to side About Characters
with a brother, sister, or friend even though it meant A generalization is a broad conclusion drawn from
breaking the rules? In “The Rockpile,” a boy gives his specific details. As you read, use details to make
word to his brother and honors it even though he generalizations about the family members in
could end up hurting them both. As you read the “The Rockpile.”
story, think about the following questions:

• When is it justified to break the rules? Reading Tip: Taking Notes In a chart, record details
• What would you risk to keep your word to someone? and generalizations about the main characters.

Building Background Details Generalizations


This story is set in the New York City neighborhood of Roy gazed at the Roy and John have
Harlem. Although no precise time is given, it appears street, wishing he had different personalities.
to be the 1930s—the time of Baldwin’s youth. “The wings; John was afraid
Rockpile” may well be set near the first home Baldwin of the rockpile.
remembered living in, at Park Avenue and 131st Street.
Like John in the story, Baldwin was the oldest child in
a large family. His mother married David Baldwin three
years after James’s birth, so, like John, young Baldwin Vocabulary
was a stepson. Like the father in the story, David
Baldwin was a Protestant minister and a stern man
grapple ( rap əl) v. to struggle in hand-to-hand
who did not like his children playing in the streets. In
combat; to wrestle; p. 959 The man grappled
fact, he believed that going outside, except to go to
with his attacker.
church or to the store, was certain to lead to sin. loiter (loi tər) v. to stand or linger idly or aim-
lessly about a place; p. 960 We thought it best not
Setting Purposes for Reading to loiter in the empty street.
Big Idea Life in the City intimidated (in tim ə dāt´əd) adj. made timid or
As you read the story, look for details about the setting fearful; frightened into submission or inaction;
and characters that provide information about urban p. 960 When the large man pushed me, I was so
life in the Depression-era United States. intimidated that I was speechless.
engrossed (en rōst ) adj. fully attentive to;
Literary Element Foil completely engaged in; absorbed; p. 961 I spoke
A foil is a minor character whose contrast with a main to my mother, but she was engrossed in the news-
character highlights particular traits of that main charac- paper and did not look up.
ter. As you read “The Rockpile,” examine how your jubilant (j¯¯
¯ bə lənt) adj. extremely happy; tri-
oo
understanding of the main character is expanded as a umphantly joyful; p. 961 The people were jubi-
result of the presence of the foil. lant when they heard that the war had ended.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R7. Vocabulary Tip: Analogies An analogy is a com-
parison that shows similarities between two things
Interactive Literary Elements that are otherwise dissimilar.
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

OB J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • making generalizations about characters
• analyzing literary periods • writing an evaluative essay
• recognizing a character foil • understanding analogies

9 58 U N IT 6 F ROM DEPRESSION TO COLD WAR


Harlem, 1942. Jacob
Lawrence. Gouache on
composition board,
213/4 x 29 3 /4 in. Private
collection. The Jacob
and Gwendolyn
Lawrence Foundation,
New York.

James Baldwin

A cross the street from their house, in an


empty lot between two houses, stood the rock-
dangerous, and reckless, they rushed each other
and grappled on the heights, sometimes disap-
pile. It was a strange place to find a mass of natu- pearing down the other side in a confusion of
ral rock jutting out of the ground; and someone, dust and screams and upended, flying feet. “It’s a
probably Aunt Florence, had once told them wonder they don’t kill themselves,” their mother
that the rock was there and could not be taken said, watching sometimes from the fire escape.
away because without it the subway cars under- “You children stay away from there, you hear
ground would fly apart, killing all the people. me?” Though she said “children,” she was look-
This, touching on some natural mystery concern- ing at Roy, where he sat beside John on the fire
ing the surface and the center of the earth, was escape. “The good Lord knows,” she continued,
far too intriguing an explanation to be chal- “I don’t want you to come home bleeding like a
lenged, and it invested the rockpile, moreover, hog every day the Lord sends.” Roy shifted impa-
with such mysterious importance that Roy felt it tiently, and continued to stare at the street, as
to be his right, not to say his duty, to play there. though in this gazing he might somehow acquire
Other boys were to be seen there each after- wings. John said nothing. He had not really been
noon after school and all day Saturday and spoken to: he was afraid of the rockpile and of
Sunday. They fought on the rockpile. Surefooted, the boys who played there.

Literary Element Foil What does this detail suggest


Big Idea Life in the City What does this superstition
about the difference between the two brothers?
reveal about how the residents view their neighborhood?

Vocabulary
Reading Strategy Making Generalizations About
Characters From this detail, what generalizations might grapple (rapəl) v. to struggle in hand-to-hand com-
you make about Roy? bat; to wrestle

JAMES BALDWIN 959


The Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Foundation/Art Resource, NY
Each Saturday morning John and Roy sat father’s attitude, assumed that she had just left
on the fire escape and watched the forbidden some sinful place which she dared not name,
street below. Sometimes their mother sat in as, for example, a movie palace.
the room behind them, sewing, or dressing In the summertime boys swam in the river,
their younger sister, or nursing the baby, Paul. diving off the wooden dock, or wading in from
The sun fell across them and across the fire the garbage-heavy bank. Once a boy, whose
escape with a high, benevolent indifference; name was Richard, drowned in the river. His
below them, men and women, and boys and mother had not known where he was; she had
girls, sinners all, loitered; sometimes one of even come to their house, to ask if he was
the church-members passed and saw them and there. Then, in the evening, at six o’clock,
waved. Then, for the moment that they waved they had heard from the street a woman
decorously back, they were intimidated. They screaming and wailing; and they ran to the
watched the saint, man or woman, until he or windows and looked out. Down the street
she had disappeared from sight. The passage of came the woman, Richard’s mother, scream-
one of the redeemed made them consider, ing, her face raised to the sky and tears run-
however vacantly, the wickedness of the ning down her face. A woman walked beside
street, their own latent wickedness in sitting her, trying to make her quiet and trying to
where they sat; and made them think of their hold her up. Behind them walked a man,
father, who came home early on Saturdays and Richard’s father, with Richard’s body in his
who would soon be turning this corner and arms. There were two white policemen walk-
entering the dark hall below them. ing in the gutter, who did not seem to know
But until he came to end their freedom, what should be done. Richard’s father and
they sat, watching and longing above the Richard were wet, and Richard’s body lay
street. At the end of the street nearest their across his father’s arms like a cotton baby. The
house was the bridge which spanned the woman’s screaming filled all the street; cars
Harlem River1 and led to a city called the slowed down and the people in the cars
Bronx;2 which was where Aunt Florence lived. stared; people opened their windows and
Nevertheless, when they saw her coming, she looked out and came rushing out of doors to
did not come from the bridge, but from the stand in the gutter, watching. Then the small
opposite end of the street. This, weakly, to procession disappeared within the house
their minds, she explained by saying that she which stood beside the rockpile. Then, “Lord,
had taken the subway, not wishing to walk, Lord, Lord!” cried Elizabeth, their mother, and
and that, besides, she did not live in that sec- slammed the window down.
tion of the Bronx. Knowing that the Bronx One Saturday, an hour before his father
was across the river, they did not believe this would be coming home, Roy was wounded on
story ever, but, adopting toward her their the rockpile and brought screaming upstairs.
He and John had been sitting on the fire
escape and their mother had gone into the
1. The Harlem River separates the Bronx and Manhattan, two kitchen to sip tea with Sister McCandless. By
boroughs of New York City. and by Roy became bored and sat beside John
2. The Bronx is actually one of five boroughs, or divisions, that in restless silence; and John began drawing
make up New York City. It is not a separate city.
into his schoolbook a newspaper advertise-
Reading Strategy Making Generalizations About ment which featured a new electric locomo-
Characters From this detail, what generalizations might you tive. Some friends of Roy passed beneath the
make about how the brothers view their father? fire escape and called him. Roy began to
fidget, yelling down to them through the bars.
Vocabulary
Then a silence fell. John looked up. Roy stood
loiter (loitər) v. to stand or linger idly or aimlessly looking at him.
about a place
“I’m going downstairs,” he said.
intimidated (in timə dāt´əd) adj. made timid or fearful;
frightened into submission or inaction
“You better stay where you is, boy. You know
Mama don’t want you going downstairs.”

960 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


mother that Roy had left the fire escape
because he had practically promised not to.
He started to shout, Remember, you said five
minutes! but one of Roy’s friends was looking
up at the fire escape. John looked down at his
schoolbook: he became engrossed again in the
problem of the locomotive.
When he looked up again he did not know
how much time had passed, but now there was
a gang fight on the rockpile. Dozens of boys
fought each other in the harsh sun: clamber-
ing up the rocks and battling hand to hand,
scuffed shoes sliding on the slippery rock; fill-
ing the bright air with curses and jubilant
cries. They filled the air, too, with flying
weapons: stones, sticks, tin cans, garbage,
whatever could be picked up and thrown.
John watched in a kind of absent amaze-
ment—until he remembered that Roy was still
downstairs, and that he was one of the boys
on the rockpile. Then he was afraid; he could
not see his brother among the figures in the
sun; and he stood up, leaning over the fire-
escape railing. Then Roy appeared from the
Woman in Calico, 1944. William H. Johnson. Oil on paperboard,
other side of the rocks; John saw that his shirt
261/2 x 201/2 in. Smithsonian American Art Museum. Gift of the
Harmon Foundation. was torn; he was laughing. He moved until he
stood at the very top of the rockpile. Then,
“I be right back. She won’t even know I’m something, an empty tin can, flew out of the
gone, less you run and tell her.” air and hit him on the forehead, just above the
“I ain’t got to tell her. What’s going to stop eye. Immediately, one side of Roy’s face ran
her from coming in here and looking out the with blood, he fell and rolled on his face
window?” down the rocks. Then for a moment there was
“She’s talking,” Roy said. He started into no movement at all, no sound, the sun,
the house. arrested, lay on the street and the sidewalk and
“But Daddy’s going to be home soon!” the arrested boys. Then someone screamed or
“I be back before that. What you all the shouted; boys began to run away, down the
time got to be so scared for?” He was already street, toward the bridge. The figure on the
in the house and he now turned, leaning on ground, having caught its breath and felt its
the windowsill, to swear impatiently, “I be own blood, began to shout. John cried, “Mama!
back in five minutes.” Mama!” and ran inside.
John watched him sourly as he carefully “Don’t fret, don’t fret,” panted Sister
unlocked the door and disappeared. In a McCandless as they rushed down the dark,
moment he saw him on the sidewalk with his narrow, swaying stairs, “don’t fret. Ain’t a boy been
friends. He did not dare to go and tell his born don’t get his knocks every now and again.

Literary Element Foil What does Roy’s statement to his


brother suggest about the nature of their relationship? Vocabulary
engrossed (en rōst) adj. fully attentive to; completely
Reading Strategy Making Generalizations About engaged in; absorbed
Characters From this detail, what generalizations can you jubilant (j¯¯¯
oobə lənt) adj. extremely happy; trium-
make about John? phantly joyful

JAMES BALDWIN 961


Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC/Art Resource, NY
Lord!” They hurried into the sun. A man had “When?”
picked Roy up and now walked slowly toward “He said he’d be back in five minutes.”
them. One or two boys sat silent on their stoops; at “Why didn’t you tell me he was downstairs?”
either end of the street there was a group of boys He looked at his hands, clasping his notebook,
watching. “He ain’t hurt bad,” and did not answer.
the man said, “Wouldn’t be “Boy,” said Sister McCandless, “you hear your
making this kind of noise if he mother a-talking to you?”
was hurt real bad.” He looked at his mother. He repeated:
Elizabeth, trembling, reached “He said he’d be back in five minutes.”
out to take Roy, but Sister “He said he’d be back in five minutes,” said
McCandless, bigger, calmer, Sister McCandless with scorn, “don’t look to
took him from the man and me like that’s no right answer. You’s the man of
Visual threw him over her shoulder as the house, you supposed to look after your baby
Vocabulary brothers and sisters—you ain’t supposed to let
she once might have handled a
A stoop is a
structure at the
sack of cotton. “God bless you,” them run off and get half-killed. But I expect,”
entrance of a she said to the man, “God bless she added, rising from the chair, dropping the
building or you, son.” Roy was still scream- cardboard fan, “your Daddy’ll make you tell the
house, consisting ing. Elizabeth stood behind truth. Your Ma’s way too soft with you.”
of stairs and a
Sister McCandless to stare at He did not look at her, but at the fan where it
raised platform.
his bloody face. lay in the dark red, depressed seat where she had
“It’s just a flesh wound,” the been. The fan advertised a pomade3 for the hair
man kept saying, “just broke the skin, that’s all.” and showed a brown woman and her baby, both
They were moving across the sidewalk, toward with glistening hair, smiling happily at each
the house. John, not now afraid of the staring other.
boys, looked toward the corner to see if his father “Honey,” said Sister McCandless, “I got to be
was yet in sight. moving along. Maybe I drop in later tonight. I
Upstairs, they hushed Roy’s crying. They don’t reckon you going to be at Tarry Service
bathed the blood away, to find, just above the tonight?”
left eyebrow, the jagged, superficial scar. “Lord, Tarry Service was the prayer meeting held
have mercy,” murmured Elizabeth, “another inch every Saturday night at church to strengthen
and it would’ve been his eye.” And she looked believers and prepare the church for the coming
with apprehension toward the clock. “Ain’t it of the Holy Ghost on Sunday.
the truth,” said Sister McCandless, busy with “I don’t reckon,” said Elizabeth. She stood up;
bandages and iodine. she and Sister McCandless kissed each other on
“When did he go downstairs?” his mother the cheek. “But you be sure to remember me in
asked at last. your prayers.”
Sister McCandless now sat fanning herself in “I surely will do that.” She paused, with her
the easy chair, at the head of the sofa where Roy hand on the door knob, and looked down at
lay, bound and silent. She paused for a moment Roy and laughed. “Poor little man,” she said,
to look sharply at John. John stood near the “reckon he’ll be content to sit on the fire
window, holding the newspaper advertisement escape now.”
and the drawing he had done. Elizabeth laughed with her. “It sure ought to
“We was sitting on the fire escape,” he said. be a lesson to him. You don’t reckon,” she asked
“Some boys he knew called him.” nervously, still smiling, “he going to keep that
scar, do you?”
Big Idea Life in the City What does the man’s action
convey about the community that the characters live in?
3. Pomade is a perfumed ointment, especially one used as a
hair dressing.
Reading Strategy Making Generalizations About
Characters From this detail, what generalizations can you Literary Element Foil What do these words tell you about
make about Sister McCandless’s attitude toward John? Sister McCandless’s different attitudes toward the two brothers?

962 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


E.C. Stangler/Uniphoto
“Lord, no,” said Sister McCandless,
“ain’t nothing but a scratch. I declare,
Sister Grimes, you worse than a child.
Another couple of weeks and you won’t
be able to see no scar. No, you go on
about your housework, honey, and thank
the Lord it weren’t no worse.” She
opened the door; they heard the sound
of feet on the stairs. “I expect that’s the
Reverend,” said Sister McCandless,
placidly, “I bet he going to raise cain.”4
“Maybe it’s Florence,” Elizabeth said.
“Sometimes she get here about this
time.” They stood in the doorway, staring,
while the steps reached the landing
below and began again climbing to their
floor. “No,” said Elizabeth then, “that
ain’t her walk. That’s Gabriel.”
“Well, I’ll just go on,” said Sister
McCandless, “and kind of prepare his
mind.” She pressed Elizabeth’s hand as
she spoke and started into the hall,
leaving the door behind her slightly
ajar. Elizabeth turned slowly back into
the room. Roy did not open his eyes,
or move; but she knew that he was not
sleeping; he wished to delay until the
last possible moment any contact with
his father. John put his newspaper and
his notebook on the table and stood,
leaning on the table, staring at her.
“It wasn’t my fault,” he said. “I
couldn’t stop him from going Funky Soho, 2002. Patti Mollica. Oil on canvas. Private collection.

downstairs.”
“No,” she said, “you ain’t got nothing that Delilah would awaken Paul and she hurried
to worry about. You just tell your Daddy the truth.” into the bedroom. She tried to soothe Delilah back
He looked directly at her, and she turned to the to sleep. Then she heard the front door open and
window, staring into the street. What was Sister close—too loud, Delilah raised her voice, with an
McCandless saying? Then from her bedroom she exasperated sigh Elizabeth picked the child up. Her
heard Delilah’s thin wail and she turned, frowning, child and Gabriel’s, her children and Gabriel’s: Roy,
looking toward the bedroom and toward the still Delilah, Paul. Only John was nameless and a
open door. She knew that John was watching her. stranger, living, unalterable testimony to his moth-
Delilah continued to wail, she thought, angrily, er’s days in sin.
Now that girl’s getting too big for that, but she feared “What happened?” Gabriel demanded. He stood,
enormous, in the center of the room, his black
lunchbox dangling from his hand, staring at the sofa
4. To raise cain is an idiom meaning “to make a great
disturbance” or “to lose one’s temper.”

Reading Strategy Making Generalizations About Reading Strategy Making Generalizations About
Characters What generalizations can you make about Characters From these details, what generalizations can
Sister McCandless from this comment? you make about John’s status in the family?

JAMES BALDWIN 963


Patti Mollica/CORBIS
dropped his lunchbox with a clatter
and knelt by the sofa.
“How you feel, son? Tell your
Daddy what happened?”
Roy opened his mouth to speak and
then, relapsing into panic, began to cry.
His father held him by the shoulder.
“You don’t want to cry. You’s Daddy’s
little man. Tell your Daddy what
happened.”
“He went downstairs,” said Elizabeth,
“where he didn’t have no business to
be, and got to fighting with them bad
boys playing on that rockpile. That’s
what happened and it’s a mercy it
weren’t nothing worse.”
He looked up at her. “Can’t you let
this boy answer me for hisself?”
Ignoring this, she went on, more
gently: “He got cut on the forehead,
but it ain’t nothing to worry about.”
“You call a doctor? How you know
it ain’t nothing to worry about?”
“Is you got money to be throwing
away on doctors? No, I ain’t called
no doctor. Ain’t nothing wrong with
my eyes that I can’t tell whether he’s
hurt bad or not. He got a fright
more’n anything else, and you ought
Church on Lenox Avenue, 1939–1940. William H. Johnson. Tempera to pray God it teaches him a lesson.”
on paper, 24 x 18 / in. Smithsonian American Art Museum. Gift of the
1
8
“You got a lot to say now,” he said,
Harmon Foundation.
Viewing the Art: What connections can you find between this image
“but I’ll have me something to say in
and the story? a minute. I’ll be wanting to know
when all this happened, what you
where Roy lay. John stood just before him, it seemed was doing with your eyes then.” He turned back
to her astonished vision just below him, beneath his to Roy, who had lain quietly sobbing eyes wide
fist, his heavy shoe. The child stared at the man in open and body held rigid: and who now, at his
fascination and terror—when a girl down home she father’s touch, remembered the height, the sharp,
had seen rabbits stand so paralyzed before the bark- sliding rock beneath his feet, the sun, the explo-
ing dog. She hurried past Gabriel to the sofa, feeling sion of the sun, his plunge into darkness and his
the weight of Delilah in her arms like the weight of salty blood; and recoiled, beginning to scream, as
a shield, and stood over Roy, saying: his father touched his forehead. “Hold still, hold
“Now, ain’t a thing to get upset about, Gabriel. still,” crooned his father, shaking, “hold still.
This boy sneaked downstairs while I had my back Don’t cry. Daddy ain’t going to hurt you, he just
turned and got hisself hurt a little. He’s alright now.” wants to see this bandage, see what they’ve done to
Roy, as though in confirmation, now opened his his little man.” But Roy continued to scream and
eyes and looked gravely at his father. Gabriel would not be still and Gabriel dared not lift the
bandage for fear of hurting him more. And he
Literary Element Foil How might Elizabeth be said to act looked at Elizabeth in fury: “Can’t you put that
as Gabriel’s foil at this point in the story? child down and help me with this boy?

964 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC/Art Resource, NY
John, take your baby sister from your mother— “No, you ain’t,” she said. “You ain’t going to take
don’t look like neither of you got good sense.” no strap to this boy, not today you ain’t. Ain’t a
John took Delilah and sat down with her in the soul to blame for Roy’s lying up there now but
easy chair. His mother bent over Roy, and held you—you because you done spoiled him so that he
him still, while his father, carefully—but still Roy thinks he can do just anything and get away with
screamed—lifted the bandage and stared at the it. I’m here to tell you that ain’t no way to raise no
wound. Roy’s sobs began to lessen. Gabriel re- child. You don’t pray to the Lord to help you do
adjusted the bandage. “You see,” said Elizabeth, better than you been doing, you going to live to
finally, “he ain’t nowhere near dead.” shed bitter tears that the Lord didn’t take his soul
“It sure ain’t your fault that he ain’t dead.” today.” And she was trembling. She moved, unsee-
He and Elizabeth considered each other for a ing, toward John and took Delilah from his arms.
moment in silence. “He came mightly close to She looked back at Gabriel, who had risen, who
losing an eye. Course, his eyes ain’t as big as stood near the sofa, staring at her. And she found
your’n, so I reckon you don’t think it matters so in his face not fury alone, which would not have
much.” At this her face hardened; he smiled. surprised her; but hatred so deep as to become
“Lord, have mercy,” he said, “you think you ever insupportable in its lack of personality. His eyes
going to learn to do right? Where was you when were struck alive, unmoving, blind with malevo-
all this happened? Who let him go downstairs?” lence—she felt, like the pull of the earth at her
“Ain’t nobody let him go downstairs, he just feet, his longing to witness her perdition.5 Again, as
went. He got a head just like his father, it got to though it might be propitiation,6 she moved the
be broken before it’ll bow. I was in the kitchen.” child in her arms. And at this his eyes changed, he
“Where was Johnnie?” looked at Elizabeth, the mother of his children, the
“He was in here?” helpmeet given by the Lord. Then her eyes
“Where?” clouded; she moved to leave the room; her foot
“He was on the fire escape.” struck the lunchbox lying on the floor.
“Didn’t he know Roy was downstairs?” “John,” she said, “pick up your father’s lunch-
“I reckon.” box like a good boy.”
“What you mean, you reckon? He ain’t got She heard, behind her, his scrambling move-
your big eyes for nothing, does he?” He looked ment as he left the easy chair, the scrape and
over at John. “Boy, you see your brother go jangle of the lunchbox as he picked it up, bend-
downstairs?” ing his dark head near the toe of his father’s
“Gabriel, ain’t no sense in trying to blame heavy shoe. 
Johnnie. You know right well if you have trouble
making Roy behave, he ain’t going to listen to
his brother. He don’t hardly listen to me.” 5. Perdition (pər dish ən) means “the loss of one’s soul and of
“How come you didn’t tell your mother Roy heavenly salvation” or “eternal damnation.”
6. Propitiation is a pleasing act intended to soothe, pacify, or
was downstairs?”
win favor.
John said nothing, staring at the blanket
which covered Delilah. Reading Strategy Making Generalizations About
“Boy, you hear me? You want me to take a Characters From this detail, what generalizations can you
make about Gabriel’s character?
strap to you?”

JAMES BALDWIN 965


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Describe your emotional response to this story. 5. Using foreshadowing, a writer provides hints to events
that will occur later in the story. (a)What event or
Recall and Interpret events are foreshadowed in “The Rockpile”? (b)What
2. (a)Why is the rockpile so tempting for Roy? (b)Why effect does this foreshadowing have on the story?
do you think that John is not tempted by it?
6. (a)What do you think the rockpile symbolizes?
3. (a)How do the adults in the story see themselves as (b)Do you find this symbol effective? Explain.
different from other people in the neighborhood?
7. (a)What is the main source of conflict between
(b)How is their self-image reflected in their actions?
Gabriel and Elizabeth in the story? (b)Is this conflict
4. (a)What important fact is revealed about Gabriel just resolved at the end of the story? Explain.
before he arrives home? (b)How does this fact
explain Gabriel’s attitude toward his two sons? Connect
8. Big Idea Life in the City How important is the
setting to this story? What picture of city life does
the author create with this setting?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Foil Reading Strategy Making Generalizations


The purpose of a foil is to highlight a particular quality About Characters
of the main character in the story. Although “The Use the notes you made in your chart and other
Rockpile” may appear to be about Roy, it actually tells details from the story to make generalizations about
just as much or more about John. The reader gets a the characters in “The Rockpile.”
clearer understanding of both John and Roy through
the many contrasts presented between them. 1. What generalizations can you make about the
effect of the setting on the characters?
1. How do John and Roy differ in terms of their status
within the family? 2. What generalization can you make about the atti-
tudes of Roy and John toward Gabriel?
2. Who else might be a foil in this story? Support your
response with evidence from the selection.

Vocabulary Practice
Writing About Literature
Practice with Analogies Choose the word that
Evaluate Author’s Craft In “The Rockpile,” James best completes the analogy.
Baldwin uses a number of symbols, or things that
stand for something beyond themselves. Write a brief 1. engrossed : fascinated :: expedient :
essay in which you evaluate Baldwin’s use of symbol- a. convenient c. fortuitous
ism throughout the story and how it contributes to the b. coincidental
story’s meaning. After you complete your draft, meet 2. loiter : stand :: search :
with a partner to revise each other’s work. a. find c. seek
b. collect
3. jubilant : pleased :: terrified :
a. anxious c. sorrowful
Web Activities For eFlashcards, b. frozen
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

966 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


part 2

The United States


and the World

Three Flags, 1958. Jasper Johns. Encaustic on canvas, 30 7/8 x 45 x 5 in. Fiftieth Anniversary Gift of the Gilman
Foundation, Inc., The Lauder Foundation, A. Alfred Taubman, an anonymous donor, and purchase 80.32

“We must be the great arsenal of democracy.”


—Franklin D. Roosevelt, radio broadcast, 1940

967
Collection of Whitney Museum of American Art, NY, Photography by Geoffrey Clements, NY
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

War Message to Congress


MEET FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT

F
ranklin D. Roosevelt was an intensely
competitive and social person. His charis-
matic demeanor, rich voice, and wide smile
expressed confidence and optimism and gave
him the power to be very persuasive. In the dark
days of the Great Depression and World War II,
his buoyant leadership was one of the United Franklin Roosevelt was again active in the
States’ greatest assets. Democratic Party and was elected governor of New
York. While governor, he gained great popularity by
cutting taxes for farmers, reducing the rates charged
by public utilities, and giving aid to unemployed
“Let me assert my firm belief that New Yorkers.
the only thing we have to fear is fear Roosevelt’s popularity paved the way for his presi-
itself—” dential win in 1932. Many people in the United
States applauded Roosevelt’s use of power to help
—Franklin D. Roosevelt people in economic distress. In the first three
First Inaugural Address months of his presidency, Congress passed fifteen
major acts to provide economic relief to the nation,
later known as the First New Deal. Roosevelt’s pop-
Roosevelt was a distant cousin of Theodore ular relief programs helped him win reelection
Roosevelt, the twenty-sixth president of the United three times. He has the remarkable legacy of being
States. He was born into a wealthy New York family the only president to serve more than two terms.
and educated at Harvard University and Columbia
Law School. While at Harvard, he became Tension in Europe Meanwhile, World War II
acquainted with Theodore Roosevelt’s niece, Eleanor. officially began when Germany invaded Poland on
Soon afterward, Franklin and Eleanor were married. September 1, 1939. After the horrors of World
War I, most U.S. citizens were in favor of remain-
Political Gains and Personal Setbacks Shortly ing neutral during the war. On December 7, 1941,
after leaving law school, Roosevelt entered politics Japanese fighter pilots made a surprise attack
and won a seat in the New York State Senate. He on Pearl Harbor. The damage was severe and
earned a reputation as a progressive reformer will- crippling. Roosevelt quickly changed his mind
ing to stand up to the party bosses. In 1921, he about the war. The following day, he delivered his
contracted a fever and soon felt numbness in his famous “War Message to Congress.” But President
legs. He had contracted the disease known as Roosevelt did not live to see victory; he died from
polio. Although there was no cure, Roosevelt a stroke just months before the war’s end.
refused to give up and began a vigorous exercise Franklin D. Roosevelt was born in 1882 and
program to restore some of his muscle control. died in 1945.
While recovering from polio, Roosevelt depended on
his wife to keep his name prominent in the New York
Democratic Party. Eleanor Roosevelt became an effec-
tive orator, and her efforts during this time kept her Author Search For more about
husband’s political career alive. By the mid-1920s, Franklin D. Roosevelt, go to www.glencoe.com.

968 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


Bettmann/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Speech Reading Strategy Distinguishing Fact


Can you imagine having to make a decision that would and Opinion
affect an entire country? In President Roosevelt’s “War A fact is a statement that can be verified or proved. An
Message to Congress,” he informs the nation of the attack opinion is a personal judgment. Opinions cannot be
on Pearl Harbor and requests permission from Congress verified or proved true, because they are expressions
to declare war. Think about the following questions: of a person’s beliefs or feelings. Different people might
• Have you ever had to make a difficult decision that have different opinions on the same issue.
affected other people such as friends or family?
• What possible consequences did you weigh as you Reading Tip: Taking Notes As you read, create a chart
like the one below to record examples of facts and opin-
made your decision?
ions you find throughout “War Message to Congress.”
Building Background
Prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, U.S. intelligence had Detail Fact or Opinion
decoded Japanese communications that made it clear
“a date which opinion
that Japan was preparing to attack the United States.
will live in
However, no one knew when or where the attack would
infamy”
occur. Japan’s surprise attack on December 7, 1941, sank
or damaged 21 ships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The attack
also destroyed 188 airplanes and killed 2,403 Americans.
Another 1,178 were injured. Following the president’s
speech, the Senate voted 82 to 0 and the House voted Vocabulary
388 to 1 to declare war on Japan.
infamy (in fə mē) n. a reputation as something
Setting Purposes for Reading evil or harmful; p. 970 The Ku Klux Klan gained
infamy for its racism.
Big Idea The United States and the World
diplomatic (dip´lə mat ik) adj. negotiating in a
As you read, think about both the political and human peaceful manner; p. 970 Tyler and I tried to be
consequences that President Roosevelt had to con- diplomatic when we debated who could use the car
sider before asking Congress to declare war. Friday night.
Literary Element Author’s Purpose implication (im´plə kā shən) n. an effect or con-
sequence; p. 971 Not brushing your teeth can have
An author’s purpose is his or her intent in writing a
severe implications, such as cavities and tooth decay.
piece of literature. Authors typically write to accomplish
one or more of the following purposes: to persuade, premeditated (prē med ə tāt´əd) adj. thought
to inform, to explain, to entertain, or to describe. You about beforehand; p. 971 The bank robbery
can begin to figure out an author’s purpose by thinking turned out to be premeditated, as the criminal had
critically about the form, the tone, and the content of developed the plan weeks before.
the first few paragraphs. As you read, decide what
inevitable (i nev ə tə bəl) adj. certain to happen;
Roosevelt’s purpose is in his “War Message to Congress.”
p. 971 Once the black clouds appeared overhead,
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R2. we feared rain was inevitable.

Interactive Literary Elements


Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • distinguishing fact and opinion
• relating literature to a historical period • analyzing public documents
• evaluating author’s purpose

F RANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT 969


FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT,
WAR MESSAGE TO CONGRESS,
DECEMBER 8, 1941

Y esterday, December 7, 1941—a date which


will live in infamy—the United States of
negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war
or of armed attack.
America was suddenly and deliberately attacked
by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii
The United States was at peace with that nation from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was
and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conver- deliberately planned many days or even weeks
sation with its Government and its Emperor look- ago. During the intervening time the Japanese
ing toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Government has deliberately sought to deceive
Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had the United States by false statements and expres-
commenced bombing in the American Island of sions of hope for continued peace.
Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands
States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary has caused severe damage to American naval and
of State a formal reply to a recent American military forces. I regret to tell you that very many
message. And, while this reply stated that it American lives have been lost. In addition
seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic American ships have been reported torpedoed on
the high seas between San Francisco and
Honolulu.
Vocabulary
infamy (in fə mē) n. a reputation as something evil
or harmful Reading Strategy Distinguishing Fact and Opinion
diplomatic (dip´ lə mat ik) adj. negotiating in a Which parts of this statement are based on factual
peaceful manner information? Which parts are formed by opinions?

970 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


Bettmann/CORBIS SYGMA
States have already formed their
opinions and well understand the
implications to the very life and
safety of our nation.
As Commander in Chief of the
Army and Navy I have directed that
all measures be taken for our defense.
Always will our whole nation
remember the character of the
onslaught against us.
No matter how long it may take us to
overcome this premeditated invasion,
the American people in their righteous
might will win through to absolute vic-
tory. I believe that I interpret the will
of the Congress and of the people when
I assert that we will not only defend
ourselves to the uttermost but will make
it very certain that this form of treach-
ery shall never again endanger us.
Hostilities exist. There is no blinking
at the fact that our people, our territory,
and our interests are in grave danger.
With confidence in our armed forces—
with the unbounding determination of
our people—we will gain the inevitable
triumph. So help us God.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the declaration of war against Japan,
I ask that the Congress declare that
December 8, 1941.
since the unprovoked and dastardly
attack by Japan on Sunday, December
Yesterday the Japanese Government also 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the
launched an attack against Malaya. United States and the Japanese Empire. 
Last night Japanese forces attacked
Hong Kong.
Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam. Big Idea The United States and the World How
Last night Japanese forces attacked the does Roosevelt use rhetoric to make the nation feel
Philippine Islands. confident of victory?
Last night the Japanese attacked Wake Island.
And this morning the Japanese attacked Vocabulary
Midway Island. implication (im´ plə kā shən) n. an effect or conse-
Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise quence
offensive extending throughout the Pacific premeditated (prē med ə tāt´ əd) adj. thought about
area. The facts of yesterday and today speak beforehand
for themselves. The people of the United inevitable (i nev ə tə bəl) adj. certain to happen

F RANKLIN D . R OOSEVELT 971


CORBIS
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. What was your reaction to Roosevelt’s speech? 5. (a)What does Roosevelt mean when he says, “The
people of the United States have already formed
Recall and Interpret their opinions”? (b)What do you think he is trying
2. (a)Why, according to Roosevelt, was the United States to accomplish with this statement?
unprepared for the attack on Pearl Harbor? (b)How
6. (a)How does Roosevelt assure the public of a war
do you think this information might have influenced
victory? (b)Why do you think he does this?
Congress?
3. (a)Why does Roosevelt claim it was obvious that Connect
the attack on Pearl Harbor was planned “many 7. Big Idea The United States and the World
days or weeks ago”? (b)How do you think this Explain whether you feel the president did an accu-
influenced the president’s reaction to the attack? rate job of addressing both the political and human
4. (a)Which places does Roosevelt say Japan has consequences of declaring war on Japan in “War
attacked? (b)What effect does Roosevelt seem to Message to Congress.”
want this information to have on his audience?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Author’s Purpose Reading Strategy Distinguishing Fact


An effective speaker such as Franklin D. Roosevelt makes and Opinion
every word count by supporting his or her arguments and Roosevelt includes both fact and opinion in his “War
appealing to the hearts and minds of his or her audience. Message to Congress.” Return to the chart you created
1. What, in your opinion, is the purpose of Roosevelt’s on fact and opinion on page 969. Be aware that a
speech? writer shows bias when he or she demonstrates a
strong, personal, or sometimes unreasonable opinion.
2. Roosevelt uses the rhetorical device of repetition. Bias is most often present in editorials, documenta-
Find an example of this device and explain how it ries, and advertisements.
helps him influence and persuade his audience.
1. How does Roosevelt use both fact and opinion in
his speech?
Interdisciplinary Activity: U.S. History
2. How is bias present in Roosevelt’s speech?
Debate When World War II began, many people in the
United States favored neutrality because it would keep
U.S. troops out of harm’s way. Others believed that tak- Vocabulary Practice
ing sides was a requisite step in protecting the United Practice with Connotation and Denotation
States. Form two small groups. Have one group take The words in each pair below have similar denotations,
the pro-neutrality side. Have another group take the or literal meanings. Indicate which word in each pair
pro-involvement position. Stage a debate between the has a more negative connotation, or implied meaning.
two groups and invite the rest of the class to decide
which side presented the stronger case. 1. a. infamy b. disgrace
2. a. diplomatic b. smooth
3. a. inevitable b. certain
4. a. implication b. allegation
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

972 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


Vocabulary Workshop
Word Parts

Understanding Unfamiliar Math and Science Terms º Vocabulary Terms


“Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing… Many math and science
Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered terms come from the Latin
to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message.” language, as do many of
the word parts at the left.
—Franklin Delano Roosevelt, from “War Message to Congress”
º Test-Taking Tip
Connecting to Literature Squadron is related to the Latin word quadrum, When you are asked for
meaning “square.” Several math and science terms come from the Latin quadrum: the meaning of a word
quadrangle, quadrant, quadruped, and quadratic, for example. You have probably that appears in a reading
figured out that quadru- or quadr- means “four.” passage, knowledge of
some common word parts
Examples can help you. Use your
prior knowledge to help
You can figure out many math and science terms if you know some common
you recall similar words.
word parts such as those below. Study this group of word parts and their
definitions. º Reading Handbook

astro- star; celestial body; -pede foot For more about interpret-
astr- outer space ing unfamiliar math and
-gon a figure having a specified science terms, see
milli- thousand kind or number of angles Reading Handbook,
p. R20.
hydro- water; liquid -nomy body of knowledge about a
hydr- specific field

poly- more than one; many; much -sphere a celestial body, such as a
planet or star
penta- five
eFlashcards For eFlashcards
and other vocabulary activities, go
to www.glencoe.com.
Exercise
Answer the following questions by combining two word parts from the list
above. Consult a dictionary to check your answers. Write the answers on a
piece of paper.
1. What is the word for a small animal that has an external skeleton and
numerous feet?
2. What is the word for the scientific study of the planets and stars in outer
OB J EC TI V ES
space?
• Use word parts to help
3. What is the word for a closed plane figure bounded by straight lines? you understand math and
science terms.
4. What is the word for water vapor in Earth’s atmosphere?
• Verify word meanings by
5. What is the word for a five-sided polygon? using a dictionary.

973
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

The Death of the Ball


Turret Gunner
M E E T R A N DA LL JA R R E LL He exhibited particular
sensitivity to the vic-

R
timization of women
andall Jarrell’s influence on other writers in
and children.
the mid-twentieth century was enormous.
His work as a critic, teacher, novelist, and When the war ended,
poet helped define poetry’s path during the 1950s Jarrell taught for a year
and early 1960s. Jarrell’s longtime friend and fel- at Sarah Lawrence
low poet Robert Lowell observed, “His gifts . . . College. He later trans-
were wit, pathos, and brilliance of intelligence.” lated his teaching
experiences at the
Jarrell was born in Nashville, Tennessee, but spent
women’s academy into
most of his youth in Long Beach, California. Jarrell’s
the satirical novel
interest in poetry began during his time at Vanderbilt
Pictures from an
University. There he studied under notable southern
Institution. After a year
writers John Crowe Ransom and Robert Penn
at Sarah Lawrence, Jarrell took a professorship at the
Warren, who nurtured Jarrell’s skills as a poet and
University of North Carolina in Greensboro. From
critic. After earning BA and MA degrees from
1956 until 1958, he served as poetry consultant to the
Vanderbilt, Jarrell began a career as a professor
Library of Congress.
of English literature, first at Kenyon College and
then at the University of Texas.
Critical Acclaim In the two decades after World
War II, Jarrell produced several collections of verse
and commentary. His criticism was some of the most
“If I can think of it, it isn’t what I want. shrewd and acerbic of its day. Jarrell could be brutal,
and he often lambasted mediocre poetry. As many
I want . . . I want a ship from some have noted, however, the fierceness of Jarrell’s reviews
near star was not a display of aggression but, rather, a measure
To land in the yard” of his love for poetry. He was a passionate advocate
for verse that met his high standards. Robert Frost,
—Randall Jarrell, “A Sick Child” William Carlos Williams, and Walt Whitman all met
these standards and therefore received revitalized
acclaim as a result of Jarrell’s critical attention.
Military Life In 1942, when Jarrell published his In 1965, Jarrell was struck and killed by a car. It is
first book of poems, Blood for a Stranger, the United unclear whether his death was accidental or whether
States had just entered World War II. That same year, Jarrell, like so many poets of his generation, chose
he joined the war effort by enlisting in the Army Air suicide. Whatever the cause of his death, his impor-
Forces. He served as a control tower operator and tance is unquestionable. Jarrell’s poetry captured what
trained B-29 bomber pilots. World War II had a pro- poet Karl Shapiro called “the common dialogue of
found effect on Jarrell, inspiring him to write with Americans,” a dialogue that modulates from weariness
great rancor, pity, and drama about the evils of war. to terror, from hopefulness to ecstasy.
Many of his greatest poems appear in Little Friend, Randall Jarrell was born in 1914 and died in 1965.
Little Friend (1945) and Losses (1948). Both books
deal extensively with themes of dehumanization, war,
and violence. Jarrell also displayed great compassion Author Search For more about
in his portraits of people trapped in meaningless lives. Randall Jarrell, go to www.glencoe.com.

974 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


AP/Wide World Photos
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Poem Reading Strategy Visualizing


Can you imagine the horrors of war? What is it like to face To visualize is to use the imagination to picture the
death? In Jarrell’s poem, a gunner aboard a U.S. bomber setting, characters, and action in a work of literature.
relates his own death in eerie, dreamlike terms. As you As you read, pay close attention to sensory details and
read the poem, think about the following questions: descriptions.

• Do the circumstances of someone’s death change Reading Tip: Taking Notes In a web diagram, record
the meaning of that person’s death?
powerful images and other images connected to them.
• What is your view of war? Can war be justified?
Building Background
The aircraft that Jarrell mentions in his note were long-
range bombers that the U.S. Army used in bombing raids
over Europe and the Pacific during World War II. The B-17
was called the Flying Fortress, because it could withstand
severe damage and still remain aloft. The B-24, known as
the Liberator, was developed a few years later. Its wing-
span was slightly longer than that of the B-17, and it had a
greater range. Both the B-17 and B-24 had Plexiglas ball
turrets that housed machine gunners. Although both were Vocabulary
powerful aircraft, these ball turrets made them vulnerable turret (tur it) n. a small, rotating domelike
to attack. In his poem, Jarrell describes the life and death structure that is mounted with guns and
of a turret gunner aboard one of these aircraft. Although attached to the body of an aircraft; p. 976 The
Jarrell himself was not a crew member of a U.S. bomber, turret turned and the gunner began firing on the
he had a great sense of compassion and love for the approaching enemy planes.
men that he trained.
Plexiglas (plek si las´) n. a light and very
Setting Purposes for Reading durable transparent plastic; p. 976 Due to its
low cost and light weight, Plexiglas is often used in
Big Idea The United States and the World manufacturing.
As you read, consider how Jarrell’s “The Death of the
Ball Turret Gunner” represents the human story of
gunner ( un ər) n. an airman or a soldier who
World War II.
operates a gun; p. 976 The gunner aimed at the
enemy aircraft and fired, scoring a direct hit.

Literary Element Imagery fetus (fē təs) n. an unborn child that has been
in utero for at least eight weeks; p. 976 The
Imagery is the “word pictures” that writers create to family breathed a collective sigh of relief after learn-
evoke an emotional response. In creating imagery, writ- ing that the fetus was perfectly healthy.
ers use sensory details, or descriptions that appeal to
one or more of the five senses. Imagery is often an
integral part of modern and contemporary poetry. As
you read “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner,” exam-
ine how Jarrell uses imagery to establish his setting
and generate emotion. Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R9. go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • visualizing
• analyzing literary periods • expanding vocabulary
• interpreting imagery

RANDALL JARRELL 975


Randall Jarrell

From my mother’s sleep I fell into the State,


And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak1 and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.

1. Flak is the fire of antiaircraft guns.


NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
A ball turret was a plexiglass sphere set into the
Literary Element Imagery Which other images does this
image align with to convey the overall meaning of the
belly of a B-17 or B-24, and inhabited by two
poem? What do these images suggest? .50 caliber machine guns and one man, a short
small man. When this gunner tracked with his
Vocabulary machine guns a fighter attacking his bomber
turret (tur it) n. a small, rotating domelike structure from below, he revolved with the turret; hunched
that is mounted with guns and attached to the body of upside down in his little sphere, he looked
an aircraft like the fetus in the womb. The fighters which
Plexiglas (spelling corrected; plek si las´) n. a light attacked him were armed with cannon firing
and very durable transparent plastic explosive shells. The hose was a steam hose.
gunner ( un ər) n. an airman or a soldier who operates
a gun
fetus (fē təs) n. an unborn child that has been in utero —Randall Jarrell
for at least eight weeks

976 U N IT 6 F ROM DEPRE SSI ON TO COLD WA R


Baldwin H. Ward/CORBIS
A F TE R YO U R E A D

RESP ON DI NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Which phrase or image was the most potent for 5. What is ironic about Jarrell’s comparison of the ball
you? Why? turret gunner and a fetus in the womb?

Recall and Interpret 6. Critics have characterized Jarrell as a master of


plain speech and clear, stark language. Do these
2. (a)What happens to the speaker in the first two
apply to this poem? Explain.
lines? (b)What do these lines suggest about his
attitude toward the situation? What do they suggest 7. (a)How would you describe the personality of the
about the poet’s view of the gunner? gunner? (b)Do you think his personality is suffi-
ciently well established? Explain.
3. (a)Where is the speaker in line 3? (b)What do you
think he means by “loosed from its dream of life”? Connect
4. (a)What happens to the speaker in line 4? (b)What 8. Big Idea The United States and the World In
does the dream of life entail? What realization does what ways has this poem helped to develop your
the gunner have in line 4? understanding of World War II?

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R EAD I N G AN D VO CAB U L ARY

Literary Element Imagery Reading Strategy Visualizing


Imagery can have a profound impact on the mood of a Visualizing is a useful method of comprehending a
literary work. The mood is the emotional quality or atmo- text. Try to visualize the actions, characters, and set-
sphere of a piece. Each image in a poem or piece of fic- tings of each line in relation to the piece as a whole.
tion acts like a color in a painting—the darker the image,
1. Briefly describe how the image in line 1 functions
the darker the literary work will be. Sometimes when
in the poem as a whole.
images with highly contrasting moods are juxtaposed, the
results can be jarring, ironic, or even humorous. 2. What other images are easier to understand once
they are placed in context? Explain.
1. What is the mood of “The Death of the Ball Turret
Gunner”? What images in this poem contribute to
its mood? Academic Vocabulary
2. Identify imagery in this poem that causes contrasts
in mood. How does this imagery alter the poem? Here are two words from the vocabulary list on
page R86. These words will help you think,
write, and talk about the selection.
Writing About Literature
internal (in turn əl) adj. existing or situated
Analyze Tone Information can be conveyed in different inside something else
ways, depending on the writer’s attitude toward the sub-
ject and the audience. Gather into groups of four or five invest (in vest ) v. to endow with certain pre-
and read the poem and the note from the author, focus- dominant qualities
ing on the tone. Then use the basic information from
these texts to write an official report of the event. Then Practice and Apply
discuss your work with your classmates. 1. What does Jarrell compare the internal part of the
turret to in “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner”?
2. What characteristics does Jarrell invest the
Web Activities For eFlashcards, bomber with?
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

R ANDALL JA RR ELL 977


Comparing Literature Across Time and Place

Connecting to the Reading Selections


How do you respond to tragic events in life? Many people prefer to bury the memories of these
types of events, rather than confront them. In the following selections, Elie Wiesel, Garrett
Hongo, and Art Spiegelman show the value of confronting the horrors of the past—both to
understand the present and to ensure that the disasters of history do not repeat themselves.

Elie Wiesel
from All Rivers Run to the Sea .......................... memoir .................. 981
The Holocaust—an unfathomable tragedy
Poland, 1940s

Garrett Hongo
from Kubota ..................................................................... memoir .................. 990
Bringing Japanese American internment to light
Hawaii, 1940s

Art Spiegelman
from Maus: A Survivor’s Tale .................. graphic novel ................995
Picturing a father’s memories
Poland, 1940s

CO M PAR I NG TH E Big Idea The United States and the World


World War I was supposed to be the “war to end all wars.” In the 1930s, however, the Nazis
began a brutal campaign of violence against Jews. Wiesel and Spiegelman show the horrible
tragedy of the Holocaust and a world that could not find the resources to stop it. Hongo
addresses a byproduct of World War II: the wartime paranoia that led to Japanese American
internment in the United States.

COM PAR I NG Reflections


Wiesel, Hongo, and Spiegelman reflect on the past in these selections. Wiesel looks back on his
own experiences; Hongo and Spiegelman learn about history through the memories of their
elders. The reflections presented in these selections show both the significance of personal
experience and the importance of learning about history through firsthand accounts.

COM PAR I NG Cultures


Cultures can be a source of pride as well as a target for hatred. The Jewish communities pre-
sented in Wiesel’s memoir and Spiegelman’s graphic novel must band together to survive the
atrocities of the Nazis. Hongo expresses his hope that Japanese American culture can overcome
its lingering discomfort from the legacy of internment and finally fully express itself.

978 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


(t)Bettmann/CORBIS, (c)CORBIS, (b)Aaron Horowitz/CORBIS
B E FOR E YOU R EA D

from All Rivers Run


to the Sea
M E E T E LI E W I ESE L

A
s a Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel has a
vision of a future with deep ties to past
generations. Called the “conscience of the
Holocaust,” Wiesel believes that memory can be a
powerful foundation for unity. This notion echoes his
personal struggle with the past and illustrates his
attempt to transform his struggle into a universal fight
against oppression and indifference. Wiesel gave a stir- Giving Voice to Memory After the liberation,
ring speech at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Wiesel vowed to keep silent about the horrors he had
dedication in 1993. His famous words are engraved in witnessed. He evacuated to France, where he contin-
stone at the museum’s entrance, encouraging future ued his education. While studying in Paris, he began
generations to recognize this collective duty: work as a journalist, writing stories for the Yiddish
newspaper Zion in Kamf and the Israeli newspaper
Yedi’ot Akharonot. Journalism put him in contact with
a crucial figure, French writer François Mauriac. In
“For the dead and the living, we must 1954, at Mauriac’s behest, Wiesel broke his silence
bear witness.” and finally gave voice to his memories. Wiesel wrote
and published his Yiddish memoir, Un Di Velt Hot
—Elie Wiesel Geshvign (“And the World Kept Silent”), in 1956.
Under Mauriac’s guidance, Wiesel revised the text
and translated it into French under the title La Nuit
The Holocaust Wiesel spent his childhood in in 1958; in 1960 this seminal work was translated into
Sighet, Romania, where he gained a deep understand- English as Night.
ing of Jewish identity. Synagogues, day schools, and
Wiesel moved to the United States in 1956 and was
Jewish newspapers flourished in Sighet during Wiesel’s
naturalized as a citizen in 1963. As a result of his pro-
youth, reflecting a vibrant Jewish community. Wiesel
lific writing and lecturing, Wiesel has become one of
began attending kheder (religious elementary school)
the most visible and renowned Holocaust survivors,
when he was three years old. He studied secular sub-
eventually winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. In
jects, played the violin, and eventually found a local
his Nobel acceptance speech, Wiesel acknowledged
scholar with whom he could study Kabbalah, a mystical
the problem of oppression, but even more so, the
interpretation of Hebrew Scriptures.
danger of indifference: “we must always take sides.
In the spring of 1944, Wiesel’s life changed forever. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.
Fifteen-year-old Wiesel and his family were deported Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tor-
from Sighet to the death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau mented. Sometimes we must interfere.” By con-
in Poland. Wiesel was separated from his mother and fronting and exploring his own horrific past, Wiesel
sisters—his mother and youngest sister were immedi- has transformed his experiences into collective
ately gassed to death. Wiesel remained with his father understanding, dialogue, and action.
at Auschwitz and later at Buchenwald, another con-
Elie Wiesel was born in 1928.
centration camp. Tragically, his father died just
months before the liberation of the camp in 1945.
Wiesel survived the horrors of the concentration Author Search For more about
camps and was later reunited with his older sisters. Elie Wiesel, go to www.glencoe.com.

ELIE WIESEL 979


AFP/Getty Images
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W READI NG PREVI EW

Connecting to the Memoir Reading Strategy Activating Prior


What events have defined your life thus far? Perhaps an Knowledge
ancestor’s immigration to the U.S., the neighborhood Reading is an interactive process. When you read, you
your parents chose to live in, or a tragedy changed your bring your prior knowledge and past experiences to
life. In his memoir, Wiesel reflects on the repercussions the task. For example, to fully understand Wiesel’s
of the Holocaust on his life. As you read, think about memoir, you must attempt to draw on your knowledge
the following questions: of modern history and life in general.
• How do your memories impact your everyday life?
• Why do you think large-scale acts of evil still occur Reading Tip: Taking Notes On a piece of paper, list
the prior knowledge or personal experiences that help you
in today’s world?
to understand each event or statement in this selection.
Building Background
All Rivers Run to the Sea is Wiesel’s memoir of his years
Prior Knowledge Event in Selection
growing up, both directly before and after the Holocaust
and World War II. In the following excerpt, from the chap- Many people are Nazis treat Jews as
ter entitled “Darkness,” he reflects on his experience of prejudiced toward subhuman.
being torn from his home and taken to the most notori- particular cultural
ous Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau. Nazi or ethnic groups.
forces rounded up Jews in Poland and Germany and
brought them by train to the camps. Most Jews did not
realize what lay ahead at Auschwitz, though many sus-
pected the worst. Many attempted to flee. In the camps, Vocabulary
Nazis performed inhumane medical experiments on pris- ineffably (in ef ə blē) adv. to a degree that is
oners and executed millions of innocent Jews. impossible to express; indescribably; p. 981 James
was ineffably sad when he said goodbye to his family
Setting Purposes for Reading and boarded the train for Chicago.
Big Idea The United States and the World succumb (sə kum ) v. to give in or submit to;
After World War I, many countries isolated themselves p. 984 The marathon runner insisted that she
to avoid the kinds of complex military alliances that would finish the race and not succumb to fatigue.
had spurred that war. As you read, consider how
premonition (prē´mə nish ən) n. a warning, or
Wiesel explores the question of why the world
foreboding about the future; p. 985 Jane had a
neglected its responsibility to stop the Nazi campaign.
premonition that something bad would happen later
that afternoon.
Literary Element Narrator
trepidation (trep´ə dā shən) n. a feeling of
The narrator is the person who tells a story. The narrator alarm or apprehension; dread; p. 986 Bill turned
may be a character in the story or someone from the down the darkened alley with trepidation.
outside looking in. As you read this excerpt from All
Rivers Run to the Sea, note how the perspective of the curt (kurt) adj. rudely brief, or short; terse;
narrator affects your understanding of the selection. p. 986 The curt reply Mr. Jenkins gave to Lydia’s
question suggested he didn’t want to be bothered.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R12.

O B J EC T IV ES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following:
Interactive Literary Elements • relating literature to a historical period
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements, • analyzing a narrator
go to www.glencoe.com. • activating prior knowledge

980 U N IT 6 F ROM DEPRESSION TO COLD WAR


of death, I didn’t dare raise my voice. This was
where my childhood and my adolescence, my
prayers, studies, and fasting had led. These
moments would remain forever etched within
me. Wherever life took me, a part of me would
always remain in that street, in front of my
empty house, awaiting the order to depart.
I see my little sister, I see her with her ruck-
sack, so cumbersome, so heavy. I see her and an
immense tenderness sweeps over me. Never will
her innocent smile fade from my soul. Never
will her glance cease to sear me. I tried to help
her; she protested. Never will the sound of her
voice leave my heart. She was thirsty, my little
sister was thirsty. Her lips were parched. Pearls
of sweat formed on her clear forehead. I gave
her a little water. “I can wait,” she said, smiling.
My little sister wanted to be brave. And I
wanted to die in her place.
I seldom speak of her in my writing, for I
dare not. My little sister with her sun-bathed
golden hair is my secret. I never even talked to
Marion2 or to my son Elisha about her. It mor-
tifies me to talk about her in the past tense,
for she is present. Her presence is more real to
me than my own. My little sister Tsiporah, my
little angel scorched by a darkened sun, I can-
not picture you as death’s hostage. You will
remain on our street, on the pavement in front
of our house.
I gazed at the house—we all did—with
anguish. Here we had lived a Jewish family life
that was now gone forever. The laughter and
Elie Wiesel laments, the peace of Shabbat, the prayer of
the God of Abraham whispered by my mother
and my grandmother, the festival of Sukkoth,
Our turn came on Tuesday, May 16. “All Jews
the songs of Rosh Hashana, the Passover
out!” the gendarmes1 screamed, and we found
meals, the community gatherings, my grandfa-
ourselves in the street. There was another heat
ther’s visits.3 The stories of beggars and of refugees,
wave. My little sister was thirsty, and my grand-
mother too. They didn’t complain, but I did,
not openly, but it amounted to the same thing.
2. Marion is Wiesel’s wife.
I felt queasy, ill. I was suffering, but didn’t know 3. Shabbat refers to the “Sabbath” or holy day for Jews,
from what. I was ineffably sad. As in the presence which occurs each week from sunset on Friday to the
following night. In the Bible, Abraham is considered a
patriarch, or father figure, to the Hebrew people. Sukkoth
1. Gendarmes are police officers. is a Jewish harvest festival. Rosh Hashana is the Jewish
Vocabulary new year.

ineffably (in efə blē) adv. to a degree that is impossible Reading Strategy Activating Prior Knowledge What
to express; indescribably memories are forever etched in your mind?

ELIE WIESEL 9 81
Nathan Benn/CORBIS
the forbidden broadcasts of Radio London and sky, the pitiless sky that numbs us with an unsea-
Radio Moscow that we listened to at night, sonable and stifling heat. And the sun? Will it keep
curtains drawn and shutters closed. I picture its secret? The night before, very late, like make-
myself sitting under an acacia tree, a book in my shift gravediggers, we had dug a dozen holes under
hands, talking to the clouds. Tsipouka is playing the trees to bury what remained of our jewelry, pre-
with a hoop. “Come and play with me,” she says, cious objects, and money. I buried the gold watch I
but I don’t feel like it. And now, as I write these had been given as a bar mitzvah7 present.
words, my heart is pounding. I should have For years I dreamed of returning to my native
closed my book and stopped my dream, dropped town. It was an obsession. It took two decades, and
everything to play with my little sister. Other that trip has now been added to my obsessions. It
images rise up: the sleigh in winter, the horse was night. There was a sleeping town and a sleeping
and carriage in summer; a cousin’s funeral (a for- house which hadn’t changed: the same gate, same
tune-teller is said to have foretold her death); garden, same well. Choked with fear, as though
Bea sick with typhus:4 she lies in a room of her caught in a whirlwind of hallucinations, I wondered
own, feverish and contagious, hovering between whether it had all been a dream, whether our Jewish
life and death. My grandmother asks me to go neighbors were still there, and my parents and my
with her to the synagogue. It is night. She opens sisters too. Terror swept me away and carried me
the Holy Ark5 and sobs, “Holy Torah, intercede back. I waited for a window to open and for a boy
on behalf of Batya, daughter of Sarah. She is who looked like the child I had been to call out to
young and can still accomplish many good deeds me: Hey, mister, what are you doing in my dream?
for your glory. Tell the Lord, blessed be His But strangers were living in my house. They
name, to let her live. She will be more useful to had never heard my name. Inside, nothing had
Him than I.” She closes the Ark and backs changed: the same furniture, the same tile stove
slowly to the door. There she stops and says, “If I my father had borrowed money to buy; the beds,
have any years to live, Lord, give them to her. I tables, and chairs were ours, still in the same
exchange my future for hers. Let that be my gift.” places. My feverish eyes wandered left and right,
When Bea takes a few steps, I glance at my up and down. Was it possible that not a single
grandmother. She has offered her life. What will trace of us remained? But there was one, just one.
become of her now? I picture our house and see On the wall above my bed had been a photograph
Hilda inside, Hilda the oldest of the children, of my beloved master, Rebbe Israel of Wizhnitz. I
whose radiant beauty drew all the matchmakers6 remember it well: I had hung it there the day he
of the region. died, the second day of the month of Sivan.8 I can
I see the people who came through that door day see myself standing there, a heavy hammer in my
and night to consult with my father—my father hand, driving in the nail and hanging the frame.
who now, bent under the weight of his pack, knows As I write these words, I suddenly realize that my
not to whom he might turn for advice. And my mother died eight years later on exactly the same
mother, always gracious and brave, afraid to look at day, along with my little sister and Grandma
us, afraid to see the house, afraid to burst into tears Nissel. I cried for the Rebbe’s death as I hung his
only to find she can never stop. So she looks at the photograph above my bed. The nail was still
there. A huge cross was hanging from it.
“We must go now,” my mother said. “We must
4. Typhus is a disease characterized by high fever and stay together.”
delirium.
5. The Holy Ark is a cabinet in a synagogue where the scrolls of
the Torah, or the first five books of the Hebrew scriptures, 7. A bar mitzvah is a celebration of a Jewish boy’s thirteenth
are stored. birthday, marking the beginning of his adult and religious duties.
6. Matchmakers are people who set up marriages. 8. Rebbe means “Rabbi,” a Jewish spiritual teacher. Sivan is the
ninth month in the Jewish year.
Big Idea The United States and the World What effect
do you think international news can have on acts of injustice Literary Element Narrator What do you know about the
carried out by a government? narrator at this point? What type of perspective does he have?

982 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


It was Tuesday afternoon. We were still in Sighet.9 One night they could not bear to be separated.
Our convoy would not leave for several days. When the roll was called, the SS11 Blockführer
We had been temporarily transferred to the smaller counted and recounted the prisoners and ordered:
ghetto, whose inhabitants had just been driven out. “Let the prisoner who does not belong in this bar-
We moved into the home of Mendel, my father’s racks show himself.” Mendel’s son took a few steps
brother. My mother cooked forward. “Closer!” the officer
our favorite dish, latkes, shouted. My young cousin
potato pancakes. This time The Germans, obeyed, halting when he
there was no rationing; we reached the SS man. The offi-
ate all we wanted.
however, did not cer slowly drew his revolver
Mendel was my silent shrink from killing a and shot my cousin in the
uncle. He had married Golda, head, point-blank. My uncle,
daughter of my maternal
father and son that sweet and timid man,
uncle Israel. He was pious 10
together, without a hurled himself onto his son’s
and shy. They had three
children. Their photograph
second thought, as body, as if to protect him in
death. The SS man stared at
lies before me, saved by a one would step on him for a long moment and
relative.
Sacred books were scat-
two insects. then shot him in the head too.
“Ever since then,” my witness
tered on the floor. Someone said, “I see Mendel and his son
must have removed them in my dreams.”
from his bag at the last And I, I think of the bibli-
minute. The table was set, cal law that, out of compas-
and there was food on the sion for animals, forbids the
plates. They had been slaughter of an ox and his calf
taken away in the middle of a meal. This was on the same day. The Germans, however, did not
what remained of a family. shrink from killing a father and son together,
After the war I questioned every survivor of the without a second thought, as one would step on
second transport I could find, seeking news of Uncle two insects.
Mendel and his family. I thought I found the answer Fishel and Voïcsi, my cousins from Antwerp,12
in 1988, when an elderly man called out to me in later gave me a different version of their deaths.
the lobby of a Miami Beach hotel. He was, like me, What is certain, though, is that the enemy anni-
of Romanian-Hungarian origin, from a small village hilated my Uncle Mendel’s family.
near Sighet, and he told me he had stayed in the And what happened to my Aunt Zlati, my
smaller ghetto until its evacuation. In fact, he had father’s younger sister? I search my memories of
been in the same camp with my uncle. “Really?” I the ghetto for her, but she is not there.
exclaimed. “You knew my uncle?” “Knew him!” he She was married to Nahman-Elye. I don’t
said. “For years I’ve seen him, even in my sleep.” remember their two very young children, nor do
And then he told me. At first Mendel and his son I recall their presence during the weeks before
had been spared, like my father and me, and had the transport. Nahman-Elye, it seems, was
been sent to a camp where conditions were rela- among those the Hungarian army released from
tively tolerable. But they were in different barracks the labor battalions to be locked up in the
and saw each other only during the day, at work. ghetto. It seems he was deported with the first

9. Sighet is a town in Romania and the birthplace of Wiesel.


10. Pious means “seriously or devoutly religious.” 11. SS refers to the Nazi paramilitary forces.
12. Antwerp is a city in Belgium.
Reading Strategy Activating Prior Knowledge How
does Wiesel’s account of his family’s experience add to your Literary Element Narrator How does Wiesel shape his
understanding of the Holocaust? account of the Holocaust?

ELIE WIESEL 983


put these questions to American presi-
dents and generals and to high-ranking
Soviet officers. Since Moscow and
Washington knew what the killers were
doing in the death camps, why was
nothing done at least to slow down their
“production”? That not a single Allied
military aircraft ever tried to destroy the
rail lines converging on Auschwitz
remains an outrageous enigma to me.
Birkenau was “processing” ten thousand
Jews a day. Stopping a single convoy for
a single night—or even for just a few
hours—would have prolonged so many
lives. At the least it would have been a
warning to the Germans: Jewish lives
do matter. But the free world didn’t
Survivors at Buchenwald concentration camp care whether Jews lived or died,
remain in their barracks after liberation by Allies on whether they were annihilated one day or the
April 16, 1945. Elie Wiesel, the Nobel Prize-winning
next. And so the sealed trains continued to
author, is on the second bunk from the bottom, sixth
from the left. shatter the silence of Europe’s flowering land-
scapes.
transport and later succumbed to the pressures Meanwhile, our world contracted15 steadily. The
and temptations of the camp life and became country became a city, the city a street, the street a
a cruel and murderous kapo.13 It seems he was house, the house a room, the room a sealed cattle
tried, sentenced to death, and executed by for- car, the cattle car a concrete cellar where . . .
mer deportees. My uncle in the enemy’s service? No, let us go no further. Decency and custom
A kapo? My uncle a torturer of his brothers in forbid it. I said it earlier, when speaking of my
misfortune? I don’t want to believe it. grandfather: In Jewish tradition a man’s death
But yes, that’s the way it was. belongs to him alone. Let the gas chambers
remain closed to prying eyes, and to the imagina-
We arrived at the station, where the cattle cars tion. We will never know all that happened
were waiting. Ever since my book Night I have behind those doors of steel. They say the victims
pursued those nocturnal trains that crossed the fought among themselves for a breath of air, for
devastated continent. Their shadow haunts my one more second of life, that they climbed on
writing. They symbolize solitude, distress, and the shoulders of the weakest in the so-called
the relentless march of Jewish multitudes Todeskampf, the final struggle among the dying.
toward agony and death. I freeze every time I Much has been said when silence ought to have
hear a train whistle. prevailed. Let the dead speak for themselves, if
Why were those trains allowed to roll they so choose. If not, may they be left in peace.
unhindered into Poland? Why were the tracks
leading to Birkenau14 never bombed? I have
15. Here, contracted means “shrunk, or made smaller.”
13. Kapo refers to a prisoner who has been appointed by the
enemy to police his or her own people. Big Idea The United States and the World How does
14. Birkenau refers to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the most notorious Wiesel argue that international monitoring of human rights
of the Nazi concentration camps. is necessary?

Vocabulary
Literary Element Narrator What qualities make Wiesel
succumb (sə kum) v. to give in or submit to an effective storyteller of the Holocaust?

984 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


CORBIS
It is unbelievable how fast people adapt. It hurts My new friend the physics professor died one
to admit it, but within hours of first breathing night in June 1991. A suicide, rumor had it. I
the cattle car’s nauseating air, we began to feel was struck by the date. I realized that he too
at home. “Home” was the edge of the wooden had died on the second day of the month of
plank I sat on as I dreamed of the Jewish exiles Sivan, exactly forty-seven years after his missed
of antiquity and the Middle Ages. More curious appointment with death in Birkenau.
than afraid, I thought of myself as their brother. Life in the cattle cars was the death of my
Mixed into my sadness there was undeniable adolescence. How quickly I aged. As a child I
excitement, for we were living a historic event, a loved the unexpected: a visitor from afar, an
historic adventure. The main thing was that we unforeseen event, a marriage, a storm, even a
were still together. Had we been told that this disaster. Anything was preferable to routine.
journey would last for weeks or even years, we Now it was just the opposite. Anything was
would have replied: May God grant that it be so, preferable to change. We clung to the present,
for nothing is worse than the unknown, and that we dreaded the future.
was our destination—the unknown. I remember Hunger, thirst, and heat, the fetid16 stench, the
clinging to the thought that nothing is unknown hysterical howling of a woman gone mad—we
to God, while nothing is truly known to man. were ready to endure it all, to suffer it all. So much
A rumor spread through the train. The Jewish so that a “normal,” structured social life soon took
doctors and their families, until recently allowed shape in the car. Families stayed together, sharing
to live outside the ghetto, had been ordered to whatever came their way: hard-boiled eggs, dried
return to the ghetto the night before the trans- cakes, or fruit, respecting strict rules about drinking
port and to join us that morning at the station. water, allowing each member a turn near the barred
But we had seen no sign of them. It was now said openings or at the waste pail shielded by blankets.
that they had gathered at one of their homes the People adjusted with disconcerting rapidity.
night before and decided to kill themselves. The Morning and evening we said our prayers together.
rumor was apparently false, for in Birkenau I ran I had brought some precious books along in my
into our family doctor, Dr. Fisch, who had helped pack: a commentary by Rabbi Haim David Azoulai
deliver Tsipouka. But thirty years later I found (the Hida), the K’dushat Levi of the Berdichever
that the story was true after all. I was lecturing at Rebbe. I opened them and tried hard to concen-
a large university near Boston when a member of trate. A phrase of the Zohar, a major work of the
the physics department came up to me. “You’re Kabala,17 haunted me: When the people of Israel
from Sighet, aren’t you?” he asked. “So am I.” set out into exile, God went with them. And now?
He introduced himself, and the name gave me a I wondered. How far would God follow us now?
start: he was the son of a famous surgeon. In On the last day, when the train stopped
Sighet we had evolved in different circles, but near the Auschwitz station, our premonitions
we had been brought to Auschwitz in the same resurfaced. A few “neighbors” devoured more
convoy. We had a long talk about our town, and than their rations, as though sensing that their
at one point I asked him about the rumor. He
confirmed it. The doctors had indeed agreed on 16. Fetid means “having a bad odor.”
a collective suicide pact. “But why? Since at the 17. The Kabala, also spelled “Kabbalah,” is a book of mystical
time we didn’t know where they were taking us.” teachings based on the Jewish faith.
It turned out that his father did know. He had Reading Strategy Activating Prior Knowledge What do
operated on a German officer who told him you know about the way people tend to react in a crisis?
everything. Afterward he had summoned his col- How does Wiesel’s experience compare and contrast with
leagues to discuss what to do. The majority voted your expectations?
not to board the trains, deciding they might as
Vocabulary
well die at home. Some of the suicides did not
succeed. They were carried to the cattle cars on premonition (prē´mə nish ən) n. a warning, or fore-
stretchers. boding about the future

ELIE WIESEL 985


days were numbered. My mother kept entreat- overshadow all received ideas. There was a burst
ing us: Stay together at all costs. Someone, I of noise and the night was shattered into a thou-
can’t remember who, asked, “What if we can’t? sand pieces. I felt myself shaken, pulled to my
What if they separate us?” My mother’s answer: feet, pushed toward the door, toward strange
“Then we’ll meet again at home as soon as the shouting beings and barking dogs, a swelling
war is over.” throng that would cover the earth.
Certain images of the days and nights spent In Night I tell of the wrath of the “veterans.”
on that train invade my dreams even now: antic- They swore at us. “What the hell are you
ipation of danger, fear of the dark; the screams of Schweinehunde19 doing here?” I was puzzled.
poor Mrs. Schechter, who, in Did they think we had
her delirium, saw flames in the come to this hell volun-
distance; the efforts to make tarily, out of curiosity?
her stop; the terror in her little I see myself sitting Only years later did I
boy’s eyes. I recall every hour, there, haggard and understand. Two of their
every second. How could I for- former companions, Rudolf
get? They were the last hours I disoriented, a shadow Vrba and Alfred Wetzler,
spent with my family: the mur- among shadows. had managed to escape
mured prayers of my grand- from Birkenau in 1944 to
mother, whose eyes saw beyond warn Hungarian Jews of
this world; my mother’s ges- what was awaiting them.
tures, which had never been That’s why they were so
more tender; the troubled face enraged. They thought we
of my little sister, who refused to show her fear. should have known. Some of them even hit us.
Yes, my memory gathered it all in, retained it all. Where were we going? It mattered little, for
There was sudden trepidation that gripped us it was the same everywhere. All roads led to
when, toward midnight, the train lurched for- the enemy; it was he who would throw open
ward again after stopping for several hours. I can the invisible black door that awaited us. “Stay
still hear the whistle. Elsewhere I have told of together,” my mother said. For another minute
what happened next—or rather, I have tried to we did, clinging to one another’s arms.
tell it. But it feels like yesterday. It feels like now. Nothing in the world could separate us. The
Through the cracks in the boards I see barbed entire German army could not take my little
wire stretching to infinity. A thought occurs to sister from me. Then a curt order was issued—
me: The Kabala is right, infinity exists. men on one side, women on the other—and
I see myself sitting there, haggard and disori- that was that. A single order, and we were sep-
ented, a shadow among shadows. I hear my little arated. I stared intently, trying desperately not
sister’s fitful breathing. I try to conjure up my to lose sight of my mother, my little sister with
mother’s features, and my father’s. I need some- her hair of gold and sun, my grandmother, my
one to reassure me. My heart thunders in deafen- older sisters. I see them always, for I am still
ing beats. Then there is silence, heavy and looking for them, trying to embrace them one
complete. Something was about to happen, we last time. We were taken away before I could
could feel it. Fate would at last reveal a truth tell my mother goodbye, before I could kiss her
reserved exclusively for us, a primordial truth, an hand and beg her forgiveness for the wrongs I
ultimate postulate that would annihilate or
18
must have done her, before I could squeeze

18. A postulate is a truth, or basic principle. 19. Schweinehunde, meaning “pig dogs,” is a German word
expressing a stereotypical insult.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
trepidation (trep´ə dā shən) n. a feeling of alarm or
apprehension; dread curt (kurt) adj. rudely brief, or short; terse

986 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


Tsipouka, my little sister, to my heart. What perhaps the same. Uncomplaining, unprotesting,
remains of that night like no other is an irre- asking no one’s pity, it is as if they have had
mediable20 sense of loss, of parting. My mother enough of living on a planet so cruel, so vile and
and my little sister left, and I never said good- so filled with hate that their very innocence has
bye. It all remains unreal. It’s only a dream, I brought their death. Do not deny it, I forbid you
told myself as I walked, hanging on my father’s to deny it. Know, then, that the world that let
arm. It’s a nightmare that they have torn me the killers annihilate a million and a half Jewish
from those I love, that they are beating people children bears its guilt within itself.
to death, that Birkenau exists and that it har- That night someone within me, my other
bors a gigantic altar where demons of fire self, told me it was impossible that these atroc-
devour our people. It’s in God’s nightmare that ities could be committed in the middle of the
human beings are hurling living Jewish chil- twentieth century while the world stayed
dren into the flames. silent. This was not the Middle Ages. My very
I reread what I have just written, and my hand last resistance broken, I let myself be pulled,
trembles. I who barely weep am in tears. I see the pushed, and kicked, like a deaf and mute
flames again, and the children, and yet again I sleepwalker. I could see everything, grasp it
tell myself that it is not enough to weep. and register it, but only later would I try to put
It took me a long time to convince myself I in order all the sensations and all the memo-
was not somehow mistaken. I have checked with ries. How stunned I was, for example, to dis-
others who arrived that same night, consulted cover another time outside time, a universe
documents of the Sonderkommandos,21 and yes, parallel to this one, a creation within Creation,
a thousand times yes: Unable to “handle” such a with its own laws, customs, structures, and lan-
large number of Hungarian Jews in the cremato- guage. In this universe some men existed only
ria, the killers were not content merely to incin- to kill and others only to die. And the system
erate children’s dead bodies. In their barbarous functioned with exemplary efficiency: tormen-
madness they cast living Jewish children into tors tormented and crushed their prey, tortur-
specially tended furnaces. ers tortured human beings whom they met for
And if I bear within me a nameless grief and the first time, slaughterers slaughtered their
disillusionment, a bottomless despair, it is victims without so much as a glance, flames
because that night I saw good and thoughtful rose to heaven and nothing ever jammed the
Jewish children, bearers of mute words and mechanism. It was as if it all unfolded accord-
dreams, walking into darkness before being ing to a plan decreed from the beginning of
consumed by the flames. I see them now, and I time.
still curse the killers, their accomplices, the And what of human ideals, or of the beauty of
indifferent spectators who knew and kept innocence or the weight of justice? And what of
silent, and Creation itself, Creation and those God in all that?
who perverted and distorted it. I feel like I didn’t understand, though I wanted to. Ask
screaming, howling like a madman so that that any survivor and you will hear the same thing:
world, the world of the murderers, might know it above all, we tried to understand. Why all these
will never be forgiven. deaths? What was the point of this death fac-
To this day I am shaken when I see a child, for tory? How to account for the demented mind
behind him I glimpse other children. Starving, that devised this black hole of history called
terrified, drained, they march without a back- Birkenau?
ward glance toward truth and death—which are Perhaps there was nothing to understand. 

20. Irremediable means “impossible to correct.”


Big Idea The United States and the World What do
21. Sonderkommandos refers to “special commandos,” a
you think is Wiesel’s purpose in spreading the blame for the
group of Jewish prisoners whose job was to maintain and
atrocities of the Holocaust?
clean the crematoria, or gas chambers.

ELIE WIESEL 987


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond 6. Why do you think Wiesel decides not to describe
the gas chambers?
1. How did you react to Wiesel’s account of the
Holocaust? 7. How do the interludes in which Wiesel describes
conversations with fellow Holocaust survivors add
Recall and Interpret to his memoir?
2. (a)How does Wiesel’s family handle the order to
8. How do you reconcile Wiesel’s final statement in this
leave their home? (b)What do you think their
selection, “Perhaps there was nothing to understand”?
response shows about them?
3. (a)How has Wiesel’s home changed when he Connect
returns to it years later? (b)What does this suggest 9. Big Idea The United States and the World
about the power of memory? Wiesel describes the concentration camp as a
4. (a)When is Wiesel separated from his sister and his world of its own, operating on a system of values
mother? (b)What does this say about the nature of totally foreign to the outside world. How does he
life for Jewish people during this era? respond to this environment?

Analyze and Evaluate


5. What does Wiesel’s report of the differing accounts
he has heard about the fate of his Uncle Mendel
demonstrate?

LI T E R A RY A N A LYS I S

Literary Element Narrator 1. How does Wiesel’s memoir All Rivers Run to the
Sea differ from a traditional autobiography? Think
In a memoir such as Wiesel’s, the writer is the narrator.
about Wiesel’s use of flashback.
This creates a first-person point of view that offers the
reader a distinct insight into the narrator’s experiences. 2. Do you think that Wiesel wrote this memoir for
himself or for others? Explain.
1. (a)How does Wiesel offer a unique perspective on the
Holocaust? (b)What does he leave out of his account? Partner Activity All Rivers Run to the Sea hinges
on Wiesel’s skillful melding of childhood recollec-
2. (a)What method of storytelling does Wiesel employ
tions with reflections as an adult on the past. Both
as a narrator? (b)How does this method contribute
contribute to a picture of Wiesel as a person. Meet
to the selection?
with another classmate to discuss your impressions
of Wiesel’s character and personality. Then present
Review: Autobiography your findings to the class.

As you learned in Unit One, an autobiography is


the story an author writes about his or her own life. Literary Criticism
A memoir is a specific type of autobiography—an
Group Activity Brad Hopper of Booklist wrote in a
account of an event or a period in the author’s life
review of All Rivers Run to the Sea, “[Wiesel] cease-
that emphasizes the author’s personal experience.
lessly pricks the conscience of a world that thinks it is
All Rivers Run to the Sea is a memoir in that it reex-
possible to have heard ‘enough’ about the Holocaust.”
amines Wiesel’s holocaust experience and its reper-
Do you agree with this statement? Meet with a few of
cussions on his life and on the world.
your classmates to write three blurbs—short descrip-
tions from reviews that might appear on a book jacket
for All Rivers Run to the Sea.

988 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


R E AD I N G AN D VO CAB U L ARY WR I TI N G AN D E XTE N D I N G

Reading Strategy Activating Prior Writing About Literature


Knowledge Respond to Theme and Craft In All Rivers Run to
You derive meaning from literature by activating prior the Sea, Wiesel writes, “This was where my childhood
knowledge, or combining what you already know with and my adolescence, my prayers, studies, and fasting
the information provided in the text. Even if you have had led. These moments would remain forever etched
not endured the same experiences as the writer or within me.” Write a brief essay explaining how this
character, there are many experiences you have had statement informs and drives Wiesel’s narrative. Use
that can help you understand the text. evidence from the memoir and examples from your
own experience to explain your response. Pay particu-
1. Cite two examples of details in the text that you lar attention to the way that Wiesel comes back to this
were instantly able to connect with given your prior moment during various parts of his life and how he
knowledge or experience. weaves details from different times in his life into a
2. Memoirs are narrated from the first-person point of cohesive narrative.
view and often include very personal details from As you draft, write from start to finish. Follow the writ-
the writer’s life. Do you think that this makes it eas- ing path shown here to help you organize your essay
ier or more difficult to connect with the speaker? and keep on track.
Explain.
S TART
Partner Activity What prior knowledge did you acti-
vate as you read Wiesel’s memoir? Meet with another Present your interpretation of
Introduction


the quotation and the position
classmate to discuss your experience of reading about
you plan to defend.
the atrocities of the Holocaust.
➧ ➧
Body Add supporting evidence.


Paragraph(s)
Vocabulary Practice
Practice with Word Parts Below are three Briefly summarize your
Conclusion position and consider offering

groups of words. Each group consists of a vocabu-


a related insight.
lary word from All Rivers Run to the Sea, followed
by three other words that share a word part. For F IN I S H
each group, explain the meaning of the shared
part. Use a dictionary if you need to. After you complete your draft, meet with a peer
reviewer to evaluate each other’s work and to suggest
1. ineffably revisions. Then proofread and edit your work for errors
incapable inability inadequate in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
2. premonition
preconceived premature preview
Interdisciplinary Activity: Government
3. trepidation
instigation congratulation manifestation The Danger of Propaganda Hitler and the Third
Reich used propaganda to gather support for their brutal
campaign against the Jews. Their techniques included
scapegoating and stereotyping. By blaming Jews for all
the problems in Germany, the Nazis used them as
scapegoats and rallied support. By stereotyping the Jews
as “subhuman,” the Nazis attempted to convince the
public that the Jews did not deserve rights. Research
Nazi propaganda, including the persuasive techniques
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to that this propaganda employs.
www.glencoe.com.

ELIE WIESEL 989


Garrett Hongo
S11-222-01C-635423 Kent
Typewriter Regular, Optima U7 T11
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

Building Background
Although Garrett Hongo was born in Hawaii in 1951, the United States to enter World War II. Although
his family moved to southern California when he was Hongo was not alive during this attack, his family was
six. On the mainland, he interacted with many groups deeply affected by it. During the war, more than
of immigrants, each with rich, diverse cultures. His 120,000 Japanese Americans were forced to live in
town of Gardena, California, had the largest Japanese internment camps set up by the U.S. government.
American population of any other city except for Decades later the government apologized for this
Honolulu, Hawaii. Hongo’s poetry frequently touches injustice and paid reparations.
on the difficulties immigrants face in U.S. society and
Garrett Hongo was born in 1951.
the bitterness of prejudice.
Hongo’s memoir Kubota addresses the Japanese Author Search For more about
military attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii that prompted Garrett Hongo, go to www.glencoe.com.

It was a Monday night, the day after Pearl Harbor, air station near the fishing grounds my grandfa-
and there was a rattling knock at the front door. ther loved and destroyed a small gun battery
Two FBI agents presented themselves, showed there, killing three men. Kubota3 was known to
identification, and took my grandfather in for have sponsored and harbored Japanese nationals
questioning in Honolulu. He didn’t return home in his own home. He had a radio. He had whole-
for days. No one knew what had happened or what sale access to firearms. Circumstances and an
was wrong. But there was a roundup going on of all undertone of racial resentment had combined
those in the Japanese-American community sus- with wartime hysteria in the aftermath of the
pected of sympathizing with the enemy and worse. tragic naval battle to cast suspicion on the loyal-
My grandfather was suspected of espionage,1 ties of my grandfather and all other Japanese
of communicating with offshore Japanese subma- Americans. The FBI reached out and pulled
rines launched from the attack fleet days before hundreds of them in for questioning in dragnets
the war began. Torpedo planes and escort fight- cast throughout the West Coast and Hawaii.
ers, decorated with the insignia of the Rising My grandfather was lucky; he’d somehow been
Sun, had taken an approach route from north- let go after only a few days. Others were not as
west of Oahu directly across Kahuku Point and fortunate. Hundreds, from small communities in
on toward Pearl. They had strafed2 an auxiliary Washington, California, Oregon, and Hawaii,
were rounded up and, after what appeared to be
routine questioning, shipped off under Justice
1. Espionage means spying.
2. Strafed means “attacked with machine guns from low-flying
aircraft.” 3. Kubota (k¯¯¯
oo bōta)

990 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


Department orders to holding centers in Leuppe Once, in the mid-sixties, after a dinner during
on the Navaho reservation in Arizona, in Fort which, as always, he had been silent while he
Missoula in Montana, and on Sand Island in worked away at a meal of fish and rice spiced
Honolulu Harbor. There were other special with dabs of Chinese mustard and catsup
camps on Maui in Ha’iku and on Hawaii—the thinned with soy sauce, Kubota took his own
Big Island—in my own home village of Volcano. dishes to the kitchen sink and washed them up.
Many of these men—it was exclusively the He took a clean jelly jar out of the cupboard—
Japanese-American men suspected of ties to the glass was thick and its shape squatty like an
Japan who were initially rounded up—did not old-fashioned. He reached around to the hutch
see their families again for more than four years. below where he kept his bourbon. He made him-
Under a suspension of due process4 that was only self a drink and retired to the living room where
after the fact ruled as warranted by military I was expected to join him for “talk story,” the
necessity, they were, if only temporarily, “disap- Hawaiian idiom for chewing the fat.
peared” in Justice Department prison camps scat- I was a teenager and, though I was bored lis-
tered in particularly desolate areas of the United tening to stories I’d heard often enough before at
States designated as militarily “safe.” These were holiday dinners, I was dutiful. I took my spot on
grim forerunners of the assembly centers and the couch next to Kubota and heard him out.
concentration camps for the 120,000 Japanese- Usually, he’d tell me about his schooling in
American evacuees that were to come later. Japan where he learned
I am Kubota’s eldest grandchild, and I remem- judo along with mathemat-
ber him as a lonely, habitually silent old man ics and literature. He’d
who lived with us in our home near Los Angeles learned the soroban there—
for most of my childhood and adolescence. It the abacus, which was the
Visual Vocabulary
was the fifties, and my parents had emigrated original pocket calculator On an abacus the
from Hawaii to the mainland in the hope of a of the Far East—and that, positions of beads
better life away from the old sugar plantation. along with his strong, judo- stand for numbers.
After some success, they had sent back for my trained back, got him his
grandparents and taken them in. And it was my first job in Hawaii. This was the moral. “Study
grandparents who did the work of the household ha-ahd,” he’d say with pidgin7 emphasis. “Learn
while my mother and father worked their sala- read good. Learn speak da kine good English.”
ried city jobs. My grandmother cooked and The message is the familiar one taught to any
sewed, washed our clothes, and knitted in the children of immigrants: succeed through educa-
front room under the light of a huge lamp with tion. And imitation. But this time, Kubota
a bright three-way bulb. Kubota raised a flower reached down into his past and told me a differ-
garden, read up on soils and grasses in gardening ent story. I was thirteen by then, and I suppose
books, and planted a zoysia lawn in front and a he thought me ready for it. He told me about
dichondra5 one in back. He planted a small Pearl Harbor, how the planes flew in wing after
patch near the rear block wall with green wing of formations over his old house in La’ie in
onions, eggplant, white Japanese radishes, and Hawaii, and how, the next day, after Roosevelt8
cucumber. While he hoed and spaded the loam- had made his famous “Day of Infamy” speech
less, clayey earth of Los Angeles, he sang partic- about the treachery of the Japanese, the FBI
ularly plangent6 songs in Japanese about plum agents had come to his door and taken him in,
blossoms and bamboo groves.

7. Pidgin (pij ən) is a hybrid language that is a mixture of two


4. Due process is the administration of the law according to or more languages and that has a simplified vocabulary and
prescribed procedures. grammatical structure.
5. Zoysia (zoi zhə) is a type of grass. Dichondra (d̄ kan drə) 8. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) addressed
is a type of herb used for lawns. Congress the day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on
6. Plangent (plan jənt) can mean either “mournful” or “loud December 7, 1941, saying it was “a date which will live in
and echoing.” infamy.”

GAR R ET T HONGO 991


Richard Hutchings/PhotoEdit
Barracks, Tule Lake,
California, 1945. Taneyuki
Dan Harada. Oil on canvas,
27 x 31 in. Collection of
Michael D. Brown.

hauled him off to Honolulu for questioning, and about the evacuation and relocation for very
held him without charge for several days. I long. It wasn’t in our history books, though we
thought he was lying. I thought he was making were studying World War II at the time. It
up a kind of horror story to shock me and give wasn’t in the family albums of the people I
his moral that much more starch. But it was knew and whom I’d visit staying over weekends
true. I asked around. I brought it up during with friends. And it wasn’t anything that the
history class in junior high school, and my family talked about or allowed me to keep
teacher, after silencing me and stepping me off bringing up either. I was given the facts, told
to the back of the room, told me that it was sternly and pointedly that “it was war” and that
indeed so. I asked my mother and she said it “nothing could be done.” “Shikatta ga nai”11 is
was true. I asked my schoolmates, who laughed the phrase in Japanese, a kind of resolute and
and ridiculed me for being so ignorant. We determinist pronouncement on how to deal
lived in a Japanese-American community, and with inexplicable tragedy. I was to know it but
the parents of most of my classmates were the not to dwell on it. Japanese Americans were
nisei9 who had been interned10 as teenagers busy trying to forget it ever happened and were
all through the war. But there was a strange having a hard enough time building their new
silence around all of this. There was a hush, as lives after “camp.” It was as if we had no his-
if one were invoking the ill powers of the dead tory for four years and the relocation was some-
when one brought it up. No one cared to speak thing unspeakable.
But Kubota would not let it go. In session
after session, for months it seemed, he pounded
9. The Japanese word nisei (nē sā) refers to children of away at his story. He wanted to tell me the
Japanese immigrants; that is, the first generation of
Japanese Americans born in the United States.
10. Interned means “confined or restricted to a particular place,
especially during war.” 11. “Shikatta ga nai” is pronounced (shē ka ta a n̄ ).

992 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


Collection of Michael D. Brown
names of the FBI agents. He went over their was remembering the debates before the first sena-
questions and his responses again and again. torial election just before Hawaii was admitted to
He’d tell me how one would try to act friendly the Union as its fiftieth state. “You tell story,”
toward him, offering him cigarettes while the Kubota would end. And I had my injunction.15
other, who hounded him with accusations and The town we settled in after the move from
threats, left the interrogation room. Good cop, Hawaii is called Gardena, the independently
bad cop, I thought to myself, already superfi- incorporated city south of Los Angeles and north
cially streetwise from stories black classmates of San Pedro harbor. At its northern limit, it bor-
told of the Watts12 riots and from my having ders on Watts and Compton, black towns. To the
watched too many episodes of Dragnet and The southwest are Torrance and Redondo Beach,
Mod Squad.13 But Kubota was not interested in white towns. To the rest of L.A., Gardena is pri-
my experiences. I was not made yet, and he was marily famous for having legalized five-card draw
determined that his stories be part of my mak- poker after the war. On Vermont Boulevard, its
ing. He spoke quietly at first, mildly, but once eastern border, there is a dingy little Vegas-like
into his narrative and after his drink was down, strip of card clubs with huge parking lots and
his voice would rise and quaver with resentment flickering neon signs that spell out “The
and he’d make his accusations. He gave his tes- Rainbow” and “The Horseshoe” in timed
timony to me and I held it at first cautiously in sequences of varicolored lights. The town is only
my conscience like it was an heirloom too deli- secondarily famous as the largest community of
cate to expose to strangers and anyone outside Japanese Americans in the United States outside
of the world Kubota made with his words. “I of Honolulu, Hawaii. When I was in high school
give you story now,” he once said, “and you there, it seemed to me that every sansei16 kid I
learn speak good, eh?” It was my job, as the dis- knew wanted to be a doctor, an engineer, or a
ciple of his preaching I had pharmacist. Our fathers were gardeners or electri-
then become, Ananda to his cians or nurserymen or ran small businesses cater-
Buddha,14 to reassure him ing to other Japanese Americans. Our mothers
with a promise. “You learn worked in civil service for the city or as cashiers
speak good like the for Thrifty Drug. What the kids wanted was a
Dillingham,” he’d say good job, good pay, a fine home, and no troubles.
Visual Vocabulary another time, referring to No one wanted to mess with the law—from either
Daniel K. Inouye the wealthy scion of the side—and no one wanted to
(inō ye´) (born grower family who had once mess with language or art.
1924), was the first
run, unsuccessfully, for one They all talked about get-
Japanese American
to serve in congress
of Hawaii’s first senatorial ting into the right clubs so
as a U.S. Senator seats. Or he’d then invoke a that they could go to the
from Hawaii. magical name, the name of right schools. There was a
one of his heroes, a man he certain kind of sameness,
thought particularly exemplary and righteous. an intensely enforced sys-
“Learn speak dah good Ing-rish like Mistah tem of conformity. Style
Inouye,” Kubota shouted. “He lick dah Dillingham was all. Boys wore mocca- Visual Vocabulary
even in debate. I saw on terre-bision myself.” He sin-sewn shoes from Flagg A bouffant (boo ¯¯¯ fant)
Brothers, black A-1 slacks, is a hairstyle in which
the hair is puffed out.
and Kensington shirts with
12. Watts, a section of Los Angeles, was the site of severe high collars. Girls wore
racial violence in 1965. their hair up in stiff bouffants solidified in hair-
13. Dragnet and The Mod Squad were popular television
spray and knew all the latest dances from the
police shows.
14. Buddha (563?–483? B.C.) was the title given to Siddhartha
Gautama (si dar tə ou tə mə), the founder of
Buddhism. Ananda ( a nan da ) was his cousin and 15. An injunction is a command or an order.
“Beloved Disciple.” 16. The sansei (san sā´) are the children of the nisei.

GAR R ET T HONGO 993


(l)Terry Ashe/The Liaison Agency, (r)Corry/Hulton Archive
Japanese Americans interned at Santa Anita.
Viewing the Photograph: What insights into the Japanese American internment
do you get from this photograph?

slauson to the funky chicken. We did well in They were mainland-born. Their parents had
chemistry and in math, no one who was Japa- been in camp, had been the ones to suffer the
nese but me spoke in English class or in his- complicated experience of having to distance
tory unless called upon, and no one talked themselves from their own history and all things
about World War II. The day after Robert Japanese in order to make their way back and
Kennedy was assassinated, after winning the into the American social and economic main-
California Democratic primary, we worked on stream. It was out of this sense of shame and a
calculus and elected class coordinators for the fear of stigma I was only beginning to understand
prom, featuring the 5th Dimension.17 We that the nisei had silenced themselves. And, for
avoided grief. We avoided government. We their children, among whom I grew up, they
avoided strong feelings and dangers of any wanted no heritage, no culture, no contact with a
kind. Once punished, we tried to maintain a defiled history. I recall the silence very well. The
concerted emotional and social discipline and Japanese-American children around me were bur-
would not willingly seek to fall out of the nar- dened in a way I was not. Their injunction was
row margin of protective favor again. silence. Mine was to speak. 
But when I was thirteen, in junior high, I’d not
understood why it was so difficult for my class- Quickwrite
mates, those who were themselves Japanese
American, to talk about the relocation. They had Is Kubota right to urge his grandson to discuss what
cringed, too, when I tried to bring it up during our happened to Japanese Americans during World War II?
discussions of World War II. I was Hawaiian-born. Why do you think some people seem to disagree
with this stance? Write a short response in which you
explain your position. Support your argument with
17. The 5th Dimension was a popular music group in the details from the selection and historical information.
late 1960s.

994 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR


CORBIS
Art Spiegelman

B EFO R E YO U R E A D

Building Background
Art Spiegelman learned to read by reading comics and, Spiegelman portrays not only his father’s experiences
in turn, has taught a generation of readers that the comic but also his relationship with his father, both when he
book, or graphic novel, format can be as powerful as any was a child and when he was an adult. Throughout the
other form of literature. He observes, “There’ve been books, Spiegelman represents the Jews as mice and
lots of rotten novels and paintings, and zillions of rotten the Nazis as cats. Other groups are represented by
comics. But in the hands of someone who knows how different animals. In 1992 Spiegelman was awarded a
to use their medium, great things can happen.” Born in Pulitzer Prize for Maus, the first time a graphic-novel
Stockholm, Sweden, Spiegelman came to the U.S. as a artist had received this award.
child. In high school he studied cartooning. At sixteen,
There are several unfamiliar terms and people mentioned
he started drawing professionally, and, after leaving
in the excerpt that follows. The German word gemeinde
college, he soon became an important figure in the
refers to a Jewish committee within the community.
underground comics movement of the late 1960s.
Richieu is the first son of Vladek and Anja, Spiegelman’s
Born in Poland, Spiegelman’s Jewish parents were both parents. Richieu was sent to live with relatives during
sent to Auschwitz by the Nazis. Though they survived, the war, but he did not survive the Holocaust. Lolek
Spiegelman’s mother, Anja (to whom Maus is dedicated), and Lonia are cousins of the Spiegelmans. Tosha and
eventually committed suicide in 1968. During the 1970s, Wolfe are Anja’s older sister and her husband.
Spiegelman began to create comics based on his
Art Spiegelman was born in 1948.
father’s (Vladek’s) memories of the Nazi occupation of
Poland. Between 1980 and 1986, these efforts grew
into Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, a full-length graphic Author Search For more about Art
novel. He published a sequel, Maus II, in 1991. Spiegelman, go to www.glencoe.com.

ART SPIEGELMAN 995


CORBIS
996 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I O N TO COL D WAR
Discussion Starter

Graphic novels combine words and pictures. In the work of some comic artists,
graphic elements dominate; in the work of others, words have greater impor-
tance. Look over these panels from Maus to determine the balance between words
and pictures in Art Spiegelman’s work. With a group of classmates, discuss how the
imagery and words work together and how one panel transitions into the next.

A RT SP I EG EL MAN 997
Wrap-Up: Comparing Literature Across Time and Place

• from All Rivers Run • from Kubota • from Maus: A


to the Sea Garrett Hongo Survivor’s Tale
Elie Wiesel Art Spiegelman

COM PAR I NG TH E Big Idea The United States and the World
Group Activity Multiculturalism is an increasingly important and respected feature of U.S.
society. With a group of classmates, discuss the following questions.

1. In what ways do Wiesel and Spiegelman address the need to tell the truth about the
establishment of concentration camps by the Nazis in the 1930s and 1940s?
2. What does Kubota hope to accomplish by asking Hongo to tell his story about Japanese
American internment?
3. Evaluate the statements about history and personal expression made in these selections.
Which of them did you find most powerful? Explain.

COM PAR I NG Reflections


Writing Activity The stories in these works explore the lives of people who have survived par-
ticularly difficult experiences. Read the following quotations from the selections. Then write a
brief essay, evaluating how the quotes exemplify the way these selections explore the signifi-
cance of personal experience.

“I freeze every time I hear a train whistle.”


—Elie Wiesel, All Rivers Run to the Sea

“I brought it up during history class in junior high


school, and my teacher, after silencing me and
stepping me off to the back of the room, told me that
it was indeed so.”
—Garrett Hongo, Kubota

“Well . . . It’s enough for today. Yes, Artie?” Children liberated from a Nazi concentration camp show
the numbers tattooed on their arms.
—Art Spiegelman, Maus

COM PAR I NG Cultures


Visual Display The horrors of World War II had a great impact on various cultures in different
ways. From the selections you have read, create a three-panel collage of images—one for each
selection—that illustrates the experiences of these cultures during the war.

O B J EC TIVES
• Compare and contrast authors’ messages. • Evaluate narrators.
• Analyze historical context.

998 U N IT 6 F ROM DEPRESSION TO COLD WAR


CORBIS
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

from Hiroshima
M E E T J O H N H E R SE Y

J
ohn Hersey spent his adult life bearing
witness to some of the pivotal events of the
twentieth century. Hersey was born in China
to missionary parents, but he spent most of his
life writing about the United States’ military
influence in other countries.
After Hersey’s father died from an illness he
Although much was written about the event at the
contracted in China, the family settled in New
time, most of those articles were recitations of facts
York. Hersey attended Yale University, where he
and statistics. Hersey wanted to alert the public to
studied English literature and began his profes-
the nightmarish aftermath of the bombing and its
sional career working for the Yale Daily News. His
human and moral consequences.
first job after college was as private secretary to the
Nobel Prize-winning writer Sinclair Lewis. Hersey spent several weeks interviewing people in
Japan and writing about the devastation he witnessed
in Hiroshima. A few months later, the New Yorker, a
publication renowned for its literary quality, devoted
“Journalism allows its readers to all of its editorial space to Hersey’s piece. The work
witness history; fiction gives its readers created an unprecedented amount of interest in
the publishing world. The book’s publication not
an opportunity to live it.” only established Hersey’s literary reputation but also
—John Hersey originated a new type of literary journalism that went
beyond mere reporting of events to capture the hu-
man toll of a wartime incident. Hiroshima’s focus on
the human costs of war prompted years of discussion
On the War Front Between 1937 and 1946, about nuclear weapons and their moral implications.
Hersey worked for Time and Life magazines as a Truth as Fiction Hersey wrote that he believed
foreign correspondent in the Pacific. To write that fiction better allowed him to depict reality.
his first book, Men on Bataan, he combined his “It makes truth plausible,” he wrote. Hersey con-
own experience with other sources, including tinued to write books that dealt with important
letters, speeches, and memos written by the sol- issues of his times: war, education, racism, and pol-
diers stationed in the Pacific. One aspect of the itics. Hersey was such an important literary figure
book that captured the attention of critics was that his death in 1993 was front-page news. New
Hersey’s ability to combine fictional tech- York Times writer Richard Severo described him
niques—such as characterization, description, “not only as a first-rate reporter but also as a story-
and foreshadowing—with factual reporting. His teller who nurtured the idea that writers had to
later experiences in Italy were reshaped into his pursue a moral goal.”
first novel, A Bell for Adano, for which Hersey
was awarded the 1945 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. John Hersey was born in 1914 and died in 1993.

Hiroshima In 1945, the nuclear age began when


United States forces dropped atomic bombs on Author Search For more about
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two Japanese cities. John Hersey,
Author Name,gogototowww.glencoe.com.
www.literature.glencoe.com.

JOHN HERSEY 999


Bettmann/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W READI NG PREVI EW

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions


Hersey wrote about ordinary people and war’s effect About Author’s Beliefs
on their lives. As you read the excerpt, think about the When you draw conclusions, you use a number of
following questions: clues to make a general statement about something.
• Under what circumstances, if any, do you think the Often, by looking at the types of details that an author
includes and omits, you can draw some conclusions
dropping of an atomic bomb would be necessary?
• What does this selection show about the effects of about that author’s beliefs.
war on ordinary civilians?
Reading Tip: Chart Clues Use a graphic organizer to
Building Background record details that you will use to draw conclusions
In 1945, the United States and Japan were adversaries in about the author’s beliefs.
World War II. As the war dragged on, casualties mounted
on both sides. The Japanese had been warned that they Detail Detail Detail
would face “utter destruction” if they did not surrender,
but many officials predicted that the island nation would
continue to fight. On August 6, a B-29 aircraft named
the Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb ever used
in wartime.
Conclusion
Setting Purposes for Reading
Big Idea The United States and the World
As you read this selection, think about why the world
came to see nuclear warfare as something to be Vocabulary
avoided at all costs.
evacuate (i vak ū āt´) v. to vacate or leave a
place; p. 1001 Citizens were told to evacuate the
Literary Element Point of View
city if they heard a siren.
Point of view is the perspective from which the narrator
tells the story. In first-person point of view, the narrator
volition (v ō lish ən) n. act of choosing or
is a character in the story and uses “I” or “me” to tell the
deciding; p. 1001 They were in the right place by
story. In third-person point of view, the narrator is not a
accident rather than volition.
character but describes the action and the characters debris (də brē ) n. large number of fragments
from outside the story. In third-person omniscient point or broken pieces; p. 1005 The explosion filled the
of view, the narrator is all-knowing. In third-person streets with debris.
limited, the narrator describes only what one character
xenophobic (zen´ə fō bik) adj. having an
could know. In objective point of view, the narrator
extreme fear of foreigners or strangers; p. 1007 The
knows only what can be heard and seen about the char-
people were xenophobic and trusted no newcomers.
acters. As you read the excerpt, examine how point of
view affects your understanding of the narrative. terminus (tur mə nəs) n. one end of a travel
route or the station placed there; p. 1008 When
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R14. the train entered the terminus, the passengers collected
their belongings and prepared to disembark.
Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

OB J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • using word origins to expand vocabulary
• understanding literary conventions, such as point of view • writing in a voice and style appropriate to your audience
• drawing conclusions about author’s beliefs and purpose

1000 U N IT 6 F ROM DEPRESSION TO COLD WAR


John Hersey

At exactly fifteen minutes past eight in the young member of the surgical staff of the city’s
morning, on August 6, 1945, Japanese time, large, modern Red Cross Hospital, walked along
at the moment when the atomic bomb flashed one of the hospital corridors with a blood specimen
above Hiroshima, Miss Toshiko Sasaki, a clerk for a Wassermann test2 in his hand; and the
in the personnel department of the East Asia Reverend Mr. Kiyoshi Tanimoto, pastor of the
Tin Works, had just sat down at her place in Hiroshima Methodist Church, paused at the door of
the plant office and was turning her head to a rich man’s house in Koi, the city’s western suburb,
speak to the girl at the next desk. At that same and prepared to unload a handcart full of things he
moment, Dr. Masakazu Fujii was settling down had evacuated from town in fear of the massive B-
cross-legged to read the Osaka Asahi on the porch 29 raid which everyone expected Hiroshima to suf-
of his private hospital, overhanging one of the fer. A hundred thousand people were killed by the
seven deltaic1 rivers which divide Hiroshima; atomic bomb, and these six were among the survi-
Mrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura, a tailor’s widow, stood vors. They still wonder why they lived when so
by the window of her kitchen, watching a many others died. Each of them counts many small
neighbor tearing down his house because it items of chance or volition—a step taken in time,
lay in the path of an air-raid-defense fire lane;
Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge, a German priest
2. A Wasserman test is a blood test once widely used to
of the Society of Jesus, reclined in his under- diagnose syphilis.
wear on a cot on the top floor of his order’s
Literary Element Point of View Based on your reading of
three-story mission house, reading a Jesuit
the first paragraph, what kind of point of view does Hersey use?
magazine, Stimmen der Zeit; Dr. Terufumi Sasaki, a
Vocabulary
1. Deltaic refers to a delta that forms at the mouth of a river. evacuate (i vakū āt´) v. to vacate or leave a place
The city of Hiroshima straddles six channels and several
volition (vō lish ən) n. act of choosing or deciding
islets that make up the delta at the mouth of the Ota River.

JOHN HERSEY 1001


Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
a decision to go indoors, catching one streetcar belonged to a rayon manufacturer in Koi, two miles
instead of the next—that spared him. And now from the center of town. The rayon man, a
each knows that in the act of survival he lived a Mr. Matsui, had opened his then unoccupied estate
dozen lives and saw more death than he ever to a large number of his friends and acquaintances,
thought he would see. At the time, none of them so that they might evacuate whatever they wished
knew anything. to a safe distance from the probable target area.
Mr. Tanimoto had had no difficulty in moving
The Reverend Mr. Tanimoto got up at five o’clock chairs, hymnals, Bibles, altar gear, and church
that morning. He was alone in the parsonage, records by pushcart himself, but the organ
because for some time his wife had been commuting console and an upright piano required some aid.
with their year-old baby to spend nights with a A friend of his named Matsuo had, the day
friend in Ushida, a suburb to the north. Of all the before, helped him get the piano out to Koi; in
important cities of Japan, only two, Kyoto and return, he had promised this day to assist Mr.
Hiroshima, had not been visited in strength if Matsuo in hauling out a daughter’s belongings. That
B-san, or Mr. B, as the Japanese, with a mixture of is why he had risen so early.
respect and unhappy familiarity, called the B-29; Mr. Tanimoto cooked his own breakfast. He
and Mr. Tanimoto, like all his neighbors and friends, felt awfully tired. The effort of moving the piano
was almost sick with anxiety. He had heard uncom- the day before, a sleepless night, weeks of worry
fortably detailed accounts of mass raids on Kure, and unbalanced diet, the cares of his parish—all
Iwakuni, Tokuyama, and other nearby towns; he combined to make him feel hardly adequate
was sure Hiroshima’s turn would come soon. He had to the new day’s work. There was another thing,
slept badly the night before, because there had been too: Mr. Tanimoto had studied theology at Emory
several air-raid warnings. Hiroshima had been get- College, in Atlanta, Georgia; he had gradu-
ting such warnings almost every night for weeks, for ated in 1940; he spoke excellent English; he
at that time the B-29s were using Lake Biwa, north- dressed in American clothes; he had corre-
east of Hiroshima, as a rendezvous point, and no sponded with many American friends right up to
matter what city the Americans planned to hit, the the time the war began; and among a people
Superfortresses streamed in over the coast near obsessed with a fear of being spied upon—per-
Hiroshima. The frequency of the warnings and the haps almost obsessed himself—he found himself
continued abstinence of Mr. B with respect to growing increasingly uneasy. The police had
Hiroshima had made its citizens jittery; a rumor was questioned him several times, and just a few days
going around that the Americans were saving some- before, he had heard that an influential acquain-
thing special for the city. tance, a Mr. Tanaka, a retired officer of the Toyo
Mr. Tanimoto is a small man, quick to talk, Kisen Kaisha steamship line, an anti-Christian,
laugh, and cry. He wears his black hair parted in the a man famous in Hiroshima for his showy philan-
middle and rather long; the prominence of the fron- thropies3 and notorious for his personal tyran-
tal bones just above his eyebrows and the smallness nies, had been telling people that Tanimoto
of his moustache, mouth, and chin give him a should not be trusted. In compensation, to show
strange, old-young look, boyish and yet wise, weak himself publicly a good Japanese, Mr. Tanimoto
and yet fiery. He moves nervously and fast, but with had taken on the chairmanship of his local
a restraint which suggests that he is a cautious, tonarigumi, or Neighborhood Association, and
thoughtful man. He showed, indeed, just those to his other duties and concerns this position
qualities in the uneasy days before the bomb fell.
Besides having his wife spend the nights in Ushida,
Mr. Tanimoto had been carrying all the portable 3. Philanthropies are good works designed to benefit people.
things from his church, in the close-packed residen- Literary Element Point of View How does the point of
tial district called Nagaragawa, to a house that view affect your understanding of Mr. Tanimoto?

Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About


Big Idea The United States and the World Why are the Author’s Beliefs Which words and phrases show the
people of Hiroshima so worried about the Americans? author’s disdain for certain personality traits?

1002 UNIT 6 F RO M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


had added the business of organizing air-raid morning was still; the place
defense for about twenty families. was cool and pleasant.
Before six o’clock that morning, Mr. Tanimoto Then a tremendous
started for Mr. Matsuo’s house. There he found that flash of light cut across the
their burden was to be a tansu, a large Japanese cab- sky. Mr. Tanimoto has a
inet, full of clothing and household goods. The two distinct recollection that it
men set out. The morning was perfectly clear and so traveled from east to west,
warm that the day promised to be uncomfortable. A from the city toward the
few minutes after they started, the air-raid siren hills. It seemed a sheet of
went off—a minute-long blast that warned of sun. Both he and Mr.
approaching planes but indicated to the people of Matsuo reacted in terror—
Hiroshima only a slight degree of danger, since it and both had time to react
sounded every morning at this time, when an (for they were 3,500 yards, Comparisons of Hiroshima Before
American weather plane came over. The two men or two miles, from the and After Atomic Bomb. Hiroshima
on April 13 and August 11, 1945.
pulled and pushed the handcart through the city center of the explosion).
streets. Hiroshima was a fan-shaped city, lying Mr. Matsuo dashed up the front steps into the
mostly on the six islands formed by the seven estu- house and dived among the bedrolls and buried
arial rivers that branch out from the Ota River; its himself there. Mr. Tanimoto took four or five
main commercial and residential districts, covering steps and threw himself between two big rocks in
about four square miles in the center of the city, the garden. He bellied up very hard against
contained three-quarters of its population, which one of them. As his face was against the stone,
had been reduced by several evacuation programs he did not see what happened. He felt a sudden
from a wartime peak of 380,000 to about 245,000. pressure, and then splinters and pieces of board
Factories and other residential districts, or suburbs, and fragments of tile fell on him. He heard no
lay compactly around the edges of the city. To the roar. (Almost no one in Hiroshima recalls hear-
south were the docks, an airport, and the island- ing any noise of the bomb. But a fisherman in
studded Inland Sea.4 A rim of mountains runs his sampan5 on the Inland Sea near Tsuzu, the
around the other three sides of the delta. Mr. man with whom Mr. Tanimoto’s mother-in-law
Tanimoto and Mr. Matsuo took their way through and sister-in-law were living, saw the flash and
the shopping center, already full of people, and heard a tremendous explosion; he was nearly
across two of the rivers to the sloping streets of Koi, twenty miles from Hiroshima, but the thunder was
and up them to the outskirts and foothills. As they greater than when the B-29s hit Iwakuni, only five
started up a valley away from the tight-ranked miles away.)
houses, the all-clear sounded. (The Japanese radar When he dared, Mr. Tanimoto raised his head
operators, detecting only three planes, supposed that and saw that the rayon man’s house had col-
they comprised a reconnaissance.) Pushing the lapsed. He thought a bomb had fallen directly on
handcart up to the rayon man’s house was tiring, it. Such clouds of dust had risen that there was a
and the men, after they had maneuvered their load sort of twilight around. In panic, not thinking for
into the driveway and to the front steps, paused the moment of Mr. Matsuo under the ruins, he
to rest awhile. They stood with a wing of the dashed out into the street. He noticed as he ran
house between them and the city. Like most that the concrete wall of the estate had fallen
homes in this part of Japan, the house consisted over—toward the house rather than away from it.
of a wooden frame and wooden walls supporting In the street, the first thing he saw was a squad of
a heavy tile roof. Its front hall, packed with rolls soldiers who had been burrowing into the hillside
of bedding and clothing, looked like a cool cave opposite, making one of the thousands of dugouts
full of fat cushions. Opposite the house, to the in which the Japanese apparently intended to
right of the front door, there was a large, finicky resist invasion, hill by hill, life for life; the sol-
rock garden. There was no sound of planes. The diers were coming out of the hole, where they
should have been safe, and blood was running
4. The Inland Sea lies between the Japanese islands of Kyushu,
Shikoku, and Honshu, where Hiroshima is located. 5. A sampan is a small boat.

JOHN HERSEY 1003


John Van Hasselt/CORBIS SYGMA
all to no purpose, to the
East Parade Ground, she
decided that in spite of the
instructions on the radio,
she simply could not face
starting out all over again.
She put the children in
their bedrolls on the floor,
lay down herself at three
o’clock, and fell asleep at
once, so soundly that when
the planes passed over later,
she did not waken to their
sound.
The siren jarred her
awake at about seven. She
arose, dressed quickly, and
hurried to the house of Mr.
People hurry past a fire burning in the wake of an atomic explosion.
Nakamoto, the head of her
Hiroshima, Japan. August 1945. Neighborhood Association, and asked him
what she should do. He said that she should
from their heads, chests, and backs. They were remain at home unless an urgent warning—a
silent and dazed. series of intermittent blasts of the siren—was
Under what seemed to be a local dust cloud, sounded. She returned home, lit the stove in
the day grew darker and darker. the kitchen, set some rice to cook, and sat
down to read that morning’s Hiroshima
At nearly midnight, the night before the bomb was Chugoku. To her relief, the all-clear sounded at
dropped, an announcer on the city’s radio station eight o’clock. She heard the children stirring,
said that about two hundred B-29s were approach- so she went and gave each of them a handful of
ing southern Honshu and advised the population of peanuts and told them to stay on their bedrolls,
Hiroshima to evacuate to their designated “safe because they were tired from the night’s walk.
areas.” Mrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura, the tailor’s widow, She had hoped that they would go back to
who lived in the section called Noboricho and who sleep, but the man in the house directly to the
had long had a habit of doing as she was told, got south began to make a terrible hullabaloo of
her three children—a ten-year-old boy, Toshio, hammering, wedging, ripping, and splitting.
an eight-year-old girl, Yaeko, and a five-year-old The prefectural government,6 convinced, as
girl, Myeko—out of bed and dressed them and everyone in Hiroshima was, that the city
walked with them to the military area known as would be attacked soon, had begun to press
the East Parade Ground, on the northeast edge with threats and warnings for the completion
of the city. There she unrolled some mats and the of wide fire lanes, which, it was hoped, might
children lay down on them. They slept until about act in conjunction with the rivers to localize
two, when they were awakened by the roar of the any fires started by an incendiary7 raid; and the
planes going over Hiroshima. neighbor was reluctantly sacrificing his home
As soon as the planes had passed, Mrs. to the city’s safety. Just the day before, the pre-
Nakamura started back with her children. They fecture had ordered all able-bodied girls from
reached home a little after two-thirty and she
immediately turned on the radio, which, to her
distress, was just then broadcasting a fresh warn- 6. Prefectural refers to the forty-seven geopolitical divisions
ing. When she looked at the children and saw within Japan known as prefectures, which are governed by
governors and assemblies similar to state and local
how tired they were, and when she thought of government in the United States.
the number of trips they had made in past weeks, 7. Here incendiary means “designed to deliberately start fires.”

1004 UNIT 6 F RO M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


Hulton Archive/Getty Images
the secondary schools to spend a few days help- move. As Mrs. Nakamura started frantically to
ing to clear these lanes, and they started work claw her way toward the baby, she could see or
soon after the all-clear sounded. hear nothing of her other children.
Mrs. Nakamura went back to the kitchen,
looked at the rice, and began watching the man In the days right before the bombing, Dr.
next door. At first, she was annoyed with him for Masakazu Fujii, being prosperous, hedonistic,
making so much noise, but then she was moved and at the time not too busy, had been allowing
almost to tears by pity. Her emotion was specifi- himself the luxury of sleeping until nine or
cally directed toward her neighbor, tearing down nine-thirty, but fortunately he had to get up
his home, board by board, at a time when there was only the morning the bomb was dropped to see
so much unavoidable destruction, but undoubtedly a house guest off on a train. He rose at six, and
she also felt a generalized, community pity, to say half an hour later walked with his friend to the
nothing of self-pity. She had not had an easy time. station, not far away, across two of the rivers.
Her husband, Isawa, had gone into the Army just He was back home by seven, just as the siren
after Myeko was born, and she had heard nothing sounded its sustained warning. He ate breakfast
from or of him for a long time, until, on March 5, and then, because the morning was already hot,
1942, she received a seven-word telegram: “Isawa undressed down to his underwear and went out
died an honorable death at Singapore.” She learned on the porch to read the paper. This porch—in
later that he had died on February 15th, the day fact, the whole building—was curiously con-
Singapore fell, and that he had been a corporal. structed. Dr. Fujii was the proprietor of a
Isawa had been a not particularly prosperous tailor, peculiarly Japanese institution: a private,
and his only capital was a Sankoku sewing machine. single-doctor hospital. This building, perched
After his death, when his allotments stopped com- beside and over the water of the Kyo River, and
ing, Mrs. Nakamura got out the machine and began next to the bridge of the same name, contained
to take in piecework herself, and since then had sup- thirty rooms for thirty patients and their kin-
ported the children, but poorly, by sewing. folk—for, according to Japanese custom, when a
As Mrs. Nakamura stood watching her neigh- person falls sick and goes to a hospital, one or
bor, everything flashed whiter than any white she more members of his family go and live there
had ever seen. She did not notice what happened with him, to cook for him, bathe, massage, and
to the man next door; the reflex of a mother set read to him, and to offer incessant familial sym-
her in motion toward her children. She had taken pathy, without which a Japanese patient would
a single step (the house was 1,350 yards, or three- be miserable indeed. Dr. Fujii had no beds—
quarters of a mile, from the center of the explo- only straw mats—for his patients. He did, how-
sion) when something picked her up and she ever, have all sorts of modern equipment: an
seemed to fly into the next room over the raised X-ray machine, diathermy apparatus, and a fine
sleeping platform, pursued by parts of her house. tiled laboratory. The structure rested two-thirds
Timbers fell around her as she landed, and a on the land, one-third on piles over the tidal
shower of tiles pummeled her; everything waters of the Kyo. This overhang, the part of
became dark, for she was buried. The debris did the building where Dr. Fujii lived, was queer-
not cover her deeply. She rose up and freed her- looking, but it was cool in summer and from the
self. She heard a child cry, “Mother, help me!,” porch, which faced away from the center of the
and saw her youngest—Myeko, the five-year- city, the prospect of the river, with pleasure
old—buried up to her breast and unable to boats drifting up and down it, was always
refreshing. Dr. Fujii had occasionally had anx-
ious moments when the Ota and its mouth
Big Idea The United States and the World How do
these details show the power of the bomb?

Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About


Vocabulary
Author’s Beliefs Hersey includes many details about
debris (də brē) n. large number of fragments or bro- Japanese life and culture. Why do you think it is important to
ken pieces the author to include this information?

JOHN HERSEY 1005


branches rose to flood, but the piling8 was appar- he was healthy, convivial, and calm, and he
ently firm enough and the house had always held. was pleased to pass the evenings drinking whis-
Dr. Fujii had been relatively idle for about a key with friends, always sensibly and for the
month because in July, as the number of sake of conversation. Before the war, he had
untouched cities in Japan dwindled and as affected brands imported from Scotland and
Hiroshima seemed more and more inevitably a America; now he was perfectly satisfied with
target, he began turning patients away, on the the best Japanese brand, Suntory.
ground that in case of a fire raid he would not Dr. Fujii sat down cross-legged in his under-
be able to evacuate them. Now he had only wear on the spotless matting of the porch, put on
two patients left—a woman from Yano, injured his glasses, and started reading the Osaka Asahi.
in the shoulder, and a young man of twenty- He liked to read the Osaka news because his wife
five recovering from burns he had suffered was there. He saw the flash. To him—faced away
when the steel factory near Hiroshima in from the center and looking at his paper—it
which he worked had been hit. Dr. Fujii had seemed a brilliant yellow. Startled, he began to
six nurses to tend his patients. His wife and rise to his feet. In that moment (he was 1,500
children were safe; his wife and one son were yards from the center), the hospital leaned
living outside Osaka, and another son and two behind his rising and, with a terrible ripping
daughters were in the country on Kyushu. A noise, toppled into the river. The doctor, still in
niece was living with him, and a maid and a the act of getting to his feet, was thrown forward
manservant. He had little to do and did not and around and over; he was buffeted and
mind, for he had saved some money. At fifty, gripped; he lost track of everything, because
things were so speeded up; he felt the water.
8. Piles are long, columnar timbers or poles that have one end
Dr. Fujii hardly had time to think that he was
anchored in the ground and are grouped into pilings to hold dying before he realized that he was alive, squeezed
up buildings or other structures. tightly by two long timbers in a V across his chest,

Rain falls on buildings reduced to rubble by an atomic bomb blast a few months after the
U.S. attack that led to the end of World War II. October 1945.

1006 UNIT 6 F RO M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
like a morsel suspended between two huge chop- Thanksgiving, the siren sounded. He stopped the
sticks—held upright, so that he could not move, service and the missionaries retired across the com-
with his head miraculously above water and his pound to the bigger building. There, in his room on
torso and legs in it. The remains of his hospital were the ground floor, to the right of the front door,
all around him in a mad assortment of splintered Father Kleinsorge changed into a military uniform
lumber and materials for the relief of pain. His left which he had acquired when he was teaching at
shoulder hurt terribly. His glasses were gone. the Rokko Middle School in Kobe and which he
Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge, of the Society of wore during air-raid alerts.
Jesus, was, on the morning of the explosion, in After an alarm, Father Kleinsorge always went
rather frail condition. The Japanese wartime diet out and scanned the sky, and in this instance,
had not sustained him, and he felt the strain of when he stepped outside, he was glad to see only
being a foreigner in an increasingly xenophobic the single weather plane that flew over Hiroshima
Japan; even a German, since the defeat of the each day about this time. Satisfied that nothing
Fatherland,9 was unpopular. Father Kleinsorge had, would happen, he went in and breakfasted with
at thirty-eight, the look of a boy growing too fast— the other Fathers on substitute coffee and ration
thin in the face, with a prominent Adam’s apple, a bread, which, under the circumstances, was espe-
hollow chest, dangling hands, big feet. He walked cially repugnant to him. The Fathers sat and talked
clumsily, leaning forward a little. He was tired all awhile, until, at eight, they heard the all-clear.
the time. To make matters worse, he had suffered for They went then to various parts of the building.
two days, along with Father Cieslik, a fellow-priest, Father Schiffer retired to his room to do some
from a rather painful and urgent diarrhea, which writing. Father Cieslik sat in his room in a straight
they blamed on the beans and black ration bread chair with a pillow over his stomach to ease his
they were obliged to eat. Two other priests then liv- pain, and read. Father Superior LaSalle stood at
ing in the mission compound, which was in the the window of his room, thinking. Father Kleinsorge
Noboricho section—Father Superior LaSalle and went up to a room on the third floor, took off all
Father Schiffer—had happily escaped this affliction. his clothes except his underwear, and stretched
Father Kleinsorge woke up about six the morning out on his right side on a cot and began reading
the bomb was dropped, and half an hour later—he his Stimmen der Zeit.
was a bit tardy because of his sickness—he began to After the terrible flash—which, Father Kleinsorge
read Mass in the mission chapel, a small Japanese- later realized, reminded him of something he had
style wooden building which was without pews, read as a boy about a large meteor colliding with
since its worshipers knelt on the usual Japanese the earth—he had time (since he was 1,400 yards
matted floor, facing an altar graced with splendid from the center) for one thought: A bomb has
silks, brass, silver, and heavy embroideries. This fallen directly on us. Then, for a few seconds or
morning, a Monday, the only worshipers were Mr. minutes, he went out of his mind.
Takemoto, a theological student living in the mis- Father Kleinsorge never knew how he got
sion house; Mr. Fukai, the secretary of the diocese;10 out of the house. The next things he was
Mrs. Murata, the mission’s devoutly Christian house- conscious of were that he was wandering
keeper; and his fellow-priests. After Mass, while around in the mission’s vegetable garden in
Father Kleinsorge was reading the Prayers of his underwear, bleeding slightly from small
cuts along his left flank; that all the building
round about had fallen down except the
9. Fatherland refers to Germany, which had surrendered to
Jesuits’ mission house, which had long before
Allied forces a few months before the attack on Hiroshima.
10. A diocese is a district within the Roman Catholic church.
been braced and double-braced by a priest
named Gropper, who was terrified of earth-
Big Idea The United States and the World What do quakes; that the day had turned dark; and
these details show about the horrors of nuclear war?
that Murata-san, the housekeeper, was nearby,
Vocabulary
xenophobic (zen´ə fō bik) adj. having an extreme fear Literary Element Point of View How would this passage
of foreigners or strangers read differently if it was in the first-person point of view?

JOHN HERSEY 1007


crying over and over, “Shu Jesusu,
awaremi tamai! Our Lord Jesus, have
pity on us!”

On the train on the way into


Hiroshima from the country, where
he lived with his mother, Dr.
Terufumi Sasaki, the Red Cross
Hospital surgeon, thought over an
unpleasant nightmare he had had
the night before. His mother’s home
was in Mukai-hara, thirty miles from
the city, and it took him two hours
by train and tram to reach the hos-
pital. He had slept uneasily all night
and had wakened an hour earlier
than usual, and, feeling sluggish and
slightly feverish, had debated
whether to go to the hospital at all; Atomic bomb damage to Nagasaki, Japan.
his sense of duty finally forced him
to go, and he had started out on an
earlier train than he took most his customary train that morning, and if he had
mornings. The dream had particularly fright- had to wait a few minutes for the streetcar, as
ened him because it was so closely associated, often happened, he would have been close to
on the surface at least, with a disturbing actu- the center at the time of the explosion and
ality. He was only twenty-five years old and would surely have perished.) He arrived at the
had just completed his training at the Eastern hospital at seven-forty and reported to the chief
Medical University, in Tsingtao, China. He surgeon. A few minutes later, he went to a room
was something of an idealist and was much on the first floor and drew blood from the arm
distressed by the inadequacy of medical facili- of a man in order to perform a Wassermann
ties in the country town where his mother test. The laboratory containing the incubators
lived. Quite on his own, and without a permit, for the test was on the third floor. With the
he had begun visiting a few sick people out blood specimen in his left hand, walking in a
there in the evenings, after his eight hours at kind of distraction he had felt all morning,
the hospital and four hours’ commuting. He probably because of the dream and his restless
had recently learned that the penalty for prac- night, he started along the main corridor on his
ticing without a permit was severe; a fellow- way toward the stairs. He was one step beyond
doctor whom he had asked about it had given an open window when the light of the bomb
him a serious scolding. Nevertheless, he had was reflected, like a gigantic photographic flash,
continued to practice. In his dream, he had in the corridor. He ducked down on one knee
been at the bedside of a country patient when and said to himself, as only a Japanese would,
the police and the doctor he had consulted “Sasaki, gambare! Be brave!” Just then (the
burst into the room, seized him, dragged him
outside, and beat him up cruelly. On the train,
he just about decided to give up the work in Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About
Mukai-hara, since he felt it would be impossi- Author’s Beliefs Based on this detail, what aspect of
ble to get a permit, because the authorities Japanese culture made an impression on Hersey?

would hold that it would conflict with his


Vocabulary
duties at the Red Cross Hospital.
At the terminus, he caught a streetcar at terminus (tur mə nəs) n. one end of a travel route or
the station placed there
once. (He later calculated that if he had taken

1008 UNIT 6 F RO M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


CORBIS
building was 1,650 yards from the center), the a whole day’s meals for her mother and the baby,
blast ripped through the hospital. The glasses he in time for her father, who worked in a factory
was wearing flew off his face; the bottle of blood making rubber earplugs for artillery crews, to
crashed against one wall; his Japanese slippers take the food by on his way to the plant. When
zipped out from under his feet—but otherwise, she had finished and had cleaned and put away
thanks to where he stood, he was untouched. the cooking things, it was nearly seven. The
Dr. Sasaki shouted the name of the chief sur- family lived in Koi, and she had a forty-five-
geon and rushed around to the man’s office and minute trip to the tin works, in the section of
found him terribly cut by glass. The hospital was town called Kannon-machi. She was in charge
in horrible confusion: Heavy partitions and ceil- of the personnel records in the factory. She left
ings had fallen on patients, beds had overturned, Koi at seven, and as soon as she reached the
windows had blown in and cut people, blood was plant, she went with some of the other girls
spattered on the walls and floors, instruments from the personnel department to the factory
were everywhere, many of the patients were auditorium. A prominent local Navy man, a for-
running about screaming, many more lay dead. mer employee, had committed suicide the day
(A colleague working in the laboratory to which before by throwing himself under a train—a
Dr. Sasaki had been walking was dead; Dr. Sasaki’s death considered honorable enough to warrant a
patient, whom he had just left and who a few memorial service, which was to be held at the
moments before had been dreadfully afraid of tin works at ten o’clock that morning. In the
syphilis, was also dead.) Dr. Sasaki found himself large hall, Miss Sasaki and the others made suit-
the only doctor in the hospital who was unhurt. able preparations for the meeting. This work
Dr. Sasaki, who believed that the enemy took about twenty minutes.
had hit only the building he was in, got ban- Miss Sasaki went back to her office and sat down
dages and began to bind the wounds of those at her desk. She was quite far from the windows,
inside the hospital; while outside, all over which were off to her left, and behind her were a
Hiroshima, maimed and dying citizens turned couple of tall bookcases containing all the books of
their unsteady steps toward the Red Cross the factory library, which the personnel department
Hospital to begin an invasion that was to had organized. She settled herself at her desk, put
make Dr. Sasaki forget his private nightmare some things in a drawer, and shifted papers. She
for a long, long time. thought that before she began to make entries in
her lists of new employees, discharges, and depar-
Miss Toshiko Sasaki, the East Asia Tin Works tures for the Army, she would chat for a moment
clerk, who is not related to Dr. Sasaki, got up at with the girl at her right. Just as she turned her head
three o’clock in the morning on the day the away from the windows, the room was filled with a
bomb fell. There was extra housework to do. blinding light. She was paralyzed by fear, fixed still
Her eleven-month-old brother, Akio, had come in her chair for a long moment (the plant was 1,600
down the day before with a serious stomach yards from the center).
upset; her mother had taken him to the Tamura Everything fell, and Miss Sasaki lost conscious-
Pediatric Hospital and was staying there with ness. The ceiling dropped suddenly and the wooden
him. Miss Sasaki, who was about twenty, had to floor above collapsed in splinters and the people up
cook breakfast for her father, a brother, a sister, there came down and the roof above them gave
and herself, and—since the hospital, because of way; but principally and first of all, the bookcases
the war, was unable to provide food—to prepare right behind her swooped forward and the contents
threw her down, with her left leg horribly twisted
Big Idea The United States and the World How does
and breaking underneath her. There, in the tin fac-
this excerpt show that people were unprepared for the true
tory, in the first moment of the atomic age, a
extent of atomic warfare? human being was crushed by books. 

Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About


Author’s Beliefs How does this sentence help you under- Big Idea The United States and the World What does this
stand how Hersey feels about the bombing? suggest about Hersey’s attitude toward the atomic age?

JOHN HERSEY 1009


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. (a)What was your initial reaction to Hersey’s 5. Which characters did you find most sympathetic
unemotional retelling of the events? (b)What was and why?
your response to the number of details that he
6. Do you think that Hersey’s detailed style was the
included about the people who lived in Hiroshima
best way to recount what happened, or would
and their culture?
some other way have been more effective? Explain.
Recall and Interpret 7. What are some details that show Hersey’s interest in
2. (a)What were the professions of the six people? exploring morality as well as in traditional reporting?
(b)Why would Hersey choose to focus on these
people? Connect
8. Why do you think people still read Hiroshima six
3. (a)Does Hersey ever explain why the atomic bomb
decades after it was first written?
was dropped on Hiroshima? (b)How does this
affect the narrative? 9. Big Idea The United States and the World
4. (a)Even before the bomb dropped, how had the In what ways is Hiroshima written not only for the
war affected people? (b)Why do you think Hersey United States but also for the world?
might have included this information?

P R I M A RY S O U RC E Q U O TAT I O N

On August 6, 1945, President Harry Truman Group Activity Discuss the following questions
announced that the United States had bombed with classmates. Refer back to the quotation and
the city of Hiroshima. Read the following excerpt cite evidence from Hiroshima for support.
from President Truman’s speech, keeping in mind
what you have already learned about the bombing 1. After reading the excerpt from Hiroshima,
of Hiroshima. how would you respond to President
Truman’s statement?
2. How do you think President Truman would
“Sixteen hours ago an American airplane dropped
respond to Hersey’s narrative? Explain.
one bomb on Hiroshima, an important Japanese
army base. That bomb had more power than
20,000 tons of T.N.T. It had more than two
thousand times the blast power of the British
‘Grand Slam’ which is the largest bomb ever yet
used in the history of warfare.
“The Japanese began the war from the air at Pearl
Harbor. They have been repaid many fold. And the
end is not yet. With this bomb we have now added
a new and revolutionary increase in destruction to
supplement the growing power of our armed
forces.”
—President Harry Truman

The Enola Gay. The B-29 bomber, which dropped the first atomic
bomb on Japan, stands on the runway at Tinian following the raid.
August 1945.
1010 UNIT 6 F RO M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR
CORBIS
L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Point of View Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions


The excerpt from Hiroshima is written with a third- About Author’s Beliefs
person objective point of view, which reports on During wartime, many people, including writers, tend to
how people respond to a disastrous event. The use view wartime opponents as “the enemy.” Hersey does
of pronouns such as he, she, and they also indicate not do this; instead, each person is described as an
third-person point of view. ordinary human being, with hopes and fears. As a result,
While stories told in first-person point of view are readers can draw certain conclusions about the author’s
limited to only one perspective, narratives told in beliefs.
third-person objective point of view can reveal
1. How do you think Hersey felt about the citizens of
many perspectives on one topic. Much nonfiction
Hiroshima? List details to support your answer.
journalistic writing, like Hiroshima, is told in third-
person objective point of view in order to give a 2. Which character or characters do you think he felt
more complete account of events. special sympathy for? Give reasons for your answer.

1. Why do you think Hersey uses the third-person


objective point of view to narrate Hiroshima? Vocabulary Practice
2. Are there points where Hersey veers from a Practice with Word Origins A word’s origins, or
completely objective point of view? Explain. history, often give clues to its meaning. For exam-
ple, xenophobic comes from the Greek roots
xenos, meaning “stranger,” and phobos, meaning
Review: Author’s Purpose “fear.” Thus, xenophobic means “fear of strangers.”
Author’s purpose is an author’s intent in writing a
piece of literature. Authors often write to persuade, to Match each vocabulary word with its corresponding
inform, to explain, to describe, or to entertain. root word. Use a dictionary for assistance.

Partner Activity Meet with another classmate and 1. evacuate a. vol, meaning “to wish”
identify Hersey’s purpose in writing Hiroshima. Find 2. volition b. term, meaning “end,” or
at least three details that support your response. “boundary”
Afterward, compare your conclusions with those of
your classmates and discuss. 3. terminus c. vacuus, meaning “to empty”

Detail Detail Detail


Academic Vocabulary
Here are two words from the vocabulary list on
page R86.

Conclusion minimum (minə məm) n. smallest possible


amount or degree
internal (in turnəl) adj. interior; of or relating
to the inside

Practice and Apply


1. What did Mrs. Nakamura, who had the bare
minimum of time before the bomb’s impact,
do before it reached her?
2. By revealing the internal thoughts and feelings
of his characters, what effect does Hersey create?

JOHN HERSEY 1011


W R I T I N G A N D E X TE N D I N G G R A M M A R A N D ST Y L E

Writing About Literature Hersey’s Language and Style


Apply Form Hiroshima originated as a feature article Using Reportorial Style When you write a news arti-
about an important event in the twentieth century. cle, you are trying to provide readers with factual infor-
Hersey based his article on interviews, observation, mation, not an argument. To do so, you need to write
and careful research. Write a feature article about a like a reporter and use unbiased, unemotional lan-
major event that has happened in your community. guage. You should include numerous facts and statis-
Like Hersey, base your article on interviews, observa- tics that can be observed and verified. Within the
tion, and research. first few paragraphs, you should answer the questions
who? what? where? when? why? and how?
To organize the large number of details, create a timeline
like the one shown here. Use it to make notes about Choose precise words that create clear and accu-
when and to whom things happened. rate images in readers’ minds. For example, in the
excerpt from Hiroshima, Hersey uses the word
SEQ U E NC E O F E VENTS dashed instead of ran and hullabaloo instead of loud
Introduction answers Who? What? Where? When? noise because they are more precise and descriptive.
Why?
Imprecise Precise
➧ ➧ ➧ ➧

Before the major event


mad furious, sullen, irritated
nice friendly, amiable,
affectionate
The major event

Activity Create a two-column chart of your own. List


Afterward descriptive words from Hiroshima in the left column
and synonyms that Hersey might have used for these
words in the right column. Discuss with a partner
Conclusion
whether Hersey’s word or your word is the better fit.

As you draft your article, write with unemotional language


and detailed descriptions. Use transitional words and
Revising Check
phrases to clarify the sequence of events. After drafting, Reportorial Style Read through your feature article
meet with a peer reviewer to evaluate each other’s work with a partner and notice places where you have
and suggest revisions. Then edit and proofread your draft veered away from reportorial style. Did you answer
for errors in spelling, grammar, or punctuation. who, what, where, when, why, and how questions?
Replace any imprecise words with more precise lan-
guage. Use a thesaurus if necessary.
Listening and Speaking
Group Activity More than half a century later, people
are still debating whether it was necessary to drop an
atomic bomb in order to end World War II. Hold a debate
on this topic. Do research to learn why so many people at
the time supported this decision and why so many now
regret it. Then form two groups, each supporting a differ-
ent point of view. With your team, develop strong argu- Web Activities For eFlashcards,
ments for your point of view and be ready to refute Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
opposing arguments. Limit each speaker to two minutes. www.glencoe.com.

1012 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


B EF O R E YO U R E A D

The Portrait
M E E T TOM Á S R I V E R A

T
he life of Tomás Rivera, the “Dean of
Mexican American Literature,” is a true
rags-to-riches story. From modest begin-
nings, Rivera became a successful writer and edu-
cator—an inspiration to many. He was born in
Crystal City, Texas, the son of two agricultural
workers. After graduating from high school,
Rivera, like his parents, began working as a
migrant worker. Until he reached his early twen- meant to support any particular political point of
ties, Rivera traveled with other migrant workers, view, but instead to reflect a world and experiences
picking fruit and vegetables across the United that Rivera knew well. Y no se lo trago la tierra won
States from Texas to the Midwest. the prestigious Quinto Sol Award in 1971. The
Despite all his traveling, Rivera managed to earn a success of Rivera’s novel inspired other Mexican
formal education by attending different schools. Americans to add their voices to the literature of
He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the United States.
English education from Southwest Texas State Besides providing inspiration, Rivera also helped
University. After a stint teaching in public schools people in direct ways, serving on the boards of
and at Southwest Texas Junior College in Uvalde, numerous Mexican American organizations. He
he attended the University of Oklahoma, where also had a distinguished academic career, eventu-
he earned a master’s degree in Spanish literature, ally becoming chancellor of the University of
and, in 1969, a doctorate in Romance languages California at Riverside. He was one of the found-
and literature. ers of the National Council of Chicanos in Higher
Education. Both President Jimmy Carter and
President Ronald Reagan appointed Rivera to
commissions on higher education.
“He searched for stories about his
Rivera was working on a new book when he died
people and finally gave their words in Fontana, California. After his death, the
sound, wrote the books he didn’t have, University of Texas at Austin inaugurated the
Tomás Rivera Professorship in Spanish Language
we didn’t have . . .”
and Literature. It is a fitting tribute to a generous
—Pat Mora man who sought, according to one source, to
develop “hospitable and fertile space for Hispanic
Americans in America’s institutions.”
In 1971 Rivera published his only novel, y no se Tomás Rivera was born in 1935 and died in 1984.
lo trago la tierra, also known as And the Earth Did
Not Devour Him. Originally written in Spanish,
the book was published in both Spanish and
English. It is an unconventional novel, made
up of twenty-seven interrelated stories and
sketches that describe, often grimly, the indomitable Author
Author Search
Search For
For more
more about
about
spirit of migrant farm workers. The novel was not Tomás
Author Rivera,
Name, gogo to
to www.glencoe.com.
www.literature.glencoe.com.

T OMÁS R IVERA 1013


Courtesy Arte Publico Press
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W READI NG PREVI EW

Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Responding to Plot and


In “The Portrait,” the main character and his wife cher- Characters
ish a particular photograph of their deceased son. As A static character remains basically the same through-
you read the story, think about these questions: out the story. A dynamic character, on the other
• What are the most precious items you and your hand, grows and changes during the story. As you read
“The Portrait,” think about whether the main character,
family own—the things you would least want to lose?
• Why are these items important to your family? Don Mateo, is static or dynamic.
• To what extent would you go to preserve the mem- Reading Tip: Using a Response Chart To better
ory of a loved one?
understand Don Mateo, take notes about him. Write
Building Background down quotations from the story and your responses.
This story takes place in Texas during the 1950s, when
the United States was involved in the Korean War. Quotation My Response
More than 50,000 U.S. troops died in that war, and
about twice that number were wounded or missing in “But you take good Don Mateo is
action. At that time, salespeople traveling from house care of that picture concerned about the
to house were a familiar sight in cities and towns, sell- for us because it’s only photo he has of
ing everything from encyclopedias to vacuum cleaners. the only one we have his grown son, yet he
In this story, the salespeople have timed their visits to of our son grown up.” wants to “fix up” the
coincide with the return of newly paid migrant workers— p. 1016 photo to better
agricultural workers who follow the harvests around preserve it. He trusts
the United States.
the salesman.
Setting Purposes for Reading
Big Idea The United States and the World
Vocabulary
“The Portrait” is set during the time of the Korean War. As
you read, consider how the war affects the main character. installment (in stol mənt) n. one part of a pay-
ment that has been divided; p. 1015 The bed-
Literary Element Idiom room set was expensive so we paid for it in monthly
installments.
An idiom is a saying, or group of words, that takes on
special meaning, usually one different from the literal swindle (swin dəl) v. to cheat someone out of
meanings of the words it is composed of. For example, money or property; p. 1017 At the carnival a
“over the hill” really means “being older or elderly.” vendor swindled me out of twenty dollars, selling
Phrases such as “catch his eye,” “turn the tables,” and me jewels worth only a few cents.
“keep tabs on” are other examples of idioms. Note that
this selection is a translation and the idioms have differ- Vocabulary Tip: Context Clues When you come
ent meanings in the original Spanish. They have been upon an unfamiliar word or idiom, search the
translated into English idioms that have equivalent mean- context, or the surrounding words and sentences,
ings, but the individual words may not correspond word- for clues to its meaning.
for-word with the Spanish versions. As you read “The
Portrait,” notice the idioms and consider what they mean.
Interactive Literary Elements
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R9. Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

OB J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • understanding idioms
• analyzing literary periods • responding to plot and characters

1014 U N IT 6 F ROM DEPRESSION TO COLD WAR


Tomás Rivera

As soon as the people returned from up north “And what for?”


the portrait salesmen began arriving from San “So that it will look real. That way . . . look,
Antonio. They would come to rake in. They let me show you . . . see? Doesn’t he look real,
knew that the workers had money and that was like he’s alive?”
why, as Dad used to say, they would flock in. “Man, he sure does. Look, vieja.1 This looks
They carried suitcases packed with samples and great. Well, you know, we wanted to send some
always wore white shirts and ties; that way they pictures to be enlarged . . . but now, this must
looked more important and the people believed cost a lot, right?”
everything they would tell them and invite them “No, I’ll tell you, it costs about the same. Of
into their homes without giving it much course, it takes more time.”
thought. I think that down deep they even “Well, tell me, how much?”
longed for their children to one day be like “For as little as thirty dollars we’ll deliver it to
them. In any event, they would arrive and make you done with inlays just like this, one this size.”
their way down the dusty streets, going house to “Boy, that’s expensive! Didn’t you say it didn’t
house carrying suitcases full of samples. cost a lot more? Do you
I remember once I was at the house of one of my take installments?”
father’s friends when one of these salesmen arrived. “Well, I’ll tell you, we
I also remember that that particular one seemed a have a new manager and
little frightened and timid. Don Mateo asked him he wants everything in
to come in because he wanted to do business. cash. It’s very fine work.
We’ll make it look
“Good afternoon, traveler. I would like to tell you like real. Shaped like
about something new that we’re offering this year.” that, with inlays . . .
“Well, let’s see, let’s see . . .” take a look. What do Visual Vocabulary
Inlays are pieces of mate-
“Well, sir, see, you give us a picture, any pic- you think? Some fine rial such as wood or ivory,
ture you may have, and we will not only enlarge work, wouldn’t you set or embedded into the
it for you but we’ll also set it in a wooden frame say? We can have it surface of something else
like this one and we’ll shape the image a little, all finished for you in a to form a design.

like this—three dimensional, as they say.”

1. Here, the Spanish word vieja (vē ā ha´) is used as a term of
Literary Element Idiom What does the phrase “rake endearment; literally, it means “old” or “old woman.”
in” mean?
Vocabulary
Reading Strategy Responding to Plot and Characters installment (in stol mənt) n. one part of a payment
Why might the salesman feel frightened or timid? that has been divided

T OMÁS R IVERA 1015


Scala/Art Resource, NY
month. You just tell us what color you want the
clothes to be and we’ll come by with it all finished
one day when you least expect, framed and all. Yes,
sir, a month at the longest. But like I say, this man,
who’s the new manager, he wants the full payment
in cash. He’s very demanding, even with us.”
“Yes, but it’s much too expensive.”
“Well, yes. But the thing is, this is very fine
work. You can’t say you’ve ever seen portraits
done like this, with wood inlays.”
“No, well, that’s true. What do you think, vieja?”
“Well, I like it a lot. Why don’t we order one?
And if it turns out good . . . my Chuy . . . may he
rest in peace. It’s the only picture we have of
him. We took it right before he left for Korea.
Poor m’ijo,2 we never saw him again. See . . .
this is his picture. Do you think you can make it
like that, make it look like he’s alive?”
“Sure, we can. You know, we’ve done a lot
of them in soldier’s uniforms and shaped it,
like you see in this sample, with inlays. Why,
it’s more than just a portrait. Sure. You just
tell me what size you want and whether you
want a round or square frame. What do you
say? How should I write it down?” Adolfo, Zapote de Peraita, Guanajuato, Mexico, from the series Family and
“What do you say, vieja, should we have it Photography, A Portrait of a Family in Two Cultures, 1979. Robert C. Buitrón.
done like this one?” Silver gelatin print, 20 x 16 in. Collection of the artist.
“Well, I’ve already told you what I think. I
would like to have m’ijo’s picture fixed up like should we make the uniform navy blue?”
that and in color.” “But he’s not wearing a uniform in that picture.”
“All right, go ahead and write it down. But “No, but that’s just a matter of fixing it up
you take good care of that picture for us because with some wood fiber overlays. Look at these.
it’s the only one we have of our son grown up. This one, he didn’t have a uniform on but we
He was going to send us one all dressed up in put one on him. So what do you say? Should
uniform with the American and Mexican flags we make it navy blue?”
crossed over his head, but he no sooner got there “All right.”
when a letter arrived telling us that he was lost “Don’t you worry about the picture.”
And that was how they spent the entire day, going
in action. So you take good care of it.”
house to house, street by street, their suitcases
“Don’t you worry. We’re responsible people.
stuffed with pictures. As it turned out, a whole lot
And we understand the sacrifices that you
of people had ordered enlargements of that kind.
people make. Don’t worry. And you just wait
and see, when we bring it, you’ll see how
“They should be delivering those portraits
pretty it’s gonna look. What do you say,
soon, don’t you think?”
“I think so, it’s delicate work and takes
2. In Spanish, m’ijo (mē¯ hō) is the colloquial form of mi hijo, more time. That’s some fine work those people
meaning “my son.”
do. Did you see how real those pictures
Big Idea The United States and the World What does looked?”
“vieja” really want more than the portrait?
Reading Strategy Responding to Plot and Characters
Literary Element Idiom What does “you just wait and How much time has passed since the salesman visited Don
see” mean here? Mateo?

1016 U N IT 6 F ROM DEPRESSION TO COLD WAR


Courtesy Robert C. Buitrón
“Yeah, sure. They do some fine work. You “I see, but tell me, how did you find him?”
can’t deny that. But it’s already been over a “Well, you see, to make a long story short,
month since they passed by here.” he came by the stand at the market one day.
“Yes, but from here they went on through He stood right in front of us and bought some
all the towns picking up pictures . . . all the vegetables. It was like he was trying to
way to San Antonio for sure. So it’ll probably remember who I was. Of course, I recognized
take a little longer.” him right off. Because when you’re angry
“That’s true, that’s true.” enough, you don’t forget a face. I just grabbed
And two more weeks had passed by the time him right then and there. Poor guy couldn’t
they made the discovery. Some very heavy rains even talk. He was all scared. And I told him
had come and some children, who were playing that I wanted that portrait of my son and that
in one of the tunnels leading to the dump, found I wanted it three dimensional and that he’d
a sack full of pictures, all worm-eaten and soaking best get it for me or I’d let him have it. And I
wet. The only reason that they could tell that these went with him to where he lived. And I put
were pictures was because there were a lot of them him to work right then and there. The poor
and most of them the same size and with faces that guy didn’t know where to begin. He had to do
could just barely be made out. Everybody caught on it all from memory.”
right away. Don Mateo was so angry that he took “And how did he do it?”
off to San Antonio to find the so and so who had “I don’t know. I suppose if you’re scared
swindled them. enough, you’re capable of doing anything.
“Well, you know, I stayed at Esteban’s house. Three days later he brought me the portrait
And every day I went with him to the market to all finished, just like you see it there on that
sell produce. I helped him with everything. I had table by the Virgin. Now tell me, how do you
faith that I would run into that son of a gun like the way my boy looks?”
some day soon. Then, after I’d been there for a “Well, to be honest, I don’t remember too
few days, I started going out to the different bar- well how Chuy looked. But he was beginning
rios3 and I found out a lot that way. It wasn’t so to look more and more like you, isn’t that so?”
much the money that upset me. It was my poor “Yes, I would say so. That’s what everybody
vieja, crying and all because we’d lost the only tells me now. That Chuy’s a chip off the old block
picture we had of Chuy. We found it in the sack and that he was already looking like me. There’s
with all the other pictures but it was already the portrait. Like they say, one and the same.” 
ruined, you know.”
Literary Element Idiom What does Don Mateo mean
3. Barrios (bar ē ōs) are neighborhoods. when he says “to make a long story short”?

Vocabulary
Reading Strategy Responding to Plot and Characters
swindle (swin dəl) v. to cheat someone out of money How likely is it that the salesman will be able to create a
or property realistic portrait of Don Mateo’s son?

T OMÁS R IVERA 1017


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. What would you say to Don Mateo about the 5. (a)How does Don Mateo feel about what he finally
portrait of his son? Why would you choose those receives from the salesman? (b)What does this
words? reaction tell you about Don Mateo?

Recall and Interpret 6. (a)What does the dialogue reveal about Don
Mateo and “vieja”? (b)How effective is the dia-
2. (a)What do Don Mateo and “vieja” finally decide to
logue in conveying the message of this story?
do with the photograph of their son? (b)What
deeper meaning might this offer have for them? 7. (a)How would you describe the role and perspec-
tive of the narrator throughout this story? (b)In
3. (a)What happens to the photographs the salesman
your opinion, how effective is this kind of narrator
collects? (b)How would you explain Don Mateo’s
in telling the story?
strong feelings and his decisive action?
4. (a)What happens when Don Mateo finds the Connect
salesman? (b)Why do you think the salesman 8. Big Idea The United States and the World Is
follows Don Mateo’s orders? Don Mateo a casualty of the Korean War even
though he never fought on the battlefield? Support
your answer.

LI T E R A RY A N A LYS I S

Literary Element Idiom Review: Plot


Idioms add realism to dialogue and enhance charac- Plot is the sequence of events in a drama or a
terization. Idioms may be difficult for non-native narrative work of fiction. The plot begins with
speakers to understand because their meanings differ exposition, which introduces the story’s characters,
from the meanings of the individual words that consti- setting, and situation. The rising action adds com-
tute them. Examining the context may provide clues to plications to the conflicts, or problems, leading to
the meaning. the climax, or point of highest emotional pitch. The
falling action is the logical result of the climax, and
1. Don Mateo tells the salesman that he will “let him
the resolution, or dénouement (dā´ n¯¯¯ oo man),
have it” if he doesn’t get the portrait. What does
presents the final outcome.
this saying mean? Why might Don Mateo say it
that way? Partner Activity Meet with another classmate to dis-
cuss the plot of “The Portrait.” Then create a diagram
2. At the end of the story, Don Mateo describes Chuy
like the one below and list the events that make up
as “a chip off the old block.” What does that mean?
the stages of the plot.
What does it suggest about the portrait?
Climax
Fal
ling
on Ac
cti tion
in gA Resolution
R is
Exposition

1018 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


R E AD I N G A N D VO CA B U L A RY WRITI NG AN D EXTEN DI NG

Reading Strategy Responding to Plot and Writing About Literature


Characters Respond to Conflict Conflict is the central struggle
A writer can use several methods to reveal a charac- between two opposing forces in a story or drama.
ter’s personality. The writer can make direct state- Write a brief essay analyzing the main conflict in “The
ments about a character, or reveal the person’s Portrait.” Use evidence from the story and from your
character indirectly through the character’s words and own experiences to support your ideas.
actions and through what other characters think and As you draft, use the plan shown below to organize
say about that person. Use the notes on your your essay.
response chart to help you answer the following
questions. Begin with a general
statement about conflicts
1. What steps did Don Mateo take to obtain the OPENING and move toward a spe-


portrait he had ordered? PARAGRAPH cific, arguable statement,
or a thesis, about the
2. What character traits did Don Mateo reveal during main conflict in this story.
his search for the man who had cheated him? Don Mateo
and “vieja”
3. Do you think that Don Mateo goes through a signif-
icant change because of the events in this story?


Why or why not?
Explain how each of the
the salesman main characters views the


MIDDLE
Vocabulary Practice PARAGRAPHS
PARAGRAP HS
conflict.


Practice with Context Clues Use context clues
to figure out the meaning of each boldfaced
vocabulary word in the sentences below.
the narrator
1. He bought the car on an installment plan and
will pay 300 dollars a month. Restate the thesis, echo
your main points, and
2. I felt swindled once I realized that the necklace
F INAL ▲ close the essay with a
was worth far less than what I paid for it. PARAGRAPH final thought about con-
flicts and the personal dis-
coveries they may bring.

Academic Vocabulary
Literature Groups
Here are two words from the vocabulary list on
With a small group of your classmates, debate this
page R86. These words will help you think,
question: Does Don Mateo really get what he wants
write, and talk about the selection.
or does he remain the victim of a swindler? Support
your opinion by citing evidence from the story.
dispose (di spōz) v. to get rid of; to finish or settle
Summarize the results of your debate for the rest of
fee (fē) n. a charge for a service or privilege your class.

Practice and Apply


1. How did the salesman dispose of the photo-
graphs he had been given?
2. Why do you think the salesman refused to
accept his fee in installments?
Web Activities For eFlashcards,
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

T OMÁS R IVERA 1019


LITER ARY H I STORY

Cultural Rebels: Writers


of the Beat Generation

I
N THE LATE 1940s, WRITERS JACK KEROUAC
and John Clellon Holmes were searching for a way
to capture the essence of their generation. They
saw a nation slowly emerging from years of war and
economic depression, years during which it seemed
that most people held similar opinions and led
predictable, responsible lives. For Kerouac and
Holmes, postwar society was epitomized by
anonymous dress, as in the uniform suits of office
workers, and by conventional taste. But they saw
young people rejecting conformity and turning to
creativity. In pursuit of unique identities, the young
looked for more artistic and less money-driven lives.
Kerouac and Holmes decided that this trend was Legendary Beat writers stand outside Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s
encapsulated by one word: Beat. City Lights bookstore in San Francisco in 1956. Pictured
left to right: Bob Donlin, Neal Cassady, Allen Ginsberg, Robert
LaVinge, Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Photograph by Allen Ginsberg.

“How to even begin to get it all down Ferlinghetti (founder of the innovative City Lights
and without modified restraints and all Press and bookstore in San Francisco), Diane Di
Prima, and Anne Waldman. Rejecting the prevailing
hung-up on like literary inhibitions dictates of style and topic, these writers were
and grammatical fears . . .” unabashed experimenters who addressed issues
previously considered taboo. Their fearlessness
—Jack Kerouac, from On the Road
appealed to a newly arising community of bohemians,
people who pursued artistic or literary interests and
lived nonconformist lives.
Beat had many connotations, ranging from the sordid to
the sublime. Kerouac first heard the term from the street Howl
hustler Herbert Huncke, who used it as slang for “tired A central work in the Beat Movement is Allen
and beaten down.” Kerouac saw in Beat a suggestion of Ginsberg’s book-length poem Howl (1956), which
beatitude, saintly or otherworldly beauty and happiness. created a stir with critics, the public, and even law
Poet Allen Ginsberg said, “The point of Beat is that you enforcement. (For selling the book, Lawrence
get beat down to a certain nakedness where you actually Ferlinghetti was briefly held under arrest.) In a free
are able to see the world in a visionary way.” verse style strongly influenced by Walt Whitman,
Howl catalogs the wonders and horrors of U.S. society
The core group of Beat Generation writers—Kerouac,
in dizzying abundance:
Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs—met in New
York City in the areas around Columbia University
and in Greenwich Village. The movement soon “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by
attracted attention throughout the country, madness, starving hysterical naked, . . .
establishing hubs in both New York City and San angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly
Francisco. Other leading writers of the new movement connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery
were Gary Snyder, Gregory Corso, Lawrence of night . . .”

1020 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


CORBIS
In her memoirs, Diane Di Prima recounts her
reactions upon first reading Howl. She writes, “It
followed that if there was one Allen there must be
more, other people besides my few buddies writing
what they spoke, what they heard, living, however
obscurely and shamefully, what they knew, hiding
out here and there as we were—and now, suddenly,
about to speak out.”

Wild Form
For many, the word Beat is synonymous with Jack
Kerouac’s novel On the Road. Kerouac published his
novel in 1957, after years of rejections from publishers.
While traveling and living in a variety of places,
Kerouac wrote multiple drafts. He revised his drafts into
their final form in one three-week sprint, during which
he typed nearly nonstop on a continuous, 120-foot-long
scroll of paper he fed through his typewriter.
City Lights Bookstore,1969. Sal Veder. Black and white photograph.
On the Road is essentially a roman à clef, a novel
about real events and people whose names have been
changed. The long, rhythmic, bebop-jazz inflected sentences that owed more to vernacular and to
sentences of On the Road capture a series of road trips the jazz spirit than they did to Establishment polish,
Kerouac took with his friend and Beat Generation he did. Kerouac wrote in a letter, “[W]hat I am
icon Neal Cassady (called Dean Moriarty in the beginning to discover now is something beyond the
novel). On the Road expresses Kerouac’s openness to novel and beyond the arbitrary confines of the story . . .
the nation’s desolate places as well as its exciting wild form, man, wild form . . .”
cities and to its humble people as well as its mighty.
Kerouac had a talent for communicating impulsive from On the Road
generosity and a spirit of fun. For readers who were
“[T]he only people for me are the mad ones, the ones
exhausted by societal complacence and stodginess,
who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved,
Kerouac’s adventures were revolutionary.
desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who
Kerouac’s style was influenced by other writers, never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn,
particularly the American novelist Thomas Wolfe. burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding
As did Wolfe, Kerouac insisted on pushing like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the
boundaries. If he wished to write long, breathless blue centerlight pop and everybody goes ‘Awww!’”

R ES P O N D I N G AN D TH I N K I N G C R ITI CALLY
1. Why were the members of the Beat Generation 3. What methods did Jack Kerouac employ in his writing?
considered cultural rebels?
2. What significance did Allen Ginsberg’s poetry have Literary History For more about
for his early readers? the Beat Generation, go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
• Analyze various literary periods, movements, and trends. • Analyze the power and effect of language.
• Connect literature to historical context.

LITERARY HISTO RY 10 21
AP Photo/Sal Veder
B EF O R E YO U R E A D

The Crucible, Act One


M E E T A R T H U R M I LLE R

A
s a young boy, Arthur Miller sat in the
Shubert Theater on Lennox Avenue in
New York City, completely entranced.
A new world had opened up before him. Years
later, in his autobiography, Miller remarked,
“And so I learned that there were two kinds of
reality, but that of the stage was far more real.”

Fame in a Dark Time Miller began writing plays


during college. In 1947, at the age of thirty-two,
ruthless tactics used by vigilantes such as Senator
he scored his first major theatrical success with the
Joseph McCarthy reminded Miller of the witch tri-
production of All My Sons, a dramatic work about
als in seventeenth-century colonial America.
a manufacturer of defective war supplies. The play
received the New York Drama Critics’ Circle
McCarthyism and Witch Hunts Oppressed by
Award and was released as a film in 1948. The fol-
the disturbing direction in which his country was
lowing year, Death of a Salesman, a tragedy about
moving, Miller immersed himself in the study of
the failure of the American dream, won a Pulitzer
the Salem witch trials of 1692, which he described
Prize and established Miller as one of the greatest
as “one of the strangest and most awful chapters
playwrights in the United States.
in human history.” From this research emerged
The Crucible, which was first staged on Broadway
in 1953. Its relevance to the political situation
“One of the strongest urges in the during the McCarthy era was clear, and the phrase
“McCarthy witch hunts” became an enduring symbol
writer’s heart . . . is to reveal what has of the perversion of power in U.S. history. Viewing
been hidden and denied.” the playwright as a potentially subversive figure, the
U.S. State Department refused to renew Miller’s pass-
—Arthur Miller port. When Miller was called to testify before HUAC,
he refused to implicate his friends and colleagues. He
was charged with contempt, fined, and sentenced to
By his late thirties, Miller was embroiled in a dark jail. His sentence, however, was overturned on appeal
chapter of U.S. history as a result of his fame and in 1958, and he never served a jail term.
outspoken opinions. Fear of Communism—the “Red
Scare”—had taken hold of U.S. citizens, and A tireless writer, Miller saw his last play produced
Congress created the House Un-American Activities just a year before his death at 89. On almost any
Committee (HUAC) to investigate an alleged given day, it is said, a theater somewhere in the
Communist conspiracy. Among the main targets of world is producing The Crucible.
the investigation were people in the entertainment Arthur Miller was born in 1915 and died in 2005.
industry. The HUAC demanded not only that indi-
viduals “confess” to earlier involvement in leftist
organizations but that they name others who had
held similar views. People who refused to cooperate Author Search For more about
were often blacklisted or denied employment. The Arthur Miller, go to www.glencoe.com.

1022 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


Bettmann/CORBIS
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Connecting to the Play Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions


A good reputation is a valuable and surprisingly fragile About Characters
commodity. You have probably seen in your own How do you learn what someone is like? In literature,
experience, or in the news, how rumors and gossip as in life, you observe what that person says and
can damage people. As you read The Crucible, think does. Then you piece together a portrait of him or
about the following questions: her.
• How do you respond when you hear negative com- Reading Tip: Taking Notes Below is a web dia-
ments about people you know?
• How do you think you would react if a rumor gram with notes about one of the characters in the
play. As you read, use similar diagrams to take
spread that you were behaving improperly?
notes on and draw conclusions about the other
Building Background main characters.
The Crucible takes place in 1692 in Salem, a small town
ABIGAIL WILLIAMS—ACT ONE
in the Massachusetts Bay Colony that had been founded
in the 1620s by a group of Puritans. The Puritans had fled tells wild
England for North America to escape persecution and to goes into trance stories
and shouts out bullies and threat-
establish a religious community. But independence did names of witches
about Tituba
ens her friends
not ensure harmony. Under the rigid authority of the
Reverend Samuel Parris, relations among the villagers of Conclusion
Salem became bitter. In the winter of 1691–1692, several had an affair pretends to
be obedient to
teenage girls, including Parris’s daughter and his niece, with John
Proctor hates her uncle
began behaving strangely. Many people in the community Elizabeth Proctor
suspected that the girls were victims of witchcraft.

Setting Purposes for Reading Vocabulary


Big Idea The United States and the World compromise (kom prə m¯z´) v. to endanger the
The struggle for power between the Soviet Union and reputation or interests of; to expose to suspicion;
the United States, known as the Cold War, aroused p. 1027 Doing business with a known criminal will
concern among many U.S. citizens about the threat of certainly compromise the company’s good name.
Communist subversion within their country.
contention (kən ten shən) n. a verbal argument
or struggle; quarreling; p. 1028 Contention broke
Literary Element Dialogue out at the meeting over the length of the school day.
Dialogue is the conversation between characters in a lit-
subservient (səb sur vē ənt) adj. useful in an
erary work. In a play—which consists almost entirely of
inferior capacity; submissive; p. 1030 Jenna
dialogue—the author must develop plot, theme, and
resented her subservient role in the family.
characterization by means of direct speech. As you read,
note how Miller expresses his ideas through dialogue. pretense (prē tens) n. a false show or appear-
ance, especially for the purpose of deceiving;
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R5. falseness; p. 1033 Whenever I drop by, he makes
a pretense of being hard at work.
Interactive Literary Elements evade (i vād ) v. to escape or avoid, as by
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements, cleverness; The fugitive tried to evade capture.
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • practicing with prefixes
• drawing conclusions about characters • connecting to contemporary issues
• analyzing the use of dialogue

ARTHUR MILLER 10 23
Arthur Miller

1024
(bkgd)Daniel Root/Photonica/Getty Images, (inset)20TH CENTURY FOX/THE KOBAL COLLECTION/BARRY WETCHER
CHARACTERS
(in order of appearance)
REVEREND PARRIS MERCY LEWIS FRANCIS NURSE
BETTY PARRIS MARY WARREN EZEKIEL CHEEVER
TITUBA JOHN PROCTOR MARSHAL HERRICK
ABIGAIL WILLIAMS REBECCA NURSE JUDGE HATHORNE
SUSANNA WALCOTT GILES COREY DEPUTY GOVERNOR DANFORTH
MRS. ANN PUTNAM REVEREND JOHN HALE SARAH GOOD
THOMAS PUTNAM ELIZABETH PROCTOR HOPKINS

Act One
(An Overture) TITUBA. [Already taking a step backward.] My
[A small upper bedroom in the home of REVEREND Betty be hearty soon?
SAMUEL PARRIS, Salem, Massachusetts, in the PARRIS. Out of here!
spring of the year 1692. TITUBA. [Backing to the door.] My Betty not goin’
There is a narrow window at the left. Through die . . .
its leaded panes the morning sunlight streams. A
candle still burns near the bed, which is at the right. PARRIS. [Scrambling to his feet in a fury.] Out of
A chest, a chair, and a small table are the other fur- my sight! [She is gone.] Out of my—[He is over-
nishings. At the back a door opens on the landing come with sobs. He clamps his teeth against them
of the stairway to the ground floor. The room and closes the door and leans against it, exhausted.]
gives off an air of clean spareness. The roof raf- Oh, my God! God help me! [Quaking with fear,
ters are exposed, and the wood colors are raw mumbling to himself through his sobs, he goes to the
and unmellowed. bed and gently takes BETTY’s hand.] Betty. Child.
As the curtain rises, REVEREND PARRIS is discovered Dear child. Will you wake, will you open up your
kneeling beside the bed, evidently in prayer. His eyes! Betty, little one . . .
daughter, BETTY PARRIS, aged ten, is lying on the [He is bending to kneel again when his niece, ABI-
bed, inert. GAIL WILLIAMS, seventeen, enters—a strikingly
REVEREND PARRIS is praying now, and, though we beautiful girl, an orphan, with an endless capacity
cannot hear his words, a sense of his confusion for dissembling.3 Now she is all worry and appre-
hangs about him. He mumbles, then seems about hension and propriety.]
to weep; then he weeps, then prays again; but his ABIGAIL. Uncle? [He looks to her.] Susanna
daughter does not stir on the bed. Walcott’s here from Doctor Griggs.
The door opens, and his Negro slave enters.
PARRIS. Oh? Let her come, let her come.
TITUBA1 is in her forties. PARRIS brought her with
him from Barbados,2 where he spent some years ABIGAIL. [Leaning out the door to call to SUSANNA,

as a merchant before entering the ministry. She who is down the hall a few steps.] Come in, Susanna.
enters as one does who can no longer bear to be
barred from the sight of her beloved, but she is
also very frightened because her slave sense has 3. Dissembling means “concealing one’s true motives.”
warned her that, as always, trouble in this house Literary Element Dialogue Tituba’s way of speaking
eventually lands on her back.] helps us understand something that Miller has already men-
tioned about her in the stage directions. What is it?

1. Tituba (ti t¯¯¯


oo bə) Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About
2. Barbados (bar bā dōz) is an island in the Caribbean that
Characters What does this phrase tell us about Abigail?
was, at the time of the play, an English colony.

ART HUR MILLER 1025


[SUSANNA WALCOTT, a little younger than ABI- ABIGAIL. We did dance, uncle, and when you
GAIL, a nervous, hurried girl, enters.] leaped out of the bush so suddenly, Betty was
PARRIS. [Eagerly.] What does the doctor say, frightened and then she fainted. And there’s
child? the whole of it.
SUSANNA. [Craning around PARRIS to get a look at PARRIS. Child. Sit you down.
BETTY.] He bid me come and tell you, reverend ABIGAIL. [Quavering, as she sits.] I would never
sir, that he cannot discover no medicine for it in hurt Betty. I love her dearly.
his books. PARRIS. Now look you, child, your punishment
PARRIS. Then he must search on. will come in its time. But if you trafficked5
SUSANNA. Aye, sir, he have been searchin’ his with spirits in the forest I must know it now,
books since he left you, sir. But he bid me tell for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin
you, that you might look to unnatural things for me with it.
the cause of it. ABIGAIL. But we never conjured6 spirits.
PARRIS. [His eyes going wide.] No—no. There be PARRIS. Then why can she not move herself
no unnatural cause here. Tell him I have sent for since midnight? This child is desperate! [ABIGAIL
Reverend Hale of Beverly, and Mr. Hale will lowers her eyes.] It must come out—my enemies
surely confirm that. Let him look to medicine will bring it out. Let me know what you done
and put out all thought of unnatural causes here. there. Abigail, do you understand that I have
There be none. many enemies?
SUSANNA. Aye, sir. He bid me tell you. [She turns ABIGAIL. I have heard of it, uncle.
to go.] PARRIS.There is a faction7 that is sworn to drive
ABIGAIL. Speak nothin’ of it in the village, me from my pulpit. Do you understand that?
Susanna. ABIGAIL. I think so, sir.
PARRIS. Go directly home and speak nothing of PARRIS. Now then, in the midst of such disruption,
unnatural causes. my own household is discovered to be the very cen-
SUSANNA. Aye, sir. I pray for her. [She goes out.] ter of some obscene practice. Abominations8 are
ABIGAIL. Uncle, the rumor of witchcraft is all done in the forest—
about; I think you’d best go down and deny it ABIGAIL. It were sport,9 uncle!
yourself. The parlor’s packed with people, sir. I’ll PARRIS. [Pointing at BETTY.] You call this sport?
sit with her. [She lowers her eyes. He pleads.] Abigail, if you
PARRIS. [Pressed, turns on her.] And what shall I know something that may help the doctor, for
say to them? That my daughter and my niece I God’s sake tell it to me. [She is silent.] I saw
discovered dancing like heathen in the forest? Tituba waving her arms over the fire when I
ABIGAIL. Uncle, we did dance; let you tell came on you. Why was she doing that? And I
them I confessed it—and I’ll be whipped if I heard a screeching and gibberish coming from
must be. But they’re speakin’ of witchcraft. her mouth. She were swaying like a dumb beast
Betty’s not witched. over that fire!
PARRIS. Abigail, I cannot go before the congre-
gation when I know you have not opened4 with 5. Trafficked means “dealt or did business.”
me. What did you do with her in the forest? 6. Here, conjured means “summoned by using magic words or
spells.”
7. A faction is a small segment of people who disagree with
the larger group on an issue or set of issues.
4. Here, have not opened means “have not been completely 8. Abominations are vile or shameful acts.
honest.” 9. Here, sport means “innocent recreation.”

Big Idea The United States and the World What word Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About
might a U.S. citizen, watching this play in the 1950s, have Characters What can we learn about Reverend Parris from
substituted for “witchcraft?” this remark?

1026 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


ABIGAIL. She always sings her Barbados songs, ABIGAIL. She hates me, uncle, she must, for I
and we dance. would not be her slave. It’s a bitter woman, a
PARRIS. I cannot blink10 what I saw, Abigail, for lying, cold, sniveling woman, and I will not
my enemies will not blink it. I saw a dress lying work for such a woman!
on the grass. PARRIS. She may be. And yet it has troubled
ABIGAIL. [Innocently.] A dress? me that you are now seven month out of their
house, and in all this time no other family has
PARRIS. [It is very hard to say.] Aye, a dress. And ever called for your service.
I thought I saw—someone naked running
ABIGAIL. They want slaves, not such as I. Let
through the trees!
them send to Barbados for that. I will not
ABIGAIL. [In terror.] No one was naked! You mis- black my face for any of them! [With ill-con-
take yourself, uncle! cealed resentment at him.] Do you begrudge my
PARRIS. [With anger.] I saw it! [He moves from bed, uncle?
her. Then, resolved.] Now tell me true, Abigail. PARRIS. No—no.
And I pray you feel the weight of truth upon
ABIGAIL. [In a temper.] My name is good in the
you, for now my ministry’s at stake, my ministry
and perhaps your cousin’s life. Whatever abomi- village! I will not have it said my name is soiled!
nation you have done, give me all of it now, for I Goody Proctor is a gossiping liar!
dare not be taken unaware when I go before [Enter MRS. ANN PUTNAM. She is a twisted soul
them down there. of forty-five, a death-ridden woman, haunted by
ABIGAIL. There is nothin’ more. I swear it, uncle. dreams.]
PARRIS. [Studies her, then nods, half convinced.] PARRIS. [As soon as the door begins to open.]
Abigail, I have fought here three long years to No—no, I cannot have anyone. [He sees her,
bend these stiff-necked people to me, and now, just and a certain deference12 springs into him,
now when some good respect is rising for me in the although his worry remains.] Why, Goody
parish, you compromise my very character. I have Putnam, come in.
given you a home, child, I have put clothes upon MRS. PUTNAM. [Full of breath, shiny-eyed.] It is a
your back—now give me upright answer. Your marvel. It is surely a stroke of hell upon you.
name in the town—it is entirely white, is it not? PARRIS. No, Goody Putnam, it is—
ABIGAIL. [With an edge of resentment.] Why, I am MRS. PUTNAM. [Glancing at BETTY.] How high did
sure it is, sir. There be no blush about my name. she fly, how high?
PARRIS. [To the point.] Abigail, is there any other PARRIS. No, no, she never flew—
cause than you have told me, for your being dis-
MRS. PUTNAM. [Very pleased with it.] Why, it’s
charged from Goody11 Proctor’s service? I have
sure she did. Mr. Collins saw her goin’ over
heard it said, and I tell you as I heard it, that she
Ingersoll’s barn, and come down light as bird,
comes so rarely to the church this year for she
he says!
will not sit so close to something soiled. What
signified that remark? PARRIS. Now, look you, Goody Putnam, she
never—[Enter THOMAS PUTNAM, a well-to-do,
hard-handed landowner, near fifty.] Oh, good
10. Here, blink means “to deliberately overlook or ignore.”
morning, Mr. Putnam.
11. Goody is short for Goodwife, a term of polite address for a
married woman. 12. Deference is courteous respect or regard.
Literary Element Dialogue Why might Miller have Big Idea The United States and the World Why do
inserted a dash between “saw” and “someone naked?” you think that Abigail is so concerned about her good name?

Vocabulary Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About


compromise (kom prə m̄z´) v. to endanger the reputa- Characters Do you think that “hard-handed” is meant as a
tion or interests of; to expose to suspicion compliment? Explain your answer.

ART HUR MILLER 1027


PUTNAM. It is a providence13 the thing is out toward the abyss.] Mr. Parris, I have taken your
now! It is a providence. [He goes directly to part in all contention here, and I would con-
the bed.] tinue; but I cannot if you hold back in this.
PARRIS. What’s out, sir, what’s—? There are hurtful, vengeful spirits layin’ hands
on these children.
[MRS. PUTNAM goes to the bed.]
PARRIS. But, Thomas, you cannot—
PUTNAM. [Looking down at BETTY.] Why, her eyes
PUTNAM. Ann! Tell Mr. Parris what you
is closed! Look you, Ann.
have done.
MRS. PUTNAM. Why, that’s strange. [To PARRIS.]
MRS. PUTNAM. Reverend Parris, I have laid seven
Ours is open.
babies unbaptized in the earth. Believe me, sir,
PARRIS. [Shocked.] Your Ruth is sick? you never saw more hearty babies born. And yet,
MRS. PUTNAM. [With vicious certainty.] I’d not call each would wither in my arms the very night of
it sick; the Devil’s touch is heavier than sick. It’s their birth. I have spoke nothin’, but my heart
death, y’know, it’s death drivin’ into them, forked has clamored intimations.16 And now, this year,
and hoofed. my Ruth, my only—I see her turning strange. A
PARRIS. Oh, pray not! Why, how does Ruth ail? secret child she has become this year, and shrivels
like a sucking mouth were pullin’ on her life too.
MRS. PUTNAM. She ails as she must—she never
And so I thought to send her to your Tituba—
waked this morning, but her eyes open and
she walks, and hears naught,14 sees naught, PARRIS. To Tituba! What may Tituba—?
and cannot eat. Her soul is taken, surely. MRS. PUTNAM. Tituba knows how to speak to the
[PARRIS is struck.] dead, Mr. Parris.
PUTNAM. [As though for further details.] They PARRIS. Goody Ann, it is a formidable sin to
say you’ve sent for Reverend Hale of Beverly? conjure up the dead!
PARRIS. [With dwindling conviction15 now.] A pre- MRS. PUTNAM. I take it on my soul, but who else
caution only. He has much experience in all may surely tell us what person murdered my babies?
demonic arts, and I— PARRIS. [Horrified.] Woman!
MRS. PUTNAM. He has indeed; and found a MRS. PUTNAM. They were murdered, Mr. Parris!
witch in Beverly last year, and let you remem- And mark this proof! Mark it! Last night my
ber that. Ruth were ever so close to their little spirits;
PARRIS. Now, Goody Ann, they only thought I know it, sir. For how else is she struck dumb
that were a witch, and I am certain there be no now except some power of darkness would
element of witchcraft here. stop her mouth? It is a marvelous sign,
PUTNAM. No witchcraft! Now look you,
Mr. Parris!
Mr. Parris— PUTNAM. Don’t you understand it, sir? There is a
PARRIS. Thomas, Thomas, I pray you, leap not murdering witch among us, bound to keep herself
to witchcraft. I know that you—you least of all, in the dark. [PARRIS turns to BETTY, a frantic terror
Thomas, would ever wish so disastrous a charge rising in him.] Let your enemies make of it what
laid upon me. We cannot leap to witchcraft. they will, you cannot blink it more.
They will howl me out of Salem for such corrup-
tion in my house. 16. A heart that has clamored intimations has nagged its
PUTNAM. [At the moment, he is intent upon getting owner with suggestions (of possible witchcraft).
PARRIS, for whom he has only contempt, to move Big Idea The United States and the World In making
this statement, what chain of events is Mr. Putnam initiating?

13. Here, providence means “a blessing” or “an act of Vocabulary


divine care.” contention (kən ten shən) n. verbal argument or strug-
14. Naught means “nothing.” gle; quarreling
15. Here, conviction means “certainty.”

1028 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


PARRIS. [To ABIGAIL.] Then you were conjur- PARRIS. [Swayed.] I’ll lead them in a psalm, but
ing spirits last night. let you say nothing of witchcraft yet. I will not
ABIGAIL. [Whispering.] Not I, sir—Tituba discuss it. The cause is yet unknown. I have
and Ruth. had enough contention since I came; I want
no more.
PARRIS. [Turns now, with new fear, and goes to
BETTY, looks down at her, and then, gazing off.] MRS. PUTNAM. Mercy, you go home to Ruth,
Oh, Abigail, what proper payment for my d’y’hear?
charity! Now I am undone. MERCY. Aye, mum.
PUTNAM. You are not undone! Let you take [MRS. PUTNAM goes out.]
hold here. Wait for no one to charge you—
declare it yourself. You have discovered PARRIS. [To ABIGAIL.] If she starts for the win-
witchcraft— dow, cry for me at once.

PARRIS. In my house? In my house, Thomas? ABIGAIL. I will, uncle.


They will topple me with this! They will make PARRIS. [To PUTNAM.] There is a terrible
of it a— power in her arms today. [He goes out with
PUTNAM.]
[Enter MERCY LEWIS, the PUTNAMS’ servant, a
fat, sly, merciless girl of eighteen.] ABIGAIL. [With hushed trepidation.]17 How is
MERCY. Your pardons. I only thought to see how Ruth sick?
Betty is. MERCY. It’s weirdish, I know not—she seems to

PUTNAM. Why aren’t you home? Who’s walk like a dead one since last night.
with Ruth? ABIGAIL. [Turns at once and goes to BETTY, and
MERCY. Her grandma come. She’s improved now, with fear in her voice.] Betty? [BETTY doesn’t
a little, I think—she give a powerful sneeze move. She shakes her.] Now stop this! Betty! Sit
before. up now!
MRS. PUTNAM. Ah, there’s a sign of life! [BETTY doesn’t stir. MERCY comes over.]
MERCY. I’d fear no more, Goody Putnam. It MERCY. Have you tried beatin’ her? I gave Ruth
were a grand sneeze; another like it will shake a good one and it waked her for a minute. Here,
her wits together, I’m sure. [She goes to the bed let me have her.
to look.] ABIGAIL. [Holding MERCY back.] No, he’ll be
PARRIS. Will you leave me now, Thomas? I comin’ up. Listen, now; if they be questioning
would pray a while alone. us, tell them we danced—I told him as much
ABIGAIL.Uncle, you’ve prayed since midnight. already.
Why do you not go down and— MERCY. Aye. And what more?
PARRIS. No—no. [To PUTNAM.] I have no ABIGAIL. He knows Tituba conjured Ruth’s sis-
answer for that crowd. I’ll wait till Mr. Hale ters to come out of the grave.
arrives. [To get MRS. PUTNAM to leave.] If you will,
MERCY. And what more?
Goody Ann . . .
ABIGAIL. He saw you naked.
PUTNAM. Now look you, sir. Let you strike out
against the Devil, and the village will bless you MERCY. [Clapping her hands together with a fright-
for it! Come down, speak to them—pray with ened laugh.] Oh, Jesus!
them. They’re thirsting for your word, Mister!
Surely you’ll pray with them.
17. Trepidation means “fear” or “anxiety.”

Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About
Characters What sort of a friend do you think Abigail would Characters How does this remark illustrate the irony in
make? Explain. Miller’s stage directions when Mercy first enters?

ART HUR MILLER 1029


[Enter MARY WARREN, breathless. She is seven- BETTY. You drank blood, Abby! You didn’t tell
teen, a subservient, naive, lonely girl.] him that!
MARY WARREN. What’ll we do? The village is ABIGAIL. Betty, you never say that again! You
out! I just come from the farm; the whole coun- will never—
try’s talkin’ witchcraft! They’ll be callin’ us BETTY. You did, you did! You drank a charm to
witches, Abby! kill John Proctor’s wife! You drank a charm to
MERCY. [Pointing and looking at MARY WARREN.] kill Goody Proctor!
She means to tell, I know it. ABIGAIL.[Smashes her across the face.] Shut it!
MARY WARREN. Abby, we’ve got to tell. Now shut it!
Witchery’s a hangin’ error, a hangin’ like they BETTY. [Collapsing on the bed.] Mama, Mama!
done in Boston two year ago! We must tell the [She dissolves into sobs.]
truth, Abby! You’ll only be whipped for dancin’,
and the other things! ABIGAIL. Now look you. All of you. We danced.
And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam’s dead sisters.
ABIGAIL. Oh, we’ll be whipped! And that is all. And mark this. Let either of
MARY WARREN. I never done none of it, Abby. I you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about
only looked! the other things, and I will come to you in the
MERCY. [Moving menacingly toward MARY.] Oh,
black of some terrible night and I will bring a
you’re a great one for lookin’, aren’t you, Mary pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you
Warren? What a grand peeping courage you have! know I can do it; I saw Indians smash my dear
parents’ heads on the pillow next to mine, and
[BETTY, on the bed, whimpers. ABIGAIL turns to I have seen some reddish work18 done at night,
her at once.] and I can make you wish you had never seen
ABIGAIL. Betty? [She goes to BETTY.] Now, Betty, the sun go down! [She goes to BETTY and
dear, wake up now. It’s Abigail. [She sits BETTY up roughly sits her up.] Now, you—sit up and
and furiously shakes her.] I’ll beat you, Betty! stop this!
[BETTY whimpers.] My, you seem improving. I
[But BETTY collapses in her hands and lies inert
talked to your papa and I told him everything.
on the bed.]
So there’s nothing to—
MARY WARREN. [With hysterical fright.] What’s
BETTY. [Darts off the bed, frightened of ABIGAIL,
got her? [ABIGAIL stares in fright at BETTY.]
and flattens herself against the wall.] I want
Abby, she’s going to die! It’s a sin to conjure,
my mama!
and we—
ABIGAIL. [With alarm, as she cautiously approaches
ABIGAIL. [Starting for MARY.] I say shut it, Mary
BETTY.] What ails you, Betty? Your mama’s dead
Warren!
and buried.
BETTY. I’ll fly to Mama. Let me fly! [She raises [Enter JOHN PROCTOR. On seeing him, MARY
WARREN leaps in fright.]
her arms as though to fly, and streaks for the win-
dow, gets one leg out.] MARY WARREN. Oh! I’m just going home,
ABIGAIL. [Pulling her away from the window.] I Mr. Proctor.
told him everything; he knows now, he knows PROCTOR. Be you foolish, Mary Warren? Be you
everything we— deaf? I forbid you leave the house, did I not?
Why shall I pay you? I am looking for you more
often than my cows!
Literary Element Dialogue How might the actress play-
ing Abigail make these lines particularly effective?
18. Reddish work means “bloody deeds.”
Vocabulary
Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About
subservient (səb sur vē ənt) adj. useful, in an inferior Characters What new insight into Abigail’s character do
capacity, to promote an end; submissive these remarks offer?

1030 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


MARY WARREN. I only come to see the great ABIGAIL. [Tauntingly.]21 You come five mile to
doings in the world. see a silly girl fly? I know you better.
PROCTOR. I’ll show you a great doin’ on your PROCTOR. [Setting her firmly out of his path.]
arse one of these days. Now get you home; my I come to see what mischief your uncle’s
wife is waitin’ with your work! [Trying to retain brewin’ now. [With final emphasis.] Put it out
a shred of dignity, she goes slowly out.] of mind, Abby.
MERCY LEWIS. [Both afraid of him and strangely ABIGAIL. [Grasping his hand before he can release
titillated.] I’d best be off. I have my Ruth to
19 her.] John—I am waitin’ for you every night.
watch. Good morning, Mr. Proctor. PROCTOR. Abby, I never give you hope to wait
[MERCY sidles out. Since PROCTOR’s entrance, for me.
ABIGAIL has stood as though on tiptoe, absorbing ABIGAIL. [Now beginning to anger—she can’t believe
his presence, wide-eyed. He glances at her, then it.] I have something better than hope, I think!
goes to BETTY on the bed.]
PROCTOR. Abby, you’ll put it out of mind. I’ll
ABIGAIL. Gah! I’d almost forgot how strong you not be comin’ for you more.
are, John Proctor! ABIGAIL. You’re surely sportin’ with me.
PROCTOR. [Looking at ABIGAIL now, the faintest PROCTOR. You know me better.
suggestion of a knowing smile on his face.] What’s
this mischief here? ABIGAIL. I know how you clutched my back
behind your house and sweated like a stallion
ABIGAIL. [With a nervous laugh.] Oh, she’s only whenever I come near! Or did I dream that? It’s
gone silly somehow. she put me out, you cannot pretend it were you.
PROCTOR. The road past my house is a pilgrim- I saw your face when she put me out, and you
age to Salem all morning. The town’s mumbling loved me then and you do now!
witchcraft. PROCTOR. Abby, that’s a wild thing to say—
ABIGAIL. Oh, posh! [Winningly she comes a little ABIGAIL. A wild thing may say wild things. But
closer, with a confidential, wicked air.] We were not so wild, I think. I have seen you since she
dancin’ in the woods last night, and my uncle put me out; I have seen you nights.
leaped in on us. She took fright, is all.
PROCTOR. I have hardly stepped off my farm this
PROCTOR. [His smile widening.] Ah, you’re sevenmonth.
wicked yet, aren’t y’! [A trill of expectant laughter
ABIGAIL. I have a sense for heat, John, and yours
escapes her, and she dares come closer, feverishly
has drawn me to my window, and I have seen you
looking into his eyes.] You’ll be clapped in the
looking up, burning in your loneliness. Do you
stocks20 before you’re twenty.
tell me you’ve never looked up at my window?
[He takes a step to go, and she springs into his path.]
PROCTOR. I may have looked up.
ABIGAIL. Give me a word, John. A soft word. ABIGAIL. [Now softening.] And you must.
[Her concentrated desire destroys his smile.] You are no wintry man. I know you, John.
PROCTOR. No, no, Abby. That’s done with. I know you. [She is weeping.] I cannot sleep
for dreamin’; I cannot dream but I wake and
walk about the house as though I’d find you
19. To be titillated is to be pleasantly excited or stimulated.
20. The word stocks refers to a heavy wooden frame with
comin’ through some door. [She clutches him
holes for confining the ankles and wrists of someone desperately.]
found guilty of a crime.
PROCTOR. [Gently pressing her from him, with
Literary Element Dialogue What do the other girls call great sympathy but firmly.] Child—
Proctor? How does Abigail’s use of his first name help define ABIGAIL. [With a flash of anger.] How do you call
their relationship?
me child!
Big Idea The United States and the World What does
this menacing statement foreshadow?
21. Tauntingly means “in a scornful or mocking way.”

ART HUR MILLER 1031


1032 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR
Daniel Root/Photonica/Getty Images
PROCTOR. Abby, I may think of you softly from PROCTOR. [Growing unnerved.] What’s she
time to time. But I will cut off my hand before doing? Girl, what ails you? Stop that wailing!
I’ll ever reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind. [The singing has stopped in the midst of this,
We never touched, Abby. and now PARRIS rushes in.]
ABIGAIL. Aye, but we did.
PARRIS. What happened? What are you doing to
PROCTOR. Aye, but we did not. her? Betty! [He rushes to the bed, crying, “Betty,
ABIGAIL. [With a bitter anger.] Oh, I marvel how Betty!” MRS. PUTNAM enters, feverish with curiosity,
such a strong man may let such a sickly wife be— and with her THOMAS PUTNAM and MERCY LEWIS.
PROCTOR. [Angered—at himself as well.] You’ll PARRIS, at the bed, keeps lightly slapping BETTY’s
speak nothin’ of Elizabeth! face, while she moans and tries to get up.]
ABIGAIL. She is blackening my name in the vil- ABIGAIL. She heard you singin’ and suddenly
lage! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold, she’s up and screamin’.
sniveling woman, and you bend to her! Let her MRS. PUTNAM. The psalm! The psalm! She can-
turn you like a— not bear to hear the Lord’s name!
PROCTOR. [Shaking her.] Do you look for whippin’?
PARRIS. No, God forbid. Mercy, run to the doc-
[A psalm is heard being sung below.] tor! Tell him what’s happened here! [MERCY
ABIGAIL. [In tears.] I look for John Proctor that LEWIS rushes out.]
took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my MRS. PUTNAM. Mark it for a sign, mark it!
heart! I never knew what pretense Salem was, I
never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all [REBECCA NURSE, seventy-two, enters. She is
these Christian women and their covenanted22 white-haired, leaning upon her walking-stick.]
men! And now you bid me tear the light out of PUTNAM. [Pointing at the whimpering BETTY.]
my eyes? I will not, I cannot! You loved me, That is a notorious sign of witchcraft afoot,
John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me Goody Nurse, a prodigious23 sign!
yet! [He turns abruptly to go out. She rushes to MRS. PUTNAM. My mother told me that! When
him.] John, pity me, pity me! they cannot bear to hear the name of—
[The words “going up to Jesus” are heard in PARRIS. [Trembling.] Rebecca, Rebecca, go to
the psalm, and BETTY claps her ears suddenly her, we’re lost. She suddenly cannot bear to hear
and whines loudly.] the Lord’s—
ABIGAIL. Betty? [She hurries to BETTY, who is now [GILES COREY, eighty-three, enters. He is knotted
sitting up and screaming. PROCTOR goes to BETTY as with muscle, canny,24 inquisitive, and still powerful.]
ABIGAIL is trying to pull her hands down, calling
REBECCA. There is hard sickness here, Giles
“Betty!”] Corey, so please to keep the quiet.
GILES. I’ve not said a word. No one here can tes-
22. A covenant is an agreement or promise. Among the tify I’ve said a word. Is she going to fly again? I
Puritans, a covenanted person had made a commitment to hear she flies.
the church and had signed an agreement testifying to his or
her faith.
PUTNAM. Man, be quiet now!

Reading Strategy
[Everything is quiet. REBECCA walks across the
Drawing Conclusions About
Characters In your opinion, does Proctor show strength or room to the bed. Gentleness exudes25 from her.
weakness in this denial? BETTY is quietly whimpering, eyes shut. REBECCA
simply stands over the child, who gradually quiets.]
Literary Element Dialogue In your opinion, is Abigail MRS. PUTNAM. [Astonished.] What have you done?
sincere in this speech? Explain.

Vocabulary 23. Prodigious means “amazing.”


pretense (prē tens) n. a false show or appearance, espe- 24. Canny means “sharp, clever, and careful in one’s dealings
cially for the purpose of deceiving; falseness with others.”
25. Exudes means “gives forth.”

ART HUR MILLER 1033


[REBECCA, in thought, now leaves the bedside REBECCA. Pray, John, be calm. [Pause. He defers
and sits.] to her.] Mr. Parris, I think you’d best send
PARRIS. [Wondrous and relieved.] What do you Reverend Hale back as soon as he come. This
make of it, Rebecca? will set us all to arguin’ again in the society, and
we thought to have peace this year. I think we
PUTNAM. [Eagerly.] Goody Nurse, will you go to ought rely on the doctor now, and good prayer.
my Ruth and see if you can wake her?
MRS. PUTNAM. Rebecca, the doctor’s baffled!
REBECCA. [Sitting.] I think she’ll wake in time. REBECCA. If so he is, then let us go to God for
Pray calm yourselves. I have eleven children, the cause of it. There is prodigious danger in the
and I am twenty-six times a grandma, and I seeking of loose spirits. I fear it, I fear it. Let us
have seen them all through their silly seasons, rather blame ourselves and—
and when it come on them they will run the
PUTNAM. How may we blame ourselves? I am
Devil bowlegged keeping up with their mis-
chief. I think she’ll wake when she tires of it. one of nine sons; the Putnam seed have peopled
A child’s spirit is like a child, you can never this province. And yet I have but one child left
catch it by running after it; you must stand of eight—and now she shrivels!
still, and, for love, it will soon itself come back. REBECCA. I cannot fathom that.

PROCTOR. Aye, that’s the truth of it, Rebecca. MRS. PUTNAM. [With a growing edge of sarcasm.]
But I must! You think it God’s work you should
MRS. PUTNAM. This is no silly season, Rebecca.
never lose a child, nor grandchild either, and I
My Ruth is bewildered, Rebecca; she cannot eat.
bury all but one? There are wheels within wheels
REBECCA. Perhaps she is not hungered yet. [To in this village, and fires within fires!27
PARRIS.]I hope you are not decided to go in PUTNAM. [To PARRIS.] When Reverend Hale
search of loose spirits, Mr. Parris. I’ve heard comes, you will proceed to look for signs of
promise of that outside. witchcraft here.
PARRIS. A wide opinion’s running in the parish PROCTOR. [To PUTNAM.] You cannot com-
that the Devil may be among us, and I would mand Mr. Parris. We vote by name in this
satisfy them that they are wrong. society, not by acreage.
PROCTOR. Then let you come out and call them PUTNAM. I never heard you worried so on this
wrong. Did you consult the wardens26 before you society, Mr. Proctor. I do not think I saw you
called this minister to look for devils? at Sabbath meeting since snow flew.
PARRIS. He is not coming to look for devils! PROCTOR. I have trouble enough without I come

PROCTOR. Then what’s he coming for? five mile to hear him preach only hellfire and bloody
damnation. Take it to heart, Mr. Parris. There are
PUTNAM. There be children dyin’ in the village, many others who stay away from church these days
Mister! because you hardly ever mention God any more.
PROCTOR. I seen none dyin’. This society will not
be a bag to swing around your head, Mr. Putnam.
[To PARRIS.] Did you call a meeting before you—? 27. The expression wheels within . . . fires! means “things are
not so simple or innocent as they seem.”
PUTNAM. I am sick of meetings; cannot the man
turn his head without he have a meeting? Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About
Characters Why does Proctor listen to Rebecca with respect?
PROCTOR. He may turn his head, but not to Hell!
Big Idea The United States and the World What dan-
ger might Rebecca be referring to? Why is it safer to “blame
26. The church wardens were members who managed the ourselves”?
congregation’s business affairs.

Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About
Characters How do the Putnams and Rebecca disagree on Characters What do we learn about Reverend Parris’s
the subject of witchcraft? priorities as a minister from Proctor’s accusation?

1034 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


Window View—Scapeology #3, 1995. Nanette Carter. Oil on canvas, 403/4 x 451/2 in. Sande
Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA.
Viewing the Art: What contrasts and divisions do you see in this painting? How might they
reflect the contrasts and divisions among the people gathered in Betty’s room?

PARRIS. [Now aroused.] Why, that’s a drastic PARRIS. Where is my wood? My contract pro-
charge! vides I be supplied with all my firewood. I am
REBECCA. It’s somewhat true; there are many
waiting since November for a stick, and even
that quail28 to bring their children— in November I had to show my frostbitten
hands like some London beggar!
PARRIS. I do not preach for children, Rebecca.
It is not the children who are unmindful of GILES. You are allowed six pound a year to
their obligations toward this ministry. buy your wood, Mr. Parris.
REBECCA. Are there really those unmindful? PARRIS. I regard that six pound as part of my
PARRIS. I should say the better half of Salem salary. I am paid little enough without I spend
village— six pound on firewood.

PUTNAM. And more than that! PROCTOR. Sixty, plus six for firewood—
PARRIS. The salary is sixty-six pound, Mr. Proctor!
I am not some preaching farmer with a book under
28. To quail is to hesitate, to lose heart, or to retreat in fear. my arm; I am a graduate of Harvard College.

ART HUR MILLER 1035


Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
GILES. Aye, and well instructed in arithmetic! PUTNAM. Against him and all authority!
PARRIS. Mr. Corey, you will look far for a man of PROCTOR. Why, then I must find it and join it.
my kind at sixty pound a year! I am not used to [There is shock among the others.]
this poverty; I left a thrifty business in the Barbados
to serve the Lord. I do not fathom it, why am I per- REBECCA. He does not mean that.
secuted here? I cannot offer one proposition but PUTNAM. He confessed it now!
there be a howling riot of argument. I have often
PROCTOR. I mean it solemnly, Rebecca; I like
wondered if the Devil be in it somewhere; I cannot
not the smell of this “authority.”
understand you people otherwise.
REBECCA. No, you cannot break charity30
PROCTOR. Mr. Parris, you are the first minister
with your minister. You are another kind,
ever did demand the deed to this house—
John. Clasp his hand, make your peace.
PARRIS. Man! Don’t a minister deserve a
PROCTOR. I have a crop to sow and lumber
house to live in?
to drag home. [He goes angrily to the door and
PROCTOR. To live in, yes. But to ask ownership is turns to COREY with a smile.] What say you,
like you shall own the meeting house itself; the Giles, let’s find the party. He says there’s
last meeting I were at you spoke so long on deeds a party.
and mortgages I thought it were an auction.
GILES.I’ve changed my opinion of this man,
PARRIS. I want a mark of confidence, is all! I John. Mr. Parris, I beg your pardon. I never
am your third preacher in seven years. I do not thought you had so much iron in you.
wish to be put out like the cat whenever some
majority feels the whim. You people seem not PARRIS. [Surprised.] Why, thank you, Giles!
to comprehend that a minister is the Lord’s man GILES. It suggests to the mind what the trou-
in the parish; a minister is not to be so lightly ble be among us all these years. [To all.] Think
crossed and contradicted— on it. Wherefore is everybody suing everybody
PUTNAM. Aye! else? Think on it now, it’s a deep thing, and
dark as a pit. I have been six time in court
PARRIS. There is either obedience or the this year—
church will burn like Hell is burning!
PROCTOR. [Familiarly, with warmth, although he
PROCTOR. Can you speak one minute without knows he is approaching the edge of GILES’ toler-
we land in Hell again? I am sick of Hell! ance with this.] Is it the Devil’s fault that a man
PARRIS. It is not for you to say what is good cannot say you good morning without you clap
for you to hear! him for defamation?31 You’re old, Giles, and
PROCTOR. I may speak my heart, I think! you’re not hearin’ so well as you did.
PARRIS. [In a fury.] What, are we Quakers?29 GILES. [He cannot be crossed.] John Proctor, I

We are not Quakers here yet, Mr. Proctor. have only last month collected four pound
And you may tell that to your followers! damages for you publicly sayin’ I burned the
roof off your house, and I—
PROCTOR. My followers!
PARRIS. [Now he’s out with it.] There is a party
in this church. I am not blind; there is a fac- 30. For the Puritans, charity was Christian love, including
tion and a party. mercy, forgiveness, kindness, and trust.
31. An attack on one’s good name or reputation is an act of
PROCTOR. Against you?
defamation (def´ ə mā shən).

Big Idea The United States and the World What


29. Quakers is the familiar name for members of the Society of “authority” might a U.S. audience in 1953 have thought of
Friends. They have no definite creed and are guided by on hearing this line?
their doctrine of “inner light.”

Literary Element Dialogue How does Miller use dialogue Literary Element Dialogue How does Miller engage the
on this page to advance the plot? audience’s sympathy for Proctor in this line of dialogue?

1036 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


PROCTOR. [Laughing.] I never said no such thing, PARRIS. [A little scared.] Well, you do come
but I’ve paid you for it, so I hope I can call you prepared!
deaf without charge. Now come along, Giles, HALE. We shall need hard study if it comes
and help me drag my lumber home. to tracking down the Old Boy.34 [Noticing
PUTNAM. A moment, Mr. Proctor. What lumber REBECCA.] You cannot be Rebecca Nurse?
is that you’re draggin’, if I may ask you? REBECCA. I am, sir. Do you know me?
PROCTOR. My lumber. From out my forest by the HALE. It’s strange how I knew you, but I suppose
riverside. you look as such a good soul should. We have all
PUTNAM. Why, we are surely gone wild this year. heard of your great charities in Beverly.
What anarchy32 is this? That tract is in my PARRIS.Do you know this gentleman? Mr. Thomas
bounds, it’s in my bounds, Mr. Proctor. Putnam. And his good wife Ann.
PROCTOR. In your bounds! [Indicating REBECCA.]
HALE. Putnam! I had not expected such distin-
I bought that tract from Goody Nurse’s husband guished company, sir.
five months ago.
PUTNAM. [Pleased.] It does not seem to help us
PUTNAM. He had no right to sell it. It stands today, Mr. Hale. We look to you to come to our
clear in my grandfather’s will that all the land house and save our child.
between the river and—
HALE. Your child ails too?
PROCTOR. Your grandfather had a habit of will-
ing land that never belonged to him, if I may say MRS. PUTNAM. Her soul, her soul seems flown

it plain. away. She sleeps and yet she walks . . .


GILES. That’s God’s truth; he nearly willed PUTNAM. She cannot eat.
away my north pasture but he knew I’d break HALE. Cannot eat! [Thinks on it. Then, to PROCTOR
his fingers before he’d set his name to it. Let’s and GILES COREY.] Do you men have afflicted
get your lumber home, John. I feel a sudden children?
will to work coming on. PARRIS. No, no, these are farmers. John
PUTNAM. You load one oak of mine and you’ll Proctor—
fight to drag it home!
GILES COREY. He don’t believe in witches.
GILES. Aye, and we’ll win too, Putnam—this
PROCTOR. [To HALE.] I never spoke on witches
fool and I. Come on! [He turns to PROCTOR and
one way or the other. Will you come, Giles?
starts out.]
GILES. No—no, John, I think not. I have
PUTNAM. I’ll have my men on you, Corey! I’ll
some few queer questions of my own to ask
clap a writ33 on you!
this fellow.
[Enter REVEREND JOHN HALE of Beverly. He
PROCTOR. I’ve heard you to be a sensible man,
appears loaded down with half a dozen heavy
Mr. Hale. I hope you’ll leave some of it in
books.]
Salem.
HALE. Pray you, someone take these!
[PROCTOR goes. HALE stands embarrassed for
PARRIS. [Delighted.] Mr. Hale! Oh! it’s good to an instant.]
see you again! [Taking some books.] My, they’re
PARRIS. [Quickly.] Will you look at my daugh-
heavy!
ter, sir? [Leads HALE to the bed.] She has tried
HALE. [Setting down his books.] They must be; to leap out the window; we discovered her this
they are weighted with authority.

34. Old Boy is another name for Satan.


32. Anarchy is lawless confusion and political disorder due to
Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About
the absence of governmental authority. Here, Putnam uses
the word to mean “lawlessness.”
Characters What do we learn about Proctor’s character
from this remark?
33. A writ is a judge’s order.

ART HUR MILLER 1037


The Crucible, 1996.

morning on the highroad, waving her arms as are prepared to believe me if I should find no
though she’d fly. bruise of hell upon her.
HALE. [Narrowing his eyes.] Tries to fly. PARRIS. It is agreed, sir—it is agreed—we will
PUTNAM. She cannot bear to hear the Lord’s abide by your judgment.
name, Mr. Hale; that’s a sure sign of witchcraft HALE. Good then. [He goes to the bed, looks down
afloat. at BETTY. To PARRIS.] Now, sir, what were your
HALE. [Holding up his hands.] No, no. Now let first warning of this strangeness?
me instruct you. We cannot look to supersti-
PARRIS. Why, sir—I discovered her—[Indicating
tion in this. The Devil is precise; the marks of
ABIGAIL.]—and my niece and ten or twelve of
his presence are definite as stone, and I must
the other girls, dancing in the forest last night.
tell you all that I shall not proceed unless you
HALE. [Surprised.] You permit dancing?
Big Idea The United States and the World How might PARRIS. No, no, it were secret—
Miller’s 1950s audiences have connected Reverend Hale’s
MRS. PUTNAM. [Unable to wait.] Mr. Parris’s slave
use of the word superstition to contemporary events?
has knowledge of conjurin’, sir.

1038 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


20TH CENTURY FOX/THE KOBAL COLLECTION
PARRIS. [To MRS. PUTNAM.] We cannot be sure of PARRIS. [With trepidation—and resentment.] I
that, Goody Ann— hope you do not mean we go to Satan here!
MRS. PUTNAM. [Frightened, very softly.] I know [Slight pause.]
it, sir. I sent my child—she should learn from REBECCA. I wish I knew. [She goes out; they feel
Tituba who murdered her sisters. resentful of her note of moral superiority.]
REBECCA. [Horrified.] Goody Ann! You sent a PUTNAM. [Abruptly.] Come, Mr. Hale, let’s get
child to conjure up the dead? on. Sit you here.
MRS. PUTNAM. Let God blame me, not you, GILES. Mr. Hale, I have always wanted to ask a
not you, Rebecca! I’ll not have you judging learned man—what signifies the readin’ of
me any more! [To HALE.] Is it a natural work strange books?
to lose seven children before they live a day? HALE. What books?
PARRIS. Sssh! GILES. I cannot tell; she hides them.
[REBECCA, with great pain, turns her face away. HALE. Who does this?
There is a pause.]
GILES. Martha, my wife. I have waked at night
HALE. Seven dead in childbirth. many a time and found her in a corner, readin’
MRS. PUTNAM. [Softly.] Aye. [Her voice breaks; she of a book. Now what do you make of that?
looks up at him. Silence. HALE is impressed. PARRIS HALE. Why, that’s not necessarily—
looks to him. He goes to his books, opens one, turns
pages, then reads. All wait, avidly.]35 GILES. It discomfits37 me! Last night—mark
this—I tried and tried and could not say my
PARRIS. [Hushed.] What book is that? prayers. And then she close her book and
MRS. PUTNAM. What’s there, sir? walks out of the house, and suddenly—mark
HALE. [With a tasty love of intellectual pursuit.] this—I could pray again!
Here is all the invisible world, caught, defined, HALE. Ah! The stoppage of prayer—that is
and calculated. In these books the Devil stands strange. I’ll speak further on that with you.
stripped of all his brute disguises. Here are all GILES. I’m not sayin’ she’s touched the Devil,
your familiar spirits—your incubi and succubi;36 now, but I’d admire to know what books she
your witches that go by land, by air, and by sea; reads and why she hides them. She’ll not
your wizards of the night and of the day. Have answer me, y’ see.
no fear now—we shall find him out if he has
come among us, and I mean to crush him HALE. Aye, we’ll discuss it. [To all.] Now mark
utterly if he has shown his face! [He starts for me, if the Devil is in her you will witness some
the bed.] frightful wonders in this room, so please to
keep your wits about you. Mr. Putnam, stand
REBECCA. Will it hurt the child, sir? close in case she flies. Now, Betty, dear, will
HALE. I cannot tell. If she is truly in the Devil’s you sit up? [PUTNAM comes in closer, ready-
grip we may have to rip and tear to get her free. handed. HALE sits BETTY up, but she hangs limp
REBECCA. I think I’ll go, then. I am too old for
in his hands.] Hmmm. [He observes her carefully.
this. [She rises.] The others watch breathlessly.] Can you hear
me? I am John Hale, minister of Beverly. I
PARRIS.[Striving for conviction.] Why, Rebecca, have come to help you, dear. Do you remem-
we may open up the boil of all our troubles ber my two little girls in Beverly? [She does not
today! stir in his hands.]
REBECCA. Let us hope for that. I go to God for
you, sir.
37. Discomfits means “confuses and frustrates.”

Big Idea The United States and the World What is


35. Avidly means “with intense interest.”
Giles suspicious of? How are his suspicions similar to those
36. Incubi (in kyə b̄´) and succubi (suk yə b̄´) are evil
spirits or demons.
of Senator McCarthy during the 1950s?
BI2
ART HUR MILLER 1039
PARRIS. [In fright.] How can it be the Devil? HALE. [Grasping ABIGAIL.] Abigail, it may be
Why would he choose my house to strike? We your cousin is dying. Did you call the Devil last
have all manner of licentious38 people in the night?
village! ABIGAIL. I never called him! Tituba, Tituba . . .
HALE. What victory would the Devil have to PARRIS. [Blanched.] She called the Devil?
win a soul already bad? It is the best the Devil
wants, and who is better than the minister? HALE. I should like to speak with Tituba.
GILES. That’s deep, Mr. Parris, deep, deep! PARRIS. Goody Ann, will you bring her up?
[MRS. PUTNAM exits.]
PARRIS. [With resolution now.] Betty! Answer
Mr. Hale! Betty! HALE. How did she call him?
HALE. Does someone afflict you, child? It ABIGAIL. I know not—she spoke Barbados.
need not be a woman, mind you, or a man. HALE. Did you feel any strangeness when she
Perhaps some bird invisible to others comes to called him? A sudden cold wind, perhaps? A
you—perhaps a pig, a mouse, or any beast at trembling below the ground?
all. Is there some figure bids you fly? [The child ABIGAIL. I didn’t see no Devil! [Shaking BETTY.]
remains limp in his hands. In silence he lays her Betty, wake up. Betty! Betty!
back on the pillow. Now, holding out his hands
toward her, he intones.] In nomine Domini HALE. You cannot evade me, Abigail. Did your
Sabaoth sui filiique ite ad infernos.39 [She does cousin drink any of the brew in that kettle?
not stir. He turns to ABIGAIL, his eyes narrow- ABIGAIL. She never drank it!
ing.] Abigail, what sort of dancing were you HALE. Did you drink it?
doing with her in the forest?
ABIGAIL. No, sir!
ABIGAIL. Why—common dancing is all.
HALE. Did Tituba ask you to drink it?
PARRIS. I think I ought to say that I—I saw a
ABIGAIL. She tried, but I refused.
kettle in the grass where they were dancing.
HALE. Why are you concealing? Have you sold
ABIGAIL. That were only soup.
yourself to Lucifer?
HALE. What sort of soup were in this kettle,
ABIGAIL. I never sold myself! I’m a good girl! I’m
Abigail?
a proper girl!
ABIGAIL. Why, it were beans—and lentils, I [MRS. PUTNAM enters with TITUBA, and instantly
think, and— ABIGAIL points at TITUBA.]
HALE. Mr. Parris, you did not notice, did you, ABIGAIL. She made me do it! She made Betty
any living thing in the kettle? A mouse, perhaps, do it!
a spider, a frog—?
TITUBA. [Shocked and angry.] Abby!
PARRIS.[Fearfully.] I—do believe there were
some movement—in the soup. ABIGAIL. She makes me drink blood!
ABIGAIL. That jumped in, we never put it in! PARRIS. Blood!!
HALE. [Quickly.] What jumped in? MRS. PUTNAM. My baby’s blood?
TITUBA. No, no, chicken blood. I give she
ABIGAIL. Why, a very little frog jumped—
chicken blood!
PARRIS. A frog, Abby!

Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About


38. Licentious people disregard commonly accepted standards Characters What aspect of her character does Abigail con-
of right and wrong or good and evil. firm with these remarks?
39. [In nomine . . . infernos.] “In the name of the God of
the Heavenly Hosts and of His Son, go to hell.” Hale is Vocabulary
performing an exorcism, a ritual intended to drive out
evade (i vād) v. to escape or avoid, as by cleverness
evil spirits.

1040 UNIT 6 F RO M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


HALE. Woman, have you enlisted these children PUTNAM. This woman must be hanged! She
for the Devil? must be taken and hanged!
TITUBA. No, no, sir, I don’t truck40 with no TITUBA. [Terrified, falls to her knees.] No, no,
Devil! don’t hang Tituba! I tell him I don’t desire to
HALE. Why can she not wake? Are you silencing
work for him, sir.
this child? PARRIS. The Devil?
TITUBA. I love me Betty! HALE. Then you saw him! [TITUBA weeps.]
HALE. You have sent your spirit out upon this
Now Tituba, I know that when we bind our-
child, have you not? Are you gathering souls for selves to Hell it is very hard to break with it.
the Devil? We are going to help you tear yourself free—
TITUBA. [Frightened by the coming process.]
ABIGAIL. She sends her spirit on me in church;
she makes me laugh at prayer! Mister Reverend, I do believe somebody else
be witchin’ these children.
PARRIS. She have often laughed at prayer!
HALE. Who?
ABIGAIL. She comes to me every night to go
and drink blood! TITUBA.I don’t know, sir, but the Devil got
him numerous witches.
TITUBA. You beg me to conjure! She beg me
HALE. Does he! [It is a clue.] Tituba, look into
make charm—
my eyes. Come, look into me. [She raises her
ABIGAIL. Don’t lie! [To HALE.] She comes to eyes to his fearfully.] You would be a good
me while I sleep; she’s always making me Christian woman, would you not, Tituba?
dream corruptions!
TITUBA. Aye, sir, a good Christian woman.
TITUBA. Why you say that, Abby?
HALE. And you love these little children?
ABIGAIL. Sometimes I wake and find myself
standing in the open doorway and not a stitch TITUBA. Oh, yes, sir, I don’t desire to hurt little
on my body! I always hear her laughing in my children.
sleep. I hear her singing her Barbados songs HALE. And you love God, Tituba?
and tempting me with— TITUBA. I love God with all my bein’.
TITUBA. Mister Reverend, I never— HALE. Now, in God’s holy name—
HALE. [Resolved now.] Tituba, I want you to wake
TITUBA. Bless Him. Bless Him. [She is rocking
this child. on her knees, sobbing in terror.]
TITUBA. I have no power on this child, sir. HALE. And to His glory—
HALE. You most certainly do, and you will TITUBA. Eternal glory. Bless Him—bless God . . .
free her from it now! When did you compact
HALE. Open yourself, Tituba—open yourself
with41 the Devil?
and let God’s holy light shine on you.
TITUBA. I don’t compact with no Devil!
TITUBA. Oh, bless the Lord.
PARRIS. You will confess yourself or I will take
HALE. When the Devil comes to you does he
you out and whip you to your death, Tituba!
ever come—with another person? [She stares up
into his face.] Perhaps another person in the vil-
40. Truck is another way of saying “to have dealings.” lage? Someone you know.
41. To compact with is to make an agreement or contract with.
PARRIS. Who came with him?
Literary Element Dialogue How does Miller’s use of dia-
logue ensure that Tituba is so quickly on the defensive?

Literary Element Dialogue What is Tituba accusing Big Idea The United States and the World How is the
Abigail of in this dialogue? Do you think she will be believed? assumption that Tituba is guilty similar to assumptions made
Explain. during the McCarthy “witch hunts”?

ART HUR MILLER 1041


Omen, 1993. Katherine Bowling. Oil and spackle on wood, 24 x 24 in. The SBC Collection of
Twentieth Century American Art. Courtesy SBC Communications.
Viewing the Art: What connections might you make between this painting and the
description of the night the girls went to the forest?

1042 UNIT 6 F RO M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


Courtesy of SBC Communications
PUTNAM. Sarah Good? Did you ever see Sarah [TITUBA pants, and begins rocking back and forth
Good with him? Or Osburn? again, staring ahead.]
PARRIS. Was it man or woman came with him? TITUBA. There was four. There was four.
TITUBA. Man or woman. Was—was woman. PARRIS. [Pressing in on her.] Who? Who? Their
What woman? A woman, you said.
PARRIS.
names, their names!
What woman? TITUBA. [Suddenly bursting out.] Oh, how many

TITUBA. It was black dark, and I— times he bid me kill you, Mr. Parris!
PARRIS. You could see him, why could you not PARRIS. Kill me!
see her? TITUBA. [In a fury.] He say Mr. Parris must be

TITUBA. Well, they was always talking; they was


kill! Mr. Parris no goodly man, Mr. Parris mean
always runnin’ round and carryin’ on— man and no gentle man, and he bid me rise out
of my bed and cut your throat! [They gasp.] But I
PARRIS. You mean out of Salem? Salem witches? tell him, “No! I don’t hate that man. I don’t
TITUBA. I believe so, yes, sir. want kill that man.” But he say, “You work for
[Now HALE takes her hand. She is surprised.] me, Tituba, and I make you free! I give you
pretty dress to wear, and put you way high up in
HALE. Tituba. You must have no fear to tell us
the air, and you gone fly back to Barbados!” And
who they are, do you understand? We will pro- I say, “You lie, Devil, you lie!” And then he
tect you. The Devil can never overcome a minis- come one stormy night to me, and he say, “Look!
ter. You know that, do you not? I have white people belong to me.” And I look—
TITUBA. [Kisses HALE’s hand.] Aye, sir, I do. and there was Goody Good.
HALE. You have confessed yourself to witchcraft, PARRIS. Sarah Good!
and that speaks a wish to come to Heaven’s side. TITUBA.[Rocking and weeping.] Aye, sir, and
And we will bless you, Tituba. Goody Osburn.
TITUBA. [Deeply relieved.] Oh, God bless you,
MRS. PUTNAM. I knew it! Goody Osburn were
Mr. Hale! midwife43 to me three times. I begged you,
HALE. [With rising exaltation.]42 You are God’s Thomas, did I not? I begged him not to call
instrument put in our hands to discover the Osburn because I feared her. My babies always
Devil’s agents among us. You are selected, shriveled in her hands!
Tituba, you are chosen to help us cleanse our HALE. Take courage, you must give us all their
village. So speak utterly, Tituba, turn your back names. How can you bear to see this child suf-
on him and face God—face God, Tituba, and fering? Look at her, Tituba. [He is indicating
God will protect you. BETTY on the bed.] Look at her God-given
TITUBA. [Joining with him.] Oh, God, protect innocence; her soul is so tender; we must pro-
Tituba! tect her, Tituba; the Devil is out and preying
HALE. [Kindly.] Who came to you with the on her like a beast upon the flesh of the pure
Devil? Two? Three? Four? How many? lamb. God will bless you for your help.
[ABIGAIL rises, staring as though inspired, and
cries out.]
42. Here, exaltation means “great enthusiasm” or “joyful ABIGAIL. I want to open myself! [They turn to
ecstasy.”
her, startled. She is enraptured,44 as though in a
Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About
Characters What does Putnam’s eagerness to name spe-
43. A midwife is a woman who assists other women in childbirth.
cific people reveal about his character?
44. Enraptured means “filled with intense joy or delight.”

Big Idea The United States and the World How is this Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About
tactic similar to that used by the House Un-American Characters What is going on in Tituba’s mind that she
Activities Committee? would make up information like this?

ART HUR MILLER 1043


Ocean Greyness, 1953. Jackson Pollock. Oil on canvas, 4 ft. 93/4 in. x 7 ft. 61/8 in. Solomon
R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
Viewing the Art: Look at the interplay of colors in this painting. What characters or
events in act 1 might these colors represent? Explain.

pearly light.] I want the light of God, I want ABIGAIL. I saw Goody Sibber with the Devil! [It
the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; is rising to a great glee.]
I saw him; I wrote in his book; I go back to PUTNAM. The marshal, I’ll call the marshal!
Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with
the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the [PARRIS is shouting a prayer of thanksgiving.]
Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil! BETTY. I saw Alice Barrow with the Devil!
[As she is speaking, BETTY is rising from the bed, [The curtain begins to fall.]
a fever in her eyes, and picks up the chant.] HALE. [As PUTNAM goes out.] Let the marshal
BETTY. [Staring too.] I saw George Jacobs with bring irons!
the Devil! I saw Goody Howe with the Devil!
ABIGAIL. I saw Goody Hawkins with the Devil!
PARRIS. She speaks! [He rushes to embrace
BETTY. I saw Goody Bibber with the Devil!
BETTY.] She speaks!
HALE. Glory to God! It is broken, they are free!
ABIGAIL. I saw Goody Booth with the Devil!
BETTY. [Calling out hysterically and with great
[On their ecstatic cries.]
relief.] I saw Martha Bellows with the Devil!
THE CURTAIN FALLS

Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions About


Characters Why do you think that Abigail makes this Literary Element Dialogue How do these concluding
confession? lines make an effective ending to Act One of the play?

1044 UNIT 6 F RO M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. 54.1408
A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. Which characters or situations in Act One do you 5. (a)How would you classify the atmosphere, or
find it easiest to identify with? Explain. mood, of Act One? (b)What techniques does Miller
use to create this mood?
Recall and Interpret
6. (a)How does Miller dramatize the behavior of the
2. (a)What is Reverend Parris praying for at the begin-
young girls in Act One? (b)Do you find their behav-
ning of Act One? (b)What else might explain why
ior believable? Explain.
he is praying so desperately?
7. Act One ends with Betty and Abigail as the center
3. (a)What reasons does Abigail give Parris for her dis-
of interest. (a)How is their behavior the same?
charge as the Proctors’ servant? (b)What might be
How is it different? (b)Do you find their behavior
another reason?
believable? Explain.
4. (a)How does Tituba first respond to Hale’s accusa-
tion of witchcraft? How does she change her Connect
response? (b)Why might Tituba, as well as Abigail 8. Big Idea The United States and the World
and Betty, make accusations at the end of Act One? Arthur Miller drew a connection between the Salem
witch hunts of 1692 and the Communist “witch
hunts” in the 1950s. Under what circumstances might
a similar situation arise in the United States today?

L I T E R A RY A NA LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Dialogue Reading Strategy Drawing Conclusions


Much of the dialogue in The Crucible centers on About Characters
series of questions and answers bandied between the The numbered items below include a phrase Miller uses
characters. In fact, the play opens with Tituba’s ques- in his stage directions to describe the character in ques-
tion, “My Betty be hearty soon?” tion. Give an example of each character’s behavior that
1. Which characters do the main questioning in Act One? matches the description.
Which characters are the subjects of the questioning? 1. Abigail: an endless capacity for dissembling
2. What do the characters hope to determine by ask- 2. Rebecca Nurse: Gentleness exudes from her.
ing their questions?

Vocabulary Practice
Writing About Literature
Practice with Word Parts Each of the vocabulary
Analyze Plot Miller called Act One an overture—an
words selected from Act One begins with a familiar
introduction. In literary terms, it would be called an
prefix. Use a dictionary or a thesaurus to find other
exposition. Write two or three paragraphs analyzing
words that use the same prefixes and match the
how Miller has “set the stage” for the rest of the play
definitions below. Each answer will have one of the
with the setting, characters, and plot of Act One.
following prefixes: com-, con-, sub-, pre-.
Describe what, for you, is the narrative hook.
1. to stop something happening
2. a town lying outside a city
Web Activities For eFlashcards, 3. to throw someone out of a residence
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to
www.glencoe.com.

A RT HUR MILL ER 1045


B EF O R E YO U R EA D The Crucible, Act Two
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W READI NG PREVI EW

Building Background Reading Strategy Recognizing Bias


The Puritans believed that if one member of the com- Bias is the author’s personal inclination toward a
munity sinned, misfortune could befall the entire com- certain opinion or position on a topic. Bias is seldom
munity. Blame, therefore, was a common way to deal overtly stated in a dramatic work, but it can be
with personal misfortune. The Puritans also believed detected by close attention to the way the dramatist
that all aspects of life must be guided by the Bible. In expresses ideas through the dialogue of the characters
fact, communities built schools so that all could learn and the stage directions. As you read Act Two of
to read it. These efforts were intended to counteract The Crucible, look for evidence of Miller’s bias.
the work of Satan, who people believed tried to “keep
men from the knowledge of the scriptures.” Reading Tip: Personality Profile Take careful note
of how the author presents the characters.
A Puritan doctrine held that the active instrument of sal-
vation was the Holy Spirit. Puritans tended to discredit • Notice the stage directions. These may indicate the
reason as irrelevant or even harmful. For most Puritans, author’s bias.
witchcraft and black magic were real and present dan- • Assess the characters. An author will often express
gers. To defeat this enemy from within, books such as his or her ideas through a sympathetic character’s
The Discovery of Witches (1647) informed readers how speech.
to identify and destroy demonic spirits.

Setting Purposes for Reading Vocabulary

Literary Element Stage Directions reprimand (rep rə mand´) v. to reprove or cor-


rect sharply; p. 1047 I’m afraid that the boss will
Stage directions are the instructions written by the
reprimand me for arriving late.
playwright that describe the sets, costumes, and lighting
as well as the appearance, movements, and dramatic base (bās) adj. morally low; dishonorable;
attitudes of the characters. Stage directions are com- p. 1054 We did not expect base behavior from
monly written in italics and placed in brackets or paren- such a respected member of the community.
theses to set them off from the spoken lines of the
covet (kuv it) v. to desire, especially to an
script. Note the stage directions in the example below.
excessive degree, something belonging to
The first describes how the actress playing Elizabeth
another; p. 1057 Judy coveted her sister’s shoes.
should say her lines. The second is an instruction in
bodily movement for the actor playing Mr. Hale. subtle (sut əl) adj. not open, direct, or obvious;
crafty; sly; p. 1060 Blowing that bugle was not a
ELIZABETH. [Unable to restrain herself.] Mr. Hale. subtle way of waking us up!
[He turns.] I do think you are suspecting me some-
ineptly (i nept lē) adv. incompetently; awk-
what? Are you not? wardly; clumsily; p. 1061 Ralph drove so ineptly
As you read Act Two, observe how Miller’s stage that Maria got out and took the bus.
directions influence your understanding of the play.

• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R17.


Interactive Literary Elements
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

OB J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • practicing with analogies
• recognizing bias • connecting to contemporary issues
• analyzing stage directions

10 4 6 U N IT 6 F ROM DEPRESS ION TO COLD WA R


Act Two
[The common room of PROCTOR’S house, eight ELIZABETH. Pray God. It hurt my heart to strip
days later. her, poor rabbit. [She sits and watches him taste it.]
At the right is a door opening on the fields out- PROCTOR. It’s well seasoned.
side. A fireplace is at the left, and behind it a
stairway leading upstairs. It is the low, dark, ELIZABETH. [Blushing with pleasure.] I took great
and rather long living room of the time. As the care. She’s tender?
curtain rises, the room is empty. From above, PROCTOR. Aye. [He eats. She watches him.] I
ELIZABETH is heard softly singing to the children. think we’ll see green fields soon. It’s warm as
Presently the door opens and JOHN PROCTOR blood beneath the clods.
enters, carrying his gun. He glances about the ELIZABETH. That’s well.
room as he comes toward the fireplace, then halts
for an instant as he hears her singing. He contin- [PROCTOR eats, then looks up.]
ues on to the fireplace, leans the gun against the PROCTOR. If the crop is good I’ll buy George
wall as he swings a pot out of the fire and smells Jacob’s heifer. How would that please you?
it. Then he lifts out the ladle and tastes. He is ELIZABETH. Aye, it would.
not quite pleased. He reaches to a cupboard,
takes a pinch of salt, and drops it into the pot. PROCTOR. [With a grin.] I mean to please you,
As he is tasting again, her footsteps are heard on Elizabeth.
the stair. He swings the pot into the fireplace and ELIZABETH. [It is hard to say.] I know it, John.
goes to a basin and washes his hands and face. [He gets up, goes to her, kisses her. She receives
ELIZABETH enters.] it. With a certain disappointment, he returns to
ELIZABETH. What keeps you so late? It’s the table.]
almost dark. PROCTOR. [As gently as he can.] Cider?
PROCTOR. I were planting far out to the forest ELIZABETH. [With a sense of reprimanding herself
edge. for having forgot.] Aye! [She gets up and goes and
ELIZABETH. Oh, you’re done then. pours a glass for him. He now arches his back.]
PROCTOR. Aye, the farm is seeded. The boys asleep? PROCTOR. This farm’s a continent when you go
ELIZABETH. They will be soon. [And she goes to foot by foot droppin’ seeds in it.
the fireplace, proceeds to ladle up stew in a dish.] ELIZABETH. [Coming with the cider.] It must be.
PROCTOR. Pray now for a fair summer. PROCTOR. [Drinks a long draught, then, putting the
ELIZABETH. Aye. glass down.] You ought to bring some flowers in
PROCTOR. Are you well today? the house.
ELIZABETH. I am. [She brings the plate to the table, ELIZABETH. Oh! I forgot! I will tomorrow.
and, indicating the food.] It is a rabbit. PROCTOR. It’s winter in here yet. On Sunday let

PROCTOR. [Going to the table.] Oh, is it! In you come with me, and we’ll walk the farm
Jonathan’s trap? together; I never see such a load of flowers on
the earth. [With good feeling he goes and looks up
ELIZABETH. No, she walked into the house this at the sky through the open doorway.] Lilacs have
afternoon; I found her sittin’ in the corner like
she come to visit.
PROCTOR. Oh, that’s a good sign walkin’ in. Reading Strategy Recognizing Bias How does Miller
want the reader to feel about Elizabeth? Explain.

Vocabulary
Literary Element Stage Directions What does John’s
behavior suggest about his relationship with Elizabeth? reprimand (rep rə mand´) v. to reprove or correct sharply

ART HUR MILLER 1047


a purple smell. Lilac is the
smell of nightfall, I think.
Massachusetts is a beauty in
the spring!
ELIZABETH. Aye, it is.
[There is a pause. She is
watching him from the table as
he stands there absorbing the
night. It is as though she would
speak but cannot. Instead,
now, she takes up his plate and
glass and fork and goes with
them to the basin. Her back is
turned to him. He turns to her
and watches her. A sense of
their separation rises.]
PROCTOR. I think you’re sad
again. Are you?
ELIZABETH. [She doesn’t want
friction, and yet she must.] You Painting, 1948. Willem de Kooning. Enamel and oil on canvas, 425/8 x 561/8 in. ©2000 Willem de
come so late I thought you’d Kooning Revocable Trust/Artists Rights Society, NY, The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
gone to Salem this afternoon. Viewing the Art: What emotions does this painting evoke in you? How might it represent the emotions
that John Proctor and Elizabeth are expressing at this point in the play?
PROCTOR. Why? I have no busi-
ness in Salem.
ELIZABETH. You did speak of going, earlier this of a prince and says to me, “I must go to Salem,
week. Goody Proctor; I am an official of the court!”
PROCTOR. [He knows what she means.] I thought PROCTOR. Court! What court?
better of it since. ELIZABETH. Aye, it is a proper court they have now.
ELIZABETH. Mary Warren’s there today. They’ve sent four judges out of Boston, she says,
weighty magistrates1 of the General Court, and at
PROCTOR. Why’d you let her? You heard me for-
the head sits the Deputy Governor of the Province.
bid her go to Salem any more!
PROCTOR. [Astonished.] Why, she’s mad.
ELIZABETH. I couldn’t stop her.
ELIZABETH. I would to God she were. There be
PROCTOR. [Holding back a full condemnation of fourteen people in the jail now, she says. [PROC-
her.] It is a fault, it is a fault, Elizabeth—you’re TOR simply looks at her, unable to grasp it.] And
the mistress here, not Mary Warren. they’ll be tried, and the court have power to
ELIZABETH. She frightened all my strength away. hang them too, she says.
PROCTOR. How may that mouse frighten you, PROCTOR. [Scoffing, but without conviction.] Ah,
Elizabeth? You— they’d never hang—
ELIZABETH. It is a mouse no more. I forbid her ELIZABETH. The Deputy Governor promise han-
go, and she raises up her chin like the daughter gin’ if they’ll not confess, John. The town’s gone
wild, I think. She speak of Abigail, and I thought
she were a saint, to hear her. Abigail brings the
other girls into the court, and where she walks
Literary Element Stage Directions What does Elizabeth
mean? How would this stage direction influence the way the
actor playing Proctor said his lines?
1. Weighty means “important.” Magistrates are judges.

1048 UNIT 6 F RO M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


©2000 Willem de Kooning Revocable Trust/Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY/The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase.
The Crucible on Stage in New York City, NY.

ART HUR MILLER 1049


Mark Peterson/CORBIS
the crowd will part like the sea for Israel. And PROCTOR. [Stubbornly.] For a moment alone, aye.
folks are brought before them, and if they scream ELIZABETH. Why, then, it is not as you told me.
and howl and fall to the floor—the person’s
PROCTOR. [His anger rising.] For a moment, I say.
clapped in the jail for bewitchin’ them.
The others come in soon after.
PROCTOR. [Wide-eyed.] Oh, it is a black mischief.
ELIZABETH. [Quietly—she has suddenly lost all faith
ELIZABETH. I think you must go to Salem, John.
in him.] Do as you wish, then. [She starts to turn.]
[He turns to her.] I think so. You must tell them it
is a fraud. PROCTOR. Woman. [She turns to him.] I’ll not have
your suspicion any more.
PROCTOR. [Thinking beyond this.] Aye, it is, it is
surely. ELIZABETH. [A little loftily.] I have no—
ELIZABETH. Let you go to Ezekiel Cheever—he PROCTOR. I’ll not have it!
knows you well. And tell him what she said to ELIZABETH. Then let you not earn it.
you last week in her uncle’s house. She said it had
naught to do with witchcraft, did she not? PROCTOR. [With a violent undertone.] You doubt
me yet?
PROCTOR. [In thought.] Aye, she did, she did.
[Now, a pause.] ELIZABETH. [With a smile, to keep her dignity.]
John, if it were not Abigail that you must go to
ELIZABETH. [Quietly, fearing to anger him by prod-
hurt, would you falter now? I think not.
ding.] God forbid you keep that from the court,
John. I think they must be told. PROCTOR. Now look you—
PROCTOR. [Quietly, struggling with his thought.] ELIZABETH. I see what I see, John.
Aye, they must, they must. It is a wonder they do PROCTOR. [With solemn warning.] You will not
believe her. judge me more, Elizabeth. I have good reason to
ELIZABETH. I would go to Salem now, John—let think before I charge fraud on Abigail, and I will
you go tonight. think on it. Let you look to your own improve-
ment before you go to judge your husband any
PROCTOR. I’ll think on it.
more. I have forgot Abigail, and—
ELIZABETH. [With her courage now.] You cannot
ELIZABETH. And I.
keep it, John.
PROCTOR. Spare me! You forget nothin’ and for-
PROCTOR. [Angering.] I know I cannot keep it. I
give nothin’. Learn charity, woman. I have gone
say I will think on it! tiptoe in this house all seven month since she is
ELIZABETH. [Hurt, and very coldly.] Good, then, gone. I have not moved from there to there without
let you think on it. [She stands and starts to walk I think to please you, and still an everlasting funeral
out of the room.] marches round your heart. I cannot speak but I am
PROCTOR. I am only wondering how I may prove
doubted, every moment judged for lies, as though I
what she told me, Elizabeth. If the girl’s a saint come into a court when I come into this house!
now, I think it is not easy to prove she’s fraud, ELIZABETH. John, you are not open with me. You
and the town gone so silly. She told it to me in a saw her with a crowd, you said. Now you—
room alone—I have no proof for it. PROCTOR. I’ll plead my honesty no more, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH. You were alone with her? ELIZABETH. [Now she would justify herself.] John, I
am only—
PROCTOR. No more! I should have roared you
Big Idea The United States and the World What is
wrong with this form of justice? What might Miller’s audience
down when first you told me your suspicion.
have thought on hearing these lines? But I wilted, and, like a Christian, I confessed.

Reading Strategy Recognizing Bias How does Miller’s


use of the words “quietly” and “thought” in the last three Literary Element Stage Directions What aspect of
stage directions reveal his attitude toward John and Elizabeth? Elizabeth’s character is stressed in this stage direction?

1050 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


Confessed! Some dream I had must have mis- MARY WARREN. [Glancing at the room.] I’ll get up
taken you for God that day. But you’re not, early in the morning and clean the house. I must
you’re not, and let you remember it! Let you sleep now. [She turns and starts off.]
look sometimes for the goodness in me, and PROCTOR. Mary. [She halts.] Is it true? There be
judge me not. fourteen women arrested?
ELIZABETH. I do not judge you. The magistrate MARY WARREN. No, sir. There be thirty-nine
sits in your heart that judges you. I never thought now—[She suddenly breaks off and sobs and sits
you but a good man, John—[With a smile.]—only down, exhausted.]
somewhat bewildered.
ELIZABETH. Why, she’s weepin’! What ails you,
PROCTOR. [Laughing bitterly.] Oh, Elizabeth, your child?
justice would freeze beer! [He turns suddenly
MARY WARREN. Goody Osburn—will hang!
toward a sound outside. He starts for the door as
MARY WARREN enters. As soon as he sees her, he [There is a shocked pause, while she sobs.]
goes directly to her and grabs her by her cloak, furi- PROCTOR. Hang! [He calls into her face.] Hang,
ous.] How do you go to Salem when I forbid it? y’say?
Do you mock me? [Shaking her.] I’ll whip you if
you dare leave this house again! MARY WARREN. [Through her weeping.] Aye.
PROCTOR. The Deputy Governor will permit it?
[Strangely, she doesn’t resist him, but hangs limply
by his grip.] MARY WARREN. He sentenced her. He must. [To
ameliorate 3 it.] But not Sarah Good. For Sarah
MARY WARREN. I am sick, I am sick, Mr. Proctor. Good confessed, y’see.
Pray, pray, hurt me not. [Her strangeness throws
him off, and her evident pallor 2 and weakness. He PROCTOR. Confessed! To what?
frees her.] My insides are all shuddery; I am in the MARY WARREN. That she—[In horror at the mem-
proceedings all day, sir. ory.]—she sometimes made a compact with
PROCTOR. [With draining anger—his curiosity is
Lucifer, and wrote her name in his black book—
draining it.] And what of these proceedings here? with her blood—and bound herself to torment
When will you proceed to keep this house, as Christians till God’s thrown down—and we all
you are paid nine pound a year to do—and my must worship Hell forevermore.
wife not wholly well? [Pause.]
[As though to compensate, MARY WARREN goes to PROCTOR. But—surely you know what a jabberer
ELIZABETH with a small rag doll.] she is. Did you tell them that?
MARY WARREN. I made a gift for you today, MARY WARREN. Mr. Proctor, in open court she
Goody Proctor. I had to sit long hours in a chair, near to choked us all to death.
and passed the time with sewing. PROCTOR. How, choked you?
ELIZABETH. [Perplexed, looking at the doll.] Why, MARY WARREN. She sent her spirit out.
thank you, it’s a fair poppet.
ELIZABETH. Oh, Mary, Mary, surely you—
MARY WARREN. [With a trembling, decayed voice.] MARY WARREN. [With an indignant 4 edge.] She
We must all love each other now, Goody Proctor. tried to kill me many times, Goody Proctor!
ELIZABETH. [Amazed at her strangeness.] Aye,
indeed we must.
3. To ameliorate is to improve a situation that was unpleasant
or unbearable before.
2. Pallor refers to a pale complexion. 4. Indignant means “expressing righteous anger.”

Literary Element Stage Directions How do the two pre- Big Idea The United States and the World How do
vious stage directions help explain the sudden change in you think that Miller wants his audience to respond to what
Proctor’s attitude? is happening in Salem?

ART HUR MILLER 1051


ELIZABETH. Why, I never heard you mention PROCTOR. And so condemned her?
that before. MARY WARREN. [Now a little strained, seeing his
MARY WARREN. I never knew it before. I never stubborn doubt.] Why, they must when she con-
knew anything before. When she come into the demned herself.
court I say to myself, I must not accuse this
PROCTOR. But the proof, the proof!
woman, for she sleep in ditches, and so very old
and poor. But then—then she sit there, denying MARY WARREN. [With greater impatience with him.]
and denying, and I feel a misty coldness climbin’ I told you the proof. It’s hard proof, hard as rock,
up my back, and the skin on my skull begin to the judges said.
creep, and I feel a clamp around my neck and I PROCTOR. [Pauses an instant, then.] You will not
cannot breathe air; and then—[Entranced.]—I go to court again, Mary Warren.
hear a voice, a screamin’ voice, and it were my
voice—and all at once I remembered everything MARY WARREN. I must tell you, sir, I will be gone
she done to me! every day now. I am amazed you do not see what
weighty work we do.
PROCTOR. Why? What did she do to you?
PROCTOR. What work you do! It’s strange work
MARY WARREN. [Like one awakened to a marvelous
for a Christian girl to hang old women!
secret insight.] So many time, Mr. Proctor, she
come to this very door, beggin’ bread and a cup MARY WARREN. But, Mr. Proctor, they will not
of cider—and mark this: whenever I turned her hang them if they confess. Sarah Good will only
away empty, she mumbled. sit in jail some time—[Recalling.]—and here’s a
ELIZABETH. Mumbled! She may mumble if she’s wonder for you; think on this. Goody Good is
hungry. pregnant!
MARY WARREN. But what does she mumble? You ELIZABETH. Pregnant! Are they mad? The wom-
must remember, Goody Proctor. Last month—a an’s near to sixty!
Monday, I think—she walked away, and I thought MARY WARREN. They had Doctor Griggs examine
my guts would burst for two days after. Do you her, and she’s full to the brim. And smokin’ a
remember it? pipe all these years, and no husband either! But
ELIZABETH. Why—I do, I think, but— she’s safe, thank God, for they’ll not hurt the
MARY WARREN. And so I told that to Judge innocent child. But be that not a marvel? You
Hathorne, and he asks her so. “Sarah Good,” must see it, sir, it’s God’s work we do. So I’ll be
says he, “what curse do you mumble that this girl gone every day for some time. I’m—I am an offi-
must fall sick after turning you away?” And then cial of the court, they say, and I—[She has been
she replies—[Mimicking an old crone.]5 —“Why, edging toward offstage.]
your excellence, no curse at all. I only say my PROCTOR. I’ll official you! [He strides to the man-
commandments; I hope I may say my command- tel, takes down the whip hanging there.]
ments,” says she!
MARY WARREN. [Terrified, but coming erect, striving
ELIZABETH. And that’s an upright answer. for her authority.] I’ll not stand whipping any
MARY WARREN. Aye, but then Judge Hathorne more!
say, “Recite for us your commandments!”— ELIZABETH. [Hurriedly, as PROCTOR approaches.]
[Leaning avidly toward them.]—and of all the Mary, promise now you’ll stay at home—
ten she could not say a single one. She never
knew no commandments, and they had her in
a flat lie!
Reading Strategy Recognizing Bias Do you think Proctor
is speaking for Miller here? Explain.

5. A crone is a withered old woman.


Big Idea The United States and the World How did
Reading Strategy Recognizing Bias What is Miller’s this distorted logic subvert justice in the Salem witch trials
opinion of Mary? How is it revealed in this passage? and in the McCarthy hearings?

1052 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


MARY WARREN. [Backing from him, but keeping her PROCTOR. Sit you down.
erect posture, striving, striving for her way.] The ELIZABETH. She wants me dead, John, you know it!
Devil’s loose in Salem, Mr. Proctor; we must dis-
PROCTOR. I say sit down! [She sits, trembling. He
cover where he’s hiding!
speaks quietly, trying to keep his wits.] Now we
PROCTOR. I’ll whip the Devil out of you! [With must be wise, Elizabeth.
whip raised he reaches out for her, and she streaks
away and yells.] ELIZABETH. [With sarcasm, and a sense of being
lost.] Oh, indeed, indeed!
MARY WARREN. [Pointing at ELIZABETH.] I saved
her life today! PROCTOR. Fear nothing. I’ll find Ezekiel
Cheever. I’ll tell him she said it were all sport.
[Silence. His whip comes down.]
ELIZABETH. John, with so many in the jail,
ELIZABETH. [Softly.] I am accused? more than Cheever’s help is needed now, I
MARY WARREN. [Quaking.] Somewhat mentioned. think. Would you favor me with this? Go to
But I said I never see no sign you ever sent your Abigail.
spirit out to hurt no one, and seeing I do live so PROCTOR. [His soul hardening as he senses . . .]
closely with you, they dismissed it. What have I to say to Abigail?
ELIZABETH. Who accused me? ELIZABETH. [Delicately.] John—grant me this.
MARY WARREN. I am bound by law, I cannot tell You have a faulty understanding of young girls.
it. [To PROCTOR.] I only hope you’ll not be so sar- There is a promise made in any bed—
castical no more. Four judges and the King’s dep- PROCTOR. [Striving against his anger.] What
uty sat to dinner with us but an hour ago. I—I promise!
would have you speak civilly to me, from this out.
ELIZABETH. Spoke or silent, a promise is surely
PROCTOR. [In horror, muttering in disgust at her.] made. And she may dote on6 it now—I am sure she
Go to bed. does—and thinks to kill me, then to take my place.
MARY WARREN. [With a stamp of her foot.] I’ll not [PROCTOR’s anger is rising; he cannot speak.]
be ordered to bed no more, Mr. Proctor! I am
eighteen and a woman, however single! ELIZABETH. It is her dearest hope, John, I know it.
There be a thousand names; why does she call
PROCTOR. Do you wish to sit up? Then sit up. mine? There be a certain danger in calling such
MARY WARREN. I wish to go to bed! a name—I am no Goody Good that sleeps in
PROCTOR. [In anger.] Good night, then! ditches, nor Osburn, drunk and half-witted.
She’d dare not call out such a farmer’s wife but
MARY WARREN. Good night. [Dissatisfied, uncer-
there be monstrous profit in it. She thinks to
tain of herself, she goes out. Wide-eyed, both, PROC- take my place, John.
TOR and ELIZABETH stand staring.]
PROCTOR. She cannot think it! [He knows it is
ELIZABETH. [Quietly.] Oh, the noose, the noose true.]
is up!
ELIZABETH. [“Reasonably.”] John, have you ever
PROCTOR. There’ll be no noose. shown her somewhat of contempt? She cannot
ELIZABETH. She wants me dead. I knew all week pass you in the church but you will blush—
it would come to this!
PROCTOR. I may blush for my sin.
PROCTOR. [Without conviction.] They dismissed
it. You heard her say—
ELIZABETH. And what of tomorrow? She will cry
6. To dote on is to show extreme affection for or to pay
me out until they take me! excessive attention to.

Big Idea The United States and the World Many U.S.
citizens opposed to Senator McCarthy accused him of pro-
Literary Element Stage Directions What does this stage moting his own career in hunting for Communists. What is
direction indicate? similar about the situation described here?

ART HUR MILLER 1053


The Crucible, 1996.

ELIZABETH. I think she sees another meaning in PROCTOR. Woman, am I so base? Do you truly
that blush. think me base?
PROCTOR. And what see you? What see you, ELIZABETH. I never called you base.
Elizabeth? PROCTOR. Then how do you charge me with
ELIZABETH.[“Conceding.”] I think you be some- such a promise? The promise that a stallion gives
what ashamed, for I am there, and she so close. a mare I gave that girl!
PROCTOR. When will you know me, woman? ELIZABETH. Then why do you anger with me
Were I stone I would have cracked for shame when I bid you break it?
this seven month! PROCTOR. Because it speaks deceit, and I am
ELIZABETH. Then go and tell her she’s a whore. honest! But I’ll plead no more! I see now your
Whatever promise she may sense—break it, spirit twists around the single error of my life,
John, break it. and I will never tear it free!
PROCTOR. [Between his teeth.] Good, then. I’ll go. ELIZABETH. [Crying out.] You’ll tear it free—
[He starts for his rifle.] when you come to know that I will be your only
wife, or no wife at all! She has an arrow in you
ELIZABETH. [Trembling, fearfully.] Oh, how
yet, John Proctor, and you know it well!
unwillingly!
[Quite suddenly, as though from the air, a figure
PROCTOR. [Turning on her, rifle in hand.] I will
appears in the doorway. They start slightly. It is
curse her hotter than the oldest cinder in hell.
But pray, begrudge me not my anger!
ELIZABETH. Your anger! I only ask you— Literary Element Stage Directions How does this stage
direction help to develop plot and atmosphere?

Literary Element Stage Directions Why might Miller Vocabulary


refer to the rifle in this stage direction? base (bās) adj. morally low; dishonorable

1054 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


20TH CENTURY FOX/THE KOBAL COLLECTION
MR. HALE. He is different now—drawn a little, ELIZABETH. [With an attempt at a laugh.] You will
and there is a quality of deference, even of guilt, never believe, I hope, that Rebecca trafficked
about his manner now.] with the Devil.
HALE. Good evening. HALE. Woman, it is possible.
PROCTOR. [Still in his shock.] Why, Mr. Hale! PROCTOR. [Taken aback.] Surely you cannot
Good evening to you, sir. Come in, come in. think so.
HALE. [To ELIZABETH.] I hope I do not startle you. HALE. This is a strange time, Mister. No man may
longer doubt the powers of the dark are gathered
ELIZABETH. No, no, it’s only that I heard no
in monstrous attack upon this village. There is too
horse—
much evidence now to deny it. You will agree, sir?
HALE. You are Goodwife Proctor.
PROCTOR. [Evading.] I—have no knowledge in
PROCTOR. Aye; Elizabeth. that line. But it’s hard to think so pious7 a
HALE. [Nods, then.] I hope you’re not off to bed yet. woman be secretly a Devil’s bitch after seventy
year of such good prayer.
PROCTOR. [Setting down his gun.] No, no. [HALE
comes further into the room. And PROCTOR, to HALE. Aye. But the Devil is a wily8 one, you
explain his nervousness.] We are not used to visitors cannot deny it. However, she is far from accused,
after dark, but you’re welcome here. Will you sit and I know she will not be. [Pause.] I thought,
you down, sir? sir, to put some questions as to the Christian
character of this house, if you’ll permit me.
HALE. I will. [He sits.] Let you sit, Goodwife
Proctor. PROCTOR. [Coldly, resentful.] Why, we—have no
fear of questions, sir.
[She does, never letting him out of her sight.
There is a pause as HALE looks about the HALE. Good, then. [He makes himself more com-
room.] fortable.] In the book of record that Mr. Parris
keeps, I note that you are rarely in the church on
PROCTOR. [To break the silence.] Will you drink
Sabbath Day.
cider, Mr. Hale?
PROCTOR. No, sir, you are mistaken.
HALE. No, it rebels my stomach; I have some
further traveling yet tonight. Sit you down, sir. HALE. Twenty-six time in seventeen month, sir.
[PROCTOR sits.] I will not keep you long, but I I must call that rare. Will you tell me why you
have some business with you. are so absent?
PROCTOR. Business of the court? PROCTOR. Mr. Hale, I never knew I must
account to that man for I come to church or stay
HALE. No—no, I come of my own, without the
at home. My wife were sick this winter.
court’s authority. Hear me. [He wets his lips.] I
know not if you are aware, but your wife’s name HALE. So I am told. But you, Mister, why could
is—mentioned in the court. you not come alone?
PROCTOR. We know it, sir. Our Mary Warren PROCTOR. I surely did come when I could, and
told us. We are entirely amazed. when I could not I prayed in this house.
HALE. Mr. Proctor, your house is not a church;
HALE. I am a stranger here, as you know. And in
my ignorance I find it hard to draw a clear opin- your theology9 must tell you that.
ion of them that come accused before the court.
And so this afternoon, and now tonight, I go 7. Pious means “having a sincere reverence for God.”
from house to house—I come now from Rebecca 8. Wily means “crafty” or “sly and full of tricks.”
9. Here, Hale uses the term theology to refer to Proctor’s own
Nurse’s house and—
religious beliefs.
ELIZABETH. [Shocked.] Rebecca’s charged!
Big Idea The United States and the World Why do
HALE.God forbid such a one be charged. She is, you think that Reverend Hale has come to believe that witch-
however—mentioned somewhat. craft is responsible for the girls’ strange behavior? How does
this kind of unsubstantiated belief relate to the McCarthy era?

ART HUR MILLER 1055


The Crucible, 1996.
PROCTOR. It does, sir, it does; and it tells me HALE. [Thinks, then.] And yet, Mister, a
that a minister may pray to God without he have Christian on Sabbath Day must be in church.
golden candlesticks upon the altar. [Pause.] Tell me—you have three children?
HALE. What golden candlesticks? PROCTOR. Aye. Boys.
PROCTOR. Since we built the church there were HALE. How comes it that only two are baptized?
pewter candlesticks upon the altar; Francis
10
PROCTOR. [Starts to speak, then stops, then, as
Nurse made them, y’know, and a sweeter hand though unable to restrain this.] I like it not that Mr.
never touched the metal. But Parris came, and Parris should lay his hand upon my baby. I see no
for twenty week he preach nothin’ but golden light of God in that man. I’ll not conceal it.
candlesticks until he had them. I labor the
earth from dawn of day to blink of night, and I HALE. I must say it, Mr. Proctor; that is not for
tell you true, when I look to heaven and see my you to decide. The man’s ordained, therefore the
money glaring at his elbows—it hurt my prayer, light of God is in him.
sir, it hurt my prayer. I think, sometimes, the PROCTOR. [Flushed with resentment but trying to
man dreams cathedrals, not clapboard meetin’ smile.] What’s your suspicion, Mr. Hale?
houses.

Reading Strategy Recognizing Bias In a choice between


10. Pewter is an alloy, or a substance composed of two or authority and the individual conscience, which side do you
more metals or of a metal and a nonmetal. Tin is the main think Arthur Miller would take? Explain.
metal in pewter, and it is often mixed with lead.

1056 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


20TH CENTURY FOX/THE KOBAL COLLECTION
HALE. No, no, I have no— Sabbath Day and keep it holy. [Pause. Then.]
PROCTOR. I nailed the roof upon the church, I Thou shalt honor thy father and mother. Thou
hung the door— shalt not bear false witness. [He is stuck. He
counts back on his fingers, knowing one is missing.]
HALE. Oh, did you! That’s a good sign, then. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven
PROCTOR. It may be I have been too quick to image.
bring the man to book, but you cannot think HALE. You have said that twice, sir.
we ever desired the destruction of religion. I
think that’s in your mind, is it not? PROCTOR. [Lost.] Aye. [He is flailing for it.]
HALE. [Not altogether giving way.] I—have—there ELIZABETH. [Delicately.] Adultery, John.
is a softness in your record, sir, a softness. PROCTOR. [As though a secret arrow had pained his
ELIZABETH. I think, maybe, we have been too heart.] Aye. [Trying to grin it away—to HALE.] You
hard with Mr. Parris. I think so. But sure we see, sir, between the two of us we do know them
never loved the Devil here. all. [HALE only looks at PROCTOR, deep in his
attempt to define this man. PROCTOR grows more
HALE. [Nods, deliberating this. Then, with the uneasy.] I think it be a small fault.
voice of one administering a secret test.] Do you
know your Commandments, Elizabeth? HALE. Theology, sir, is a fortress; no crack in a
fortress may be accounted small. [He rises; he
ELIZABETH. [Without hesitation, even eagerly.] I seems worried now. He paces a little, in deep
surely do. There be no mark of blame upon my thought.]
life, Mr. Hale. I am a covenanted Christian
woman. PROCTOR. There be no love for Satan in this
house, Mister.
HALE. And you, Mister?
HALE. I pray it, I pray it dearly. [He looks to both
PROCTOR. [A trifle unsteadily.] I—am sure I do, sir. of them, an attempt at a smile on his face, but his
HALE. [Glances at her open face, then at JOHN, misgivings are clear.] Well, then—I’ll bid you
then.] Let you repeat them, if you will. good night.
PROCTOR. The Commandments. ELIZABETH. [Unable to restrain herself.] Mr. Hale.
HALE. Aye. [He turns.] I do think you are suspecting me
somewhat? Are you not?
PROCTOR. [Looking off, beginning to sweat.] Thou
shalt not kill. HALE. [Obviously disturbed—and evasive.]
Goody Proctor, I do not judge you. My duty is to
HALE. Aye.
add what I may to the godly wisdom of the court.
PROCTOR. [Counting on his fingers.] Thou shalt I pray you both good health and good fortune. [To
not steal. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s JOHN.] Good night, sir. [He starts out.]
goods, nor make unto thee any graven image.11
ELIZABETH. [With a note of desperation.] I think
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in
you must tell him, John.
vain; thou shalt have no other gods before me.
[With some hesitation.] Thou shalt remember the HALE. What’s that?
ELIZABETH. [Restraining a call.] Will you tell him?
11. Here, a graven image is an idol. [Slight pause. HALE looks questioningly at JOHN.]
Big Idea The United States and the World The PROCTOR. [With difficulty.] I—I have no witness
Crucible was first produced while the House Un-American and cannot prove it, except my word be taken.
Activities Committee (HUAC) was quizzing people about their But I know the children’s sickness had naught to
Communist sympathies. What connection do you see
do with witchcraft.
between that investigation and Mr. Hale’s line of questioning?

Vocabulary
covet (kuv it) v. to desire, especially to an excessive Literary Element Stage Directions What is the signifi-
degree, something belonging to another cance of this stage direction?

ART HUR MILLER 1057


HALE. [Stopped, struck.] Naught to do—? that troubles me. It’s said you hold no belief
PROCTOR. Mr. Parris discovered them sportin’ in that there may even be witches in the world. Is
the woods. They were startled and took sick. that true, sir?
[Pause.] PROCTOR. [He knows this is critical, and is striving
against his disgust with HALE and with himself for
HALE. Who told you this?
even answering.] I know not what I have said, I
PROCTOR. [Hesitates, then.] Abigail Williams. may have said it. I have wondered if there be
HALE. Abigail! witches in the world—although I cannot believe
they come among us now.
PROCTOR. Aye.
HALE. [His eyes wide.] Abigail Williams told you HALE. Then you do not believe—
it had naught to do with witchcraft! PROCTOR. I have no knowledge of it; the Bible

PROCTOR. She told me the day you came, sir. speaks of witches, and I will not deny them.
HALE. [Suspiciously.] Why—why did you keep this? HALE. And you, woman?
PROCTOR. I never knew until tonight that the ELIZABETH. I—I cannot believe it.
world is gone daft12 with this nonsense. HALE. [Shocked.] You cannot!
HALE. Nonsense! Mister, I have myself examined PROCTOR. Elizabeth, you bewilder him!
Tituba, Sarah Good, and numerous others that ELIZABETH. [To HALE.] I cannot think the Devil
have confessed to dealing with the Devil. They may own a woman’s soul, Mr. Hale, when she keeps
have confessed it. an upright way, as I have. I am a good woman, I
PROCTOR. And why not, if they must hang for den- know it; and if you believe I may do only good
yin’ it? There are them that will swear to anything work in the world, and yet be secretly bound to
before they’ll hang; have you never thought of that? Satan, then I must tell you, sir, I do not believe it.
HALE. I have. I—I have indeed. [It is his own sus- HALE. But, woman, you do believe there are
picion, but he resists it. He glances at ELIZABETH, witches in—
then at JOHN.] And you—would you testify to ELIZABETH. If you think that I am one, then I
this in court? say there are none.
PROCTOR. I—had not reckoned with goin’ into HALE. You surely do not fly against the Gospel,
court. But if I must I will. the Gospel—
HALE. Do you falter here?
PROCTOR. She believe in the Gospel, every word!
PROCTOR. I falter nothing, but I may wonder
ELIZABETH. Question Abigail Williams about the
if my story will be credited in such a court. I Gospel, not myself!
do wonder on it, when such a steady-minded
minister as you will suspicion such a woman [HALE stares at her.]
that never lied, and cannot, and the world PROCTOR. She do not mean to doubt the Gospel,
knows she cannot! I may falter somewhat, sir, you cannot think it. This be a Christian house,
Mister; I am no fool. sir, a Christian house.
HALE. [Quietly—it has impressed him.] Proctor, HALE. God keep you both; let the third child be
let you open with me now, for I have a rumor quickly baptized, and go you without fail each
Sunday in to Sabbath prayer; and keep a solemn,
quiet way among you. I think—
12. Daft means “without sense or reason,” “crazy,” or “silly.” [GILES COREY appears in doorway.]
Literary Element Stage Directions Why do you think
that Miller included a pause here?
Reading Strategy Recognizing Bias Judging from this
Big Idea The United States and the World What does remark and from Elizabeth’s character, where do you think
Proctor mean by “such a court,” and why would he hesitate Miller would have stood on the issue of feminism and
to tell the truth? women’s rights? Explain.

1058 UNIT 6 F R O M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


Confrontation, 1964. Ben Shahn. Watercolor on rice paper mounted on artist’s board,
24 x 32 in. ©Estate of Ben Shahn/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY/The Lane
Collection. Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Viewing the Art: How might this painting convey the confrontation between John
Proctor and Mr. Hale?

GILES. John! FRANCIS. My wife is the very brick and mortar


of the church, Mr. Hale—[Indicating GILES.]—
PROCTOR. Giles! What’s the matter?
and Martha Corey, there cannot be a woman
GILES. They take my wife. closer yet to God than Martha.
[FRANCIS NURSE enters.] HALE. How is Rebecca charged, Mr. Nurse?
GILES. And his Rebecca! FRANCIS. [With a mocking, half-hearted laugh.]
For murder, she’s charged! [Mockingly quoting the
PROCTOR. [To FRANCIS.] Rebecca’s in the jail! warrant.] “For the marvelous and supernatural
FRANCIS. Aye, Cheever come and take her in
murder of Goody Putnam’s babies.” What am I
his wagon. We’ve only now come from the jail, to do, Mr. Hale?
and they’ll not even let us in to see them. HALE. [Turns from FRANCIS, deeply troubled, then.]

ELIZABETH. They’ve surely gone wild now, Mr. Believe me, Mr. Nurse, if Rebecca Nurse be
Hale!
Reading Strategy Recognizing Bias How do you think
FRANCIS. [Going to HALE.] Reverend Hale! Can
Miller wants his audience to react to Francis’s mockery?
you not speak to the Deputy Governor? I’m sure
he mistakes these people— Literary Element Stage Directions How do these words
in the stage direction affect Hale’s speech?
HALE. Pray calm yourself, Mr. Nurse.

ART HUR MILLER 1059


Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/The Lane Collection. ©Estate of Ben Shahn/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
tainted,13 then nothing’s left to stop the whole CHEEVER. Good evening to you, Proctor.
green world from burning. Let you rest upon the PROCTOR. Why, Mr. Cheever. Good evening.
justice of the court; the court will send her
home, I know it. CHEEVER. Good evening, all. Good evening,
Mr. Hale.
FRANCIS. You cannot mean she will be tried in
court! PROCTOR. I hope you come not on business of the
court.
HALE. [Pleading.] Nurse, though our hearts break,
we cannot flinch; these are new times, sir. There CHEEVER. I do, Proctor, aye. I am clerk of the court
is a misty plot afoot so subtle we should be crimi- now, y’know.
nal to cling to old respects and ancient friend- [Enter MARSHAL HERRICK, a man in his early thir-
ships. I have seen too many frightful proofs in ties, who is somewhat shamefaced at the moment.]
court—the Devil is alive in Salem, and we dare GILES. It’s a pity, Ezekiel, that an honest tailor
not quail to follow wherever the accusing finger might have gone to Heaven must burn in Hell.
points! You’ll burn for this, do you know it?
PROCTOR. [Angered.] How may such a woman CHEEVER. You know yourself I must do as I’m
murder children? told. You surely know that, Giles. And I’d as
HALE. [In great pain.] Man, remember, until an hour lief 15 you’d not be sending me to Hell. I like
before the Devil fell, God thought him beautiful in not the sound of it, I tell you; I like not the
Heaven.14 sound of it. [He fears PROCTOR, but starts to
GILES. I never said my wife were a witch, Mr. Hale; reach inside his coat.] Now believe me, Proctor,
I only said she were reading books! how heavy be the law, all its tonnage I do carry
on my back tonight. [He takes out a warrant.]
HALE. Mr. Corey, exactly what complaint were I have a warrant for your wife.
made on your wife?
PROCTOR. [To HALE.] You said she were not
GILES. That bloody mongrel Walcott charge her. charged!
Y’see, he buy a pig of my wife four or five year
ago, and the pig died soon after. So he come HALE. I know nothin’ of it. [To CHEEVER.] When
dancin’ in for his money back. So my Martha, were she charged?
she says to him, “Walcott, if you haven’t the wit CHEEVER. I am given sixteen warrant tonight,
to feed a pig properly, you’ll not live to own sir, and she is one.
many,” she says. Now he goes to court and claims PROCTOR. Who charged her?
that from that day to this he cannot keep a pig
CHEEVER. Why, Abigail Williams charge her.
alive for more than four weeks because my
Martha bewitch them with her books! PROCTOR. On what proof, what proof?
[Enter EZEKIEL CHEEVER. A shocked silence.] CHEEVER. [Looking about the room.] Mr. Proctor, I
have little time. The court bid me search your
house, but I like not to search a house. So will you
13. Something tainted is spoiled, inferior, or corrupted. hand me any poppets that your wife may keep here?
14. [before the Devil fell . . . Heaven] According to the Bible,
the devil was heaven’s highest angel before he was driven
PROCTOR. Poppets?
out because of his excessive pride.

Big Idea The United States and the World How is


Hale’s attitude here similar to that of Senator McCarthy in 15. As lief (lēv) means “prefer that.”
the 1950s?
Reading Strategy Recognizing Bias Do you think that
Giles is speaking for Miller here? Explain.
Literary Element Stage Directions Why is there a
“shocked silence” when Ezekiel enters?
Big Idea The United States and the World Cheever
excuses himself by explaining that he is only carrying out
Vocabulary
orders. What other historical events is Miller reminding his
subtle (sut əl) adj. not open, direct, or obvious; crafty; sly audience of here? Explain.

1060 UNIT 6 F RO M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


ELIZABETH. I never kept no poppets, not since I HALE. Why? What meanin’ has it?
were a girl.
CHEEVER. [Wide-eyed, trembling.] The girl,
CHEEVER. [Embarrassed, glancing toward the man- the Williams girl, Abigail Williams, sir.
tel where sits MARY WARREN’s poppet.] I spy a pop- She sat to dinner in Reverend Parris’s house
pet, Goody Proctor. tonight, and without word nor warnin’ she
ELIZABETH. Oh! [Going for it.] Why, this is Mary’s. falls to the floor. Like a struck beast, he says,
CHEEVER. [Shyly.] Would you please to give it and screamed a scream that a bull would weep
to me? to hear. And he goes to save her, and, stuck
two inches in the flesh of her belly, he draw
ELIZABETH. [Handing it to him, asks HALE.] Has
a needle out. And demandin’ of her how she
the court discovered a text in poppets now? come to be so stabbed, she—[To PROCTOR
CHEEVER. [Carefully holding the poppet.] Do you now.]—testify it were your wife’s familiar spirit
keep any others in this house? pushed it in.
PROCTOR. No, nor this one either till tonight. PROCTOR. Why, she done it herself! [To HALE.] I
What signifies a poppet? hope you’re not takin’ this for proof, Mister!
CHEEVER. Why, a poppet—[He gingerly turns the
[HALE, struck by the proof, is silent.]
poppet over.]—a poppet may signify—Now,
woman, will you please to come with me? CHEEVER. ’Tis hard proof! [To HALE.] I find
PROCTOR. She will not! [To ELIZABETH.] Fetch here a poppet Goody Proctor keeps. I have
Mary here. found it, sir. And in the belly of the poppet a
needle’s stuck. I tell you true, Proctor, I never
CHEEVER. [Ineptly reaching toward ELIZABETH.]
warranted to see such proof of Hell, and I bid
No, no, I am forbid to leave her from my sight.
you obstruct me not, for I—
PROCTOR. [Pushing his arm away.] You’ll leave
her out of sight and out of mind, Mister. Fetch [Enter ELIZABETH with MARY WARREN. PROC-
Mary, Elizabeth. [ELIZABETH goes upstairs.] TOR, seeing MARY WARREN, draws her by the
arm to HALE.]
HALE. What signifies a poppet, Mr. Cheever?
PROCTOR. Here now! Mary, how did this pop-
CHEEVER. [Turning the poppet over in his hands.]
Why, they say it may signify that she—[He has pet come into my house?
lifted the poppet’s skirt, and his eyes widen in aston- MARY WARREN. [Frightened for herself, her voice
ished fear.] Why, this, this— very small.] What poppet’s that, sir?
PROCTOR. [Reaching for the poppet.] What’s there? PROCTOR. [Impatiently, pointing at the doll in
CHEEVER. Why—[He draws out a long needle from CHEEVER’s hand.] This poppet, this poppet.
the poppet.]—it is a needle! Herrick, Herrick, it is MARY WARREN. [Evasively, looking at it.] Why,
a needle! I—I think it is mine.
[HERRICK comes toward him.]
PROCTOR. It is your poppet, is it not?
PROCTOR. [Angrily, bewildered.] And what signi-
MARY WARREN. [Not understanding the direction
fies a needle!
of this.] It—is, sir.
CHEEVER. [His hands shaking.] Why, this go hard
with her, Proctor, this—I had my doubts, Proctor,
I had my doubts, but here’s calamity. [To HALE,
Literary Element Stage Directions What does this stage
showing the needle.] You see it, sir, it is a needle!
direction suggest about Hale?

Big Idea The United States and the World Making the
Vocabulary accused person prove a negative statement to establish
ineptly (i nept lē) adv. incompetently; awkwardly; innocence is typical of a miscarriage of justice. What is
clumsily Elizabeth going to be asked to prove here?

ART HUR MILLER 1061


1954, 1954. Clyfford Still. Oil on canvas, 9 ft. 51/2 in. x 13 ft. Albright-Knox Art Gallery,
Buffalo, NY. Gift of Seymour H. Knox.
Viewing the Art: How, in your opinion, does this painting express the mood of Salem’s
community in act 2?

PROCTOR. And how did it come into this May it be, perhaps, that someone conjures you
house? even now to say this?
MARY WARREN. [Glancing about at the avid MARY WARREN. Conjures me? Why, no, sir, I am
faces.] Why—I made it in the court, sir, and— entirely myself, I think. Let you ask Susanna
give it to Goody Proctor tonight. Walcott—she saw me sewin’ it in court. [Or better
still.] Ask Abby, Abby sat beside me when I made it.
PROCTOR. [To HALE.] Now, sir—do you have it?
PROCTOR. [To HALE, of CHEEVER.] Bid him
HALE. Mary Warren, a needle have been begone. Your mind is surely settled now. Bid
found inside this poppet. him out, Mr. Hale.
MARY WARREN. [Bewildered.] Why, I meant no ELIZABETH. What signifies a needle?
harm by it, sir.
HALE. Mary—you charge a cold and cruel
PROCTOR. [Quickly.] You stuck that needle in murder on Abigail.
yourself?
MARY WARREN. Murder! I charge no—
MARY WARREN. I—I believe I did, sir, I— HALE. Abigail were stabbed tonight; a needle
PROCTOR. [To HALE.] What say you now? were found stuck into her belly—
HALE. [Watching MARY WARREN closely.] Child, ELIZABETH. And she charges me?
you are certain this be your natural memory? HALE. Aye.

1062 UNIT 6 F RO M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo. Gift of Seymour H. Knox, 1957
ELIZABETH. [Her breath knocked out.] Why—! The ELIZABETH. John—I think I must go with them.
girl is murder! She must be ripped out of the world! [He cannot bear to look at her.] Mary, there is
CHEEVER. [Pointing at ELIZABETH.] You’ve heard that, bread enough for the morning; you will bake, in
sir! Ripped out of the world! Herrick, you heard it! the afternoon. Help Mr. Proctor as you were his
daughter—you owe me that, and much more.
PROCTOR. [Suddenly snatching the warrant out of
[She is fighting her weeping. To PROCTOR.] When
CHEEVER’s hands.] Out with you.
the children wake, speak nothing of witchcraft—
CHEEVER. Proctor, you dare not touch the
it will frighten them. [She cannot go on.]
warrant.
PROCTOR. I will bring you home. I will bring
PROCTOR. [Ripping the warrant.] Out with you!
you soon.
CHEEVER. You’ve ripped the Deputy Governor’s
ELIZABETH. Oh, John, bring me soon!
warrant, man!
PROCTOR. Damn the Deputy Governor! Out of
PROCTOR. I will fall like an ocean on that court!
my house! Fear nothing, Elizabeth.
HALE. Now, Proctor, Proctor! ELIZABETH. [With great fear.] I will fear noth-
ing. [She looks about the room, as though to fix it
PROCTOR. Get y’gone with them! You are a bro-
in her mind.] Tell the children I have gone to
ken minister.
visit someone sick.
HALE. Proctor, if she is innocent, the court—
[She walks out the door, HERRICK and CHEEVER
PROCTOR. If she is innocent! Why do you
behind her. For a moment, PROCTOR watches
never wonder if Parris be innocent, or Abigail? from the doorway. The clank of chain is heard.]
Is the accuser always holy now? Were they
born this morning as clean as God’s fingers? PROCTOR. Herrick! Herrick, don’t chain her!
I’ll tell you what’s walking Salem—vengeance [He rushes out the door. From outside.] Damn you,
is walking Salem. We are what we always were man, you will not chain her! Off with them! I’ll
in Salem, but now the little crazy children are not have it! I will not have her chained!
jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common [There are other men’s voices against his. HALE,
vengeance writes the law! This warrant’s ven- in a fever of guilt and uncertainty, turns from the
geance! I’ll not give my wife to vengeance! door to avoid the sight; MARY WARREN bursts into
ELIZABETH. I’ll go, John— tears and sits weeping. GILES COREY calls to
HALE.]
PROCTOR. You will not go!

HERRICK. I have nine men outside. You cannot GILES. And yet silent, minister? It is fraud, you
keep her. The law binds me, John, I cannot budge. know it is fraud! What keeps you, man?
PROCTOR. [To HALE, ready to break him.] Will [PROCTOR is half braced, half pushed into the
you see her taken? room by two deputies and HERRICK.]
HALE. Proctor, the court is just— PROCTOR. I’ll pay you, Herrick, I will surely
pay you!
PROCTOR. Pontius Pilate! God will not let you
wash your hands of this!16 HERRICK. [Panting.] In God’s name, John, I can-
not help myself. I must chain them all. Now let
you keep inside this house till I am gone!
16. [Pontius Pilate . . . this!] According to the Christian Bible, [He goes out with his deputies.]
the Roman official Pontius Pilate consented to the
[PROCTOR stands there, gulping air. Horses and a
crucifixion of Jesus despite the lack of formal charges or
evidence. Pilate then washed his hands and declared wagon creaking are heard.]
himself innocent of shedding Jesus’ blood. HALE. [In great uncertainty.] Mr. Proctor—

Literary Element Stage Directions What does this stage PROCTOR. Out of my sight!
direction mean?

Reading Strategy Recognizing Bias Do you think that Literary Element Stage Directions How do the stage
Proctor is expressing Miller’s views in this passage? Explain. directions contradict Elizabeth’s statement?

ART HUR MILLER 1063


Polar Stampede, 1960. Lee Krasner. Oil on cotton duck, 935/8 x 1593/4 in. Courtesy of The Robert
Miller Gallery, NY/©2000 Pollock-Krasner Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Viewing the Art: In what ways might this painting echo John Proctor’s words, “And
the wind, God’s icy wind, will blow!”?

HALE. Charity, Proctor, charity. What I have strikes upon the world. [He goes to GILES and
heard in her favor, I will not fear to testify in FRANCIS.] Let you counsel among yourselves;
court. God help me, I cannot judge her guilty or think on your village and what may have drawn
innocent—I know not. Only this consider: the from heaven such thundering wrath upon you
world goes mad, and it profit nothing you should all. I shall pray God open up our eyes.
lay the cause to the vengeance of a little girl. [HALE goes out.]
PROCTOR. You are a coward! Though you be ord- FRANCIS. [Struck by HALE’s mood.] I never heard
ained in God’s own tears, you are a coward now! no murder done in Salem.
HALE. Proctor, I cannot think God be provoked PROCTOR. [He has been reached by HALE’S words.]
so grandly by such a petty cause. The jails are Leave me, Francis, leave me.
packed—our greatest judges sit in Salem now— GILES. [Shaken.] John—tell me, are we lost?
and hangin’s promised. Man, we must look to
PROCTOR. Go home now, Giles. We’ll speak on
cause proportionate. Were there murder done,
perhaps, and never brought to light? Abomi- it tomorrow.
nation? Some secret blasphemy17 that stinks to GILES. Let you think on it. We’ll come early, eh?
Heaven? Think on cause, man, and let you help PROCTOR. Aye. Go now, Giles.
me to discover it. For there’s your way, believe it,
there is your only way, when such confusion GILES. Good night, then.

Literary Element Stage Directions Why is Proctor


17. Blasphemy is an act or expression showing contempt for
“reached” by Hale’s words?
God or anything sacred.

1064 UNIT 6 F RO M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


Courtesy Robert Miller Gallery, NY/©2000 Pollock-Krasner Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Man’s Heart,
John Ritter.

Images.com/CORBIS
[GILES COREY goes out. After a moment.] MARY WARREN. [In terror.] I cannot, they’ll turn
on me—
MARY WARREN. [In a fearful squeak of a voice.] Mr.
Proctor, very likely they’ll let her come home [PROCTOR strides and catches her, and she is
once they’re given proper evidence. repeating, “I cannot, I cannot!”]
PROCTOR. You’re coming to the court with me, PROCTOR. My wife will never die for me! I will
Mary. You will tell it in the court. bring your guts into your mouth but that good-
MARY WARREN. I cannot charge murder on ness will not die for me!
Abigail. MARY WARREN. [Struggling to escape him.] I cannot
PROCTOR. [Moving menacingly toward her.] You do it, I cannot!
will tell the court how that poppet come here
and who stuck the needle in. PROCTOR. [Grasping her by the throat as though
he would strangle her.] Make your peace with it!
MARY WARREN. She’ll kill me for sayin’ that! Now Hell and Heaven grapple on our backs,
[PROCTOR continues toward her.] Abby’ll charge and all our old pretense is ripped away—make
lechery18 on you, Mr. Proctor! your peace! [He throws her to the floor, where
PROCTOR. [Halting.] She’s told you! she sobs, “I cannot, I cannot . . .” And now, half
MARY WARREN. I have known it, sir. She’ll ruin to himself, staring, and turning to the open door.]
you with it, I know she will. Peace. It is a providence, and no great change;
we are only what we always were, but naked
PROCTOR. [Hesitating, and with deep hatred of him-
now. [He walks as though toward a great horror,
self.] Good. Then her saintliness is done with.
facing the open sky.] Aye, naked! And the wind,
[MARY backs from him.] We will slide together into
God’s icy wind, will blow!
our pit; you will tell the court what you know.
[And she is over and over again sobbing, “I can-
not, I cannot, I cannot . . .”]
18. Lechery means “excessive indulgence of sexual desire.” In
Salem, this was sinful and, therefore, illegal.
THE CURTAIN FALLS
Reading Strategy Recognizing Bias How does Miller
gain the audience’s sympathy and admiration for Proctor in
this speech?

ART HUR MILLER 1065


A F T E R YO U R E A D

R ESP ON D I NG A N D T H I N K I NG C R I T IC A LLY
Respond Analyze and Evaluate
1. What event in Act Two surprised you the most? 5. (a)Analyze how events in Salem have spiraled out of
Explain. control between Acts One and Two. (b)Do you find
what has happened believable? Explain.
Recall and Interpret
6. (a)What questions does Hale ask the Proctors in
2. (a)Why might Proctor have previously hesitated to
order to test their virtue? (b)Do his methods strike
tell the members of the court what Abigail told him
you as reasonable and justified? Explain.
about witchcraft? (b)What does this hesitation sug-
gest about his character? 7. (a)How does John Proctor’s behavior compare with
that of his wife? (b)Which character do you think
3. (a)What does the court accept as evidence that
behaves more wisely? Explain.
someone is a witch? (b)Which characters seem
to consider this evidence valid, and which do not? Connect
(c)What do you think accounts for their differences
of opinion? 8. Big Idea The United States and the World
(a)How does fear influence the way people behave in
4. (a)Why does Hale come to the Proctors’ house?
Act Two of The Crucible? (b)Give an example from
(b)How does Hale seem to feel about his own
your own experience or from your knowledge
judgment and the court’s? Explain.
of current events of how the power of fear can affect
a person’s ability to make sound decisions.

L I T E R A RY A N A LYS I S R E A D I N G A N D VO C A B U L A RY

Literary Element Stage Directions Reading Strategy Recognizing Bias


The reader of a play must imagine what the audience By the words and actions of their characters, play-
in a theater can see. Stage directions can be particu- wrights can often express opinions as clearly as if they
larly useful to the reader as well as to the actors. They were lecturing in a classroom. Think of the action you
help the reader visualize what is happening on stage have witnessed in Act Two of The Crucible. Which
by describing the actions, expressions, and even the of his characters does Arthur Miller clearly want you
tone of voice used by the actors. to admire? Which are not so admirable in his eyes?
1. What do you learn about the characters’ actions
from the stage directions at the start of Act Two? Vocabulary Practice
2. How do the stage directions for Proctor’s last speech Practice with Analogies Find the vocabulary
in Act Two help you visualize the actor’s delivery? word that best completes each analogy.
1. reprimand : scold :: flee : _____
Writing About Literature a. approach b. escape c. lecture
Analyze Internal Conflict Reverend Hale is a man in 2. base : noble :: polite : _____
a state of internal conflict. Write four or five paragraphs a. stupid b. mannerly c. rude
describing why he is troubled and how the events of 3. covet : possession :: celebrate : _____
Act Two have affected him. Be sure to support your a. victory b. grief c. weekend
analysis with examples from the play. 4. subtle : clever :: dull : _____
a. miserable b. boring c. ingenious

Web Activities For eFlashcards,


5. ineptly : inexperience :: calmly : _____
Selection Quick Checks, and other Web activities, go to a. confidence b. intelligence c. age
www.glencoe.com.

1066 UNIT 6 F RO M D E P R E S S I ON TO COL D WAR


B EF O R E YO U R EA D The Crucible, Act Three
L I T E R AT U R E P R E V I E W R E A D I N G P R EVI E W

Building Background Reading Strategy Evaluating Argument


Arthur Miller expressed pride in The Crucible, which Argument is a form of persuasion. While some
deals with the tragic combination of mass hysteria and persuasive writing depends on emotional appeals,
social and political repression. Deciding to produce the argument depends on logic, reasoning, and evidence.
play is often a response to similar circumstances. “I The authorities and individual characters in The
can almost tell what the political situation in a country Crucible often cite reasons for acting and thinking
is when the play is suddenly a hit there,” Miller wrote, the way they do. It is up to you, the reader, to form
“—it is either a warning of tyranny on the way or a an opinion about—or evaluate—these arguments.
reminder of tyranny just past.” When The Crucible
played in China, one Chinese writer told Miller that she Reading Tip: Taking Notes As you read, use a chart
was sure the play could have been written only by similar to the one below to record faulty logic, ques-
someone who had suffered persecution in China’s tionable arguments, or flawed evidence. Write your
Cultural Revolution. evaluations in the right-hand column.

Setting Purposes for Reading


Example Evaluation
Literary Element Plot
p. 1069 Probably true. Puritans
Plot refers to the sequence of events in a short story,
Giles thinks his were suspicious of all
novel, or drama. Most plots deal with a problem and
wife is arrested for reading material except
develop around a conflict, or struggle between oppos-
reading books. the Bible.
ing forces. An external conflict is a struggle between a
character and an outside force, such as another char-
acter, society, nature, or fate. An internal conflict takes
place within the mind of a character who struggles
with opposing feelings. The plot begins with exposi- Vocabulary
tion, or introduction to the story’s characters, setting, vile (v¯l) adj. evil; foul; repulsive; degrading;
and situation. The rising action adds complications to p. 1071 A vile crime must be punished.
the conflicts, leading to the climax, or the point of
highest emotional pitch. Falling action is the logical immaculate (i mak yə lit) adj. unblemished;
result of the climax, and the denouement, or resolu- flawless; pure; p. 1076 Our tenants left the apart-
tion, presents the final outcome. ment in immaculate condition.

As you read Act Three, notice how Miller intensifies the guile ( ¯l) n. cunning; deceit; slyness;
conflicts he introduced in the previous two acts. p. 1078 Through a combination of charm and guile,
he persuaded his grandmother to include him in her will.
• See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R13. contemplation (kon´ təm plā shən) n. the act
of thinking about something long and seriously;
p. 1079 Our summer cabin is the perfect place for
reading and contemplation.
unperturbed (un pər turbd ) adj. undisturbed;
calm; p. 1084 Unperturbed by his seemingly
Interactive Literary Elements stressful day, John slept soundly.
Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements,
go to www.glencoe.com.

O B J EC TIVES
In studying this selection, you will focus on the foll

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