Tom

I am a city girl and I wouldn't know the first thing to do in the country. I would imagin swingin on an old tier that would hang from a tree look ing over a hill, with a dirt road that leads to my neighboors house 300 miles away. Everyday I would wake up to tend to the cows, hourses, pigs and sheep. I would water the crops, get rid of pest, and pick the tamotos that were about to fall. This was the perception I had of the country based on what I have heard and seen while driving through it. After reading Tom Sawyer I saw that I was right about some things and wrong about others.
In Tom Sawyer, Tom was a very interesting young boy. He was nothing like the young vagabond boot-black in "Ragged Dick". Reading both of these passages gave us an opportunity to see the difference of life in the city vs. the country. In "Ragged Dick", Dick was his own provider, lived were he wanted, and did what every he had to do to survive. On the other hand Tom was a very adventurist boy that lived on a farm. Dick made it clear that the only way to survive in the city is that you must have money, nice clothes, and know the right person. In the country money was not present among the children for the did not have a place to spend it on. In the country Tom and his friends wished to have the most property, meaning more marbles, shoe strings, useless keys and other priceless objects to a city boy. The more things you had in the country the better off you were than the other guys. Tom showed me that country life is not too bad but as for being a city girl all of my life, I would die if I went to the country now. I will chose the city over the country any day and I think Tom would too if he had a choice.

Ragged Dick

Compared to the other readings that we have previously read in class, this is the first time a boy is the main character. In our previous text we were able to see how little girls should act but in "Ragged Dick" we were able to better understand the way little boys in the 19th century were expected to act. Reading this story we were also able to come up with major differences between the roles and place in society boys and girls held during this time period. Girls were taught to be pretty, elegant, a home maker, and most of all a good mother and wife. During this time girls/women were not seen as capable of doing the things that boys/men should and could do even though in "The Hidden Hand" Capitola made it very clear that girls can do whatever it may be and better. The differences that we saw were very disappointing to me, because boys had it much easier than girls did.
Dick was your typical boot black boy in New York. As a boy Dick was able to provide for himself without worrying about if he would be taken seriously. I cant help but think about Capitola, for she understood that she would not be able to get any work even if she had her own business such as a boot-black if she didn't change her appearance and make the world think she was boy. As Ragged as Dick looked, he was still able to make money despite his dirty face, button-less vest, too big pants and his black but once was white handkerchief. Boys of this time period did not have any worries, everything was care free in a scene. As long as you made an honest living you were seen as an okay guy, which is far from the case for little girls.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

What a story." Uncle Tom's Cabin" does not fall on the list of the patterns that we said children s literature possesses. When you look at this story you must look at it in parts to see how it realats to common childrens literture. We said that childrens littiture contain lots of details that gives the reader a picture of what is going on. "Eliza was standing by the window, looking out in another direction, when Sams quick eye.... The trader got a glimpse of her as she diapered down the bank." There was not very deep details given in this portion of the story, but you could see Eliza and feel the flutters of her heart when she saw Sam. During this time period God was present and exalted in books as in this one. This story continued to show God as a being that you should trust and have faith in order to make it through what was an impossible situation. Eliza said "Lord,help!Lord, save me!" and she also would tell people how he (God) has been helping her and giving her strength to continue her journey. Even thought parts of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" went along with our thoughts of childrens literature, when you think of good prevailing seems very absent here. How could anyone see anything good about enslaving people and making them do things that one could do for themselves. I had to again look at this concept in parts to see how it is used in this story. After Eliza and Harry crossed the river a man helped them out, and they received shelter form strangers. When you look at this story as a whole you cant see much good. Once you break it down into parts it shows that no matter how evil people my be, eventually some good people will come along and change things for the better.

When I first began to read this short story I really was lost and confused. Since it was mandatory that I read I had to keep reading, otherwise I would have tossed this one to the side. I tried to relate this story to the things that we listed in class that children literature should posses base on the Sanchez Eppler readings. One thing that we said that children literature has is the good prevails over evil theme. When the old woman is telling her story of how she was captured, blind folded and held at gun point, she tells us about the birth of twins. One of the twins died and the other lived. The mother of the littel girl wanted the old woman to take her so that she could live and have a better life, but once they left that house she was taken to another place were she became enslaved. After reading that I was like something good has to come out of this horrible situation, and of course it did. The young baby Capitola went through so may bad things in her life but she still came out on top. She was rescued by Major Warfield and he gave her a room, clothes, food , and every thing that her heart desierd that she thought she would never recive.

The Lampighter

In the "Lamplighter" the young eight year old girl Gerty was lost and in need of some serious guidance. Gerty had to endure more than most girls have to experience especially today in this society. I know that there are still young girls around the world that do not know were their fathers are and their mothers have abandon them or died when they was very young. Even though this may be still be the case, young girls today have so many different resources that can provide the assistance they need. In the "Lamplighter" (pg 81) it says that, "Gerty was scolded, beaten, deprived of the crust which she usually got for her super.." Well this sentence clearly tells us that she did not get much to eat at all but this particular night she we to bed without anything to eat. Gerty had no other way of eating except what Nan gave her, but today there are various places that offer homeless and limited income families food to eat.

In the video the young girl found a way to release her stress which was through yoga. Gerty's yoga was the wood-yard that she went to to get away from Nan and the rest of the world. I do believe that if Gerty never got sick she would have been able to go to the wood-yard and her kitten would have never found its way into the house and been killed by Nan. The young girl in the video could practice yoga any where she pleased so she would still be able to calm her self down unlike Gerty.

I do think that if Gerty had the chance to be on the show it would have helped her think of new innovative ways to release the anger she had toward Nan. As well she would have leaned that she should be her self but without the attitude, because no on likes a person with a bad attitude.

The Wide Wide World

In the small portion of "The Wide Wide World" that we had the opportunity to read, we saw domestic roles; mothers at home with the children and fathers bringing home the cheddar. Since the fathers were away working, it was up to the mothers to make sure that the children were conducting themselves appropriately. When I think of authority I think of both parents, but in this particular story I saw Mrs. Montgomery as Ellen's main authority. Mr. Montgomery is Ellen's authority as well, but we never saw him give Ellen instructions until the morning she was to leave and go to Thirwall. Ellen did do all that he told her to do until it was time for her to part from her mother. I saw Ellen's actions not only as a child not wanting to part from her mother, but as well as her disregarding what her father asks her to do. There was an Old Gentelman that helped Ellen when she was at the shoping center picking out colors for her others merinos. Even thought that was their first encounter, the old man seemed more like a father to Ellen than her own. In "The Wide Wide World" Mr. Montgomery was never present and Ellen would try her best to avoid him. On the other hand Mrs. Montgomery was with Ellen all day and Ellen loved spending time with her mother. I feel that Ellen has no need or desire for her father to be around because he never is. She know who he is but because he does not act like it she has never had a father daughter connections with him. Mrs. Montgomery is Ellen's world; everything revolves around her in Ellen's eyes. Ellen and her mother are so close that they should not be separaed, but because of the doctors orders they have no other choice. I think that with the absence of her mother Ellen will take the lessons that she has taught her and become the young women her mother hopes she will be.